Late winter in Liberty

Sometimes the only way to struggle through the last of winter is to just live in denial that it is still happening. My favorite way to ignore winter is with flowers. And dresses. And especially flowery dresses.

And so I made my daughter this lovely spring (and yet still appropriate for the end of winter) dress sewn from the gorgeous Betsy tana lawn by Liberty of London.

The pattern bones are from Oliver + S Playtime dress in a slimmed out size 6. I did modify it by moving the shoulder seam, adding a collar, and fully lining the bodice, plus cropping the sleeves and shortening the skirt.

My daughter adores this dress, and I adore seeing her in it. Even so, spring, would you please come soon? Thanks

Christmas gifts

I was pretty busy sewing Christmas gifts these past few months. Now I can finally share what I made!

My older boy got a new flannel button up. The pattern is the Sketchbook shirt by Oliver + S in size 4 sewn out of Kaufman mammoth flannel in color plaid gold. It’s so thick and warm it’s practically a jacket! Perfect for the single digit temperatures we get this time of year.

For my husband’s and my parents I made a set of four mitered-corner watercolor linen dishtowels. Both the free tutorial and the fabric are available at Purl Soho. I’ll be making more of these soon, but for myself!

For my younger boy, I finally finished his embroidered baby blanket! It took ages. Seriously. He’s not exactly a baby anymore but at least it’s done now!

The front is linen which is embroidered with an adorable little fox and owl scene. Part of the embroidery is a pattern purchased from MyBearPaw but I did expand upon it a little. For the backing I used a sumptuous thick organic bamboo velour. So cozy!

Last but not least, my daughter requested this fancy dress up dress as her Christmas gift. I was happy to comply!

It’s a colonial era gown sewn from Simplicity 3725. I used shimmer fuchsia taffeta, gold satin, and gold floral lace plus a few beautiful handmade buttons off of Etsy. She’s thrilled with it! I’m pretty pleased with it myself 😉

Merry Christmas!

Winter mulberry bow skirt

Sometimes you just have to sew a skirt in winter. Especially when it’s in this gorgeous mulberry shot cotton by Kaffe Fassett.

And if it’s got a great big bow on the back, it may just be perfection. The skirt is based off a free pattern from purlbee called the Gathered skirt for all ages, but the bow however was an addition I made.

Back bow!

I’m thoroughly enjoying the girly sewing 🙂

 

Red wool coat

I’m getting a little (ok a lot) behind on blogging my sewing projects, so I’ll try to catch up some! Here’s a  gorgeous wool coat I made my daughter at the beginning of fall.

The pattern is called the Houndstooth Coat 11/2013 #136 by BurdaStyle. I sewed it in size 116 from this vibrant red melton wool which I picked up from NYFashionCenterFabrics. Their melton is high quality, thick, and gorgeous.

Coat back details.

For the lining I used a juicy cranberry pink satin from Hobby Lobby. The color contrast looks great with the red melton!

I’m pretty much in love with this coat and red is such a classic color on little girls ❤

Mermaid Seashore Sundress

Mermaids are kinda a “thing” right now, incase you’ve missed it 😉 I’ve been wanting to sew my daughter a dress inspired by mermaids but not something costume-y. And so this dress happened! It’s sewn using Oliver + S seashore sundress sewing pattern in size 6.

My inspiration picture. Such pretty mermaid awesomeness. Lots of pastel rainbow colors happening here.

To capture the colors I chose an assortment of pretty pastel colors from Kaffe Fassett’s shot cottons in shell, aqua, violet, and pink.

I did modify the sewing pattern a bit. I scooped out the front neck a little, as well as cutting off the back straps, scooping it out, and finishing the top edge with a casing through which elastic was threaded. I also made the skirt fuller and sewed the straps into the front of the dress.

The straps have button holes in the back to button onto these beautiful mother of pearl buttons which are sewn into the back of the dress. Such a perfect mermaid-y touch!

My daughter adores this dress and she’s already told me she’s never taking it off. Success!

Do you try to sew clothing that satisfies the want to dress up without it being a full out costume?

 

Camouflage cargo shorts

This was a particularly satisfying project to complete having been on my “To do” list for ages. My older boy was (and still is) in desperate need of shorts as he only had one pair that fit him for this summer. Well now he has two 😉

The pattern is a mash up of Oliver + s Museum trousers and Field trip cargo pants sewn in size 4 from Robert Kaufman Camouflage jacquard woven chambray in color jungle . I pretty much followed the museum trousers pattern (cropped them into shorts) and added the cargo pockets from the Field trip cargo pants.

