I'm Stuck On You, Baby Clothes

Idly shopping at Michael's one evening after work (I was working as the costume designer for a 10 minute play festival) before COVID-19 made such window shopping impossible, I came across the cute yarn collection in the clearance aisle.  5 small balls of yarn in somewhat coordinating colors, intended for small projects and simple color patterning.  In a merino wool/nylon blend.  I am constitutionally incapable of passing up merino wool at a good price.  I bought it.  And then realized I needed a set of needles to go with it.  So I bought those, too, and trundled my way home through the cold, blowing January winds.

Aha! Granddaughter needs a hat, I said.  Perfect.

This was the final result.  I had no real plan, I just kind of winged the patterning, just plain old striping really, as I went along.  The whole hat is done in K1, P1 ribbing knit which made the decreases in the stitches for the hat shaping rather clumsy, but I think it turned out pretty cute nonetheless.  DIL loved it.  Granddaughter wasn't so sure she liked anything on her head.  Alas, in the manner of all babies, she grew out of it very quickly.  But still likes the tassel on the point, so the hat graduated from the hated (or at least disliked :o) hate is such a strong term) item of clothing to a coveted toy whose tassels she likes to hold in her hand and squish it in that delightfully squishy way that merino squishes.  Win, win.  And I have no doubt that Granddaughter will have a little brother or sister sometime in the next few years, so it's a good hat to pass on to the siblings.

Mother/Daughter Swimsuit Set

I made this Jalie swimsuit pattern a couple of years ago and I found at the time that I had used the wrong size for both Daughter and myself.  Neither suit was unwearable, but both were just a little too short in the torso.  So I decided to revisit it to get the sizing right with a pattern that I'm already familiar with before I launched into the more (to me, anyway) complicated new swimsuit pattern. 

The flowered fabric I got from Fabric.com last year and the purple came from JoAnn's.  I ended up lining mine with what was left of the purple since I personally prefer my swimsuit to be on the heavier side and the cost of the lining fabric is the same as the cost of the fashion fabric.  I also hate sewing that slippery, slinky lining fabric.  Win, win.

At any rate, they both fit perfectly.  And I didn't really intend to make matching swimsuits, it just sort of turned out that way.  I have pink, purple, and orange fabrics for swimsuits.  Daughter chose the purple.  Okay.  I don't look good in pink, and I'm saving the orange for my swimsuit from the new Jalie pattern, which means I ended up with purple, too.  And as you can see, they're not exactly alike.  Well, except the backs are identical.

So, now it's time for the new Jalie swimsuit pattern.  Daughter wants one view and I want the other, so I've got my work cut out for me.  I think I'll make Daughter's first, since she probably needs a second suit more than I do

Summer Sewing Begun at Last!

Here's my first bit of summer sewing: Daughter's new bathing suit. She's tried it on and is super happy with it.

The pattern is Jalie 3134 Racerback Swimsuit from the set of patterns that was put out in October 2011.  I've made it before for both myself and for Daughter, but since I wasn't quite satisfied with the fit either time, I wanted to try it again.  This one is absolutely perfect.  And went together from start to finish in about 3 hours.

Remember, it's important to choose the size from the girth measurement.  Anything else is kind of iffy.

Next up is a swimsuit for me.  I traced out the pattern for my size last night at the same time I traced out Daughter's, so it's just a matter of laying out the fabric, cutting the pieces, and stitching my little heart out.

After that, I have Jalie's new swimsuit pattern to try out.  Daughter wants the View A with the B back.  I want the View B with the A back.  And it'll be nice for us both to have a second suit to wear for a change.

 

What Do You Do...

...when you're frustrated?

I have a pretty piece of ivory colored poly/rayon burnout jersey.  Not much stretch but lots of drape, as you can imagine with a poly/rayon.  I had (notice the past tense) 3 yards of it.  Until I totally wasted a yard on a shirt that doesn't fit, will never fit, can't make it fit, etc, etc, boo hoo hoo.  I thought I'd make just a plain tee to wear over a white camisole top, but somehow I got my patterns mixed up or something, because what I just cut out and put together was a 100% fail.  *sigh*  I hate wasting pretty fabric. 

So what did I do?  You mean after I got done ranting, raving and shaking my fist at the sky? 

