Ghastlies and Ice Cream

Wow, did I ever buy a lot of this fabric last year!  Good thing I still love it (and even better that my daughters do, too!).  

This is an O + S Ice Cream Dress for my eldest.  She's 7 but tall and skinny so it's a size 5 with the size 7 length.  After I cut it out, I wished I'd given myself even more length so I used 1/4" instead of 1/2" seams on the bottom panel.  I hope with the topstitching and understitching that that decision doesn't come back to haunt me (no pun intended, hehe!). 

The dress is fully lined but it wished I would have seen Nicole's version before making mine, it would have saved me a couple steps and made the dress hang better.  Instead of using one piece + the yoke, I kept the double hem and just cut a second front and back panel for the lining. Next time!

Tova for my mom

This is my fifth (!!) tova.  This summer, I made a white linen one that my mom admired when we were on holiday together so I decided to make her one in some cream-verging-on-yellow linen from fabrics-store.com.

She's shorter than me but mine fit her well in the shoulders and chest so the only change I made was to take an inch off the bottom.  Otherwise I did my now standard (hehe!) changes: added SA for French seams, dropped armscye (not sure if that's the right word but it sounds better than armpit!) by 1/4", increased bust on sides by 1/4".   I also stitched up the placket a couple of inches.

It's in the mail on the way to her for her birthday so I hope it fits!

As the linen is slightly sheer, I doubled the inset piece (thanks Nina for the suggestion!).  I used the inside piece to enclose the seam allowances so it's almost as nice on the inside.  Here's a really crappy in progress photo of how I did it: I treated the two inset pieces as one when making the placket but left the inside free until after I sewed the inset to the rest of the top.  I slip stitched it to the seam allowance before topstitching everything from the outside.

O + S Cape

Before I gave my littlest the cape I made for her birthday, I told my husband that it was dress-up clothes that she could get away with wearing as regular clothes.  He rolled his eyes at me then but I don't think he really minds.  And she does wear it in place of a jacket or sweater.  And gets smiles and comments everywhere she goes.  If you can't get away with wearing a cape when you're four when can you??

My niece is turning two next week so I decided to make her one, too.  I'm sure my brother will be as thrilled as my husband was, hehehe.

I bought the brown fabric last weekend at a fundraiser at Darrell Thomas.  They had all sorts of  different fabrics in varying sizes on for 2 pieces for $5 (!!).  I came home with a huge bag of stuff even though my storage shelves are overflowing.

The piece I used for this was narrow (maybe about 36" wide?) and probably about 2 yards long.  I have no idea what it is but I'm pretty sure it's polyester.  It's heavier weight but soft with sort of a velvet texture on one side.  Perfect for this project and I think the leftovers will make a nice purse.

The lining is a quilting cotton I bought when I was in Philly in the summer.  I only bought one yard  but it turned out to be enough for the cape even though the pattern (in Little Things to Sew) calls for 1 1/2 yards.  (I had to cut some pieces upside down so you'd need more than a yard if you had a directional print -- here's a photo of my cutting layout if you're interested).   I wish I bought more because I do really like this fabric but I was so overwhelmed with the fabric district and the fact that my family (kids, husband and my parents) were wandering around outside in the rain, it's amazing I managed to choose anything :).  There was nothing on the selvedge so I have no idea what it is.  The brown and the red together are a little Holly Hobbie but I think (I hope) it's just retro enough to be cool.

I bought the button when I was travelling, too, only because I couldn't resist it and I'm glad to have found a project that it suits.  I made a straight small this time without the length I added for my daughter so I'm crossing my fingers it doesn't dwarf my niece.  The only change I made this time  was to add a loop for hanging.

Roman Shades

Making curtains is definitely not my favourite thing to do -- they're so big and cumbersome and it's so hard to keep everything straight. Then there's the math required for the pleats, yikes.  Thankfully my husband is willing to hang them up because otherwise they would not get done.

The fabric is Premier Prints Suzani Twill in Harmony/Red from fabric.com.  I ordered two yards and cut off about an inch to square it up and then maybe another two inches when I went to hem it.  I love when I finish a project and am just left with scraps.   I was also able to use leftovers for the backing -- I made shades for our dining room last year and had just enough of the black out fabric left for this curtain if I pieced it together.  The seams show through a little bit in the front when the curtain is closed and the sun is shining directly on them.  I don't think anyone but me would notice :).  

