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?

Albion men’s wool coat

Welcome to my first men’s sewing project; a wool coat for my husband. He asked for a coat several months back and I thought it would be a great birthday/Christmas gift, although it ended up being late for both! But it’s done now and I’m pretty proud of how it turned out as I’ve never sewn clothing this BIG before.

I used the Albion pattern by Colette Patterns in view 1, the “classic duffle style coat”. I sewed it in size M width L length from gorgeous heavyweight melton wool I bought from here.

For the lining I found this awesome medium weight Japanese fabric by Cosmo Textiles called Vintage London Map in color tea. The weight of the two fabrics together makes this one beefy coat!

There’s lots of little details included in the coat pattern, like this button up neck closure…

…and decorative tabs on the sleeves.

I did modify the pattern slightly by leaving the top flap off of the front patch pockets. It makes the front much more sleek and simple which is a look both my husband and I prefer.

The coat pattern calls for toggle buttons, which are thankfully surprisingly easy to sew on. Plus they lend a finished and professional look to the coat.

As a finishing touch I sewed in a hand-stitched label which contains a bit of an inside joke 😉

I love how this coat looks on! It’s definitely getting used in all this crazy cold and snow we’ve got going on here in Montana. An all around a success!

Ever sew for your spouse or do you prefer to keep the projects little? I certainly can’t wait to get back to tiny clothes sewing again 😉

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

I know, I know. It’s been quite a while hasn’t it? It’s amazing how a tiny embryo can sap your will to live plus any and all desire to sew. Well now that I’m in the second trimester (yup that was a pregnancy announcement if you didn’t catch it!) my urge to puke has finally gone and the sewing bug has come back in full force, and thankfully it was just in time for my Christmas sewing! So without further ado, here’s what I made my family for Christmas.

For starters I made a zillion aprons. Ok, it was only four but if felt like a zillion 😉 For the pattern I followed this tutorial from Purlbee.

All of them were made from medium weight 100% linen fabric from Joann’s and the pockets made from scrap fabric from my stash.

I just knew all those little-but-too-big-to-throw-away pieces would come in handy! The aprons went to my parents and in-laws.

For my sister’s boys I made them Star Wars pj bottoms since she told me they are very into all things Star Wars right now. The fabric was from Joann’s and the pattern was a free one from fabric.com. Overall quite simple and very cheap to make (and my sis tells me they were a hit!)

For my sister’s teenage girl I made her a teenage mutant ninja turtle cross-body purse. The TMNT fabric and the ribbons were from Joann’s, and the denim from my stash. The pattern is a free tutorial here.

I had a special request for this cloak from my sister’s younger daughter. She had seen this one I made for my daughter on her birthday and requested one in purple for Christmas. And so here it is!

The pattern is the Red Riding Hood cloak from Oliver + S book of Little Things to Sew. I used a stretch purple crushed velvet and shimmery berry lining fabric both from Joann’s. To make it extra special I added some beautiful gold trim to the hood, also from Joann’s. I’d have to say I love this cloak for dress up! It always turns out so stunning.

For my two young nieces on my husband’s side I made some hand-kites using wooden teething rings from etsy and different colored satin ribbons which I simply knotted on. I also personalized them by writing each girl’s name on it. I love this gift so much for young kids! Beautiful, fun, cheap, and easy!

My daughter had requested a dress-up dress for Christmas. A PINK dress-up dress. She doesn’t know about Frozen yet but I thought this free tutorial from Peek-a-boo patterns was just perfect anyhow! And so I ransacked Joann’s and Hobby Lobby for all the shimmery pink fabrics I could find and put together this little number. What I ended up using was a shimmery white spandex for the yoke/sleeves, a glittery light pink stretch velvet for the bodice, pink poly satin for the underskirt, pink iridescent tissue lamé for the over skirt, and shimmery white organza for the cape.

Not only is it bursting with glittery pink spectaular-ness but it’s also stretchy and very comfortable which is perfect for play clothes! This is hand’s down her most favorite thing I’ve sewn her to date!

Lastly I made my son a backpack. I’ve made quite a few of these over the years (five others actually!) and they’ve always been a huge hit.

The pattern is a Made by Rae pattern which you can find here. For the fabric I used a Japanese “hungry wolf” light-weight canvas from this shop on Etsy.

I love this fabric so stinking much! The colors! The wolves licking their chops! Just perfection. For the contrast fabric I used some teal cotton twill from Joann’s.

I lined the inside with a bright red cotton to match the wolves tongues. Not creepy at all right? Right.

Well there you have it! I wanted to get so much more done for Christmas, like outfits for the kids, but I’m just glad I was able to get all the gifts completed. Did you sew gifts for Christmas or do you prefer to take a break for the holidays?