I made a dress for Daughter instead.  Isn't it pretty?  It's the same boring button down pattern I've been using for a while now.  I really need to get more creative with her dresses.

I have another one in the wings (ha! ha! that's a pun, there's birds all over that dress...my sense of humor is really hurting, isn't it?) but for some reason I decided it would be brilliant to put a gazillion buttons all the way down the front.  The buttonholes are sewn and cut, so there's no going back, but I've been procrastinating sewing on the buttons for over a week.  If I don't hurry up, she's going to grow out of the dress before she ever gets a chance to wear it.  And that would be a shame, because it really is very pretty.

I've got my new Jalie swimsuit pattern, I've got some old nylon/lycra and some new, so I've got everything I need to make new swimsuits for both me and Daughter.  I also got some microfiber to make board shorts for Youngest Son and I've had the Kwik Sew pattern for a couple of years now, so I've got everything I need for him, too.  I'm so looking forward to the swimming/kayaking season and I want to be ready for that first perfect day.

Quilting Sabbatical -- Cause We Need Some Clothes!

Much as I've been enjoying my quilting journey, I've got to move on for a while and get some clothes made -- before we're all stuck in that famous condition:  I've nothing to wear, dahling!!

Raven in the Window is nearly finished -- I completed the quilting last night so all that's left is the binding.  I'll get you all some pics in the next couple of days.

This weekend, I'm going to try to get some clothes made.  Daughter needs two or three dresses and Youngest Son could use a couple of button down shirts.  I've already got the fabric -- it just needs to be washed, dried, and ironed and it's ready to go.

Daughter already got a new dress this week.  The pattern is my self drafted knit wrap dress.  The fabric a lovely drapey charcoal rayon/cotton interlock with dusty pink roses on it.  A very pretty fabric that works well with the pattern.

I'm going to try and make her another this weekend using this Kaufman jersey.

 And perhaps a second one using one (or more!) of the organic cotton wovens I've gotten in the last few months.

For Youngest Son, I have a yummy royal blue broadcloth that's going to make a handsome shirt that will go nicely with his wool suiting vest.  He likes to be well-dressed, and who can blame him?  Jalie Men's Shirt Pattern will do nicely for that.  I'll have to trace out a new size since I know he's grown alot since the last time I used it.

For me, well I can start on my Jalie Women's shirt for the PR contest as of Saturday.  I think I'm going to use a tan pin striped stretch linen.  Oddly enough, it's the negative of the fabric I used for my last PR contest.  Instead of light tan with darker tan pinstripes, it is the darker tan with light tan pinstripes.

So, wish me luck!  As always, I've got lots of plans, and sometimes I even get it all to work.

One of Last Year's Projects --Girls' Button Front Dress

Here's one of the dresses I made for Daughter last year but never got around to blogging about.  She picked this fabric from the quilting cottons at JoAnn's.  Okay, so taking a picture of it while she's standing in front of a door that is nearly the same color is probably not my best photography decision of the year.  Nobody's perfect.  I'm a dressmaker, not a photographer.

Anyway.  The buttons are a little too bright, with a little too much orange in them to quite match the red berries on the dress, but that is pretty much the only flaw and I think I can live with it.

When I was younger, I had a number of dresses made like this one.  This is one I call the Shamrock dress.  I made this one about 13-14 years ago (yes, it still fits) but hardly ever wear it.  Daughter absolutely loves the style, which is so much more appropriate for her than for me, so I set about making one for her.  I had to create my own pattern for her dress, as I couldn't find a button front pattern, though I confess I didn't try very hard.  The conversion is pretty fast and easy.

I start with my trusty Butterick 3360, which I have made many times.  This pattern has the front on a fold and a back zipper for a closure.  Remove the center back seam allowance and cut on the fold.  Add a self-fabric facing and interfacing to the center front, and Voila! you pretty much have a button front dress.

The only trouble is all those buttonholes to sew and cut and all those buttons to attach.  But the buttons on the front are alot easier to fasten than the zip at the back which is so hard to reach sometimes. 

All in all, it's a gorgeous dress.  Daughter is very happy with it and has put her order in for another.

