The Clothes Sewing Continues

 New tops for the little girls was last week's sewing project.

The shirt that B is wearing is Ottobre Design 01/11 #19, Ice Cream button band.  I used a thin jersey purchased years ago at Hobby Lobby. 

Can I share how much I despise lining stripes up?  Seriously, I wasted hours trying to line them up when I was cutting the pattern out and sewing it together.  And still ended up with the stripes being a tad bit off when it came time to do the hem! 

I skipped doing the button bands on the sleeve edges.  And used lots of spray starch whilst sewing the button band on the front of the shirt.  Spray starch is your friend when working with cheap, thin jersey!

The top M is wearing is the Oliver + S Hopscotch.  I love that pattern!  The size 5 I made up earlier in the year has become too short so I added 2 inches to the sleeves and hem of this one.

The Hopscotch is made from a luscious bamboo french terry.  The fabric is so soft! 

Miss M also needed some new pants.  I love the look of the Clever Charlotte Raven pants but don't have the pattern.  So, I turned to Ottobre Design to find a basic pair of pants to alter.

Ottobre Design 01/10 #13, "Puolukkapuuro" pants

Last fall I made B a pair of these pants and knew I liked the overall fit/shape.  The original pattern has an elastic waistband but I wanted a flat front.   I read through Dana's flat front tutorial to get it clear in my mind what alteration I would need to do.  For these pants, I took out a little width from the front by cutting a wedge of fabric out of the top outseam.  I started about an inch in at the waist  and tapered back out to the pattern piece's outseam opposite of the end of the crotch seam.  Does that make sense?  Here's a picture...

The dotted pencil line shows where I cut the wedge of fabric from.

Excuse the overexposed photo, it was the only way to get those pintucks to pop this morning!

To add the pintucks, I folded the front pattern piece in half, pressed with the iron, and then stitched along the fold.

The little details don't stop at the front!  There are heart pockets on the back.

I traced the hearts from OD 01/09 #19, a skirt that has heart pockets on it. My original plan, before deciding to do the pintucks, was to use the hearts as knee patches like the pants seen here. 

But those pintucks didn't want to be covered up so back pockets they became. 

The pants were made from a brown, uncut cord that I purchased at Jo-Ann Fabrics.  I used a size 104 for width and a 110 for length.  M's legs are super long even though she isn't very tall so I went ahead and added 1 1/2 inches to the length.  And I'm glad I did! 

linked up to The Train to Crazy: Make It Wear It Thursday and Project Run and Play:  Sewing Kids Clothes linky party

Sunday Brunch with a Cherry on Top

I've really, really been trying to sew from my stash and not purchase any new fabric.  And so far, I've been mostly successful.  My most recent creation was made entirely from my stash...

Cherry Jersey Blouse ottobre design 04/11 #13 and Oliver+S Sunday Brunch skirt

The polka dot was a purchase from within the last 2 years.  I really don't know why I bought it...I have a feeling it was probably on sale!  The rust is an uncut corduroy from Jo-ann Fabric's.  I used it last year to make fall pants for BK.  There wasn't much left over but the color really embodies fall to me so I wanted to use it for something.  I kept pulling patterns I had traced off and laying them on the remaining yardage until I found a skirt that would fit. 

I was unsure what would match but after a look through my stash, I saw that the polka dot jersey with dots of rust, purple, and charcoal would work perfectly.  Bonus:  The purple matches a pair of cords that BK has!

I had traced the Cherry Jersey Blouse off a few weeks back with no particular project in mind (that's how I roll!).  I like it because it's a little dressier than a typical t-shirt with the frill/ruffle around the neck.  The details get a little lost because of the busy print but it's a cute top.

I used a button from the jar that my mother-in-law gave me over the summer.  BK likes that it's BIG.

I like the keyhole closure in the back.

The best smile I've had from BK in ages!

This is my third time sewing the Sunday Brunch Skirt.  I love the classic look plus it has pockets!  But my favorite part of the pattern is the little kick pleat in the back.

The kick pleat allows little girls to run freely in their skirts.

This new outfit will be what BK wears for Thanksgiving.:)

And is also my other entry for Celebrate Color.

Upcycle, Upsize Cosy Winter Dress (Tunic)

I've been seeing many lovely versions of the Cosy Winter Dress (06/11 #3) from the the latest issue of Ottobre Design on sewingmamas.com.  I instantly wanted to sew the pattern up for one of my girls.  But the dress only goes up to size 92. 

B and M are firmly in the 104 size.  Therefore, I needed to up size the pattern.  A great resource for resizing OD:  http://mermaids103.blogspot.com/2008/07/resizing-ottobre.html#!/2008/07/resizing-ottobre.html 

I basically did what Teri suggests but didn't stumble across the post until it was brought up in discussion on the Ottobre English Yahoo Group after I had already sewn the dress.  Go figure!

Pulling from my stash of clothes that would be suitable for upcycling, I grabbed a discarded velour dress of K's.  I had purple ribbing left over from my Billy Cardi.  Combined together we have...

A sweet tunic top!

The pattern uses clear elastic to gather the sleeve edges but BK has been complaining about the elastic bothering her.  Next time, I'll use regular elastic as the clear kind I have does have rather rigid, sharp edges.   eta:  The pattern has a lining but I chose not to line the dress/tunic.  If I had, it would have sandwiched the elastic between the outer dress and inner lining.  eta2:  Yesterday, while I had BK try on another top I'm sewing for her, I topstitched above the ribbing cuffs so that the clear elastic would lay flat and not bother her.  The topstitching did the trick!

The purple ribbing coordinates nicely with her pair of hand-me-down Gymboree corduroy pants.

