Doguincho's Bubble Shorts

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

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One of the cool things about the sewing/blogging world is making new acquaintances.  My shop recently gave away a prize over at Frances Suzanne's Flip This Pattern series.  The winner of the prize was Marta, who blogs at Doguincho.  She won for her absolutely adorable flip of Elegance and Elephant's Bubble Shorts.  We corresponded a bit about her prize, and I drooled over her blogged creations.  Then, she asked me to test her very first for sale pattern - Bubble Shorts!



She sent me the pattern, and I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use - there was some Kokka Kiyohara seersucker with adorable giraffes calling my name that I had in my shop....

I used another seersucker from Kokka previously, so I knew that it washed great, it stayed seersucker-y after ironing, and seemed really comfortable to wear.

The pattern sewed up very easily; I had asked Marta about the sizing, and she mentioned that the undershorts ran a teeny bit small, so I chose to use a knit for the undershorts.  Good decision!  It was no problem using two types of fabric in the construction.  The pattern went together beautifully; all the seams are enclosed nicely, so the inside looks as good as the outside.


I paired the shorts with a super-easy raglan tee - the Field Trip raglan by Oliver + S.  You really can't go wrong with their patterns.  I used one of my husband's well-worn t-shirts for the white jersey, and the same light blue jersey that I lined the shorts with for the sleeves.  The giraffe was made from a scrap of fabric leftover from my last project - I just love it when you can make an entire shirt out of scraps! 

I appliqued the giraffe from a coloring book clipart that I easily found in Google images - a great source of applique ideas if you are ever in search of.  I used an old embroidery trick, and used a brown sharpie to color in the spots and his eyes....much easier than trying to stitch them on!

My kid really liked the entire outfit and was in the mood to model, so get ready for photo over-load...






Thanks Marta for asking me to test these for you....now go buy her pattern!!



New Jammies!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

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My kiddo is turning 4 in about two months.  It makes sense that she wears a size 4 now....so why am I so sad?  She actually out-grew a size 3 Oliver + S Bedtime Story PJ's pattern....luckily, once I discovered Oliver + S patterns, I made a point to stock up on the larger sizes, knowing that ultimately, this youngest daughter of mine would grow up....

I used some really soft, cozy flannel - one from Riley Blake, and the other from Westminster.  Both are conveniently located in my shop, which makes it really easy to choose for my kid's wardrobe!  In fact, even she knows where to look when we're talking about a new dress....just this morning, she suggested I make a new dress for her, and she headed off toward the bolts of fabric....smart girl!

I've made pajamas from this pattern before, and I knew how easy it was.  Julia really likes them; I think it's kind of like wearing a nice, cuddly robe....the pattern is no longer in paper version, but you can still download it from the Oliver + S site

Here's the result of my weekend sewing:




I've got one more pair of these to sew, and she should be good for "winter" pajamas. 

I've got a TON of stuff cut out and ready to go....now I only need the time!

A Baby Gift for a Laker Fan....

Sunday, September 1, 2013

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I'm a huge basketball fan.  I played basketball my whole life, played on my college team.  (Don't be impressed - we were horrible!)  I'm originally from Boston, home of the Boston Celtics basketball team.

Every morning, I get up wearing one of my many Celtics shirts...

I drink coffee from my Boston Celtics mug.  Then, I head off to work, where I work in the land of Laker fans - our arch-rivals.  See, I live in Southern California, where 75% of the basketball fans are Laker fans.

So, here's the reason for this dress...

A Laker dress, for one of my Laker-loving co-workers.  This is going to the my friend Guillermo's beautiful daughter Alyssa - the much awaited first grandchild on either side of the mom and dad's family.  I figured that I would wait before giving him a baby present, as they were inundated with shower gifts when the baby was born.

 It will be presented in this bag: 

A Laker color bag.

The dress is one of my go-to patterns the Ice Cream dress from Oliver + S.  The floral fabric is from Robert Kaufman, and the solid is Color Weave from P&B Textiles.  Totally not colors I would ordinarily use....

The bag is another go-to pattern - the drawstring bag from Little Things to Sew by Oliver + S. 

It actually pained me to sew this outfit in these colors, and it even pained me to insert a photo of Kobe Bryant into my blog!  But, I know my friend will absolutely love this dress for his much loved little girl...she is 8 months old now, and the dress is 12-18 month size, so I think it will be perfect sizing for the on-set of the NBA season - where, both of our teams are going to be horrible this year, so we will commiserate together!