Last Year's Project -- Wool Knit Gloves

I have a number of projects that I finished at the end of 2013 --  and never got around to blogging about.  I'm going to try and catch up one project at a time, especially since my current projects are quilts.  And of course, those can take a really long time from start to finish.  At least they do for me.

First up: these wool knit gloves.  Youngest Son has big hands, but short fingers.  Which means that he can't even slip his hand into a boys' size glove, and the fingers of men's gloves are just too long.

So I figured it was about time a took a serious look at Butterick 5370.  These are from their Making History, um, historical collection.  I made Green Pepper's fingerless glove pattern a few years ago and found glove making an interesting challenge, but this Butterick pattern was the first one I came across for gloves with the actual entire fingers.  I had to have it, if only to adapt the Green Pepper fingerless pattern to a full finger pattern.  I noticed from their website (just now, as a matter of fact) that they, too, have a  full-finger glove pattern -- Note to self: get that one ASAP.

Turns out that such radical alterations weren't needed.  The Butterick glove pattern runs from a 7" hand to 9" hand, 1/2" inch larger than the Green Pepper.


I started out with the smallest size, thinking to just test the pattern and the construction challenges.  And when I say challenges, I mean challenges.  The most significant being 1/8 inch seam allowances.  Getting your fingers close enough to the needle to work with seam allowances that tiny is not for the faint of heart.

The next interesting part is the crazy pattern pieces.  I kid you not.  I am in awe of whichever genius however many hundred years ago dreamed up this system of hand coverings.

For those of you who've never seen a glove pattern before, here you go:

The top left piece is the thumb pattern.  It is folded in half and stitched along the top portion.  It is then sewn into the main piece (bottom right) into the hole you see cut out there.  That's right. It is sewn in circular sleeve style.  Very cool.  The bottom left pieces are the finger gussets -- those are the pieces that attach the top of the fingers to the bottoms (the palm side, so to speak) and each of them are a different length.  They definitely have to be matched perfectly, there is little room for error.

I started my sample glove using a heavy weight wool knit that I bought years ago.  It has a really strange surface, almost like melton, but very hairy and very stretchy.  I don't remember why I bought it (I'm sure I had a reason) and I almost didn't keep it (internet shopping can be so ... entertaining sometimes, and this piece was so not what I was expecting) but I hate to give up any piece of wool that comes my way.  Especially a wool knit.  Even if it is a little strange.

The fabric is thick, stretchy, and wool.  Sounds like gloves to me.

Cutting out the pieces accurately was the next challenge.  The fabric has such a springy surface that the pieces just did not want to hold still.  My pattern weights we too big for the gusset pieces (as you can see, they're not even an inch wide) and not heavy enough to really hold the pieces down properly.  I managed somehow (obviously) and got the first sample glove cut out.

Surprisingly, the instructions were rather straightforward and not that hard to follow (of course I've done this before with Green Pepper, so that probably gives me an advantage).  And like most of Butterick's instructions, I only followed most of them.  I didn't like their fingertip sewing technique -- it always seems like Butterick makes things more difficult to construct than they need to be.  I always read all the way through their instructions first, and take notes where I'm going to do my own thing.



Specifically, I attached the gussets to the top of the glove first, and then stitched the gusset to the bottom of the glove, stitching the two fingertip portions together, and then stitched down the next finger (after checking for the next finger's gusset alignment, of course).  Sound confusing?  It is.  Butterick's way was worse.  They had you stitch the fingertip portions together and then try to sew the gussets in.  Stupid.  If you're really interested, I can draw you a picture, but only if someone asks :o)

All that said, my sample glove was done in less than an hour.  And to my utter astonishment, it fit Youngest Son perfectly.  It looks like a big ole bear paw.  I love it!  Needless to say, I hurry up sewed the companion, hemmed them both, and counted the experiment a success.  I look forward to trying these again.  I'm pretty sure I can do a better job next time.

Twinkle Toes and Tshirts

Here's the wool socks and the fleece slippers, elegant aren't they?  They both have gotten a workout already.  Daughter wears the slippers every single day.  She's definitely going to need one or two new pair before this New England winter is over.

