Word Up It's Word Girl!

I guess I like Halloween sewing.

Here's a few photos from the past few Halloweens....

Ok, so I didn't make the first one....but it's so cute I had to include it!  The only year that we didn't do trick or treat was when Julia was two...she was sick that year, sadly.

I could dig through my photo archives and find photos of my older kids....I recall a dalmatian, a bumblebee, and Humpty Dumpty.  Maybe I'll find photos of those in my spare time.

But, this year, Julia decided quite early who she wanted to be, and I knew it would be really easy - Word Girl from PBS Kids.  I actually love that show, so I was totally on board.

Here's the details:

I used Catalina knit from Robert Kaufman - I seriously love it!  It's 100% cotton and a great weight - perfect for this project.  The belt is Kraft-Tex paper fabric (which we sell in the shop) with a large grommet glued on.  The cape design was a great suggestion from Shelley at Bartacks and Singletrack to use the patter for the baby bib from Little Things to Sew by Liesl Gibson - worked perfectly!

Patterns used:

Playtime leggings from Oliver + S
School Bus t-shirt from Oliver + S
Cozy Winter Hood from Little Things to Sew
Messy Kid Bib from Little Things to Sew

A super easy costume! 

A Baby Gift for a Laker Fan....

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!

Kids Clothes Week - Summer Edition!

If you haven't heard, Kid's Clothes Week is having a summer edition!  They have a great new website that they're developing that is going to be AMAZING!  Their new website is www.kidsclothesweek.com - certainly worth a look when you get a chance.

I'm starting out really slowly this time.  For my first project, I made yet another gift bag...I swear I think we go to a birthday party or two every weekend.  I know my kid has a good time, so I merrily go along with her....to pool parties, reptile parties, amusement parks, gymnastics parties, and on and on and on...

 

This is it....this is all I've got and it's the end of day two, I believe.  During the week, I get really limited sewing time at the end of the day, cause, well, my kid expects me to pay attention to her.  So, I do.

This fabric is Anne Kelle's Girlfriend line - the most adorable princesses you can ever find!  Again, it's the Drawstring Bag from Little Things to Sew by Liesl Gibson.

I have another project - more exciting - cut out and ready to go.  Really, my goal is to get the other outfit done by the end of this week, and I'll be happy.   We'll see....

Saturday Sewing

So I had a productive day today.

My older daughter and her fiance - yes, there's a wedding coming someday - are attending a birthday party for a little boy turning two.  For some reason, they requested I make a shirt, with a giraffe, that said "tee-hee-hee".  No clue why, but that's what they wanted.

So, since I'm a long-time fabric hoarder, I was able to put together this t-shirt:

I used the Flashback Skinny Tee from Made by Rae.  I used a really nice, soft cotton interlock, I'm sure left over from my boy-sewing days.  The brown rib is a knit I have in my shop.  I had a remnant of a spotty cotton for the background, and the yellow is another nice, soft yellow interlock that I have about 3 yards of for some reason....

Anyways, I found an appropriate giraffe clip art picture, and did some reasonably good applique work.  It's hardly perfect - imperfect stitching, and slightly wonky neckline, but it's made by a human, so it is what it is!  As Julia's pre-school teacher says, "don't have a fit, you get what you get". 

I spent some time with my kid after making the shirt and sending it off to the party, and while she napped, I made yet another drawstring bag from LTTS.  This is for sure my go-to kid party gift as long as I have time.  This one is for one of my daughter's classmates who is moving out of town, so I wanted to be sure to make time for him.  Once I make the trip to Target, this will contain some type of Lego guys.....This is Kokka fabric from my shop, with some leftover black linen from my stash.  Every time I make one of these bags, I think "this one is my favorite..." - well, this one is a close second to the one I made a couple of weeks ago from Anne Kelle Girlfriend Princess fabric....

 

This may be all my sewing for the weekend, as we have a birthday party and basketball practice Sunday, but I feel good about my projects for the weekend!

Blog Silence...

So I haven't blogged in a little bit, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been sewing. I'm working on a fall jacket, made from Japanese canvas lined with Polar fleece. It's currently sitting as a UFO, but I'm excited to get it finished. I've just got to figure out a buttonhole solution on the heavy jacket...

 I tested a pattern for The Cottage Mama The Daphne Wrap Dress. The testing process was something I'd never been a part of on this level - she put a call out for testers, then invited you to a private Facebook group. She had four patterns that she was releasing, and a group assigned to each pattern. My assigned pattern was last, so I got to watch the process unfold. The three patterns seemed to go seamlessly (no pun intended) but when she got to the pattern I was working on, there were some glitches. I submitted my photo, and the designer wasn't happy - not with my work way the way the pattern turned out.  She didn't like the yoke length, (which hit at Julia' belly) and promptly re-did the yoke.

-

.Take two - went together really quickly, as I'd already sewed one!

Apparently, this was more like what the designer had in mind - a shorter yoke length.  The second time, I made a size 4 with the 5 length....much better than take 1!

Fabric for both dresses are from my shop....the top is Anne Kelle's Girlfriend line....absolutely ADORABLE princesses....some with blond hair, some with dark hair, glasses, etc.  I just LOVE Anne Kelle's designs!   The second dress is made with fabric from Moda - Boho by Urban Chiks.  The fabric has a great hand to it, consistent with all the Moda fabric I've used so far. 

I did applique on the yoke of both dresses, and, my kid likes them!  Apparently, they are comfortable to wear, which is half the battle with a 3 year old.

I also made a little gift bag from the Anne Kelle Girlfriend princesses....my standard gift for preschool birthday parties...from the Oliver + S Little Things to Sew....

I put some pink jewelry, a pink princess t-shirt, and some girly sunglasses.  The gift was very well received by the recipient!

My next project will be my entry into the Flip This Pattern competition over at the Frances Suzanne Blog - if you haven't read their blog, you should - it's the sewing adventures of sisters who sew for their niece....they are amazing sewists, and are running a very fun competition....I'm up in July, so the rest of June will be getting ready!  I've got something cool, and VERY unexpected in store!!!

Backpack, backpack....

So my daughter has been without a backpack all school year (pre-school).  She's told me a couple of times that the teacher told her she needed to bring a backpack.  And, yet, I procrastinated...

I had fabric in my shop that I fell in love with the minute I saw the sample at the Kokka distributor.  Sometimes, I fall in love with the Japanese novelty prints for no reason, but this time, I knew why I loved this print.  I knew it would make the absolutely perfect little girls backpack.

I took out my trusty go-to book - Little Things to Sew by Oliver + S's Liesl Gibson.  Really, my go-to for all my sewing between her book and her patterns.  But, for some reason, I didn't make my kid the backpack.  Maybe it was the zipper?  Maybe it was bag hardware?  I should have done this a long time ago.

 

I knew that I wanted the main fabric to be first and foremost in this project, so I chose a rather subdued beige cross-hatch fabric for the straps and lining.  Given the great instructions, the bag went together with absolutely no problem whatsoever.  The only change that I made was adding interfacing to the lining for a bit more structure.

The Kokka fabric I chose is the perfect weight for this project.  Sturdy enough to not be floppy, but not thick enough to cause any undue stitching woes.  I carefully placed the bears on the front to include complete bear-faces and a complete French phrase.   

Maybe someday I'll get to France....I'm such a sucker for anything French!

Here's the photo of my daughter wearing it....please forgive the early morning hair!

 

The backpack is the perfect size for a little kid.  I included an embroidered name label for the inside....not my best work, but perfectly suitable for a 3 year old!

The best compliment that I got was from my 23 year old daughter who says she wants one too!