Starting 'em early!

It might be somewhat surprising, but my son's pre-school classroom at the Google Childcare Center doesn't have computers for the children's use.  Instead, (and among many other awesome features, like a real woodworking station) they have a sewing station, with two regular sewing machines, an iron, fabric cutting table with a large Olfa mat, and a child-size dress form.  Overall, it's pretty much comparable to my own sewing workroom!  Actually, I don't even have a table for my Olfa mat--I cut on the bed or floor--so their set-up is better!
  
Today, the teachers sent us videos of the kids practicing with the sewing machines, investigating thread colors in the spool and bobbin, and testing out the various stitches (unfortunately, I can't share those outside of our classroom community, but trust me it was cute!).  It's incredible to see girls and boys learning this great art at such a young age--the same age I began sewing.

My own child has not shown much interest in sewing (yet!); instead, he's been hanging out at the woodworking station, sanding blocks of wood. And that's pretty cool, too.

(Another) perfect polo for my littlest man

Kids Clothes Week was just the thing I needed to get my mojo back.  I've been sewing a little bit, but I haven't felt like it was going well--lots of struggles, some unblogged failures, that darn washed fabric. For me, kid sewing is like down-shifting: the sewing is fairly easy and the pay-off is pretty big.  So far this KCW, I've already sewn some Oliver+S Field Trip cargo pants (made into shorts) for my bigger boy and some pajamas for both guys (all using up stash fabrics, hooray!), but this top is the one worth posting.  

The pattern is Blank Slate's Perfect Polo, and I've made this top here and here already.  It's a lovely pattern, but I always need to increase the length of the collar--it seems to be about 3/4-1" short in my hands.

For the fabric, I used more of my stash--the putty cotton/Spandex is leftover from an unblogged Julia cardigan.  It's super high-quality--medium-heavy weight, washes well and doesn't look like it will pill. My little guy wore this shirt all day to daycare (even playing soccer and taking a nap) before I took photos.  The cotton print is from the Mod Squad collection.

I kept the shirt modern and left off the buttons entirely.

I know he's mine, but could this kid get any cuter??

After getting back into my sewing groove with this cute top, I went back to some selfish sewing with great results--I'll share soon!

Christmas pajamas, a week late

Truly, I had every intention of making pajamas for my boys, but I just had to cut myself a little slack in the days leading up to Christmas.  However, the next three months are going to be busy, so I want to get all my loose ends sewn up (haha!) before it all starts.  Since I was so excited about the printed fabric (more about that later!), my big boy's PJs moved up to the top of the list.

Sewing pajamas is fun--they're fairly quick and super satisfying.  For the pattern, I used the Recess Raglan (with much narrowed arms) for the top  and the "Sleeping Johns" from Sew Liberated.  Since I needed some knit ribbing for the cuffs and neckline, I ordered up some fabric from Hart's (and got it the very next day!). I knew it was sold as a "tube" of fabric, but when it arrived, I realized it was the perfect dimensions for my skinny boy. So, I cut the top as a single piece (no side seams!), then stitched the underarm seams on the sleeves. Since the fabric is nice and stretchy, setting in the raglan sleeves was a cinch.  Serging the ribbing on such skinny cuffs was a whole different story, though!

Okay, so I bought the gray knit ribbing from Hart's, but the real story is the printed "Mod Fox" fabric. My son LOVES foxes.  His love of all animals is pretty huge, but foxes are at the top of the list.  So, Spoonflower to the rescue!  The hiding foxes, the red/green colorway...it was too perfect, and seriously worth the price of a yard of the organic knit.  And of course, he loves it.  He insisted on wearing the PJs all day, and really, I couldn't bear to stop him :)

I've been sewing a bunch of other things lately, some of which I may post, but this is likely my last official make of the year.  My sewing may slow down in the next few months, but I'm registered to take an actual, college-level class in patternmaking starting at the end of January, so I am super thrilled!  I'm looking forward to seeing what this year has in store!

Coastal Cargos and Recess Raglan, done!

I'll preface this post by saying that these may be the last two garments I sew for this particular child of mine. Granted, it's the end of a 10 week summer break, but the amount of grief I was given when asking said child to try on the clothes I had painstakingly made for him has convinced me to stick to selfish sewing for a while!  That face above?  That disdain is for real.  

On to the garments!  I am super pleased with how these Coastal Cargos turned out!  Style-wise, sewing for an 8 year old is tricky; you definitely don't want their stuff to scream "my mom makes my clothes!", so essentially I was aiming to make something you could buy at the store.  My son and I picked out the fabric together (Joann's), with some negotiation, of course.  We weren't going for the 'military fatigues' look, but there was a serious lack of better options at the store and he wouldn't even consider the rust colored version I had in mind.  