 

BK trying to follow my direction of "smile pretty and open your eyes up wide"

M has asked for a similar top and I believe Grandma has some velour sets tucked away for me to use.;) 

Linked up to The Train To Crazy:  Make It, Wear It Thursday

Celebrate Color with a Fall Apple Top

Have you all heard about Celebrate Color?

It's a 3 month long celebration celebrating color and a contest too!  There are 4 categories:  Fabric (Home Decor), Fabric (Wearables), Yarn, and Needlepoint that you can enter with some great prizes offered to the 1st and 2nd place winners. 

I was too wrapped up in wedding sewing in September.  And October felt like it was over before it started.  But November...I've been doing fall sewing and some of it is quite colorful.  So, I'm giving it a whirl.

I mentioned in the post about BK's Chez Ami outfit that I'm trying to use up my stash of knit prints while the little girls' will still wear them.    The girls' newest top uses an apple print and a brown & green stripe, both from Chez Ami.

Once again, I used the "Anemone Stripes" pattern from Ottobre Design (04/09 #21).  It's a fun pattern to use when mixing and matching fabrics.  In the magazine it's dubbed a tunic but I found the top to be a regular length.

M was so excited this morning that the temperature had dropped (upper 70's yesterday to low 50's overnight and still dropping) so that she could wear the new top to school.  Me, not so much, I'll take the warm weather every day!

Using My Pins on Pinterest

I've been on Pinterest for a while now "pinning" like mad.  However, putting said pins into action hasn't happened as much as I'd like.  I'm definitely more a dreamer than a doer!  

K's Jump Rope Dress with a full placket was inspired partially by one of my pins. 

Land's End dress

K, in fact, has been "pinning" all sorts of clothing and wants to my Preteen and Teen Clothing Inspiration board.  I'm able to see what style of clothes she's leaning towards and can hopefully replicate a similar look when I sew her clothes. 

Last night, I put another pinned idea to use.

It started with a jumper that used to be K's. 

It's a velveteen jumper from Gap that's too nice to toss even though K had marked the bodice with a permanent marker.  I'd tried repeatedly over the years (6!) to remove the stain but all I succeeded in doing was lightening it. 

The jumper has been sitting in a basket in my sewing room that's filled with clothes that need mending.  I'd thought to perhaps put an applique of some sort over the stain but inspiration hadn't struck...until last night.

a button caterpillar inspired by Diddle Dumpling

 

Now, M and B will be able to wear the jumper!

Chez Ami (fabric) Set

I've had a stash of Chez Ami fabric for oh, about 2 years.  One of my favs is a cute doggy print.  I've been waiting for the perfect sewing project but none have came along.  As time marches on,  my little girls have grown bigger and aren't as fond of cute prints as they once were.   I figure I have this year and maybe next before they decide that those cute prints are only acceptable for sleep wear. 

So, my mission this fall has been to sew up much needed clothes for M and B using those hoarded fabrics.  I hit the Ottobre Design magazines and picked some patterns to make mix-n-match outfits.

The first set that's finished...

Top:  "Anemone Stripes" 04/09 #21

Pants:  "Relaxed Velour" 04/11 #16

All the fabrics with the exception of the brown ribbing on the top are from Chez Ami. 

The pants are relaxed through the hips.  I liked the overall shape but didn't want them to be too "relaxed" so I traced a size 98 for the width instead of a 104.  B would have been fine with a 104 but M will also be wearing these pants so I had to take her slight frame into consideration.

 

 

With her hands in the pockets, the jodphur shape of these pants is more pronounced.

Speaking of pockets...

 

I didn't get a picture of it but the pocket bag is the striped fabric from the shirt.

 

The top is a size 104 and a good fit.  For the next set, I'll cut the ribbing for the sleeves a little shorter.  Speaking of the next set, it's already cut out.  Chez Ami apple print paired with a brown and green stripe for the top.  The velour for the pants is a panne velvet in hot pink that I picked up (no clue why!) from the remnant bin at Jo-ann Fabrics a few years ago.  I'm hoping to add another few pieces to each set that can be mixed and matched to make several outfits!

LTTS Mittens

I hemmed and hawed about whether to make the apron for October's challenge in the Little Things to Sew-along hosted by A Little Gray.  I like the looks of it but couldn't really think of a use for it.  Perhaps if it was made out of a laminated cotton but I don't have any of that in my stash.  And with our heating system on the fritz (can't wait to get the bill for that repair *rolling my eyes*) and our eldest daughter's mouth of metal (braces and other orthodontia miscellany) waiting to be paid off, fabric shopping for a non-necessary sewing project isn't really justifiable at the moment.

But with colder weather than expected in October, I discovered that we had a lack of hand coverings for the kiddos.  And there happens to be a pattern for mittens in the book.  And even better, I have tons of fleece left over from other projects!

I used a microfleece purchased approximately 6 years ago.  It was originally purchased when I was sewing cloth pocket diapers for M.  It's super soft and doesn't pill much even after taking a beating as the inner of a pocket diaper.  The elastic casing is from the scraps of an Ikea sheet that I just about used up making pants a couple of summers ago for the little girls.

I decided to make a size Medium for the little girls as BK has pretty big hands. FYI, the medium fits my 10 year old perfectly but is a little roomy for M and B.   I'm going to trace off the small for them.

size medium on a 10 year old

The mittens are a quick sew and a great way to use up scraps of fabric.  I will be making several pairs as a family with four kids can never have too many mittens!

My hand model

*I'll be sewing to a slightly different schedule as the sew-along progresses.  I'm planning on sewing the Bear Carrier and Explorer Vests for Christmas presents so I'll be working on those for November and December's challenges instead of the Puppet Theater and Cozy Hood.