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!

Testing....The Hanami by Straightgrain!

Do you follow An from Straightgrain?  She blogs from Belgium, and makes the most adorable clothes for her daughter.  I think she likes the same type of fabrics and style for her daughter as I like for mine.  Her Tinny pattern is being "Flipped" over at Frances Suzanne this month - there's some amazing flips, and great creations in the Sew Along....there's still time to enter - and I happen to be one of the judges!

Well, An put out a call for testers for a new top/dress pattern that she was working on, and I was lucky enough to participate!  Here's the top, modeled by her absolutely adorable daughter - in some beautiful Nani Iro fabric no less:

 

She sent us off the pattern, and I got to work....so, what fabric to use?  Well, I knew that I was for sure going to be doing the flutter sleeve dress version for Julia, because that's what she likes.....no tunics for her!  

I chose a Japanese fabric from my shop - it's from Westex, and it's totally cool - there are bears, owls, squirrels, birds, mushrooms, bats....but, at the same time, it's very tastefully done.

Anyways, here's the modeled shots of my version of the Hanami dress - this is a size 4, and she definitely has room to grow, so this will last a while:

 

The dress, while simple to make, has two sleeve options, the length option, and ties on the sides.  I decides on a screaming orange contrast, mainly because, well, I like orange, plus my kid has some orange sandals.  She LOVES the dress - so much, in fact, that I made another:

 

This time, I used an aqua baby-cord that I had in my stash.  I added pockets on the sides, and a really bright pink bias contrast.  I was, again, very pleased with the result.  I think my favorite detail of this dress is the sweet "v" in the back. 

So, two dresses that my kid really loves - success!

Thanks An for letting me test the Hanami!  I bought the Tinny pattern before it was even getting "Flipped" at Frances Suzanne.  I'm going to make the circle skirt version real soon - just have to decide on fabric!

My Final Roller Skate Dress...

Well, for now.

My kid now has three Roller Skate Dresses, and two Roller Skate Tunics.  Enough already.

This one is meant for the first day of school - this year, Julia is going to a new school.  She's spent the last two years at a great school, but now she's going to head off to the Montessori school that her brother attended.  I'm really a believer in the whole Montessori thing, especially for a kid like mine who has a November birthday, and won't be eligible to attend kindergarten until she's almost six.  I worry that she'd get bored with yet another year of the same pre-school stuff.  I hope I'm making the right decision....

Anyways, I decided to make a dress based on what Julia's working on right now - writing her letters.  She can pretty much write her name so that someone could recognize it, and she can identify a few letters, every once in a while.

The dress, again, is the Oliver + S Roller Skate Dress.  This is made in a 3T, out of a lightweight stretch corduroy, lined with a bed sheet that I'm now using to line just about everything.

So, I can make this dress with my eyes closed.  For this one, I decided to add a practice writing paper border which I painstakingly satin stitched over a couple of days.  The letters are not perfect.  But, neither are my 3 year old's!

It's really soft and comfortable, and since I know my kid likes this pattern, I was pretty sure she'd be up for a modelling session...which, she was!

The back has a really cool pink button with little beads that go around that I've been hoarding in my button stash forever....this was the perfect project for it!  Again, I used a little hair elastic instead of trying to make a button loop out of fabric - it's much easier, and looks really cute.

Here's a close-up of the satin stitching - hardly perfect, but does work.....

I've got a bunch of other back-to-school projects piled up and ready to go....ready for a new school year!

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!

 

 

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....

Flip This Pattern!!

My Flip is up!

Go to Frances Suzanne to see all the details and why the heck I made my kid this outfit!

Should I Cheer, Or Should I Play?

First, as bit of a prelude, watch the above video...

This flipped creation was designed by my three-and-a-half year old.  I told her I was going to be in a contest to "flip" a pattern - specifically, the Roller Skate Dress and Tunic by Oliver + S.  Since I already had two Roller Skate dresses in her closet (one well worn, and the other barely worn) I showed her the dresses, and asked her opinion as to what I could make it into.

She requested a cheerleader outfit.

Which brings us to the debate.  Julia says she wants to be a cheerleader.  Whenever she says that, to anyone in our house, we groan.  No offense meant to any past or future cheerleaders, but why would you want to cheer for someone doing a sport - wouldn't you rather do the sport yourself?  Yes, I have this philosophical debate quite often with my three-and-a-half year old....

So, I made her both - an outfit to CHEER, and an outfit to PLAY!

 

Here's the pieces:

For the "Flip" part, I embellished the top with some heavy duty applique work.  For anyone who doesn't happen to be a basketball fan, this is the logo of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. I removed the cap sleeve, added my daughter's favorite sleeve - the flutter sleeve.

 I changed the elastic casing to elasticize only the sides, and added ties.  For the shorts, I used the Oliver + S Sleepover Pajama bottom pattern piece.  I eliminated the waistband, and it turned out to hit my daughter exactly where she likes to wear her shorts; not too high on the waist.  For the skirt, I used the Oliver + S 2+2 pattern, and embellished the bottom with grosgrain ribbon.  The fabric for the top is Robert Kaufman Kona cotton - the skirt and shorts are a cotton twill.

Basketball button on the back, tattoo on the arm.....ready to Play....or Cheer!!

Thanks so much to Emily and Ashley of the famed duo of Frances Suzanne for inviting me to play along!  I seriously appreciate it - and, I had a ton of fun!!