My son is super skinny, so I used size 6 for this pattern.  Most patterns have excess ease (and my French seams probably used more seam than they were allowed), so these pants fit him well right at this very moment, with little room to grow, unfortunately.  But hey, at least I have a younger son!

Melissa's directions were great and I loved all the details in the pants (Three different types of pockets, button tab for rolling up the pants, zip fly, belt loops...these pants have it all!)

In lieu of bias tape on the leg seams, I went with French seams, that I sewed down (topstitched).  Flat-felled seams were my original plan, but the FS seemed like it would be easier, and less finger-burn inducing.

Inside topstitched French seam, with button tab

Other edges were serger-finished

It's unlikely that my son will actually use this feature, but the pants roll up and are secured with a button tab!  It'd be great for wading in the ocean...like this weekend while I'm fabric shopping at Hart's....

At the last minute, I wanted to make a t-shirt to go with his new pants, so I downloaded the Recess Raglan Shirt, by See Kate Sew.  It's a great little pattern, and between my two boys will be useful for years, but the size 6 was pretty big all around for my guy.  Next time I'll size down and probably make the sleeves a little slimmer.  I started off with the elbow length, but they just looked comically large on my skinny guy, so I cut them back to short sleeves.

This morning, we carved potato stamps to look like animal prints and he used them to decorated his new top.  The boy loves his animals!

Pretty adventuresome looking outfit there!  He just needs his Adventure Bag and he's ready to go...back to school :)

P.S. The Coastal Cargos Sewalong is going on right now--you still have time to join in!

Coastal Cargo Sewalong (and some others)

There are a bunch of seriously exciting sewalongs going on right now.  Most started yesterday, but it's not too late to get on board!

Having received an early-warning notice from Melly Sews, I purchased the fabric for a Blank Slate sewalong:  Coastal Cargos (affiliate link).  The timing of this sewalong is perfect since school starts for my big boy next Monday.  The kids occupied themselves for a while and let me sew yesterday, so I managed to finish the welt pockets, slash pockets, zip fly, side seams and cargo pockets (so many pockets--a garment after my own heart!)  Here are some work-in-progress photos:

One of the welt pockets

Zip fly

Cargo pocket with button tab for rolling up the pants

After another productive sewing day today, I only have the hem and buttonhole left, and if I hadn't run out of thread, they'd be done!  

In other sewing news....

Thanks to Katie at Creative Counselor, I found Thread Theory Designs!  Menswear patterns that are hip and stylish!  Their Jedediah Shorts (or pants) Sewalong begins on the 15th (this Thursday!).  I snapped that pattern up the moment I saw it and I'd love to join in with that sewing event, but I'll need to convince the family that we should go to Santa Cruz so I can visit Hart's Fabric.  Since it's near the beach, it might not be such a hard sell!

If kids and mens wear aren't that exciting for you, Sewaholic is hosting a Saltspring Sewalong (starting yesterday).  I've been dying to try out one of Tasia's patterns, and this is a super cute dress, but GAH! I really must shift into sewing work-appropriate clothing for myself.

And then there are the 8 bagillion other patterns and ideas I have in mind, all competing for my attention:

• fabric arrived in the mail for the Bombshell bathing suit (not most seasonally appropriate, but...)
• Nani Iro fabric with a dress in mind (pattern drafting in the works)...
• This pattern, with no fabric in hand....
• And many others....

I need help--how do you keep track of and prioritize all the projects you have in mind?  

Geranium Dress 2: Variation and mini-tutorial

Front view

And now for something completely different!  I was in a pretty serious coral and pink rut (what I'm referring to as my Summer Collection :), so it was pretty fun playing with new colors.  With a second baby girl gift in mind, I searched through my stash to find something not-too frilly and found a long-forgotten piece of Moda cotton (Wee Woodland).  I'm a huge fan of yellow (my son reminds me daily that it's my favorite color), so this sunny yellow was the perfect match for the skirt.

Back view

Again, I used Rae's Geranium Dress pattern, with a small variation.  The bodice was expanded a bit, rickrack was placed in folds of fabric and sewn down.  Since I worked out the measurements (for 1/2" rickrack trim), I thought I would share in case anyone else wanted to try out this easy embellishment.  The directions are in the photo captions, so you can play along :)

1.  To start, add an additional 3/8" to the "fold" edge of the pattern piece.  This is the new fold line.

2.  Draw two new lines on the pattern:  the first 1/4" from the original fold line and the second, 5/8" from that line.  

3.  On the right side, mark the location of the new lines on your fabric at the top and bottom, within the seam allowance.  Flip the pattern, recenter and repeat for the left side of the bodice.

4.  Using the markings closest to the center front, press a crease.  Only the right side of the bodice is shown,  but repeat for the left side.

