Finished.

All six pairs.
Three different pattern sizes.
Three bobbins of thread.
Two mornings of sewing.
I hope they fit each little person they are intended for.

sewing weekend

I'm sewing!  It all happened at once - yesterday I made a cutie-cute skirt and today I made 4 (not a typo) pairs of jammy pants.  The smallest pair is 12 months and the other three are size 3T and 4T.  I need to make two more pairs of jammy pants by next weekend - you will get to see why later.

Sewing School

It's been over a month since I last posted on this blog.  Oops - not sure what happened there.  I guess we have just been really busy.  It's true.  So, it's time to play catch up, and I was thinking this would be a perfect place to start.  Sewing school currently has ten students.  All girls, seven 7-year olds and three 5-year olds.  Our last session was on Friday, and the girls made their first stuffies.  They drew their own design, colored it wtih crayons, sewed it to a piece of felt and stuffed it.  This is Emma's Georgia O'Keefe inspired pillow (she learned about O'Keefe last year during our art week in kindergarten and she still makes O'Keefe flowers regularly).  She also made a little kitten and a hamster (not sure where those are hiding).  We have had five sewing sessions now and the girls are really doing well.  I noticed this last session that once they have the instructions, they really work on there own with the sewing part.  They thread their own needles, tie a knot at one end and go to work.  Emma likes to have me add a few stitches to all of her work (some more than others).  The girls have made a needle case, a pin cushion, a bookmark, a bag and now a stuffie.  I love it.  We won't meet again until after school is out, but I have plans for our next few projects already.

Progress

I have been planning this quilt for several months, if truth be told.  But, sometimes things take longer than you expect, especially with holidays and birthdays and little ones and such.  Fortunately, things are coming together now, progress is being made.  This one is for Emma.  The gold blocks highlight the gold that is found throughout each of the other blocks in the quilt.  The lavendar color is perfect for her room.  She only just realized that this was for her and she seems pretty excited about that.  I need to find a sheet to use for the backing before I can sew it together, turn it and hand quilt it with lavendar ties in each of those gold blocks.  So, really the ties will take some time (at night, on the couch, after the girls have gone to bed), but I now feel like this one is almost finished.  There is fabric and batting awaiting it's turn next - a quilt for Miss Sophie.

a skirt by accident

This skirt was made using my still favorite skirt pattern from this Japanese sewing book.  This is the first spring/summer version of this pattern for me, and I love it just the same.  However, this fabric took a long and windy road to become a skirt for Sophie.  Originally, I bought the fabric to make a skirt for Sophie, but Emma saw it and wanted a skirt from it, and Sophie liked Emma's fabric so I said okay, ironed the fabric and cut out the pieces for a size 120 skirt (best part of the pattern, it goes to size 140).  However, I forgot to add on the seam allowances (an important step when using Japanese sewing patterns).  It still looked to be large enough as the girl is still rather petite.  At least, things looked good until I needed to fold the back top to make the casing for two rows of elastic - oops!  There wasn't a seam allowance added for that and I would have to cut more than an inch off the length to make it happen.  So, Emma and I had a talk about what happened, she dug through my stash to pick out her new favorite skirt fabric and I made the cuts and eventually finished a spring/summer skirt for Sophie (the original intended owner).  I suppose it was fate.

Now - why I love this pattern so much:  the front pleats and the elastic being restricted to the back only makes this skirt look so much more polished and finished and almost professional.  It doesn't take that much more time to make and the sizing really works for my kids (when I do it right).

Christmas Jammies 2010

I don't know why it looks that way, but Emma's pants are not backwards or hiked up unnecessarily high.  But, yes - these are the new jammies for the girls.  Flannel pants and cotton tees with a matching patch.  I think this is my favorite pattern for jammy bottoms now - McCall's 5744.  I need the next size up as Emma has maxed out the pattern capabilities and I think it's 99 cents right now at JoAnn's - a trip there may happen tomorrow, during football or something.

Some "mama-mades"

Well, there has been a little sewing going on around here. Emma is tough to buy pants for. I think I have bought and returned six pairs this fall. Emma would really like a new pair of jeans, but even with adjustable waistbands (the adjustment just makes for a lot of bunching, if you ask me), it is still hard to find good pants that fit. But leggings, well - we usually do nicely with those. So, she has a few, and I really wanted to try making a pair on my own. I traced a pair that I really like and fit her well. They happened to be bootcut, making them look a bit more like regular pants, which is nice. Then I made these:


I decided that working with knit fabric wasn't always too bad, so I also wanted to try a dress. I found this Burda 9565 pattern to be simple enough, once I decided to scrap the pockets. They would have been cute, but the edgestitching was not going well. I like the dress and loved making the neckline - I was a bit frightened of that part and there was no need. It's a really cool construction and I feel much more confident with knits now that I have these two experiences under my belt.

