Summer PJs

The last Friday in May, Erin and I attended a Mother/Daughter PJ Party for Girl Scouts. The event was really cute. The girls played games, made a craft, ate ice cream sundaes and danced their little hearts out. I thought it would be fun to make some coordinating pajamas for us to wear for the night. I finally got around to taking some pics of Erin in her new summer pjs (not the best pics but the weather was not so great the day I took them and my model would just not hear of a re-shoot - models ugh!). Sadly, I have not taken any pics of me in mine......I know you are all so disappointed ha!

The Details:
The Pattern: Oliver and S Popover sundress size 4 shorted to tunic length for the top. Made Kids shorts size 5 for the bottoms
The Fabric: Old bed sheet from Pottery Barn (used the same sheet for this dress)
Trims/Notions: old pillow case for bias tape. lace trim from Joann. grosgrain ribbon from stash

 These pajamas have become a favorite, especially on these hot summer nights we have been having lately. They are super comfy and great for jumping on the bed according to Erin. 

I hope you have all been enjoying the start of summer. We have been hanging by the lake and just enjoying not having to wake up to catch a bus! Blogging will probably continue to be a bit sparse as we enjoy the summer but I'll still post stuff on Instagram if you'd like to follow along there. I have been sewing and will be sure to blog about stuff as I get a chance but most likely I will be at the lake if you need me :)

Sewing for me: Super Tote

Well I finally finished my Super Tote by Noodlehead. I only started it a year ago so I figured it was about time to finish it up. I am really mad that it took me so long because I love it! I loved the pattern when Anna first introduced it and purchased it right away. Then it took some time to pick out the right fabric to use. I finally decided and cut everything out, even fused all the interfacing, made the straps and then it sat. Other projects came up and the summer rolled around then the new school year and holidays...you know life. And I also put things for myself last. Selfish Sewing Week gave me the push I needed to finish up this awesome tote.

linen piping!!

small pocket inside main outer pocket

 The Details:
The Pattern: Super Tote by Noodlehead
The Fabric: Meadowsweet by Sandi Henderson (so sad that this line is unavailable I just love it) linen from Joann, yellow Kona Cotton from Joann
Trims/Notions: self made linen piping, magnetic snap
Notes: I added a small pocket on the inside of the main outer pocket to hold my cellphone and chap stick/lip gloss. I also fully lined the outer pocket piece.


I love this tote! It holds so much stuff. I had a cardigan of mine and a sweatshirt of Erin's inside the tote along with my wallet, water bottle, snacks, a notebook and it was not busting at the seams. This tote is perfect for taking on trips to the park and trips to the mall and just great for everyday use. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. I finished up the tote in a day once I really sat down and concentrated.

I already have plans for another tote in darker colors for the fall/winter. I just hope that one doesn't take me a year to finish too ;)

Sewing for me: Parisian Top

Hello! So it seems that it takes a sew-along to get me to sew/blog these days. And it is coming down to the final days of the Spring Top Sew-along over on Made by Rae, so I thought it was about time I posted this top that I made at the start of the sew-along. I am very happy that I sewed something for myself. I have only made three other garments for myself, two of which I blogged about here and here, and I find that I really enjoy sewing clothes for myself. Maybe even a little more than I enjoy sewing for the kids. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that what I sew for myself will still fit six months from now (or at least it better! I will have to up my running if it doesn't ha!) And I will be way more likely to totally like what I sew myself and not give myself any grief about wearing it. Resistance to photo shoots, however, will continue. I find it extremely awkward having someone take my picture for the purpose of "modeling".

So without further ado, here are some awesomely awkward photos of me "modeling" my new top:

Sweet pics, right? Vogue should be calling any day now.

The Details:
The Pattern: Parisian Top (purchased as part of the Just Add Jeans Bundle from Pattern Anthology) size small
The Fabric: Teal Green Ponte de Roma from Girl Charlee for the top, Sew Classic Peachskin in Ocean Paisley from Joann Fabric for the collar (left over from Erin's Bimaa)
Notions/Trims:
Notes: I sewed the size small but think I should have used the size medium for the armscye and the sleeves. While not uncomfortable, it feels a little too fitted under the arm. I think that is what is causing the pulling in the photo above. I also made some kind of error with the neckline and collar so I had to put a little pleat at the front neckline to make it work. I got the idea from Caroline, thank you!

