Swingset...Dress? Nightgown?

My daughter loves dresses. Bottom line. I tried putting her in a pair of jeans last weekend, and she actually cried. Scrutinizing her wardrobe, her favorite dresses (RTW hand-me-downs) are spaghetti strap, flowing, below the knee with a ruffle. Acquiescing to my child's wishes, I looked through my patterns to see if I could replicate the look. Of course, there was an Oliver and S pattern that would work. I took the Swingset Tunic pattern, lengthened and tapered the body, and added a ruffle.

 I thought it turned out a bit long, so it borders on the nightgown look.

I used a very light-weight denim for the bodice and ruffle, and Kokka print for the body.  The Kokka print was a joy to work with - lightweight, but not slippery.  I know my daughter loves the way it feels.

In an effort to continue to use some embroidery, I added a single flower at the bodice.

 The dress is from the size 3T from the Swingset Tunic pattern.  I would say that it should easily fit her through next summer.  Which, of course is a good thing.

And, she likes it, which is another good thing....

Maybe I should be using my sewing machine features....

I got my sewing machine because it could do embroidery.  I used to have an embroidery machine, and before it finally died, got tons and tons of use out of it, between decorating my older children's clothes, making gifts, and doing items to sell.  I have a bunch of design cards, and my machine has a bunch of built in designs.  I've had this machine close to a year now, and I have only used embroidery to do a couple of monograms.

I need to work on that!

I started with a perfect pattern for some embroidery - the Ice Cream top from Oliver + S.  I used Kaffe Fasset shot cotton.  It's WONDERFUL fabric - very soft, easy to work with.  The lavender is actually created with light blue thread woven with pink thread.  It's totally cool.

I had this idea that I wanted the butterfly to go from one side to another.  I didn't want them to just be in a line, so I staggered them....I thought the idea was good initially, then when I was working on it, I thought it was bad....when I finally put the shirt together, I decided it was a good idea!

The top is a size 2T with 3T plus another inch length.  I did toy with the idea of making a dress, and embroidering butterflies along the bottom panel as well....but, each butterfly takes 10 minutes to embroider, and I got lazy.

Ice Cream at the beach!

I'm trying to plan for color continuity in my daughter's wardrobe.  I'm trying to be conscious of wardrobe planning, so that we get to a point where she can pick out her own clothes and have the chances of them actually matching be pretty good.  Thinking ahead to the fall, I've already bought a good amount of shoes in various colors, so I have a jumping off point for the wardrobe plan.  Expect to see a lot of purples and red in her future....

I made another pattern by Oliver + S- the Ice Cream top.  How amazing it is that a top can literally have two pattern pieces, yet look so together and not home-made at all.  I chose two fabrics that I recently purchased for my shop - Freespirit's designer Eleanor Grosch's Imperial Pheasant line.  I was immediately drawn to the colors in the line, and the simplicity of the patterns.

I intended to have the top be tunic-length but had a brain fart while cutting and cut the fabric short.  So, I just added a few inches of contrast at the bottom.  My plan for this top is to have it available for fall/winter with a long-sleeved top under it.  The sizing is generous - this is a 2T cut to the length of a 3T, plus the added length.

I'm getting better at the spot on the back where the top yoke attaches to the shirt.  In my other attempts at this top, I was less than pleased with this one spot and did a bit of tight zig-zag stitches to cover up that spot.  This time, I went slower and pinned better, and am very happy with the results.

Julia loves to play in the sand but really, really hates seaweed.  She's also not really ready for walking and splashing in the water....still a bit afraid of the waves.  But, growing up near the beach, she'll get used to it!

"I'm a Princess..."

One thing that I have to come to terms with is having a semi - girly girl.  She's not totally girly girl - she plays in the sandbox with the best of them, gets filthy, runs, scampers, and picks her nose occasionally.  But, she, like most girls of 2 1/2 years, she is into the "princess" thing.  As much as we try to not do a lot of commercial type things, like commercial TV, shirts that say "Daddy's Little Princess", the girls in her pre-school peer group seem to just naturally gravitate towards princess-like things.

I'm trying to work on making her things that (1) work for her coloring and (2) that she will like.  The majority of my wardrobe is black.  Probably not the first choice for most two year olds.  And, what she really wants to wear, is what she calls a "pretty dress".  I don't know how some of her dresses qualify to become the "pretty dress", but some are, and some are not.

This is the Jump Rope dress from my absolute favorite pattern company, Oliver + S.  I made this in some pale green and pale coral seersucker.  The placket and collar are white linen.

When I completed the dress, and she put it on, she said "I am a princess".  Success.