Paint and a dress

I had purchased this corduroy fabric a couple years ago (oops!), intending to make a dress with it. It sort of got lost in the pile for a while, though I always knew it was there. I decided to finally cut the pieces a couple weeks ago, but since it is for Sophie (who doesn't need any clothes the way Emma does), it just sat there. Until today. Thanks to the serger, it came together beautifully in less than 45 minutes from start to finish. It's made from the Leila & Ben Sweet Little Dress pattern that I also purchased (and have used a lot) several years ago. This is the biggest size the pattern comes in, which completely breaks my heart. I love this pattern - maybe L&B will work on adding a few sizes...

Anyhow, it is corduroy and very fall/winter in color so it was easy to put this off for so long. But now Miss Sophie is going to have a super cute little dress to wear when those first cold days roll in. Oh, and she may be wearing this to a different preschool altogether! More on that after we make a final decision this weekend.

On another note, the right side of this picture includes a snippet of our new wall color. This color is called Tan Hide and we used Miller Paint's Acro-Pure paint. Andy is picking up some Sangria today so that we can paint the playroom-gymnasium-office of the future.

The knit skirt

Well, here it is - my new knit skirt. It has a foldover waist band, and a double hem line made by using a twin needle. The pattern came from the book "Sew Liberated", which has lots of other nice projects as well. The fabric is cotton/bamboo blend knit and it is incredibly light and airy. And wonderful - if only it would get hot here sometime soon so that I can put it on.

Making

This is a braiding star, by Biber - I included a link to them in my last post. It is incredibly simple and perfect for Emma - she tends to like instant gratification as much as the next person. She asks to learn to knit, works at it briefly, then puts it away for many weeks before showing interest again. The first time I tried to teach her to knit, she became very upset when I told her she would need to practice for a while before she would be able to make a sweater for Teddy. This is not lost on me, I started by working on the 20 stitches my friend cast on for me, and about 20 rows into it I decided it was time to move on and actually MAKE something. So, I did. Therefore, when Emma expects to be able to really create something (she has also asked how long it would take to make a blanket for Teddy) in a super quick fashion, well, I get it.

In the meantime, I am enjoying this opportunity to watch her little hands at work.

ps - Emma is wearing her spring jammies from the Easter basket in these pictures.

edited - I have to add that I bought two of these and as of this morning, when Sophie mastered it, all four girls in my house this weekend are loving the braiding star. I have been asked by everyone why I didn't get four of these.

When Sophie was sick last week...

...I made this for her. She has named her Olivia and really likes that her clothes match her Elsa doll. I already had the body sewn and stuffed, she just needed a head, some hair and facial features and of course, an outfit. She's made following the pattern by Hop, Skip, Jump - the Poppy Doll. I really like this pattern and love the way she is stuffed and sewn as compared to other dolls I have made. And the head attached the same as the Waldorf doll, giving her a neck and shoulders - great for clothing. Anyhow, it appears that Sophie wants her to be decorative and has placed her on the dresser in her room. She does look cute there, next to the Matroyshka sisters nesting dolls she got for Christmas.

Japanese sewing patterns

They make me crazy. I cannot read Japanese patterns, so it really befuddles me as to why I decided to buy a sewing book in Japanese last year (I have since bought two more). I do have the good fortune of having a friend who does read Japanese and sews as well (this is her etsy shop), and she so kindly helped me out. That was how Emma's old blue flower skirt came about, though it was a little messy as this pattern used a few new-to-me techniques.This is my second time using this pattern, and now I love it. I think the skirt has a much more finished look and it's really easy, now that I get it.

This skirt may not be finished. Emma and I have discussed some options - a flower ribbon trim at the bottom, a pocket, a plain cream ribbon trim, or some cream colored crochet flowers sewn along the bottom hemline. I also thought some old doilies would be cute along the bottom. We are thoroughly inspired by this skirt.

Allow me to introduce you

This is Elsa Doll. I made her for Sophie, for her birthday. She is modeled after a doll that I found on another blog and etsy. I just couldn't justify the price tag, but I really loved the doll. So, I decided to make one. First, I drafted a pattern (sketched one on graph paper, and then drew lines for cutting). Then, I headed out to the shops to collect the materials - I already had the right fabrics, but I needed some carded wool for stuffing and the right wool felt for her face. Really, that's it. She's sweet and Sophie loves her so much. She tells me all the time: "Mom, I really love my Elsa Doll." I think she knows what that means to me, because really - she tells me this all the time. She knows.

Elsa is starting to look a little sad. She has some dirty spots on her body that need washed. But, to get her away from Sophie long enough - well, it just hasn't happened. Maybe we can get her cleaned before her grandparents arrive.