5.  Bring the newly creased edge to match up with the second set of markings.  The ruler is illustrating that the created pleat is 1/4" deep--don't iron on your ruler!

6.  Place rickrack into the crease, pin and topstitch along the edge of the crease.
 Repeat for the other side.

Then, continue with the rest of the pattern as directed!

After the SOSM, I feel compelled to show the inside seams of the dress--the shirt and bloomers were done in French seams.

Inside bodice

French seam and 3/8" double hem.

Bloomers were from Simple Sewing for Baby, by Lotta Jansdotter.

Bloomers: outside view

Bloomers: French seams inside

Now, I just need to find time to meet baby Yael.  Tonight, pattern making for a dress for me!

Gifts for baby girls: Geranium Dress

In the past two weeks, three close friends have given birth to baby girls.  With all the SOSM excitement and our vacation before that, I'm super behind in making gifts for the new babies.  And since I can't visit them empty-handed, I need to make something quick so I can hold those beautiful little bundles!

The first outfit was just finished, a variation on Rae's Geranium Dress (shirt length), with matching bloomers.  How much do I love that gray striped fabric (Dandi Flight by Jay-Cyn) for the skirt?  There was only 1/2 yard in my stash, purchased as one of many fabrics for a big boy quilt I have to make eventually, but I think this dress is a much better use for it!  The darker melon color of the midriff was leftover fabric from the necklines of my recent Roller Skate Dresses (here and here), and the bodice was the "runner up" fabric that I didn't end up using for that application.

For my version of the Geranium, I color-blocked the bodice and added piping to further define the midriff section. Because I wanted to keep the piping continuous all the way around, I had to alter the construction sequence a little bit.  In the end, I think it turned out really cute and worth the effort. Back view, with some vintage buttons:

The little bloomers are from a pattern in Lotta Jansdotter's book, Simple Sewing for Baby.  I didn't have enough melon colored fabric left to make the bias tape for the elastic casing and used white muslin instead.  I'm going to consider it a design feature--kind of ties in with the white piping :)

Unfortunately, I won't see baby Iva in this outfit for a while--it's size 6-12 months!

SOSM: Challenge #2, Roller skate Dress

Over the years, I've had the opportunity to make several Oliver+S patterns, but this one is definitely one of my favorites.  If I had girls, they would absolutely live in this dress.  The pattern itself is simple (only 5 pieces, including the button loop guide!), but there are so many ways to put your own stamp on it.   

For this challenge, I headed to the fabric store to provide the inspiration and I found it before I even walked in the door, on the sale rack.  I've been eyeing this sherbet-colored fabric for ages and once I spotted it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do--chevrons!  The end bolt just said 100% cotton and "Made in Switzerland", but it appears to be a yard-dyed, sheer voile or something even more lightweight.  I bought 4 yards (a steal at $5/yard!), enough for two girls' dresses and an as-yet-to-be-determined something for me :) The coordinating lining is a baby pink cotton lawn and the contrast neckline is solid quilting cotton. 

To create the bodice and skirt chevrons, I cut the pattern down the middle of the front, and along one of the elastic stitching lines, adding seam allowance where needed. Then each piece of fabric was cut individually to ensure that everything matched up.  I used the same technique as I did here, overlapping the pieces at the sewing lines and drawing the stripes right onto the pattern pieces before aligning and pinning to the fabric.  Here's a close-up of the chevron-matching detail (below is the back seam).

This fabric is sheer!  Therefore, French seams were really the only way to sew this dress and I used that technique for both lining and shell (aside from the armholes and neckline, since those curved seams had to lie very flat).  Unfortunately, it meant matching chevrons twice for every seam, but in the end, the results were so worth it!  The back seam, under the button opening, I used what I refer to as an "after the fact French seam" (officially, a mock French seam) since I couldn't do a true FS there. 

You can see through it!

The French seam along the waistband was tucked into and sewn inside the elastic casing, which helped keep the elastic from being visible from the outside. 

Front of the dress

Back of dress

I wanted the v-neck to echo the chevrons of the bodice, so I altered the original notched-neckline to a more continuous V shape.  

Front neckline

Back neckline

I finished the dress with a simple double-fold hem for both the shell and lining.  My original plan was to use the same fabric as the neckline for a band at the bottom, but after pinning it in place, I decided I preferred the airy lightness of the dress without it.

French seams and hems on the lining and shell fabric

Since my model has a younger sister, I couldn't make a pretty dress for one and not the other, so Miss Maiya also got a (much simpler!) sherbet-striped dress.  I started and finished that one in a few hours; needless to say, not having to cut and sew chevrons made for a much quicker construction (although I still used French seams)!  I'll post more photos of the second version soon.

For some reason, this photo reminds me of a Wes Anderson movie. They weren't thrilled to have been taken away from playtime with my sons for a photo shoot!