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!

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. 

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 🙂

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?

Color-block school bus t-shirts

Simple sewing patterns that allow for customization are some of my favorite. This pattern is the School Bus T-shirt by Oliver + S and it’s a pretty perfect basic tee as is, but I wanted to add a twist with some color-blocking.

Here’s the back. Both front and back look identical with the same free-hand diagonal pattern. I just took my big ruler and chopped up my pattern pieces (in size 3), added in seam allowances, and pieced them together from a selection of Kaufman Laguna knits from my stash. I love how they turned out!

Pretty stinking cute! Oh the tee is nice too 😉

Back

I think my older boy is finally set on t-shirts for a while. On to sewing for the next child!

Baby accessories

Accessories tend to make the outfit, don’t they? Even if you’re just a little baby 😉  So I decided to spend some time making a few beautiful and useful accessories to go with my baby’s layette. First up is a pair of leather shoes.

I made the shoes in size 0-6 months from some beautiful leather scrap I bought off of eBay. The laces are 3/8″ cream twill tape. The pattern was this free shoe pattern which I modified by scaling it up (printed at 110%), did two lacing holes rather than three, omitted the heart cutouts, added some topstitching, and also changed the shape of the heal piece to create the look I was after on the shoe front.

I love these little shoes!

Next up are some reversible bandana-style drool bibs.

I sewed them using this free tutorial in size 6-12 month and included the optional size adjustment snap to make them fit at a smaller size as well.

The fabrics are various ones from my stash (a lot of them are Kaufman railroad chambray’s) and the snaps are size 15 metal snaps from Snapsource.

Lastly I made a little reversible bucket hat from the free Oliver + s pattern available here. I made it in size XS out of Robert Kaufman Railroad Poplin and Cotton & Steel Tokyo Train Ride Harajuku in color aqua. I did modify the pattern by widening the brim a little and I added a little chin strap with velcro closure.

Reverse side. I just love those cute animals!

Only a few weeks left until I welcome this little baby! I wonder how much more sewing I can get done for him before he arrives.

Does anyone else enjoy the nesting energy before baby comes or do you prefer to do nothing and take it easy?

Lullaby layette

What do you do when you are down to your final 10 weeks of pregnancy? Sew baby things like mad, of course! In fact until the baby is born I’ll be pretty much just sewing baby related things, and I’m very excited about it 🙂

My first baby project is the Lullaby Layette set by Oliver + s in size 0-3 months and the free Sweetpea pilot cap by Sew Liberated in size XS.

The jacket was sewn from Cotton & Steel Tokyo Train Ride Harajuku in color aqua for the outer and Cotton & Steen Basics Dottie in color goldilocks for the inside with Robert Kaufman Railroad Poplin as the binding.

I modified the pattern a little by adding elbow patches plus quilting the entire jacket.

Here’s a close up of the quilting and the awesome print. I love this jacket!

The bodysuit is sewn from some luxurious organic cotton blend knit fabrics in colors cream and taupe from lowpricefabric.com. I  made a few modifications by color blocking the sleeves and snap facing, plus adding a little pocket sewn from the same Robert Kaufman railroad poplin.

The pants I sewed from more of the lovely Robert Kaufman railroad poplin (I kinda love this fabric..can you tell?) and modified the pattern a bit by adding little knee patches.All the seams were flat-felled to make the pants more durable.

The contrast back pockets were sewn from the same cream organic knit as the bodysuit.

The completed ensemble! I can’t wait to put a little baby body into this 🙂

Does anyone else get crazy nesting at the end of pregnancy?

An Easter suit and dress

There’s something so wonderful about this time of year; flowers, new life, warmer weather, and new Easter clothes! I have a bit of a tradition going now to sew my daughter a lovely new dress for the double occasions of Easter and her birthday (as her birthday also falls in April). Last year my son got new pants and bow tie but I decided he needed to really be included in the tradition this year and so he got a full ensemble as well!

For this year’s dress my inspiration was an old childhood Easter dress of mine.

Please excuse my blurry iPhone picture. I had no other “before’ pictures of this dress before I hacked it up 😉 Check out this early 90’s awesomeness! I loved this dress so much as a kid!

Up-cycled! The pattern I used was the Gardenia dress pattern by Cali Faye Collection sewn in size 4 width with 5 length. The fabric which I up-cycled from my old Easter dress is a sheer cotton gauze which I lined with the original white cotton lining. For the yolk and sleeves I used off-white organza from Jo-Ann’s.

I modified the pattern a bit by adding a back bodice overlay so that the entire back wasn’t organza.

I also used the original dress petticoat to make the skirt extra full and flouncy.

The piping was also up cycled straight from the old dress. Love the little time savers 😉

For my son I pulled out all the stops and made him an entire new suit set consisting of shirt, blazer, shorts, and bow-tie.

The shirt (yes it’s been worn. Wrinkles!) was sewn from Oliver + s sketchbook shirt in size 2 width 3 length from blue cotton with contrast white cotton collar and cuffs. I chose tortoise shell colored buttons to complement the beige and browns which made up the rest of the suit set. I also flat-felled the seams for a professional look.

The blazer was sewn from the “Little Gentleman” pattern by Peek-a-boo pattern shop in size 2. The fabric I used was a beige 100% linen suiting from Jo-Ann’s, plus leather scrap for the elbow patches and real leather buttons.

For modifications I used the Oliver + s welt pocket instruction from the Museam vest & trousers pattern rather than those provided by Peek-a-boo patterns. You really can’t beat the clarity and professionalism imparted by Oliver + s and these welt pockets show that for sure!

I also added additional decorative buttons on the sleeves.

The lining is a super soft cotton called Menagerie in color timberwolf. I adore this fabric and have had it in my stash for a while waiting for a perfect use for it!

The shorts were sewn from Oliver + s Museum trousers pattern in size 2 using the same fabrics as the blazer.

Welt pockets!

I modified the trousers into shorts plus flat felled the seams for a neat finish.

Lastly, he got a bow-tie which was also up cycled from my old Easter dress. I followed the prudent baby double bow-tie tutorial which produces an amazing bow-tie!

And now for a modeling photo-bomb…

My daughter had to wear a previously sewn white slip to prevent her dress from being too scandalous 😉

Back.

Pockets.

Love the finished look! So glad his outfit came together as I envisioned it in my head.

Handsome dude 😉

Easter success! That was a lot of sewing and I’ll admit, I’m glad to get to move on to something new… perhaps baby layette? 🙂

How was your Easter?