O + S Ombre Seashore Dress

I've been waiting for V&Co's Simply Color line to come out since she announced it on her blog months ago.  I was thinking of making a quilt but when I got the yardage I couldn't picture myself cutting it into little pieces; hence the Seashore Dress.  

We've had at least 50 cm of snow in the last week and it's -12 today so, although technically it is sunny, J. has absolutely no need of a sundress anytime soon, lol.  Once I got it in my head, though, there was nothing I could do but make it (despite the lengthy list of weather-appropriate sewing I have to do!).  

I made a size 6 for my tall skinny seven year old and added two inches to the body and one inch to the bottom.  I'm wishing I added more but I wanted to make sure that I got the full effect of the ombre, which I adore.   I'm a little disappointed in the fabric, though.  I washed it before cutting it out and I didn't notice until after I'd laid most of the dress out that there was a patch that didn't wash well -- you can kind of see in the picture below that it looks like there's a bit of extra dye in one spot. It ended up being in the back ruffle so I don't think it matters too much. 

Because I had decided to flat fell the side seams, I felt like I needed to topstitch the rest.  Halfway through I was wishing I hadn't though because of course I didn't have thread to match each colour. It's a little more of a statement than I would have liked, especially around the pockets and the hem. I could have stopped and gone to the store for matching thread but once I started this dress stopping was not an option!

I'm also not sold on these buttons so haven't done the button holes yet.  I couldn't find the ones I had in mind -- I think a little magpie may have squirreled them away (although the prime suspect denies it!).  I'm going to Vancouver in January so am going to hit up Button Button and Dressew for something with a little more pizazz.  J. wont be wearing this anytime soon anyway!

O + S Monkey Hat

I call her Monkey and she acts like a monkey so it's only fitting that she asked for a monkey hat.  It still needs a button but she was sitting still in relatively good light so I thought I'd grab my chance for a photo.   I made the same changes to the Oliver and S Cozy Winter Hood from Little Things to Sew as I did last year for the tiger hat.

(The tiger hat has stood up remarkably well, by the way, and gets compliments whenever she wears it -- she even got a shout out from Santa from his float when she was watching the Christmas parade!!)

Teacher Gifts

During the last O+S pattern sale, I bought Feed the Animals Coin Purses pattern with the intention of making my girls coin purses for xmas.  K. requested one for her teacher, too, so I got both girls to pick fabric and cut out 4 purses.  I started early with the best of intentions but I kept putting them aside for other projects because I really wasn't enjoying making them.  I should know by now that I'm too impatient to make anything with too many little pieces.

And this week, of course, I have no time.  So I decided  to pack it in.  My girls were disappointed (about the ones for the teachers, they didn't know about the ones for them) until I whipped up these:

I used the poochie bag tutorial over at Happy Zombie except without the "pooch".  The top fabric is Premier Prints from fabric.com and the bottom is voile from girlcharlee.com.  The grey on both is quilters linen from Hawthorne Threads.   Three bags in one evening is doable.  Trying to finish those coin purses was not :).

3 O + S Field Trips + a Class Picnic

A little buddy of mine loves purple.  His mom has a hard time finding purple shirts that don't have ruffles or flowers or other girly things so I offered to make him a t-shirt.  His mom bought two adult shirts -- an XL and a 4XL (!) so I had plenty of fabric to make two shirts and use the factory hems for the sleeves and body and the seam on one side.  The Field Trip T-Shirt pattern is a quick sew and all that made it even quicker. 

I don't have a serger so I used a double needle.  I'm really hoping they're durable.  I'm also really hoping they fit.  They are both the same size but one is an inch longer in the body and the sleeves.  I have a feeling that one might be for him to grow into.  It's nervewracking sewing for other people, especially since all I see is the imperfections.  They are very gracious and excited to have handmade shirts so I'm sure they wont mind.

I couldn't leave the little boy's older sister out.  She chose the pattern and the fabric and asked for some changes.  (She wanted the sleeves to be longer and more bell-shaped. Hopefully I went far enough for her -- not that I have a picture of the sleeves just a blurry picture of the body, d'oh!).  I added a little bit of twill tape to the back as I found my daughter has trouble telling back from front with hers.  Shoulda done that with the field trip shirts, too!

Last week I also made a field trip nightie for my littlest.  She needs another nightie like she needs a hole in the head but she loves this fabric (from girlcharlee.com) and it is waaaay too thin for a dress.  It's also got the border printed along the selvedge which is kind of awkward since the stretch goes the other way.  Although, judging by her reaction and the amount of time she's spent wearing it, the stretch factor is fine :).  And I still haven't got around to hemming it.  And now probably wont bother :P.