August sewing

It’s true: I spent most of August procrastinating on the Swing dress. But it is finally done, along with a few quicker projects!

• 4 pillowcases which are gifts for some of my favorite children.
• Navy sweatpants, a “because I can” sort of project. We require the boys to wear long pants for their lawn mowing jobs, and all of Drama Boy’s pants were dirty one morning. He had a half hour wait while Larry got his allergy shot, so I told him if he watched Baby Boy I would make him sweatpants from a piece of french terry in my stash. He did and I did. I used the pants pattern from Kwik Sew’s Sewing for Children. He needed the largest size, and I added a bit of length just because he’s a 12 year old boy. I laid the front and back pattern pieces together to eliminate the side seams, and used ribbing cuffs at the hems. Voila–half hour pants.
• 1940s swing dress, already blogged about here.
• Plaid shirt for Bouncy Boy’s birthday picture, using Ottobre 1/2003 #26 (size 104 with added length in the torso). It’s almost done, as soon as I make button holes and sew on the buttons I picked up in Casper yesterday.

September plans: linen sailor suit for Baby Boy’s birthday picture. Then. . .I don’t know. Start thinking about fall/winter clothes, I guess. A nightgown without nursing openings would be nice, and I’d like to finally sew up that piece of wool coating before the snow flies. I also have a pattern that I think would make a good knitting bag for bigger projects. We’ll see!

Starstruck

Sometimes we pick up items on sale for the kids to buy from us later with their allowance. Last year, American Girl had an amazing sale right after Thanksgiving and Twirly Girl chose several items. By the time she had bought everything from us but the girl and doll t-shirts advertising last summer’s movie about Kit, she decided she doesn’t like to wear shirts with words on them. Oh dear. It was far too late for returns, if the sale items ever could be returned, and none of her brothers wanted them either. So when I had leftover star fabric from my apron, I suggested with matching pants they would make good pajamas. . .thankfully she (and Hannah!) agreed.

Hannah’s pants are from Joan Hinds‘ book Sew Today’s Fashions for 18″ Dolls; I omitted the contrasting cuff and altered the pants piece to have no side seams. Twirly Girl’s pants are from the Kwik Sew Sewing for Children book, size medium. I also omitted her side seams and changed the tapered legs to be straight. You may notice the girl pants are full length and the doll pants are cropped: that is because the girl’s t-shirt has plenty of growing room so by the time it fits better her pants will be cropped too. The doll, on the other hand, will not grow.

May sewing

This was the month for “vacation sewing”: all those little last minute projects you think of sewing right before going somewhere.

• Gifts for my nieces: a cotton batik dress and bloomers for the baby, and a blouse for the 4yo. Ottobre 2/2005, #3 in size 62 (the petal dress, minus the petals) and #11 in size 98. Having this issue open makes me want to make the drop seat romper for Baby Boy; I had made it for Silly Boy but Baby Boy outgrew it before last summer.

• Another Flirty Skirty apron gift, this time for a friend we’ve stayed with on our trip.
• Something for me to wear to the wedding tomorrow evening, Ottobre 2/2009 #14 (“Stream” dress). I used cocoa brown bamboo-cotton jersey from fabric.com; my only alteration was to add 2″. I deliberated some time whether to make it knee length or long, knowing that one would be more flattering and the other more comfortable (for me). I finally went for comfort: I don’t mind looking short (I AM short!) and I will be relaxing with my family and friends. I made 2 sashes to wear with it, one bright pink and the other yellow; you’ll have to wait for pictures to see which one I decide to wear. This dress was very easy to sew and I recommend following Pam’s tip for the draped neckline (sorry I couldn’t get it to link directly; you’ll have to scroll down to Fold & Flip Facings).
• A quick pair of cropped pj pants for Twirly Girl, because her favorite nightgown is now tunic length (I only made it 4 years ago! LOL). I used some lavendar cotton jersey and trimmed the legs with the same decorative elastic I had used on the gown. I used an Ottobre pattern but can’t remember which one
• Two new slips for me, cut from old tricot nightgowns. I use the pattern from the Kwik Sew lingerie book.
• A quick sundress for Twirly Girl, using that fabric that already has elastic shirring on one side (purchased on clearance last fall, of course!).

Sewing plans for June:

• Start on Christmas gifts.
• Another blouse and/or skirt for me.
• And maybe that summer purse that didn’t get sewn before vacation!