The bookcases are billys from IKEA.  Hubby painted the backs of them and I love them.  We have a few more things to do in this room -- a friend is going to build in a desk under the window and, despite my husband's half-hearted objections, I'm going to get a piece of sheet metal for a magnetic board on one wall.  (he thinks it's going to go the way of the rain gutter bookshelves, which lasted about a year and left numerous holes in the walls).   I'm also planning a bit more sewing: fabric baskets to contain the little bits my seven year old loves to collect.

Vogue 1247 - Top, take 2

I wavered for ages before cutting out this top -- I love the colour but was worried it would read "scrubs".   I'm still not convinced it doesn't but I do like the style of this pattern.  The only changes I made from the the last time was to add yet another inch, this time to the bottom pieces.  I think the length is good for me now.

The fabric is Kaffe Fassett in Aegean from Mad About Patchwork.  It's soft and light and easy to work with but I don't know if I would recommend it for clothes.  I made this top before going away and I've only worn it a couple of times but it's already starting to pill.  I've found the same thing with my Tova.  It's a bummer because I'm not really big on prints but I find a flat solid colour is, well, flat while shot cottons have such lovely variations.  Still, it's a nice light summer top that's not a t-shirt so it's a win!

Vogue 8581

This is the top I was hoping for when I made the Honey Blouse (here and here).  The vogue pattern specifies two way stretch knit but I don't really see why you couldn't use a woven -- there are no closures but the neckline is wide enough even if the fabric doesn't stretch.  Although my measurements are more like 18, I cut this in size 16  and I think it fits fairly well.  It's missing the little details of the Honey Blouse -- the twisted neck band and the ties but those would be easy to add.

It's from the Very Easy Vogue line and that is true -- there are 5 pattern pieces and not even one full page of directions.  The only thing that was time consuming was sorting out the gathers on the neckline and then hand (!!) sewing the neck binding down.  The hand sewing sort of surprised me. Although it gives a nice finish on the inside, machine stitching it would make this top that much quicker to make (and it's already a really quick sew). 

The pattern calls for 3/4" elastic.  I had enough for the arms but used 1/2" for the waist and I think I like it better -- I think the larger size is unnecessary. 

The fabric is a cotton lycra knit from Girl Charlee.  It's slightly heavier than I think would be ideal for this top but I wanted to try out the pattern.  They seem to be sold out of it now but it was $11.50 for 2 yards and I think it was something crazy like 70 inches wide.  I have enough left over for another top. 

I used a twin needle to sew the side seams, which gives a bit of stretch and a very cool looking stitch underneath.  I used my walking foot for everything else -- once I figured out how to put it on, lol.  I use it quite a bit but I guess I was tired when I started and I couldn't figure it out.  It took me walking away and doing something else before I realized the reason it wouldn't fit was because the presser foot was down.  Duh.

Linen Twirly Dress

Since I was paying for shipping anyway (and, it turns out, brokerage fees) I ordered a bunch of off cuts (they call them "doggie bags") from fabrics-store.com.  J. was there when I opened the box and requested these three all be used for dress for her (the colours are sphinx, ceramic and meadow).  Hmmm, colour blocking -- she's very on-trend.   

I was inspired by the Sunshine Dress tutorial from Skirt As A Top.  As that tutorial suggests, I used the Circle Skirt tutorial at MADE.  However, I didn't have enough fabric to cut a full skirt from the main fabric so I made a full circle pattern, drew the radiating lines, numbered them (very important!!!)  and cut the pattern instead.  I had no idea how to figure out where the grainlines should be (or if that even matters on a skirt like this) so I laid the pieces any old way on the fabric to make them fit.  I added 5/8" seam allowances to all the pieces so I could do French seams.

My girl is almost 7 so the itty bitty baby dress bodice suggested in the tutorial wouldn't work. Instead, I used the top from Butterick B4282, along with the tabs and covered buttons from the The Cottage Home tutorial for the Party Dress (which was a huge hit last year and is still being worn).

I was going to do the radiating lines on top as well (like the tutorial) but my hubby thought that might be over the top.  I think in this case he probably was right (although it looks fantastic in the original).  So instead of lining the bodice like I planned, I finished the edges with bias tape to add a bit more colour to the top.  

