Happy Little Art Smock

Erin came home from school last week with a letter from her art teacher requesting the children bring in an art smock to wear during class. The teacher suggested that they bring in an old large t-shirt of their parents to use but since art is Erin's favorite subject and I happen to sew and also happen to have the book Little Things to Sew by Oliver + S, I decided to make Erin an art smock instead. I have had this book for awhile and have only made one other item from it. There are so many cute things to make in this book, it really is a shame that I have not made more. I plan to remedy that and thought the art smock would be a great place to start!

Now, this letter came home on Tuesday and Erin had to bring her smock in on Friday, so naturally I ran right upstairs and traced, cut and sewed this baby up that night - ha! I couldn't even type that with a straight face! Okay so I didn't leave it all to the last minute. I did trace and cut the pattern on Wednesday but didn't actually sit down to sew until about 3:00pm on Thursday. Doesn't sound so bad right? Well then Erin gets off the bus around 3:20, homework needs to get done then it was off to CCD. During which time I have a meeting to prepare for the upcoming Girl Scout year (I am the Daisy co-leader for Erin's troop) Then it was pick Erin up from CCD, go home, have dinner, bathe kids, read stories, put them to bed, put Jack back to bed again - repeat this scenario 3x - then finally finish sewing. I was so tired by this time that I considered just sending her in with one of Kevin's old shirts! But I was determined to sew something from this book and have something special for Erin to have at school to wear during her favorite subject. So I finished it. And somehow by 9:30 - yay!

The smock was pretty easy to put together and probably would have gone a lot faster if I had just serged all the seams together but I followed the instructions given for French seams. That does take a bit longer but the results are really nice and I thought that it would help make the smock last all school year (hopefully longer so she can use it next year too!) In total it probably took me about 2 hours to sew the smock. I omitted the pockets on the front. The pockets are really cute but I didn't think she would need them and I just wanted to be finished so the less sewing the better (terrible of me I know!)

french seams inside

 

i sewed a rick rack name tag to the bottom

The pictures are not the best. I took them the next morning before Erin had to get on the bus. I was too tired to take them the night before and Erin was sleeping anyway. I could have gotten some cute ones if I did not suffer from severe procrastination. Oh well, here is a pic of Erin wearing it, she is pretending to make something in the picture ;) And she is also sporting the headband that I whipped up that morning to go with her outfit. Don't be too impressed - all I did was take a piece of sparkly tulle, tie it in a knot and wind some thread around it to secure it to a headband she already had - 7am crafting at its finest people!

jack's elbow photobombing the pic!

The Details:
Pattern: Little Things to Sew by Oliver + S Art Smock omitted pockets
Fabric: main: Riley Blake Happier Garden Birds sleeves: Happier Garden Orange Floral (sadly this line is no longer available - i've had it in my stash for over two years)
Notions/trim: Velcro tabs for back closure, white rick rack for name tag on bottom of smock both purchased at Joann

Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan

Back to School

Monday was the first day of school here for the Once Upon a Notion household. Erin started the First Grade! And my little man started Nursery School. Wait what?! Both my littles are in school now, how did that happen?! Oh Father Time why must you speed things up so? As much as my little rug rats drive me crazy when they are together for too long, I still miss them when they are away from me. The house is eerily quiet for a good 7 1/2 hours a week now. (Jack is only going three days a week - the way I am carrying on you would think he was in full day too!) The time to myself will be good. I get a chance to sew, uninterrupted!! *Does happy dance*

Since the first day of school is a special day, Erin needed a special outfit to wear. And since I am a sucker for the Geranium dress ( this is my fourth one now) that is what I sewed up. The day before. Just like I did last year. Only this time I started a lot earlier in the day and finished the dress by nine at night instead of one in the morning. Yay me! I'm getting better at not being such a procrastinator :)

I had a minor hiccup that I posted about on Instagram,  I had to cut against the grain for the skirt portion. I had originally purchased the fabric to make a tunic version of the Geranium dress so I really didn't have enough fabric for a dress if I cut it out the right way. I am actually glad that I had to be such a rebel and cut against the grain - ha! I like how the ladybugs are going in a different direction on the skirt than they are on the bodice. Yay for a happy mistake! And my procrastination actually paid off a bit. I added some flat piping in between the bodice and skirt that I wouldn't have thought to do if I had not seen Gail's version of her daughter's back to school Geranium dress. So thank you Gail! I really love how that little touch adds something extra to the dress.

The first day of school was a success for both the kiddies! No tears from them, just from mommy!

While poor Jack didn't get a handmade outfit from mommy, don't feel too bad for him. My parents got him a very cool dinosaur shirt and jeans from Janie and Jack to wear for his first day! Thanks Gram and Poppy!!


I am going to try something different when I post about clothing or anything else I make dealing with patterns and fabric. I'll link back to where I purchased the fabric and patterns whenever possible like I normally do but now it will be all in one place called The Details which will be at the end of each post. I have seen quite a few other bloggers use this format, so to speak, and I think it is helpful. Plus I always forget to put this info in and then either go back and edit my post or just leave it out all together ha!

The Details:
Pattern: Made by Rae Geranium dress size 4 view B bodice, view A skirt with patch pockets
Fabric: main: Tula Pink - The Birds and The Bees - Ladybugs in Sugar lining: Art Gallery - Pure Elements - Spiceberry
Notions/Trim: fabric covered buttons and flat piping in Spiceberry


Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan

A day of remembrance

Today we remember all those lives that were lost, all those who gave everything to save others and all those that continue to fight everyday. A tragic day in our country's history but also a day that is a reminder of the good that can be found in others through the selfless sacrifice of all those firefighters, police officers and first responders who didn't run from the attack but towards it to help their neighbor. 

Their sacrifice will never be forgotten. Thank you to all of you who helped us that day and every day since, to keep hope alive. 

God Bless America.