Cute Baby Clothes

My oldest son and his wife had their first baby last August.  I didn't get to make nearly enough baby clothes as I was busy working ridiculous hours as a theatre costume shop manager.  This year will be different *evil grin*  This kid will have so many clothes, her mother will only have to do laundry once a month.

I did manage to make this batch early on before my work got beyond insane.  They didn't find out she was a girl until she was actually born, so I made mixes of girl and boy clothes.

I love footed pants for babies.  I think they're so adorable and they eliminate the dreaded Lost Sock Syndrome.  The tops are all onesies with binding around the neck and leg edges and long prong fasteners at the crotch.

These were made from Big 4 patterns, and as we all know, the fit left a great deal to be desired.  I used the newborn size and naturally they were all too big.  And my granddaughter was not a particularly small baby.  Let's just say she wore those footed pants with the narwhales for quite some time.

When my contract with the theatre ended in October, I did some serious revamping of the onesie pattern and also made Granddaughter a few dresses.  None of which I took pictures of, of course. 

However, she needs more, so I will definitely get pics of those.  I've got three different kitty cotton knits (okay, one is tigers, but those are just big kitties, right?) that I've been just dying to cut in to.

I've also got a red brocade to make her a Christmas dress (hey! can't prepare too early) but I'm going to wait on that for a bit.  Guessing what her size will be six months from now is not likely to be accurate.

Braided Rag Rug

I think I mentioned that I made alot of clothes this year for the family out of some really nice wool knits.  Some were interlock, some jersey, some ponte knit.  All of them were very, very nice.  And I decided I couldn't bear to throw a single scrap away.

What to do?

Well, a rag rug, of course.  Isn't that the thought uppermost in everyone's mind.  No? Well, I AM weirder than most, I suppose.

My mother always crocheted rugs.  Where I grew up there were numerous textile factories, and there were always overruns of rolls and rolls of binding.  Usually about 1 inch wide, they were perfect for crocheting rugs and my mom made big ones--one long hallway runner was probably about 4 feet wide and a good 8-10 feet long. 

She showed me how when I was little, and I did make a few.  But I never enjoyed crocheting as much as she did and it's one of the few textile arts that I just. don't. do.

But I do like throw rugs.  Husband makes jokes about them being skateboards. I can't really argue--they do kind of have to be fastened down somehow or else they're hazardous to your health.  But they're so pretty.  And they keep the floor warm.  And they're fun to make!

Husband will just have to learn to be more careful.  :o)

Anyhow, I had all these scraps leftover from cutting out shirts and leggings and things.  Alot of them were already in long strips, some of them had to be cut, though.  And then I braided them together into a great long rope.

Initially, when I started stitching, I used the zigzag on my sewing machine.  I thought I was so clever and that I was going to have a rug in no time. And I was right.  Sort of.  Right up until it came time to stitch the portion of the rope that I had braided some scraps of viscose/nylon/lycra ponte knit into.  My machine revolted. My vintage machine rebelled.  My computerized machine sat in the corner, sulking and wailing.  My trusty compatriots abandoned me in my hour of need.

I broke down and handstitched it.

Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Didn't really enjoy crawling around on the floor for the 4 or 5 hours it took, but I didn't hate it either. 

Now, I have a rug.  Granted, it's a little wonky in the center portion.  A rope made of wool knit stretches alot more than you think it might.  So that center portion got a little stretched in construction, but I think it'll settle down after it's been walked on a bit.

I've been told the colors don't go together.  My response?

It's like the forest. There's lots of rocks and dirt and dead leaves and bark that are gray and black and brown and bright green leaves overheard.  And then there's flowers which are pink and purple and red.

Don't tell me my colors don't go together.  If it works for Mother Nature, it works for me.

I haven't finished off the end yet.  I still have dreams of making it bigger. I just ran out of scraps.  But it's not like there won't be more in the future.  Scraps, I mean.

And I'm patient.

Wool Knits and Jalie Patterns

So back in November (maybe?) when FabricMartFabrics.com had their big sale on wool knits, I bought ....and astonishing amount of yardage from them.  Which I then proceeded to make woolen warm clothes for the whole family.  I got a combination of jerseys, interlocks, and ponte knits, all of them almost 100% wool.  A little itchy, like all wools but the most cozy merinos, but for $8-$12 a yard, who's complaining?

I used mostly Jalie patterns, as I am in love with their fit and all those sizes. One of the first Jalie patterns I ever bought was 2328, their men's thermal underwear pattern. I've used it countless times for either my husband or one of my three boys.  I've got the paper pattern which is no longer available. It's still available off the Jalie website as a download, however.

Here it is in a heathered gray wool ponte knit.  I used the three yards I bought of this fabric for a pair of leggings for me, one for DD, and one for DIL as well as this pair of thermal pants for one of my sons.

I also made a whole lot of shirts for my sons and husband using Jalie 2918. No pics of those, but there's only so much to see.  It's a t-shirt. Nuff said.

For DIL, I made this matching set of leggings and Jalie 2806 the gathered scoop neck top.  I made a whole lot of these for myself a couple of years ago.  These are made of wool/lycra jersey in a gorgeous periwinkle.  Not my color, but it looks fabulous on her.  The leggings I made from a pattern copied from a pair of leggings she already has that she likes the fit.