So far this shirt has become a favorite. I've worn it three times since sewing it up. The fabric did get a little pill-y after the second wash but not so terrible that it can't be worn. I almost had to throw it in the trash after the first wash...I forgot to check a certain little guy's pockets and when I took the load out of the dryer, there was red and blue crayon all over everything! Thankfully, I soaked everything in shout and rewashed it all and the crayon came out of all but a few things. Note to self: remember to check pockets!

KCW Day 6

Yesterday was day 6 of KCW and the day that gave me the most trouble. The week had been going well. I sewed three items that all wound up getting good reviews in the end from the kiddies. I was feeling pretty good. I wasn't sure what to sew for Day 6. I went into KCW with no real plan at all so I decided to pull inspiration from fellow bloggers. As I read through my blog feed, I came across this really cute knit Geranium dress (and hilarious post about photographing her adorable littlest) by my friend Monica . Perfect! The first Geranium dress that I made I actually did in knit so I figured it would be super easy, right? I even had two old tee shirts of mine in my up-cycle pile that I could use for the project - score! Everything was coming up Millhouse until I started to sew.....

Okay so it doesn't look terrible.  But the sewing of it kinda was. I originally planned to make this a short sleeve top. And I even sewed sleeves onto the top. I even sewed one sleeve on twice (that happens when you don't realize you have NO thread in your bobbin!) Seriously, how the heck did I not realize that?! Anyway, I re-thread the bobbin and added the sleeve. Then I tried the bodice portion on Erin and it looked terrible with the sleeves. I didn't adjust the pattern for adding sleeves so it was too wide and looked awkward, So I cut them off, leaving a little bit of the sleeve so I could create a facing to finish the armscye. Okay not the look I was going for but it looked better without the sleeves.

So then I go to attach the skirt to the bodice. I gather the skirt a bit, pin it to the bodice and baste it on so it will stay in place so I can serge it. Somehow, after basting, there are puckers and pleats created in the bodice because I appartly gathered the skirt too much but didn't realize it when pinning it on - really at this point I should just give up. But no...what do I do? I decide the heck with it and just serge the damn skirt anyway, thinking, oh I don't know, that it will miraculously make the pleats and puckers go away. Yeah that worked well - smh!
I decide to just shut everything off, pour myself a pint glass of wine and go catch up on CSI on my DVR. But the top is staring at me, laughing if you will, that it has defeated me.  So back on the machines go and out come my scissors to cut the skirt from the bodice and re-sew. I didn't even pin this time, just matched the side seam of the skirt and bodice up and fed it through the serger. Turns out I didn't need to gather the skirt at all. It was pretty much the same size as the bottom of the bodice.
Thankfully I didn't need to hem the skirt since I used the existing hem from the tee shirt. I could only imagine what would have gone wrong next if that had to be done. Erin got to try it on this morning to take some pictures. And while it sort of looks like it fits her here:

You can tell here that I need to take it in like an inch on each side.....sigh
(side note: Erin sang and acted out Let It Go during the entire photo shoot.)

The Details:
The Pattern: Geranium Dress size 4t  (should have done the 3t)
The Fabric: Green knit - old J. Crew tee, Navy blue knit - old Gap tee
Trims/Notions: Just some thread

Notes: I created a facing for the neck opening instead of lining the bodice like the pattern suggests. For the skirt I just cut the bottom of the shirt off about two inches under the arms.

So I think I'm going to take it in on either side to make it a little more fitted. Or I just might let it go.....

Spring KCW Day 5 continued...

So, I was able to finish the dress yesterday that Erin had turned her nose up at the other day. I am happy to report that she has decided she will wear it for Easter - yay! My time was not wasted after all! Which makes me very happy since I reeeeeally want to make Jack a matching tie with the left over fabric.

The Details:
The Pattern: Classic A-line dress with collar option from Sew Classic Clothes for Girls size 2T width and 6 length
The Fabric:  Kona Cotton in Teal for the collar, DS Quilt Collection Croquet Daisies Brown for the main dress and an old cream colored sheet for the lining

Trims/Notions: Button from my stash purchased from Joann and brown Wright's piping and brown hair elastic for button loop

Notes: I made a long sleeve version of this dress back in during Winter KCW that was a bit too big on Erin. So I sized down this time from a 4 width to a 2 width. I think the fit is perfect now.