And Youngest Son's long sleeved tshirts are finally finished, too.  It's so hard to make interesting clothes for boys.  There just isn't that much variation in boys' clothing.  The pattern for all of these is Jalie 2918 Men's Tshirts.  A very nice, well-drafted pattern.  I used a size slightly bigger than his measurements, so a little room to grow.  I like the length on these.  Kid's shirts always seem to be too short for Youngest Son, but this pattern fits fantastic.

All the seams are serged, and the hems, sleeve hems, and necklines have all been coverstitched.  This is the technique I've been using to make t-shirts from time immemorial and I rarely have any trouble with it.  Occasionally one of the children will pull too hard on the hems or neck opening and pop the coverstitching.  It's pretty rare, so I haven't bothered to change the way I do things.  I guess if I really wanted to make them last, I'd put wooly nylon in the loopers.

This one on the left is a chocolate cotton/lycra -- probably from Fabric.com -- with organic cotton ribbing -- definitely from Fabric.com -- for the neckline.









The one on the right is brown organic cotton jersey with conventional organic green cotton jersey for the stripe and organic cotton rib knit for the neckline.




Here we have brown organic cotton ribbing and charcoal conventional cotton ribbing.  The color block seams really wanted to ripple on this one, but a session with my iron settled that rebellion.

The one on the left is a plain gray cotton ribbing.








This one on the right is camel and brown organic cotton jersey with brown organic cotton ribbing.








Not very exciting, I know, but sometimes the sewing just isn't that exciting.  I want to make a few Christmas gifts next, so those should be a little more interesting.

A Week in Plain Sewing

Sometimes you've just got to bite the bullet and do all that sewing you've been putting off because it's boring.  That was last weekend for me.  Several pairs of thermal pants and many, many t-shirts were at the top of the priority list, so I got out my trusty Jalie patterns, a pile of knit fabrics, and my 45mm rotary cutter and got started.

First I cut out thermal pants using Jalie 2328 Mens Thermal Underwear.  I think this is the very first pattern of Jalie's that I ever bought.  Oddly enough, I vaguely remember not liking it at first, but I can't for the life of me imagine why.  I was probably expecting something unrealistic.

In any event, this pattern gets my unqualified approval, regardless of my first impression (thereby proving that first impressions aren't always accurate, right?).  The tops fit well, the pants are well designed.  If you have men who work outside in the wintertime, and your winter is anything like New England's (or worse!) this is a great pattern to have. 

A really long time ago, I worked in a textile factory making, you guessed it, thermal underwear!  A before that I worked in a factory making, you guessed it again, long-sleeved knit shirts!  Um, so I've sewn pieces like these alot.  Like thousands of times.  So I feel like I'm a good judge of this kind of pattern.

I cut out three pair from some nice cotton thermal knit that I found at JoAnn's a few years ago.  Two of them are sewn and the last is waiting patiently to be assembled.

Assembly time: less than one-half hour.

After those, I started working on long sleeved tees for Youngest Son.  For these I chose Jalie 2918 Men's T-Shirts.  I haven't used this pattern at all yet, so I'm walking into unknown territory.  What I do know is that Jalie has been very reliable over the years, so I have no reason to expect disappointment. 

I started with the size that matched his measurements, but Youngest Son has got rather broad shoulders.  Made with a cotton rib knit, it fits in the chest, sleeve length is good, overall length is good, but the shoulders just don't quite fit.  I don't think it's the pattern though.  I think it's going to be a standard alteration on all patterns for Youngest Son.  This first tee is wearable, but it won't be long before he grows out of it.  I love how forgiving knits can be.

Next pattern tracing: Size up by 2 sizes to accommodate the shoulder broadness. 

Should have at least 3 or 4 of these tees finished by the end of the day.

So that's what I've been up to.  I do get tired of sewing practical items sometimes, but I get alot of satisfaction knowing that a great many pieces of my family's clothing have come from my hands.  That makes it all worth it.

More Toasty Toes -- Ballet Slippers

So apparently footwear is the name of the game these past couple of weeks.  First socks, now slippers.  These are pretty awesome slippers, though, and once your pattern is all set they take less than an hour to make. What could be better than that?

The pattern I got from the Burda Style website -- the Dorothy Ballerina slippers.  And it's free.  Unfortunately, they only come in one size so unless you're making a women's 8, you'll have to do some adjusting -- which isn't really that hard.  Especially if you use fleece, like I did.  The pattern is supposed to be for wovens, but since I never follow the rules, I didn't do that.