Apologies for the crummy pictures.  Laying things out on the floor is not my preferred way of displaying my creations, but it's snowing and blowing outside and kinda dim and dreary inside.

All in all, since November, I made alot of tops and pants for all the members of the family.  Good thing, too, 'cuz it's been coooold this year.

Racerback Tanks in Jersey Print

It's summertime and time for some new tank tops.  My old ones are pretty much worn out and recently I've had to throw several away.  One got stained beyond rescue and in two others the lycra gave out and made the fabric all ripply and weird. 

I love these two newest additions to my tank top stable.  I spent many an hour developing this racerback tank top until I got the pattern and every little curve of the straps just the way I wanted them.

The yellow print is a cotton/lycra jersey several years old trimmed with the same print fabric in the black colorway.  The binding is a tiny 1 inch wide before it is sewn on -- you have to be very, very careful with that one, there's no room at all for error.

The camouflage -- and I do love camo -- is a plain cotton jersey, kinda flimsy and I don't think this tank will make past this summer season before it starts to develop holes and such.  But it was so cute, I couldn't resist.  If you look closely, you can see the butterflies integrated into the camouflage pattern.  Is that awesome or what?!  I used a slightly wider binding on this one -- 1 1/2 inches unsewn.  You wouldn't think that just a little bit of extra binding could change the look of a shirt so much, but it does. 

I've got two more tanks tops to finish off and a knit dress for Daughter as well.  As soon as those are done, it's off to a couple of simple ballet tops for me.

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.

 

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.

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*

Mini Wardrobe -- Finished Contest Entry Safari Style

So here it is:  My finished contest entry.  Safari style extravaganza!  If you're a PatternReview.com member, you can vote for your favorite mini wardrobe.  Check out all the entries.  So many people have done such a fantastic job.  It was a real pleasure to chat with them on the message board for the whole trip.

The tank top is a modified Kwik Sew 2517.  It would have to be -- that pattern is actually a dress.  I've made this tank top lots of times and I really love it.  For this one, I used the original armhole curve, but I've also modified the pattern to make a racerback tank top as well.

The pants are Jalie 2908 stretch jeans.  For these, I added expanding cargo pockets to the back and thighs and narrowed the pants legs so they'll fit smoothly into my boots.  I love these pants.  I wore them all day yesterday and they are oh-so-comfy.

The button down shirt is Jalie 2322 done in a stretch linen.  Also a comfortable fabric.  I wish I'd bought more than just enough for one shirt.

And the vest is Butterick 5616 made in the same stretch sateen as the pants.  With extra pockets.








I am really loving all of these outfits.  Different shoes give a whole different look to them, too.

Well, It's Not Glamorous...

...but it is a nice tank top.

It seems like I live in tank tops.  I can always throw a nicer shirt on over the top if I need to.  Or a sweater when I get cold.  Or a jacket.  Or I can wear it alone when I'm cooking, or baking, or washing dishes.  Or digging in the garden for that matter.  Because I really hate trying to roll up my sleeves when I'm up to the elbows in either flour, or dishwater, or dirt.

This is the second piece of my mini wardrobe.  And it's not glamorous.  But neither is my wardrobe really.  And neither am I.  So it suits me perfectly.

It's not that I don't like glamorous.  I do.   Alot.  It's just that I promised myself that this mini wardrobe is going to consist of things that I'm going to wear to death.  This tank top is going to have little bits of broken lycra poking out all over the place before I throw it out.  And my linen shirt is going to have holes in the elbows -- or at least I'm going to spill something on it that I can't get out (and I'm pretty good with stains so it's going to have to be a dilly).  Of course, I haven't been able to get out permanent marker.  Anybody know how to get permanent marker out of cotton twill?

But I digress.  The point, Trinity.  Get back to the point.  The point is this is two pieces down, and two to go.  And five days left.  I know I can do the vest in about 5 hours or so.  The pants might be a little more challenging.

Wish me luck.  I'm going to try and get both pieces done before Monday.  Hey, I got my entry in to the One Pattern Many Looks contest back in February with a whole seven minutes to spare.  I still think I can do it.

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.

OPML -- Last Dress in Green Wool Jersey

And here is the final dress for the One Pattern Many Looks PatternReview.com contest.  Taking one pattern and using it with different fabrics to create different looks was quite an interesting challenge.  I still have one more color blocked dress that I'd like to make, but time ran out for me and the contest ended before I had a chance to get to it.  I'll probably still make the dress, because I still think it's a good idea and it'll make a fantastic dress, but I might not get to it for a little while.

This one is made in green wool jersey.  I bought this jersey last year (I think) from Fabric.com in four different colors: hot pink, cognac, green, and granite gray.  It's a very comfortable 100% merino wool.  I used the pattern just as it is.  Paired up with a medallion belt, black tights and kitten heels, I think this is a very nice outfit.  I'm wearing it today with my brown Merrel wedge boots, and it looks great with those, too.

Here's the collage of all the dresses.  I had to take the picture off the green one at night, since I just finished it last night at 11.30 -- just thirty minutes before the end of the contest.  I've never sewn so fast in my life.

I'm pleased with these and I've added some nice pieces to my wardrobe.  And they'll be great to wear right up until the weather gets too hot come summertime.