Close up of a cargo pocket. I added velcro closures to the flaps to keep them closed.

Back leather detail and welt pocket. There are belt loops on the pants but they’re hard to see. I guess the camouflage is working 😉

Model shots!

He loves his new shorts and has been wearing them non-stop! Need. Moar. Shorts. 

Rainbow cropped tee and chambray culottes

It’s Kids Clothes Week! If you haven’t heard what KCW is all about click here! After not participating in the last two KCW’s due to new baby/exhaustion I am so excited to actually sew something for this go around.

My daughter got a new rainbow crop top tee and chambray culotte shorts. The patterns are the Mini Briar top and the Mini Tania culottes both by Megan Neilsen. I adore these patterns! They are quick to sew but also detailed and adorable.

The tee was sewn in size 6/7 from a gorgeous heathered rainbow ombré knit from Funkalicious Fabrics on Etsy. The heart is from basic white performance knit from Joann’s.

The culottes I also made in size 6/7 using Kaufman’s tencel chambray in color powder. It’s very lightweight and works quite well as a floaty pair of culottes.

The only modification I made was to add tassels to the front.

Finished outfit! I love the belly 🙂

Tassels!

KCW is off to a great start! Even if I get nothing else done I’m still calling it a success. Anyone else sewing this week for their kids?

 

 

 

Spring in Neon

What can I say, when I take a break from blogging I REALLY take a break. And from sewing. And from everything. But now I’m back and here’s what I’ve been up to; a little neon sewing for spring.

I have a tradition to sew my daughter a birthday dress each year and this year I decided to go the casual route with this fun everyday-wear dress. The pattern is the Soliel dress pattern by Baste + Gather which I sewed up in a glorious neon watercolor ombré knit fabric. My daughter adores this fabric and so do I! So fun and vibrant.

A very cool feature of the Soliel dress pattern is this open back. It adds so much visual interest, plus it’s a great way to keep cool in our crazy hot summers.

I’ve been sewing for the boys too! Each got a tee sewn from Oliver + S school bus tee shirt pattern. For my older boy I added a pocket out of black Kaufman laguna jersey.

The main fabric is this awesome neon confetti knit fabric in neon orange, green, and yellow.

My younger boy also got a neon confetti tee, but with a black contrast neckband.

Hello handsome.

My youngest also got this sweet dragon zip up hoodie which I made a few months back during my blogging hiatus, so I thought I’d share it here. It’s sewn using the high-five hoodie pattern by Peek-a-boo pattern shop from luscious organic terry with leather tag detail on the front and added elbow patches and dragon spikes. It’s been well worn and he’s almost too big for it now!

Yay for spring! Yay for neon! Maybe this will be the beginning of more blogging and definitely more sewing 🙂

Watercolor floral peplum dress

You know when a fabric just speaks to you? Well this gorgeous floral knit whispered “peplum dress” to me from the aisle of Jo-Ann’s fabrics. It also whispered to me a few other pieces that need to be sewn for my daughter’s fall wardrobe, but for starters, here’s the peplum 😉

The fabric is a watercolor floral slub knit that I cannot get enough of (seriously did I buy enough yardage?!?) which was sewn up into peplum awesomeness using this pattern. I made it in a slimmed down size 5 and custom fit the length of the sleeves and skirt.

My daughter loves this dress. She’d sleep in it if she could get away with it 😉 It may also help that this is the first dress I’ve made her in over five months so she’s really appreciating it!

The back. So cute. I want one for myself…

There will be more peplum to come! Yes sir, lots of peplum. ❤

Liberty Hello Kitty rain jacket

Liberty of London makes laminated fabrics, yes they do! And if you’ve ever seen Liberty fabrics you know how stinkin’ gorgeous they are. So when I came across laminated Liberty Hello Kitty fabric of course I had to make my daughter a rain jacket from it!

Here’s a close-up of the print. It’s called Hello Kitty Fairy-tale. Basically perrrrfection. I had bought this fabric two years ago and it’s been languishing in my stash. I’m so glad I finally sewed it up!

The pattern is Oliver + S School Day’s jacket sewn in size 5 length and 4 width. I’ve sewn this pattern a number of times and it always turns out so sweet. Oliver + S instructions can’t be beat!

I modified the pattern slightly by using snap closures instead of toggles or buttons.

I also had to use some butter yellow PUL as the facing rather than the Liberty fabric as I didn’t have enough of it on hand. The lining is Kaffe Fassett shot cotton in color Lilac.

Yay for end of summer rain jackets!

I think it’s time for some fall sewing now, don’t you?