Gracious Threads Swimwear

I've had some trouble finding ready-to-wear swimsuits for Abigail. She is wearing size 5 or 6 for length, but everything sags, gapes, or falls off her very slim body! A while ago I measured her for a pattern and realized she has the same measurement for chest, waist and hips - which would be why everything slides off... So sewing it is (though why that is my last resort, I'm not sure! lol)

I found a really cheap rasher shirt at a (ahem) big box store for $7 and it was SPF50 fabric, so figured I couldn't sew for that. That was my starting point for a couple of swim sets.

First is the skirted bottom, made from Gracious Threads' Eclipse Tankini set. I made size 3. The tankini top has the peplum in the pattern, so I just took the waist cutting line from the size down and sandwiched the skirt between the waistband and the bottoms - worked perfectly!

Enclosed seams on swim bottoms
Here's something fun I learned the last bottoms that I sewed for myself! You know how the gusset seam of swim bottoms can be enclosed by sandwiching between the front outer and front lining of the suit? The same can be done with the side seams! This is a quick little mini tutorial on how to accomplish this.

It was a bit tricky to show this well so I took a quick video to hopefully make it a bit clearer.

Next up is also a Gracious Threads pattern, the Swim & Surf Shorts. I think this pattern is genius! Perfect for a little girl (or a big one, like me, for that matter!) Swim bottoms with attached shorts. Exactly what she needs for playing in the sand and a little extra coverage from the sun.  I'll update this post to include once they are finished!

Kids' Clothes Week Day 5

And leggings to round things out a bit! I'm happy both pairs ended up coordinating with her new top too. No modeling shots - she was done trying things on!

This pair turned out ok, though I'd intended more details so it would have more of a military style. The fabric was pretty substantial but turned out to be tricky to work with. Oh, well, at least she has a sturdier pair of leggings to wear with more dressy things (like her new Ballon Top!).

Details
Pattern: Fancy Little Leggings by Birdiful Stitches
Size: 2T (slim)
Mods: Used the 12mo size with the length of the 2T.
Fabric: Ponte de roma

This floral pair was a total fluke - walked past the remnant bin after getting my ponte de roma and there was this lovely floral french terry remnant. $2! I used about 1/3 of it, so I guess that means this pair cost $0.66...

It's Raining, It's Pouring! KCW Day 4

Well, not really. It sprinkled a bit this morning. My little puddle lover was excited to check out the new puddles - with the "bumbella"!

Details
Pattern: Free Perennial Tunic by SewPony
Size: 92/2y
Fabric: Cotton coordinates. Fell totally in love with the umbrellas and raining hearts last year and bought some even without a project in mind. :)
Mods: Not really any. Didn't have prepared bias tape so I cut a small length of white fabric on the bias and basically wrapped the underarm edge in it, then sewed it down when I topstitched the whole armhole next to the ruffle. Also, the facing didn't quite match up with the neckline so I had to alter it a bit.

Pockets! She does love her pockets.

Back button detail (I topstitched around the back placket for strength.)

Such a big umbrella for such a little girlie!

Spring! And KCW Day 1&2

Spring!

Today it's 19°C! No Coat Weather. I do believe it's spring here finally! Maybe those dirty piles of snow will take the hint soon.

I had the opportunity to test a pattern for Heidi & Finn, the Ballon Top - just finished today. Abigail fell in love immediately and we had to go for a walk in it right away.

I found this butter soft and drapey jersey and some pretty fairly stretchy dot lace at Fabricland. So thankful for my walking foot for such a thin knit. Most of the construction was done on the serger, just the hemming and gathering on the sewing machine. The patterns has some great tips for rolled hems and finished seams on a sheer fabric. The fit is spot on!

"See me finning, Mama!"  (spinning)

The Places You'll Go!

Finished another quilt to donate to the Pregnancy Care Centre! This makes the fifth, three of which were made mostly from fabrics generously donated by Fat Quarter Shop. The others were an I-Spy Quilt, Flannel Rail Fence, Disappearing 9-patch, and Green Eggs & Ham. Some babies and their mamas are going to be cheered up, I hope!

The fabric is some random Dr. Seuss fabrics by Robert Kaufman, plus some coordinating semi-solids. Suzanne very kindly quilted it with an all-over free motion loop pattern. Dimensions: 33" x 48.5".