I made these for Daughter, so they're a girls size 1 1/2 or thereabouts.

To adjust the pattern, I printed out the pdf and had her stand on the sole pattern piece with her toes about 3/8" (for seam allowance) away from the front.  Then I traced around her heel to get the proper size for the sole.

For the upper, I cut out the pattern piece, laid it across the top of her foot (again leaving about 3/8" for seam allowance), and brought the ends around to the back of her foot and estimated how much to cut off so that it would fit snugly at the back but not be too tight.

All very unscientific, but it worked beautifully.  I made one quick muslin that fit perfectly from front to back, but I found that the sole piece was a bit too wide, so I narrowed that up a bit and cut out the pieces for the real version.

I made the soles in two layers: the inside is the fleece, for fuzzy warm coziness, and the outside is leather deerskin suede for non-slippiness and durability.  I got to break out my treadle machine for the leather sewing, Yippeee!!  I keep a leather needle in the treadle machine, as that is pretty much all I use it for these days.  I don't really have the space to keep it out all the time -- my regular machine sits on top of the closed treadle cabinet.

After stitching the center back seams of the uppers right sides together, I used the treadle to stitch the soles to the uppers.  Then, going back to my regular machine, I zigzagged a piece of 1/4" elastic to the foot opening stretching ever so slightly.  Then I folded over to the inside and zigzagged again, for a nice clean finish around the foot opening.  Voila!  All done.  That's why it takes less than an hour.  There's just not much to it.

The first pair I made of these was done in a brown fleece with these ugly flowers embroidered on in wool yarn.  Not sure why I bought that piece, except that maybe it was really cheap.  The funny thing is, Daughter really liked the slippers, so she didn't mind the ugly flowers until I could make her a better pair.  Preferably in pink.  I didn't have any pink fleece, so we compromised with blue for the time being.  So here's the blue pair.  I'm sure she'll be happy to model them later.

Progress on the Boys' Coat

The last week or so has been spent working on Youngest Son's new wool coat.  I'm using Burda 9533 again -- it's just such a nice pattern.  This will be the last time though, since it's the second largest size in the pattern.  I'm pretty sure by the time he needs another new coat, he'll be too big for the sizes in the envelope.

I'm working with a suit weight wool melton this time.  And since the insulation isn't in the shell fabric, I put it into the lining instead.  This jacket is lined with wool/nylon knit overall, with an extra layer of fleece in the fronts and backs.  Putting fleece in the sleeves made them too tight, so I just used the wool knit in those.  Who says you can't use a knit lining with a woven shell?  I've done it lots of times and never had any trouble.

It's mostly done, just buttons and buttonholes to go (I bet you know how I feel about those by now).  Pictures to come.

Aside from that, I got some pretty fabrics for Daughter for 3 more dresses, and I'd like to get a top or two done for myself, and a couple of shirts for the husband, and...oh, well, nevermind.  I'm really concentrating on knitting projects just now, so I'll have something to show you in that department soon, too.

I realize I also never showed you pictures of my own wool melton coat that I made this Spring with this Butterick pattern. I'll get right on that -- just as soon as I sew the buttons that just fell off back on. *sigh*

Another Girls' Butterick Dress

Are you guys tired of this pattern yet? It's Butterick 3350 and now that I've sewn all three necklines, I believe that I am finally tired of it.  Also, this is the largest size in the envelope, so once Daughter grows out of this, we'll need to find a new pattern anyway.

This is made in a pretty  quilting cotton that I bought at JoAnn's earlier this year.  Very nice and soft and easy to sew.  I love this fabric print, a little old fashioned and antique-y but still perfect for a little girl. The back tie is a double sided ribbon, also from JoAnn's but I'm not happy with it.  I thought for the added expense, a double sided ribbon would be a little more substantial than the single sided or the grosgrain.  It's not.  They made it thin and cheap and I really don't like it.  I'm looking for a source for decent ribbons.  Any suggestions?

