Lotus Pond Meets Oliver + S

When the fabric line Lotus Pond came out from Rae Hoekstra (shop link), I was immediately struck by the color palette.  I knew I had to test it out, you know, so I can vouch for it if someone asks....

I started with one of the more subdued prints, called Fluttering Fields.  It's a really sweet peachy pink, with teeny butterflies and flowers.  I knew the look I was going for; I wanted to make a 2+2 Skirt from Oliver + S.  I thought and I thought about what type of top - in the end, I decided with a modified Oliver + S Class Picnic top.  The top fabric is a really nice white cotton from Robert Kaufman - really, really nice quality.

You can clearly see my crappy ironing job at the bottom; I swear, it looks better in real life!  I used a blind hem stitch, and I really need to do some better steaming along the hemline.

Julia actually chose the really short sleeve length on the top, and I agree with her.  I'd wear it.  I added some decorative stitching around the bottom, because, really, I just can't leave well enough alone.  I was going to add butterfly embroidery (in lieu of the decorative stitching) but in the end, I like the way it looks.  In fact, I'm going to make a pair of leggings to go with the top to get some extra wear.

The 2+2 skirt is a size 3 with about 5" added to the length.  She's still wearing a couple of old size 3's and it fits her fine, but the length is super short.  I like the 2+2 skirt with the pleats stitched down, and not ironed like crazy.  Kind of more of a dropped waist effect.

As always, here's the overload of modeled shots....

We're getting near the super-crazy end of school here - school play, dance recital, and the start of summer activities - beach, concerts in the park, all the good stuff!

KCW - Days 2 and 3 - Hello Petal Meets The Geranium

I got to sew all day today.  That is, the hours while the kid was in school.

I had already cut out a dress from the Geranium Dress pattern from Made By Rae.  I've made a bunch of these previously, and they're all in heavy rotation.  A simple sew, but a very effective pattern.

Julia's still wearing a couple of the size 3's that I made previously, and they still fit, but are getting too short.  So, I lengthened the bodice about 2 inches, and the skirt about 4 inches.  Perfect fit!

I've actually got a 3 inch hem on this, so she can have another growth spurt if she likes!

The fabric is from Moda - Aneela Hoey's Hello Petal line.  I love her florals - and I really love the colors.  This is a better view of the fabric - ignore the cheesy camera face....

I did an embroidered panel on the front and back.  I actually did the embroidery last week - it took me a whole morning. 

Sparkly buttons on the back for my sparkle loving kid....

This is a great pattern.....I highly recommend it!

Believe it or not, I have no clue what I'm going to be making for the rest of KCW - I have a bunch of ideas, though....stay tuned!

A Classic Chickadee

Here's my post from the "Flip This Pattern" over at Frances Suzanne - the voting is open now!!!

 We live in Southern California, and the weather turned COLD a few weeks ago - I think it dipped down to 50....ok, so that's not cold by most people's standard, but for the thin-blooded Californians, it was freezing....it made me realize that my daughter actually didn't have a jacket!  So there was my inspiration for my flip.

I've always loved the classic look of the little girls woolen coat with a velvet collar.  So, since the beautiful Chickadee pattern has an amazing collar feature, I figured I would make it into a jacket.

I made this with red wool from Moda from my shop.  I have never attempted sewing with wool, and after this experience, I have no idea why!  It sewed up beautifully.  I fully lined the jacket with satin - my first experience with sewing satin as well.  Suffice to say, I will NOT be starting a business making bridesmaids gowns after this - although the result was really nice, it was not that easy to sew.

I added wrist bands to make it more jacket-like, added pleats on both sides of the lower front to make it even more swing-y.  I hand-sewed a snap to close the neckline, and made a trip to the garment district in Los Angeles to get a frog closure.  I knew that would be the look I wanted to complete the "classic" look I was going for.

For the skirt, I had a perfect plaid in my stash.  I knew that my kid likes skirts that "twirl", so I decided that I would make a wrap/pleated skirt.  I lopped off the pattern pieces, and added a pleated lower skirt. 

To complete the look, I made a white t-shirt with the Made By Rae Flashback Skinny Tee pattern, and as a nod to the Clever Charlotte pattern designers, came up with the perfect creation:

I appliqued the Clever Charlotte logo onto the shirt - I was very pleased the way it came out!

Thanks SO much to the Clever Charlotte pattern designers for making such a great pattern - if you haven't sewn with them before, you should definitely try them out - the patterns are so cool, and the instructions are GREAT!  And, thank you, thank you, thank you, to Ashley and Emily from Frances Suzanne for asking me to participate!

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!

A Sunflower Geranium.....Or, Too Many Geraniums?

I just completed my third Geranium.  So, how many is too many?  The pattern has been out how long - a couple of months? 

I made my first one from Aneela Hoey's Posy line...

I made the second one from some black and white seersucker - and added an applique...

For my third, and maybe final, I used some red and white polka dot fabric from Robert Kaufman that has been in my stash for at least 10 years.  I made this in the tunic length, with the pleated front.  I added a sunflower embroidery on the front.  I don't know - are the pre-school fashion police going to notice that she has three dresses out of the same pattern???

For the seersucker one and the polka dot ones, I doubled up the sleeves rather than use a single layer of fabric and zigzagging the edges...I used a contrast fabric on the tunic, and I like the way it looks.

I really, really like the tunic length - my plan is to make some natural linen shorts for the summer to go with this....how cute will that be?