Ottobre skirts

I know, it’s been over a week since I blogged about my new skirts. . .but I finally uploaded the pictures. Please pardon my photography, as these were taken late one night while putting away laundry. I ironed them first, honest I did! Anyhow now I know that my quilt rack isn’t a good place to take pictures.

Here is the skirt from 4/2002; mine is denim.

As you can see the side seams are a bit wonky because I was taking them in as I went. Now that I know I actually need the size 38 instead of 40, the next one should turn out nicer. This skirt is straight but not too restrictive except when I’m in a hurry (or on the stairs); if I make another everyday version I will probably add the optional walking slit. The only thing it lacks are pockets! I wore it today for the 4th or 5th time already. I like it with casual tops and mary janes, though I also wore it to church once with a white blouse and black boots.

Here is the twill skirt from Ottobre 5/2008:

This is a really soft twill; it’s lovely but I’m glad the skirt has a lining or I’m sure the wrinkling would be frightful! I think the style is cute (those are teeny pleats at center front if you haven’t seen the pattern), but the knee length makes it impractical for my everyday life. I wore it to church yesterday with heels and a Lands End twinset.

This afternoon I tried to sew, but Baby Boy’s baby book was still all over my cutting table. So I journaled as much as I could and then put the whole mess away until I get my prints in the mail. I then went stash diving for slip fabric, but that is as far as I got before needing to change a diaper and then start fixing dinner. I won’t be photographing these, so I’ll say now (in case you’re curious) that I’ll be using the half slip pattern from Kwik Sew’s Beautiful Lingerie book.

Modesty panel nursing tops

I’m sure this idea for nursing access isn’t original to me, although I’ve not seen anything exactly like it. It came to me when I made the Jalie twist top last month. That pattern included a modesty panel, so my only modifications were to cut a slit in the center front (about 6-8″) of the panel and make the panel long enough to cover my belly but not long enough to get stitched into the hem. For these two tops, I used the front pattern piece to make my own pattern piece for the modesty panel.

Here is the Ottobre wrap version from 5/2008:

After wearing this one I realized that I should routinely tack the top of the panel to the neckline (about 1″ on each side of the V seems to be enough). As I said before, the sleeves are rather tight so I may not wear this one again. Also, you can see how the cotton lycra is too stiff for the pleats to drape. Yuck.

Here is the Kwik Sew 2900 version:

Ack! Where did that stray thread come from?! On this one I think the panel could/should come up a little higher for proportion’s sake. I also see I should have cut the neckline binding about 1-2″ longer, oops. Anyhow, since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is how this style of nursing access looks from the inside:

The modesty panel is sewn into both the lower armhole and the side seams (as well as being tacked in place at the neckline). Once necklines are finished off, I layer it under the outer front and treat the two pieces as one.

Sunday afternoon sewing

This afternoon Larry and Baby Boy were watching football, Silly Boy was napping, and the rest of the kids were out sledding. . .so I headed into the sewing room to unwind. In less time than it took to listen to two days’ worth of Issues, Etc., I made myself a new purse.

The exterior is a slightly shiny home dec remnant I found at Hancock Fabrics on a recent trip to Billings. The lining is two pale yellow floral cotton prints from a quilt shop (one for the actual lining, the other for the pockets). I think this is the third purse I’ve made from this pattern downloaded from Ottobre’s website (the “Dotted Dream” purse; sorry, wordpress hasn’t let me insert hyperlinks lately). I always add a magnetic snap; this time I goofed and forgot to add seam allowances. The slightly smaller size would be okay except I’ve been putting a diaper & wipes in my purse instead of carrying the diaper bag, so it’s a bit crowded. I like my purses to have a little body but not be stiff, so lately I have been interlining the whole purse with cotton duck and adding something extra to the bottom only (this time it was fusible fleece). I added a total of 5 pockets to the inside; one for a pen, one for my keys, one for my phone, and two more for kleenex, lip balm, etc.