When I tried to attach the bodice, it ended up being about an inch and a half too big for the top of the skirt.  I took in each of the sides 3/4" but it still her fit well.  I should have stuck with the smaller size anyway and just added length -- this pattern is quite wide. 

She's very happy with it, especially since I bought her new breaded, sparkly sandals that have the same blues.

Dinosaur Loot Bags

My eldest turns 7 tomorrow, and a couple of years ago she decided she wanted to become a palaeontologist when she grows up.  The Museum of Nature here in Ottawa offers parties and one of them just happens to be dinosaur-themed so it seemed a perfect (if expensive) fit.  But we're not doing it at home, yay!

This year, I also decided not to buy any dollar store *cough* crap for loot bags: we're giving each kid a 4D Dinosaur Puzzle from Tedco toys and one of these lovely themey-but-not-too-themey (I hope) pencil cases.

I tried the Perfect Box Tutorial at Make it Modern but although it's well written and easy to follow, I decided I couldn't live with unfinished seams inside.   So in the end, I used the Fully Lined Zippered Box Pouch tutorial over at It's a Pretty Modern Life again.  It's a great tutorial -- the only  thing I would suggest is basting the tabs on to the bag before stitching up the bottom edges.  It would be easier than trying to make them line up while stitching up the sides and keeping the lining out of the way.  Of course this piece of insight came to me after I had already stitched up 8 of the bottoms ;). 

The main fabric is Rex Twill from fabric.com.  It's a medium weight twill and is actually quite soft.  I was worried that with the large scale of this print, the dinosaurs would end up stuck in seams and corners but it actually worked out pretty well -- with no fussy cutting!  The print repeats in lines 8 1/2" apart so I cut my pieces to 8 1/2" x 11" and still used 12" zippers (I think the tutorial called for pieces 7" x 10" but the larger size was fine).  

I used grey Kona cotton for the lining and interfaced them with quilt batting so they're lovely and squishy.  I used twill tape for the tabs/handles because making them would have put me over the edge, I think :).  

The icing on the top (for me anyway) are the colourful zippers.   I told J. I don't really want to her to give them away as I just want to line them up and look at them ;).  I got the zippers from zipit  on etsy.  That shop is obviously run by someone who loves colour and has a sense of humour -- included in the the package was a fortune telling fish, which fascinated my kids.  (And a free kaleidoscope zipper pull, fun!). 

Kudos to those who sew for a living -- although surprisingly enough, I did enjoy the relative mindlessness of putting these together assembly-line style (especially the magic of finishing the last step and having 9 completed bags!!), I don't think I would have the stamina to do it regularly.

And, yes, I will let my daughter give them away :)

O + S Ice Cream Dress

This is such a sweet pattern.  I have the larger size but graded it down to a four for my littlest.  I kept the size five length for the bottom two sections and added an inch to the middle because my girls don't like anything too short (here's hoping that lasts!!).  If I were to do it again, I would add a little more length to the yoke, too, to keep the proportions as they are written in the pattern. 

The main fabric is from the Far Far Away II line and I just have scraps left.  I was short a couple of inches on one side so added some pink to the sleeve back to make it up.  Hopefully it's not all that noticeable!   And it's probably a good thing that I didn't have enough of the pink roses for the yoke or the hem of this dress -- I wouldn't have been able to resist using it and that might have been too much of a good thing ;).

I used lightweight shirting to line the yoke and hem as I didn't want it to be too heavy.   I double stitched the pockets to make sure that they can carry rocks and other important treasures.

Miss Thing wondered why Rapunzel is not smiling.  A happy moon button might distract her from that :).

Teacher Gift

Last weekend J. and I went to a  community fair sponsored by the art centre.  There were lots of cool things for the kids to do including trying out silk screen printing.  The kids chose the print and the colour and the artist helped them make one print on paper and one print on fabric.  J. was enthralled by the whole process as well as the result so when we got home I helped her make it into a pillow.  She chose the fabrics from my scrap bin, I cut them and she and I sewed them up together.  She was very good at lining the pieces up and getting them ready for sewing.  She also liked pressing the pedal but was a bit nervous about guiding the fabric through.  I stood behind her and did that while she got some good practice in controlling her speed ;). 

We stitched up the four sides randomly but they turned out suprisingly balanced.  It's now stuffed and ready to go -- three weeks early, yay!!