Raglan Re-Do

Over at the Oliver + S blog, they've been doing a series of posts about changing up their raglan t-shirt pattern.  There's a whole bunch of great ideas there, but the one that got me going was the color blocking one.

Now, I've made probably a bazillion raglan t-shirts in my sewing career.  I've sewn with knits for years, and the raglan t-shirt pattern from Kwik Sew (my back-up go-to pattern company) was a staple of mine.  There's something really satisfying in making up one of these t-shirts; they're so quick, and I've never had one rejected by any of my kids for not being comfortable/stylish or any other reason.

Well, one of my co-workers went on a six-week visit to her home in India.  Lucky woman.  I really don't even know how you return to work after being gone 6 weeks.  She brought me back a lovely bag:

I, however, am not a funky bag type of person.  I have one purse, that I use until it dies.  Then, I buy another.  I don't change bags to go with what I'm wearing - I generally wear black, and my purse is always black.  Yeah, boring, I know!  Well, when I looked at this bag, I thought about what I could turn it into....and, after cutting it up into strips, came up with this:

 

My original idea was much more ornate, but when I put the trim on the sweatshirt, I knew simple would be better.  I used some wonderful cottony sweatshirt fleece.  I bought it at least 19 years ago from a shop in Toronto.  I used to go there all the time, and bought many, many meters of his wonderful fleece.  I still have about 3 yards of a light blue left, but this little bit of the off-white is the last of this.  I really feel like I'll never find fleece as nice as this ever again.

I added a hood to the size 6 t-shirt.  I knew I had to go up a couple of sizes to accommodate the heavier fabric.  I also made a bit of a high/low hem to make it a bit more girly.  I used a hood from a Kwik Sew pattern I had for my older kids and the size  6 hood fit EXACTLY in the neck for the raglan.  Yes, meant to be!  I lined the hood with some random cotton print I had, and I think it works.

The sweatshirt is perfect for a gray morning on the beach.  I walked along the beach with Julia this morning, and based on her request, I may add a kangaroo pocket to the front.  I believe I can squeeze one out of the remnants.

 

I'm really, really happy with the way this turned out!

Back in the saddle....

I feel like I haven't made anything for such a long time....

For the past two months, I've been working a ton, and our little fabric business has been very busy.  Since I'm a person who definitely needs 8 hours of sleep, something had to give.  Unfortunately, that was my time for sewing....

But, I managed to find time this weekend to make a quick t-shirt for my kid to wear for the Christmas season.  I used the Oliver + S Field Trip raglan because I've made it previously and I know it fits perfectly.  I'm kind of a sucker for red and pink together, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to actually work in an embroidery design.

Had I given it more thought, I would have added about 3 inches in length in the hopes that she could wear this again next year.  This is a size 4, and there's plenty of room in the width, but the 4 is the exact right length now...after taking this lovely picture, we proceeded to make homemade fudge, so now the shirt is in the washer in hopes that chocolate will come off.

Next on my agenda was an outfit for another member of our family - our little terrier, Sadie.  Since the weather got freezing cold - 50's - by California standards, and it actually rained yesterday, Sadie needed a jacket.

I made her a little sweater last year, but it's no where to be found.  So, she gets a lovely pink one made from fleece remnants left over from last year's Christmas pants I made my older daughter.  The dog is less than impressed, and has spent the rest of the morning in my closet....

I finished off a skirt that I started about a month ago - a very clever pattern from Wink Designs.  It's a faux wrap as the inner skirt is all enclosed.  I made this in a size 4, and in this case, I think I'm going to re-make it in a size 3, as it's all over too big.  It's really, really clever, and I'm definitely going to make another!

Hopefully, this little bit of sewing will get me back on track!

Doguincho's Bubble Shorts

One of the cool things about the sewing/blogging world is making new acquaintances.  My shop recently gave away a prize over at Frances Suzanne's Flip This Pattern series.  The winner of the prize was Marta, who blogs at Doguincho.  She won for her absolutely adorable flip of Elegance and Elephant's Bubble Shorts.  We corresponded a bit about her prize, and I drooled over her blogged creations.  Then, she asked me to test her very first for sale pattern - Bubble Shorts!

She sent me the pattern, and I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use - there was some Kokka Kiyohara seersucker with adorable giraffes calling my name that I had in my shop....

I used another seersucker from Kokka previously, so I knew that it washed great, it stayed seersucker-y after ironing, and seemed really comfortable to wear.

The pattern sewed up very easily; I had asked Marta about the sizing, and she mentioned that the undershorts ran a teeny bit small, so I chose to use a knit for the undershorts.  Good decision!  It was no problem using two types of fabric in the construction.  The pattern went together beautifully; all the seams are enclosed nicely, so the inside looks as good as the outside.

I paired the shorts with a super-easy raglan tee - the Field Trip raglan by Oliver + S.  You really can't go wrong with their patterns.  I used one of my husband's well-worn t-shirts for the white jersey, and the same light blue jersey that I lined the shorts with for the sleeves.  The giraffe was made from a scrap of fabric leftover from my last project - I just love it when you can make an entire shirt out of scraps! 

I appliqued the giraffe from a coloring book clipart that I easily found in Google images - a great source of applique ideas if you are ever in search of.  I used an old embroidery trick, and used a brown sharpie to color in the spots and his eyes....much easier than trying to stitch them on!

My kid really liked the entire outfit and was in the mood to model, so get ready for photo over-load...

Thanks Marta for asking me to test these for you....now go buy her pattern!!