Finlayson in Indigo Interlock

I rarely sew for my husband.  Despite that, he's always been supportive of my hobby (obsession?), never commenting on how much I spend on material and even scouting out fabric shops for me to peruse when we go on family trips.  Yep, he's a keeper!  So when this fabric arrived and it wasn't exactly the colour I was expecting but happened to be the colour of his favourite hockey team, I knew what to do with it.  (side note: you can now get a swatch card for this fabric line, which is great because it's often hard to get a true sense of colour from a photo).   

So I told him I was making him a sweater and consulted him on pattern choice.  Well, kind of -- the Finlayson from Thread Theory is the only mens sweater pattern I own so I asked him if he would be okay with that style.  Thankfully he said yes!    

This fabric really is lovely --  very soft and a perfect weight, not too thick but definitely not flimsy.  It's easy to work with, too, with since it doesn't curl or shift like some knit fabrics.  Being able to get good quality coordinating ribbing is also fantastic.   I used the ribbing for the cuffs and waistband and it matches perfectly.  

And I can attest to the durabilty of the interlock --  I ordered an extra metre because I knew I wanted to make something adult-sized so when I was cutting out the sweater I was thinking about what I could do with the "scraps".  They ended up being big enough to make a pair of shorts (Jalie 3351) for me so I sewed those up right away.  I've been wearing and washing them at least once a week since then and the fabric has held up well -- no pilling or stretching.  They look just as good as when I made them back in February!  

Of course I really should have made the sweater first because it took me awhile to get back to it.  I don't think my husband quite believed that I actually would finish but he's happy that I did!   

As I was taking pictures, I realized that both of these are totally Canadian projects -- the fabric is manufactured and produced in Canada and sold by a Canadian retailer, both the patterns are by Canadian designers and they were sewn up by a Canadian.  Pretty good, eh?   

Patterns: Thread Theory Finlayson Sweater, Jalie Swim Shorts (both used before)

Fabric: Interlock from l'oiseau 

I received 1 metre in exchange for a blog post, I purchase the 2nd metre + the coordinating ribbing ~$24

Christmas sewing

My girls had a couple of on stage performances this month -- both were in the choir at school and both also had recitals at the music school where they take lessons.  I knew festive dresses were in order but I really wasn't planning on making them.  But after a couple of unsuccessful forays to the mall, it seemed easier just to look for fabric.  J. had a very definite idea in mind of what she wanted and we just weren't finding it in the shops.  Both of the local fabric shops happened to be closed for renovations at this time but luckily for us ecoequitable was having one of their "fill-a-bag" sales (you can load up a grocery bag with as much donated fabric as you can stuff in for $15.  The proceeds go towards their training programs, including sewing for employment geared toward people in need). Thankfully we found 2m of this red cotton velour (I think that's what it is anyway).  It was the right colour and weight and has a bit of stretch.  Plus it's nice and soft.

The pattern is McCalls 7079, a good basic pattern that I've made once before.  I altered the sleeves to make them 3/4 length and added a couple of inches to each of the skirts.

(The skirt looks really wonky in this picture.  I *think* it's just because of the way she's standing 

but it really makes me want to go back and measure it!!)

By request, I also added an inch and a half to the length of the bodice for K.  

I had some "jewels" and beads I'd salvaged off a shirt that ended up being worn to rags so I sewed them to the necklines for a bit of sparkle.

The girls also had pyjama day at school so needed some new duds.  I hadn't planned on making these either but we made a trip to the states in November (Disneyworld!) and I did a bit of fabric shopping while we were travelling.  It seemed a bit mean to make the kids hang out in a fabric store and not pick anything for themselves so we came away with some flannel.  Unfortunately since I was distracted by my own list, I didn't buy enough to actually make the pjs I promised them.  So K. ended up with two different sleeves and J. ended up with bottoms cut on the cross grain.

My little helper -- she loves to bake!

I didn't get any pictures of J's when I finished them and then they tore in the second week of wear.  I don't know if that's crappy fabric, bad fit or the fact that I cut them on the cross grain.   She's excited about a patch on her butt though so all is not lost, lol!

The pattern is the Sleepover Pajamas from Oliver and S.  The only change I made was to shorten the front and back crotch by an inch and a half -- they were really long and droopy!

I had ordered fabric from Purpleseamstress in September for Christmas nighties (which are, of course, not suitable for December school pj days!).  J's is kind of short because the penguin fabric shrunk a lot -- like 6 inches! -- and I only ordered a yard.

K's is the O+S Hopscotch dress and J's is Jalie 3245.  I debated about using the hopscotch pattern for both but it runs small and I wasn't sure that a 12 would fit J.  Due to limited fabric, the back of K's is solid red.  I like the quality of the solids from purpleseamstress but wont order from them again until the dollar improves.  Including shipping and exchange, these used almost $30 worth of fabric!!

And lastly, I didn't make the shirt and can't take credit for the saying but I did add the lettering in fabric paint on a tee for my husband :).

Dresses:
Pattern: McCalls 7079, used before (cost per use $2.26US)
Fabric: approx. $8 for both
Beading: recycled

Jammies:
Pattern: Sleepover, used before (cost per use $3.98)
Fabric: $10US for Ks, $8.50US for Js
Buttons: stash

Nighties:
Pattern: Hopscotch, used before (cost per use $5.36)
Jalie Raglan, used before (cost per use $4.55)
Fabric: used approx. 2 yards $28.83 for both

l'oiseau creative

This month I got the opportunity to blog over at l'oiseau creative.  J. picked out some fun fabric, check it out here.

They have some fantastic knits (and other fabrics) that you can find here.