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!!

KCW....Days 2, 3, 4....A Kokka Seersucker Flip!

I haven't had too much time to sew this week, even though it's one of my most inspirational sewing events...Kids Clothes Week.  What I made for the past several days is another version of my "flipped" Oliver + S Roller Skate tunic. 

I used some adorable Kokka seersucker from my shop.  I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it - it has teeny foxes and other indeterminate animals on it - Julia first said they were moles, then bunnies....well, here it is - you decide:

 

Here's the outfit...

 

My kid flipped out when she saw the shorts - not in a good way - and swore up and down that they were "brown" and that she wouldn't wear them.  She had to poll all her siblings and her father, then she believed me that they are not brown, but plum.  The shorts are made from the Oliver + S Bedtime Story pajamas pattern....I like using it for shorts because there's no side seam.  Julia quite likes the pockets on these, now that she believes that they are not brown.

 

 

I lined the tunic with a sheet I stole from my older kids....they never use the flat sheet, and this one was a nice light microfiber one - I bet it feels great on!

We just took a walk to the candy store down on Second Street - the "business corridor" in my neighborhood....she got a ton of compliments on her outfit while walking down the street....made me feel pretty good!

 

 

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....

"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....