Emma asked for one too. I made her one, and she likes it but she has Teddy and she hasn't shown it the same love as Sophie does. I also made one for a niece of mine.

Playing along...

I have plans in the works as it is. So, this is really convenient and maybe it will get me moving a little faster with my project. I'm planning on it anyhow. Maybe I can show some sneaky peaks soon too. Time to get started...

Hoping to catch up

Now that the girls are in school again, I should find myself with a little time to finish some things up, right? Mind you, they do not have school at the same time. In fact, on the days that Sophie has preschool, Emma and I park at the preschool parking lot and walk to kindergarten through the wetlands boardwalk, then I walk back immediately to pick up Sophie. That little walk back is my only time without kids, and it happens twice a week.

I do have a few "first day of school" pictures, but I will have to share those later. They are still in the camera. For now, I am sharing this picture from our trip to the wedding site a few weeks ago. I never got to mention Emma's dress. I made it for her in the same style as Sophie's dress in some of the same fabrics, and a couple different fabrics as well. I decided to make this dress the day before we headed to the site. I knew we were going to be someplace beautiful and I really wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get some pictures of the girls, looking nice and clean. It's rare. So, I cut out the pieces the night before and the day we were to head out, I got up at about 7am and whipped it together in about 90 minutes and in plenty of time for our outing. Emma did not like it when I had her try it on and even threw it to the ground like it was the worst thing ever. She looks plenty happy now though...

I have a project that I am just about finished with to share really soon. It involves three different craft skills, yarn, fabric, and even a little embroidery floss. I am also nearing completion of my tunic sweater that I really love. I can't wait to show you that one soon. Really soon. Although, I have to say that the cowl is taking SO long - surprisingly long to finish. Maybe tonight though.

Found a solution...

...to the big pile of scraps and leftovers invading my sewing space.
I think this is a really good one. Maybe you need to clean out a space too?
Here's my solution.

summer jammies

I had really wanted to make matchy pajama sets for the girls this summer... but finding time to spend in the sewing room has been really hard. During the day, I have the girls. During the evening, I have Andy. When he gets home, the last thing I want to do is go to the sewing room. For one, my first chance at adult conversation shows up... and I'm going to run upstairs? No way. So, it took me a while but I did make them each a pair of jammie pants. They are matching, and came from a Favorite Things pattern (which looks to be a discontinued pattern). I used the cropped length option (though you might not know it to look at these). They are so cute, the fabric is nice and light and the girls really love them. Emma actually threw a small fit one night because they weren't clean. I think I love that...

Anyhow, I will try tonight to get a picture of both girls wearing their jammie pants together. Whenever we have a photo shoot, my camera gets packed up - as backup - and sometimes it takes forever for it to come back out. I can't remember the last time I used it. But, it's out now.

Another thing - our washing machine died last night. The girls and I are headed to Sears to buy a replacement this morning. It's really sad... and who needs to spend $500 out of the blue? Ugh!

for emma... or sophie...?

I saw one of these at the grocery store today and I think it's adorable. I immediately thought of Emma, because I think she really wants to sew. But, not cards. And not for pretend in any other form either. I tried the embroidery hoop with floss once too... she wants to make "something". But the owls really are Sophie's thing. I just think it's perfect... she could make one for herself, and one for her sister. Stocking stuffer...? Maybe! Okay, yes - I KNOW it's June still. But a momma needs to plan these things.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Experience-Stitch-Owl-Kit/dp/B001P5RMLY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1246423875&sr=8-2

edit: oops! I realized that this picture doesn't let you know something very important. The owls are a sewing kit for kids. They cut out the design and sew the pieces together. Stuff it and love it. That's why I am so tempted to get this for Emma, even though Sophie loves owls. Maybe I should just get one and save it for when Sophie is old enough... and find something different for Emma - more princess, less woodland.

Popover Dress

This is the Popover Dress. It is an Oliver + S pattern that was published in an issue of the SewHip magazine. I finally got to it, and it was really easy and looks so super cute on her. And, she loves it. It seems to meet her requirements and she couldn't wait to put it on today. I am working on fabric decisions so that I can make one for Sophie too. Oh, and it was made using Good Folks fabric from AMH. I love the trim fabric so much. Anyhow, it's a size 5 and really seems just right for E.

okay, two more...

My last post was all about the skirts, but I realized that the pictures didn't really show off the fabric so well. And, you should really see this lovely fabric. It is busy, and summery. So, I am adding another picture but that felt a little guilty as you couldn't see the girls. So, I am adding a second picture here too. Enjoy!


I need to also make a note here... this skirt is the "Lazy Days skirt" from Oliver + S. Pretty simple, so much so - I just keep going back to it. The girls don't seem to mind either.