My child was not really in the mood to model, so I bribed her with some chocolate morsels - yes, I did! - and these are the photos I got....

I may have to give this pattern a rest for the remainder of the season, but I just realized that I hadn't made the cap sleeve version....or the notch version.....so, maybe just one more....

And, the reason that I've made all these is that the extraordinarily picky child actually wears them!

A Seersucker Geranium

I knew I'd make more dresses from the Made By Rae Geranium dress pattern after the first one I made got such good reviews from my kid.....meaning, she actually chooses to wear it voluntarily...

I bought some seersucker at Joann's - a store I typically stay away from for fabric, but it seems like every time I go there for notions, something jumps into my cart - especially with their 50% off coupons....which makes you think how much they really pay for their fabric if they can still sell it to you for 50% off and make a profit....


 I appliqued a heart in the center of the bodice, and also used red buttons on the back for some interest. 

 Shoes and jewelry chosen by Julia...obviously!

Pretty dress, and works for the playground too...

 

 I have another one - tunic length - cut out and sitting on my cutting table calling my name....

A Posy Geranium!

I've been seeing so many adorable Geranium Dresses in the Geranium dress Flickr pool.  So, in spite of the fact that I need another pattern like a hole in the head (as my father used to say!) I broke down and downloaded it.  What I loved is the fact that it is exactly the type of dress my dress-wearing child likes - a gathered skirt, no sleeves, and pockets.  How could I go wrong?

Well, really, I couldn't go wrong.....

I chose some adorable, soft, sweet fabric from Aneela Hoey's Posy line from Moda.  I love the teeny bunnies!

There are a few shades of pink on a very pale lavender - perfect for my girly girl....I did some embroidery around the neckline to add detail and emphasize the really sweet neckline....

So, here's where I went wrong - the front and back are cut from the same pattern piece - one on the fold for the front, and the back not on the fold.  When cutting the piece for back, I laid my front piece on the fabric and cut around it.  Well, I also sliced a hair's worth of fabric off the fold, resulting in a gaping hole down the front of the dress.....I kind of figured I could hide the mistake in the pleats and just sewed a very narrow seam down the front.  Kind of ugly really....and, next mistake, I sewed the pockets too close together and am way too lazy to pick them out and re-do them.

Other than my mistakes, the pattern is wonderful!  Great options for flutter sleeve, sleeveless, and a faux cap sleeve - all great options for my sleeve-hating child!

The fabric is wonderful - very, very soft base cloth, which would be great for girls clothing or an amazingly soft quilt.  This dress is a size 3T with 4T length.  Fits exactly like my kid likes it.

She loves the dress and won't take it off....success!!

KCWC - Days 3 & 4 - Beaucoup de Flashbacks!

So, days 3 and 4 of KCWC are workdays.  I work about 10 hours per day, so there was really not a lot of time to sew.  What I did was use a pattern I had purchased a while ago, but not used to make a bunch of shirts - something my kid actually does need.

I was lucky enough to be a tester for Made By Rae's Washi dress, so I know how much thought and detail she puts into her patterns, especially the sizing.  So, for the Flashback Skinny tee, I trusted Rae and measured my daughter and decided to use a size 2 pattern, but lengthen the body by 3 inches.  It worked perfectly.

I was able to make all these shirts using only fabrics I had in my stash.  My oldest daughter is/was a gymnast, so I've got tons of cotton lycra left over from leotards.  Both of the floral shirts are the really stretchy knit with spandex.  The turquoise stripe and the Minnie Mouse fabrics are both interlock, and the grey is a really soft rib knit.  I applique'd the bold "J" on the stripe because after I put it together, I thought it needed something extra.

They're not hemmed yet because my plan is to take out the twin needle and hem them.

Here's the individual photos:

My favorite is the peach floral, but the gray one is a shirt that I'd wear for myself.

Now, on to the last project (or two)......

KCWC - Day 2....Sunday Brunch and a Flashback

I took off sick (cough, cough) and was able to put together a skirt and a knit top for the fall.  My idea for this outfit is to pair it with some grey tights, and some black boots to complete the outfit.

The skirt is a canvas-weight cotton from Kokka.  I would say it's a bit lighter than denim, but not a fabric that's going to be a flow-y, spinning skirt that my 2 year old likes.  I think this fabric would also make a really cool tote, or backpack.

I'm really lucky to be able to personally go to the one distributor for Kokka fabric in the U.S. as they are based about 15 minutes from where I live.  I get to go, and browse through all the Kokka, Nani Iro, etc. fabrics and order for my shop.  It's very dangerous, as much as I love Japanese fabric!

The fabric designer is Yusuke Yonezu.  Here's more info about the fabric line:  http://www.trueup.net/2011/quilt-market/fall-quilt-market-2011-kiyohara-nakaniwa-by-yusuke-yonezu/


Here's the skirt:

There's little things about Kokka fabrics that I love - here's a picture of the selvedge:

I have no idea what I'd ever do with that selvedge, other than maybe a label or a trim, but it made me happy.

The top is the Flashback Skinny Tee from Made by Rae.  This is a really nice, downloadable pattern.  I've made about a bazillion t-shirts for my older kids (usually using Kwik Sew patterns) so I'm not afraid of knits and know how to apply ribbing.  I used a really soft grey knit, and I think I may make another in a turtleneck out of the same fabric.

My next project for KCWC is several more Flashback Tees in an assortment of fabrics and colors....stay tuned!