I put an invisible zipper in the back of this version, too.  So much easier and nicer looking than regular zippers.  And as I get older and (I hope) wiser, I'm more inclined to enjoy the hand sewing aspects of making clothing.  I say this because I sewed the center back seam allowances of the lining to the zipper and the entire lining waist seam entirely by hand -- and I enjoyed it.  That would not have been true just six months ago.

Anyway, like I said, I've sewn all three necklines:
The plain rounded neckline

The sweetheart neckline

 And, of course, this latest one, which I'm no sure what to call. Which do you like best?

Summer in Review -- Projects #1 & #2 of Not Very Many

It's been a busy summer for me, and while I didn't get much sewing done, I managed to get a little in here and there. I totally failed when it came to the blogging part, though, so I'll try and show you some things in the next week or two. 

First up is Daughter's handkerchief dress. She does so love these and it's a neat way to use a horizontal stripe.  I got this print from Fabric.com of course.  It's a cotton jersey that probably has about 25% stretch.  Sleeveless for the summer and she should be able to wear it through the Fall as well with a sweater. I have some pretty pink acrylic sweater knit that ought to make a warm a cozy sweater for her.

I also made this mauve jacket for Daughter this summer.  It's a very basic round-necked jacket -- I don't recall which pattern I used, though I suppose I could fish it out if anybody really needs to know.  It wasn't a very impressive pattern -- it was an unlined, faced jacket meant to worn over formal wear, like a flower girl dress or something.  I added a lining (which was so easy I don't know why they didn't design the pattern with one) which turned it into a classy little jacket instead of some cheesy little thing that looks like you made it yourself.  I added the pockets as well, since Daughter was adamant that it HAD to have pockets.  The fabric is a bottom weight stretch cotton sateen with a woven vertical stripe, originally bought to make pants for myself (until I realized that pink pants and myself are not a good combination, what was I thinking?). And since it was a pretty plain fabric, it absolutely had to have trim of some kind.  I've had this heart ribbon for a while, and it fit the bill perfectly, especially since the color matched so well.  And Daughter picked out the heart buttons during a visit to Joann's last year.  They've been languishing in the button box, waiting for just the right project.

That's two of the projects and I'm pretty pleased with both of them.

A Gallery of Girls' Projects

Last post was for the boys. This one's for the girls. Okay, girl. Since I only have one daughter.

I made Daughter a couple more of her signature knit wrap dresses. This one is made from interlock from JoAnn's.  My girl is growing up, though, so this will probably be the last of the juvenile prints for her.  She has a classic taste.  When she picks fabric for herself, she tends to choose tiny flowered prints, but she still leans towards pinks every chance she gets.

The stripes are a jersey that I bought from Miss Fairchild over at Pattern Review.  Daughter made all the design decisions, including the length of the skirt and sleeves, and the ruffle trimming the hems.

I also made her a bathing suit, using Jalie's newest pattern.  I bought nylon/lycra fabrics last year, on clearance after the summer season was over, so I had several for her to choose from.  She liked both the pink (naturally!) and the purple, so the Jalie, with it's color blocking, was the perfect choice.  I still can't get over how easy these are to make.  And to think I used to spend $25 every year for Daughter's bathing suits.

This sews up in about 3 hours and as far as I can tell, the elastic lengths listed in the pattern instructions are perfect.  I made a swimsuit like this for myself last year and I found it a little short in the torso.  I made Daughter's using the size that matched her height and the fit seems pretty good.  If the weather would just get nice, we could field test it and know for sure whether or not the fit is perfect.

I also made her a cute little collarless jacket out of pink stretch cotton.  I show you that one next time.  And I realize I never took a picture of my wool melton coat that I finished in March.  I'll take a picture of that one, too.  Just as soon I sew on the button I managed to pull off.

Back in the Sewing (and Blogging) Saddle At Last

It's been a busy few months, but I'm finally getting some sewing done.  Last night I finished the shirt for my oldest son that's been hanging on my dress form waiting for buttonholes and buttons for about three months now.  I double stitched the mock flat-felled armhole seams, partly because in my first pass I didn't catch the folded over seam allowances in some spots and partly because I wanted it to look a little different from the other two I made in this fabric. This was the last of this nice yarn-dyed stretch shirting that made such beautiful dress shirts.  Ah, shucks, I'll have to do some more fabric shopping...