The backing is pieced together of all the leftover pieces of Dr. Seuss fabrics. Nicely quilted, isn't it? Thanks, Suzanne! :)

(Not so) Skinny Jeans

Laura from Titchy Threads/CraftStorming has a new pattern up - her Small Fry Skinny Jeans in size 2T. I sewed along last week and am finally posting photos (new camera - yay!). (She will release a full pattern with more sizes in future.)

They are large. Not skinny (yet). And too long. But other than that, perfect! :)  Abigail will grow into them. Currently she's wearing 18months and some 24months in ready-to-wear.

I used some bargain bin fabric for $5/m - it's a lightweight stretch denim. The lining of the pockets and the waistband facing are scraps leftover from a home dec project. Plus a button and topstitching thread - total cost was under $7!

I made a template of the back pocket out of paper, drew on the design I wanted, then cut it out and traced onto each back pocket. Love how it turned out!

For the front pockets, I wanted a nice clean edge at the outside curve, so when I pressed the pocket I forced the lining to roll out at the inside curve. This project had several firsts for me - first time doing a half-fly, first time making manual buttonholes (without my magical buttonhole attachment :( ), first adjustable waistband.

This Titchy Threads pattern is well-written and drafted and I was able to follow the directions in reverse for a girl version, as she marked the differences. Definitely planning a second pair! In fact, I've already bought the fabric: kelly green twill with a green and yellow fabric for the linings!

A baby shower, Dino Dudes and Ooga Booga!

Last night I hosted a baby shower for a friend from church. It was lovely out, thankfully, so all 32 of us could sit outside in the backyard instead of being crammed in the (very warm) house.

This was baby Lyncoln's gift from me:

Details
Pattern: #7 Panda hooded jacket from Ottobre Summer 3/2012
Fabric: Michael Miller's Dino Dudes interlock and coordinating ribbed knit that I won from Fishsticks Designs a couple of years ago
Size: 62 (3mo)
Modifications: The only modification I did was to add a little reinforcement layer at the back neck, also perfect for size label. (I love that my set of stamps by Night Owls Menagerie includes birdie tracks, in this case, dino tracks!)

Really enjoying working with knits again! My serger is not though - it really needs a tune-up, but I have a hard time letting it go for 2-4 weeks because I use it constantly. It's skipping stitches and has a tension disk issue. Anyway, I made it work.

Abigail "needed" another dress, so I finally cut into my hoarded Ooga Booga (also from Bonnie's giveaway). She is very pleased with her "pitty dwess".

Details
Pattern: #5 Little Elephant hooded tunic Ottobre Summer 3/2013
Fabric: Purple and Pink Ooga Booga interlock, coordinating interlock for binding
Size: 74 with length cut at 86
Modifications: Same back neck reinforcement/size tag:

The Otto patterns I've sewn so far have been wide and short, so I chose the size that matched her chest and waist most closely, then the length for the size she should be in for her height. Ended up being more a dress than a tunic, but that's ok because the body is a bit roomy still so she can grow into it as a tunic. I think it will be adorable over skinny jeans and a long-sleeve top this winter!

Walking Bitty Baby

The elastic in the hem could have been a little tighter I think. My sewing machine does NOT like clear elastic tape. Took me nearly 2 hours to baste it into the seam allowances. Maybe a teflon foot would help. I love how it turned out, overall! I have some more knits that I've been hoarding - hoping to cut out some hoodies for all three kids soon!

A Curious Benjamin Party

Benjamin turned 4 today!  Last year I found Curious George party hats/plates/napkins for really cheap so Curious George was the theme.

The cake and cupcakes from the ideas here. Thanks to my mom for rescuing my near-fail icing attempts on the cake! I used mini Chips Ahoy cookies instead of mini Nilla wafers for ears - yummy change-up.

The monkey face expressions were so fun to do!

The backdrop is a yellow party tablecloth with red duct tape in stripes (idea here). A few yellow and red balloons, a card string, and two circle buntings completed the decorations. I printed some of the beautiful free papers by MelStampz here, cut them in two sizes of circles and layered them, with letters printed to size in a fun font for the top bunting, then the leftover papers for the longer one. I strung them through slits in the edges on a long length of curling ribbon - nice and sturdy, so we can use it again.

