A KCW Dance Bag

I don't know if a bag qualifies for Kid's Clothes Week but it's going to have to suffice.

I couldn't help myself.  This fabric just made me use it.  It's from my shop - it's from Alexander Henry.  I loved it when I set eyes on it.  Even Julia spent time looking at all the wacky girls...

I used a free download pattern from Oliver + S - the Mother Daughter Tote Bag.  It's a simple bag, that's really designed to use strips of fabric.  I chose to just use two.  It calls for fabric for the handles, but conveniently, I had black webbing. 

There's a pocket inside, and I added heart stitching around this adorable little girl....

Julia LOVES this little bag.  Really loves it.

You can easily change the dimensions of this bag and make it smaller, or larger.  Super easy to put together.  And, perfect for putting your ballet slippers and tap shoes in!

A O+S Croquet Flip for KCW

A seriously short blog post about a flip I really enjoyed....when I finally did it!

It's made from a heavy knit (most likely a double knit) and some hideous metallic knit that Julia was given by a shopkeeper in the Los Angeles garment district. I added a zipper, a zipper pull, and cuff details which include buttons given to me by my dad.  I actually hand stitched all the metallic fabric accents as it refused to go under my presser foot!

Not my best photo work - I may edit this tomorrow when I'm not crazy-busy.  Julia just got back from 3 hours of gymnastics (as evidenced by the red face and the chalky shorts).  We're headed off to one of my favorite things - the Long Beach Municipal Band Concert in the Park.

Yay, summer!

Summer KCW - Day 1 - Cotton + Steel + Oliver + S

Seriously, unless you've been hiding under a fabric rock for the past months, you, like me, have eagerly been anticipating the arrival of Cotton and Steel to your favorite fabric shop. 

Well, my favorite shop is my shop - but, unfortunately, our order to Cotton + Steel has not arrived yet.  They told us when we went to their office and ordered that it would be a bit later as we ordered a bit later....oh well!

Lucky me, I won a little $25 gift card to the Fat Quarter Shop.  It came last week, concurrent with their arrival of Cotton + Steel.  I knew what I had to do....

The fabric I used is actually my absolute favorite of all.  But, did I order some for my own shop - no.  We went with kind of a mini-collection of fabrics that kind of coordinate with each other (guided by the lovely sales people at Cotton + Steel).  The beautiful border print by Melody Miller didn't make the cut.  But, I knew I had to have it.....so, here it is!

The pattern is the Garden Party dress from Oliver + S.  Seriously, a great sew.  One of the good things about it is that there's no notions really needed; just a button.  No zipper, no elastic.  The things that I'm always missing and need to run to the store for!  I actually had some white fabric cut out as the contrast....I re-thought that and I'm glad I did.  The red really pops.

Day 1 of Kids' Clothes Week a success!  A completed project and a blog post to boot!  Now, to get back to work for day 2....

The "Claire" Pajamas

I got to test a very sweet pajama pattern for Lindsay Wilkes at The Cottage Mama.  As they're being released tomorrow, I don't know exactly how she is going to describe them, but I would say they're a very cute, fairly girly pajama pattern that includes both a nightgown, and top/bottom.  I jumped on the chance to test the nightgown, as that's what my kid really prefers.

Sometimes, when you do testing for a new pattern, the pattern is off.  Things don't add up perfectly, seams don't match, directions are lacking.  Well, this one went perfectly.  I made my daughter a size 4, with 5 length, which is what I am making her in everything right now.  The fit is spot on.  They went together perfectly.

Super-cute, eh!  These are made in some Riley Blake flannel from my shop.

Seriously, Riley Blake flannel is amazing - washes up really soft, doesn't pill.  It's not like it's super-expensive, but it's not $1.99/yard like you can get flannel at some of the big box stores.  To me, it's worth it if I'm going to spend the time making something, I want it to last.  And, my kid will not wear it if it's not.

For another go-round of this pattern, I'm going to leave off the neck ruffle.  My daughter is very sensitive to anything coming anywhere near her neck, and even though it barely touches her neck, and the fabric is very soft, I prefer to avoid any issues!

And, the pattern comes with a matching doll pattern!  Once it's released, you can get it here.

Skirt Fixation Fabric Swap Challenge - Linen Edition

I was asked by the lovely ladies over at Skirt Fixation to participate in their very interesting challenge - a fabric swap!  A very cool idea so I signed up for the linen edition.

I'm a big lover of linen - it's all natural, very strong, and easy to wear.  I got my swap fabric from Jenn at A Jennuine Life.  I don't know if she looked at my blog/sewing stuff before she sent the fabric, but she chose a color palette that I absolutely love!

The print is a linen/cotton blend from Westminster by Amy Butler in her Hapi line.  I love the boldness!  The solids were a beautiful complement.

The fabric screamed "make me a bag...", so I did!

I used a child's bag pattern from Ruby Jean's Closet - the Ready Set Go Overnighter.  It's a perfect size for kid-size stuff, and for the kid to actually carry it herself.

A very cute bag, yes?!!  I made a couple of teeny changes as I made the pattern - I changed the handles a bit - I actually had some black ultra-suede lying around in my stash - who knew! - so I used that for the bottom accents and the handle holder.  I used black nylon web that I also had lying around in place of the fabric handles.  The pattern also calls for some adorable blows on the straps - and, for the life of me, I couldn't make a decent bow, so I just gave up! 

The other linen pieces met their destiny as a dress for my kid - I used my much-used and much-loved Tinny pattern by Straightgrain.  I think this is the 4th I've made, but sadly my little girl is growing too fast; I had to size up to the size 5.  I'm still in denial.....

I changed up this pattern a bit as well - I added the lighter color pink inset in the bodice, piped with some cotton couture in teal.  I (obviously!) added a contrast bow at the waist.  Instead of gathering the skirt, I made pleats - pleats that will probably last an hour or so in the linen, but I love the look nonetheless.

Thanks to An at Straightgrain, I actually have the ability to insert an invisible zipper and have it be invisible!!

Thanks to Skirt Fixation for asking me to participate - it was really fun!!