Oooohhhh.....Nani Iro!

So, I've seen lots of garments, read lots of blogs, about Nani Iro double gauze fabric.  I've never sewed with it before.  I've got a couple of bolts of it (and more ordered) for my shop, so I think it's only fair that I give it a try to see what all the fuss is about.

Oh my goodness; this stuff is just wonderful.  It kind of reminds me of the softness of a high-quality knit as far as the hand, but sews like a woven.  I can definitely see a lot more garments made from this...to say nothing about the subtle designs in the Nani Iro fabric.  It's just beautiful.

I made a size 4 Oliver + S Bubble Dress.  The pattern was a long out-of-print, but now converted to a pdf for download.  People just raved about this pattern during the period it was out of print, so once it was available, I bought it immediately.  I didn't find a fabric that really called out "Bubble Dress" until this Nani Iro double gauze from the "Melody Sketch" line.

My daughter has an absolute full closet, so I decided on a size 4 thinking that it would be for next spring/summer.  The bodice fits really big now, but the length is actually good on my now 2 3/4 year old.  She's got a doctor's appointment this week, and I'm really interested to see where she fits in the height chart.....maybe a future basketball or volleyball player....unlike my other gymnast daughter!

I love this dress.  She liked it too.  I do believe it fit's into her "pretty dress" category.  We took a walk around our block, and stopped at our neighbor's wonderful flower garden.

This photo shows how much room is in the size 4, so it totally works as a dress with lots of growing room...

She really likes the style - pretty, yet still able to climb.....

 

I'm glad Oliver + S made all their older patterns available for download for those of us who got on the O+S train late!

A Quick Sailboat...

I've been really busy trying to get my shop up and running.  It's really a ton of work, but I'm really excited that it's heading in a good direction - we actually have some cool stock, are making sales, and am having fun working on this with my husband.  He calls himself the "unpaid intern" for the business.... but that's another story!

I took a couple of minutes to make a quick sailboat skirt from some fabric that I've had in my stash for years and years.  I'm pretty sure that it's from Osh Kosh - there was a time where I had access to buy Osh Kosh fabric, and I bought a ton of it for my oldest kids.  It obviously never got used....

It's a very heavy twill - probably more suited to shorts or pants, but my daughter insists on skirts and dresses.

I added some Riley Blake mini-poms around the edge....I love how they looked - and it dawned on me while I was putting them in that the little hats actually have pom-poms on them!  It wasn't really easy though to put these in - I inserted them just like you'd insert piping, but I think I need more practice....which, I'll most likely get because I think these are so cute it's worth it.

I didn't want to purchase any buttons, and had the choice between plain white, and the red anchor buttons in my button jar.  The white were too plain, and the red were too small, so I got out some super glue and glued them together....I lined up the holes with a pin and they went together perfectly.

The model was WAY less than cooperative this evening.....after school - before dinner.....not the best time to gain cooperation from a two year old!

I made this in a 3T - fits perfectly.  Next time, I might make a 3T and add an inch or two...

A Lazy Day for "Skirting the Issue"

I made a Lazy Day skirt today. It's a free download pattern from my all time favorite pattern company, Oliver + S.  It's for a donation to http://www.projectrunandplay.blogspot.com/ for their "Skirting the Issue" project for girls in foster care.

The skirt literally takes about an hour, if that.  The result is adorable:

The ribbon hem facing gives a perfect finish to the hem.  It's a great place to add some cool ribbon, if you have some in your stash.  I like the black for this particular skirt because I think it emphasizes the black in the butterflies.

I made this in a size 3 to be donated, and I've got another length of the same fabric cut to put together for a size 5 to donate as well.  This was graciously modeled by my daughter....who is not really a size 3 in the waist, obviously!  And, yes, I realize the shoes don't match, but they were her choice...

The fabric is from Valori Well's Cocoon collection (from here:  www.the-fabric-stash.com.)  If you know a girl (or anyone!) who likes butterflies, this fabric is for them!

I added a little tag to hopefully let some little girl (or at least her foster mom) know that we're thinking of them.

Guest Post at Project Run and Play - Skirting the Issue

Guest post today - nothing to do with sewing, but rather with foster care/adoption.

Any purchases from The Fabric Stash for the next 60 days will get $1 donation made to The Children's Law Center to help provide extra-curricular activities for kids currently in foster care - please buy, so we can donate!

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!