I also made a whole series of pants and tees for Youngest Son.  They're not very exciting, but sometimes practical sewing takes precedence over the fanciful stuff.  Youngest Son likes the cargo pockets on these, and always tells me to be sure to put them on.  I've got OOP Jalie 2107 -- Men and Boys Pants pattern.  I think I'm going to use that one for his next pair of pants.

Youngest Son's shirt series used up of alot of my knits in earth tones -- I'm going to have to do some more searching and buying in that department, too.  I've been making raglan tees for him, but this year I decided to trace out the regular tee from Kwik Sew's Sewing for Children book.  I sized down to get rid of the enormous '80's ease and lengthened for the proper fit.  They turned out very nice, though I see that, after a few washings, I'll need to reduce the length of the neckline ribbing.  I hate it when it bunches up at the inside edge of the curve.  It's truly amazing how shortening the ribbing by just 1/4 inch can make the neckline look so much better.

That's for the boys.  I've done some sewing for Daughter, too.  But I'll get to that next time.

A New Dress For Daughter

I feel a bit as though all the dresses I sewed for myself last month used up all my sewing energy for January and February.  But here at the tail end of the month, I seem to be getting a little of my own back.

 The pattern is Butterick 3350 which I reviewed on PatternReview.com last year.  Read the review

The fabric, ribbon, thread, and zipper all come from JoAnn fabrics.  The fabric is a plain old quilting cotton, but I liked this pretty calico print and the thread is Gutermann.

 Since I've used this pattern already, fabric cutting to final hem only took a couple of hours a day for a couple of days.  Daughter likes this Sweetheart neckline very much -- this is the second dress I've made for her with this neckline.  Both sides aren't perfectly matched, but I'm really thinking that no one is going to notice that.

The back tie is grosgrain ribbon, which Daughter has always preferred to a self fabric tie.

This time I used an invisible zipper for the back closure.  They take a little practice, but are well worth learning how to do well.

I used steam-a-seam to get the lining to hold still at the waist seam, and then top stitched on the right side to attach the lining at the waist.  And I hand sewed the lining to the zipper.

Kwik Sew 3399 -- Boys' Vest

I finished this one right around the first week of January, but I was so caught up in my contest entries for the One Pattern Many Looks Contest that I hadn't gotten around to taking a picture until now.

It's so hard to sew fun things for boys.  Oh, yes. Another shirt.  *sigh*  Oh, look.  Another pair of pants.  *sigh*  I've been searching for cool things that I can make for my guys, and the finding has been pretty darn slow.  But I am making progress, so hopefully you'll be seeing more guy stuff this year than I've been able to make in the past.

Here's the pattern envelope.  I bought this one many years ago to make trousers for my older boys when they were little, but this is the first time I've made the vest pattern.  This means that it's printed on the older, heavy white paper that I hear Kwik Sew isn't using anymore. 

I traced out the medium, and I was surprised to find separate pattern pieces for the lining and facings.   Actually, this vest has a pretty cool back neckline facing, which makes it pretty fancy looking on the inside.  It doesn't have real pockets, though, just the usual decorative pieces that look like they might be hiding a welt pocket but aren't.




The shell is a wool twill suiting, fairly lightweight.  The lining is a blue and black geometric jacquard of uncertain fiber content.  It's actually of a heavier weight than the wool, so it gives the vest some body that it wouldn't otherwise have.  The buttons are a solid metal that I got from an ebay seller from Quebec. 

The first version I made was pretty cute, but Youngest Son has the family long torso.  Which means the vest was too short.  After much consultation with his older brothers, we determined that his vest really needed to be about two inches longer. 

I added two inches to the body of the vest and came up with version two.  With the addition of the extra two inches, I needed to add another button to the front closure.  Somehow three just didn't look right, I think it violated the phi ratio or something.  But those were the only changes I made; shell fabric, lining fabric, and buttons were all the same as version one.

This was met with approval by all three brothers, and that is how the vest was won. 

Okay, that pun was totally cringe-worthy.  I apologize to everyone.

Now all he needs is a pair of gray trousers to go with the vest.  I still have lots of the gray wool and it is definitely soft enough to wear right against your skin, so I think I'll be adding the trousers from this pattern to my upcoming projects list.