I really love the back button. I need to improve on my sewing of the back slit though. I always sew it too wide so there is a gap. It looks even more exaggerated in this photo too because the collar is tucked under the button a bit. The button isn't really that close to the edge.

Despite that fact that Erin has decided she will wear the dress does not mean the photo shoot went that great. The top few pics are the best I could get. The rest of the shoot went like this:

Oh well....at least she is going to wear the dress!

Spring KCW Day 2-5

Yikes! Okay so today is officially day 5 but I never posted about the last few days so here goes:

 Day 2: I sewed up a Recess Raglan for my little slugger. Jack starts tee ball in a couple of weeks and is very excited about it so I thought this would be the perfect shirt to make and it has been on my to do list ever since I purchased the Alphabet Collection from Pattern Anthology back in August. (Hello my name is Meghan and I am a pattern hoarder)
And here is another before school photo shoot - please ignore the water spots on his shirt from him brushing his teeth. I'm just glad they are not tooth paste gobs like usual.

raven photo bomb

this is his "up to no good" face - we see it a lot around here

The Details:
Pattern: Recess Raglan by See Kate Sew from Pattern Anthology's Alphabet Collection size 4
Fabric: two of my husband's old shirts
Trim/Notions: thread (so exciting!)
Notes: I used the existing hems on both shirts for the hem of the shirt and sleeves making this a very quick sew.

Jack loved his new shirt. I hardly ever sew for the poor boy so when I showed this to him Wednesday morning is face lite up as he said "This is for me?!" So cute! Unlike his sister who is harder to please these days, which brings me to...

Day 3: And nothing to show but this pic from Instagram.

I spent the hour tracing out a pattern and cutting out the fabric for a sweet little dress and was about to start sewing when Erin came over and said "Umm I don't know if I'll wear that"
Seriously kid?! So I put it aside feeling a little defeated. But I am going to tackle it today and hope that once it is all done, Erin might feel differently about it. Fingers crossed.

Day 4: I hemmed some pants for my friend's son. Not really what the whole idea of KCW is about but I sewed for a kid so I'm counting it.

 Day 5: I am going to work on finishing that dress in the hopes that Erin will at least wear it so I can take pics. Wish me luck....

Spring KCW Day 1

Hellooooo out there! It has been a long time since I blogged. To be honest its been a long time since I sewed anything either. Kids Clothes Week was just the kick in the pants that I needed to restart my sewing mojo. And what better way to start the week than with an outfit that I originally cut out for Winter KCW. Luckily, it is still a bit chilly out and the outfit I made for Erin has three quarter sleeves so I think it is still good for spring. Plus, it is a bit big on her so hopefully it will still work for her in the fall, I'll call that a win.

The Details:
The Pattern: The Perri Pullover by CaliFayeCollection size 2 width and size 5 length

The Fabric: Gray reversible knit fabric from Joann
Notions/Trim: gray thread

This dress sewed up pretty quickly and the instructions were easy to follow. The dress has pockets which Erin loves. This is the first pattern by CaliFaye Collections that I have sewn and I definitely would like to try some others, especially this Cadet Coat. I think it would make a great coat for the fall for Erin. I originally bought this fabric with a shirt in mind for myself but with the high low hem on this dress, I thought it would be cute to use since you could see the reverse side a bit on the inside back hem. I think I still have enough for a shirt and in the spirit of this season's first ever theme of "mini me" I'll definitely try to sew one up with a bit of variation so we are not too matchy matchy.

I used the reverse side of the fabric to create the sleeve cuffs for a little bit of interest. For the neckline, I did not fold the hem over to cover the seam like instructed in the pattern. This fabric is a bit thick and I think it would have been a little rough to sew through so I just serged the seam and left it as is. I think it still came out okay. I also think it would have made the neck too wide if I did sew it over. This fabric seemed to stretch out a lot and the neckline looks wider than it should. I had Erin wear a tank top under the dress in case it slipped over her shoulder at all. But like I said, since it is a bit big it should last until the fall.
 

 

This was a very quick photo shoot right before the bus came this morning.....in fact this is the last picture I took which is of Erin saying "Mom the bus is here!" Good thing the driver waits ;)