Benjamin helped me cut out monkeys from a google image search result to decorate the treat bags, as well as a bookmark for each bag (a pbs printable).

Lots of fun!

Bubble Pocket Shorts

LOVE this one! I'm so pleased with how these turned out. I hemmed and hawed for a very long time (months!) over whether to buy the Bubble Pocket Shorts pattern from Elegance & Elephants - Saturday I finally did!  And very happy I did - I sewed these up during naptime yesterday.

Details
Pattern: Bubble Pocket Shorts by Elegance & Elephants
Fabric: scraps of blue twill leftover from FIL's clown costume! Inner waistband is a scrap from a skirt of mine.
Size: 6m-12m
Mods: The only thing I did different from the pattern was to bind the legs with the cuff pieces, instead of sewing the cuffs on doubled and flipping the raw edges inside. I like the finish much better that way.

Not the best photo, but she adores the "pottets".

The lilacs are so pretty right now! Every time I step outside into a cloud of soft scent I just wish there were a way to make my house smell like that - but every "canned" scent I've smelled gives me a headache... I'll just have to enjoy it outdoors!

Watermelon Fun

Still stash sewing! I hope I can keep this up. I have been keeping track - so far, I have sewn over 18 yds from my stash and nothing new has gone on the shelf!



Today naptime was trying out this Swing Tank pattern by True Bias. I'm still looking for a simple top that might work with my child's huge head for the Wellen Tank.

Details

Pattern: Swing Tank

Size: 2T (fits quite well now, and she's wearing mostly 18mo)

Fabric: lightweight cotton print

Notions: purchased 1/2" bias tape, 1/8" elastic, daisy shank button

Modifications: I stopped the back seam 1/2" lower than the pattern directed, to allow for huge headedness. Also did not do the button loop of fabric, but rather an elastic loop.

 

 

The colours aren't quite true - it's more of a light lime. If I do use this pattern again, I might cut it longer so I can do a proper hem that will hang nicely. I also did not really like the bias tape facings for the armholes and neck. They did not lie flat - the culprit might be the lightweight fabric. I'd cut self facings next time, or bind the edges.

 

 

KCW Day 6 & 7 Bubble Dress

So. Day 6 & 7 were Saturday and Sunday - Saturday was crazy, so Sunday and Monday were Day 6 & 7 for me.   Mostly Monday. Heh. Such is life with little people (who are the very reason I'm sewing, I guess!).

Tea, Mommy?

Details

Pattern: "Pallohelma" from Ottobre Winter 2012/6

Size: 74

Fabric: remnant of navy/white cotton, white quilter's cotton lining/trim

I spraying wall, Mommy!

It's more a wide tunic than a real dress on Abigail, even this is her size by measurement. If I did it again, I'd do one size smaller for width and one size bigger for length. The pattern directions were for an invisible zipper, which I didn't have, so I had to try remember how to put a regular zipper in a dress with a lining. The instructions for sewing the bubble hem had me twisting my brain inside out. You basically leave a hole in the lining at one side seam, then gather the shell and sew the shell and lining together through that gap, "as far as you can reach". My first attempt ended up with the back of the dress somehow enclosed between the bubble hem! Rip. Then I just pinned the hems together from the outside - awkward, but I couldn't visualize it... Once part of it was pinned, I reached through the hole and was able to finish pinning and sew all the way around.

I expect she'll wear it over a long-sleeve shirt and leggings/tights this spring, then as she grows, over capri leggings, maybe no shirt this summer.

All done pictures, Mommy!

 

 

KCW Day 4 & 5

Insa again! I seriously love this skirt, from the book Sewing Clothes Kids Love. Lots of ways to customize it so they never look the same.

I was inspired by some of the details on the beautiful Insa Choochmagooz did during KCWC Fall 2010.

Insa by Choochmagooz

 More of that "Genevieve" by Amy Hamberlin for Henry Glass Fabrics (the fabric that never ends! But I still love it.)

 

Details

Pattern: Insa skirt from Sewing Clothes Kids Love

Size: 18mo/2T (86, I think?)

Fabric: "Genevieve" by Amy Hamberlin

Trims: grosgrain ribbons, hand-crocheted cotton lace and flower

Mods: Sewed casings under each of the overskirt seams, using strips of the same fabric, for the cinching ribbons.

  

And just because she's funny and cute: "Squishy Face!"