The dress is not easy, but it is not crazy-difficult.  It has a perfect collar, that is the perfect frame for a little girl face.

The instructions to construct the placket are perfect.  Probably the most important instruction is at the end, where you are instructed to do a "little fiddling" to make it look just right. I sewed this over about a week - doing just a little bit in the evenings after work.  I'm usually good for about 20 minutes of sewing at the end of a long work day....

It has a sweet belt, that hits just at the waist, and the gathers are slightly below, which I think may be the part that Julia likes the best.  I love the way this looks at the back...

I did make the button tabs on the sleeves a bit larger - I used white linen for the placket and collar, and I wasn't able at all to make the tiny tabs that the pattern included.

I did search about a million images in the Oliver + S Flickr group to decide if I should make a white belt, a self belt, white belt loops, or self belt loops.  Then, of course, I had to find the absolutely perfect buttons....I wonder if people who design/manufacture children's clothing for a living agonize over details as much as sewing moms do....

Two Swingsets

The Oliver + S Swingset Tunic pattern was one of the very first Oliver + S patterns I wanted.  It took me forever to find one in the larger size, but I finally did.

I actually had an extended long weekend from work this holiday weekend, so I found some time to sew, in between cooking, a two-year old's earache with a trip to the doctor, and some superficial house cleaning.

I chose two totally different fabrics - the first, a floral quilting cotton that I found in the remnant bin at my local quilting store for about $2.50.  The beauty of this pattern is that it takes a mere half yard of the main fabric.  I actually used an old white sheet for the lining fabric on this one.

I made this in a size 3 for my 2 1/2 year old.  I originally thought I should trace a two and add length, but this size worked out just fine.  It works well with the hot pink Sunday Brunch corduroy skirt I made previously.

My daughter was less than cooperative with the photos - refused to have her hair done....she's going through a phase where she wants her hair down, which leads to lots of tangles, which leads to lots of crying the next morning while I'm trying to do her hair for school....

The next fabric is an unknown fabric that I've had in my stash for years.  I used it for a shirt years ago for my now 22 year old daughter.  It worked really well in this pattern as well - I love these colors on my daughter - it screams summer to me....

These two tops made me happy because I was able to make both without a trip to the fabric store.  I had perfect buttons for both in my stash, and I didn't even need thread.  I'll be making a bunch more of these tops, especially since my daughter loved them.

Next, off to enjoy the last day of my long weekend!

Kokka Nature Walk

We are having some early morning gray weather in Southern California lately, especially by the beach.  I thought I'd make a Nature Walk top, a pattern by Oliver + S.  I used some Kokka Trefle from the Scandia collection fabric that I purchased for sale in my shop....when that opens!

The bottom is linen - a perfect match for the weight of the Kokka cotton.  I love the details of this pattern, as with all Oliver + S patterns.  It goes together beautifully.  I added some decorative stitching around the pockets:

The large pouch in front was absolutely perfect for a walk on the beach...perfect for shells, and whatever else a 2 year old picks up on the beach!

A Mother's Day Gift

I always try really hard to get my mother her Mother's Day gift on time.  Mostly, I fail.  I end up sending an email gift card, or something like that.  This year, I was determined to succeed.  I live in California, and my mother lives in Massachusetts, so I knew I had to get something in the mail by Thursday.

I chose the new "Split Personality Reversible Bag" pattern.  Since this was produced by Liesl Gibson from Oliver + S, I knew 100% that it would come together with no problem.  And, I was right!

The bag came together really in four days.  One day shopping for fabric.  The next day cutting out the pattern and figuring out which fabric was A, B, C, etc.  That doesn't sound like it should be tough, but it's really important when putting the bag together to be really organized and don't forget which fabric should go where.  Next night, cut out the fabric and sewed about half.  Wednesday night, completed bag!

My fabrics are heavy linen for the navy blue, and prints from Amy Butler's Lark line.  The stripe is a random cotton from JoAnn's that happened to coordinate perfectly.  My mother had asked for a navy blue bag - hopefully, she didn't mean a plain blue!

I stuck sticky notes on the leftover fabric after cutting to stay organized.  I followed the directions step by step.  Other than one thing that I think may be an errata in the pattern where I ended up sewing the button loop on backwards, there were no issues.  I managed to sew this in the evenings, after work, which is not usually my time to sew.  I made it in between making dinners, pick-ups from pre-school, basketball practice, etc.  I'm happy with the results!

Forgive the less-than-stellar photos, as I had to take pictures at night.  It's much easier to take photos of cute clothing on a toddler than it is to take photos of a bag.  Really.

And, oh yeah - just barely noticeable in the background, an empty bottle of Molson Canadian!  My favorite adult beverage to sew by!