I’ve actually gotten quite a bit of sewing done lately, believe it or not. It’s mostly been Christmas gifts or clothes for myself, thus the lack of pictures. Details on the gifts can wait! Otherwise:

1.  I did make the wrap top #17 from the newest Ottobre Woman (5/2008) out of a pistachio cotton-lycra jersey, adding a modesty panel (with nursing access) of a coordinating print. Either my knit has too much recovery or this top is cut quite snugly. The sleeves were tight enough I’m not sure I’ll wear it again. I definitely think the side pleat detail would look better in a drapier knit.
2. I also made the skirt #4 (same issue) from khaki twill, with some changes. As I understood it, the tucks were to be sewn wrong sides together and then sewn down with the ribbon trim. I didn’t want trim on my belly and decided sewing the tucks right sides together would be flatter. It has a nice a-line shape and I’ll probably wear it again, but I am more comfortable in longer skirts.
3. I had some rayon-lycra jersey I was going to use for a second attempt at the wrap top. But it has words on it and I noticed one of them was “sexy.” Small print but, umm, I don’t think so! That was a disappointing discovery because I really like the colors. Back to the drawing board. . .I had a solid cotton-lycra jersey in my stash that is the same shade of plum as the words. Bingo! I pulled out Kwik Sew 2900 and cut out the long sleeved v-neck version, lowering the front V slightly and also replacing the neckband with binding. I then cut a modesty/nursing panel out of the print, taking care that nothing “sexy” would show. This is becoming my new favorite way to make a nursing top and I suspect I will make several more of these before Baby Boy weans. It gives the polished look of layers but only adds a second layer of fabric in front (and if you’re not nursing, just omit the slit in the center front). I don’t bother hemming the bottom of the modesty panel; being knit it doesn’t ravel, so that would only add bulk.
4. And back to skirts, last night I finished skirt #44 from Ottobre 4/2002 out of eggplant/plum colored denim. The directions were in German, so I mostly ignored them (okay, I pretended to read them and then ignored them). I think the waistband was to be faced with petersham. Instead I cut additional yoke pieces out of a cotton print and assembled the yoke as a very wide waistband, more or less. It was a very easy skirt (or would have been if I hadn’t cut it a size too big, and had to take in the waist/hips); I will probably use this pattern again although I may add the walking slit for ease in chasing down rowdy boys.

2 more maternity wrap tops

I really like the navy & white top I made from Kwik Sew 3487, so decided to make a couple more versions out of cotton lycra jersey. This time I used XS from shoulders to bust seam, then tapered out to the length & width of a S for the lower half. I also machine tacked the wrap shut so I won’t have to use a safety pin. I didn’t make any  design changes to the lime & blue top. On the floral top, I eliminated the front band and ties, plus used decorative elastic to finish the neckline & armholes.

Kwik Sew Maternity Top

I love wrap tops, and I love Kwik Sew patterns. So when they came up with a maternity version (KS 3487) about the time I got pregnant, I had to have it!

Here is my first version, using navy & white cotton interlock. While stash diving, I thought I remembered that navy/white/nautical were ‘in’ again this summer. . .but I like these colors whether my memory is right or wrong.

I actually made it a few weeks ago, right before the weather turned COLD again! Thankfully it’s warming back up, and I’ve worn this top about 3 times in the past week or two. I usually make size small KS tops, based on their chart, but the fit is never quite right (I’m picky about fit!). So this time I went with an extra-small, which fits quite nicely! I may outgrow the belly before baby arrives, so when I make it again I will taper it out to a small below the ‘waist’ seam.

The top went together quickly, in spite of having a few more pieces than a plain knit top. I only have 2 gripes, and they wouldn’t be very noticeable if I hadn’t used contrasting fabrics. The first is that the neckband is only in front; in back there is a facing. The second is that the ties tend to slip down instead of staying right over the waist seam; as I continue to get bigger (and bigger!) maybe it will stay put.

I will definitely make another version or three of this pattern; I think a knee length dress version would also be cute! First, though, I need to finish the sweatshirt I promised my lost boy. . .

Devil with a blue dress?

Well. . .maybe not. I did get 2 compliments when I wore my new dress to church (though one was from Larry, a compliment is still a compliment!). This is the KS wrap dress (3408) from a periwinkle modal rayon lycra jersey (fabric.com, where else?).

Pardon the camera angle, but my 9yo took the picture. I used the long sleeves from view A; a bit long on me but every time I try to shorten a sleeve it ends up too short. The shorter length of view B worked well for me, though on me it is below the knee. I made the ties 1″ wide for more of a belted look (the pattern makes a 3/8″ tie). Here’s a closer view.

I like the dress, overall, but I’m not happy with the fit. Per my own measurements, I started with size small at the top, tapering out to the width (and length) of a medium for the waist and below. As you can see the top is very wrinkled; this was taken after church, but it was like that when I first got dressed too. Some of that might be the drapiness of the knit compared to the cotton knits I usually use. I had to use a safety pin at the bottom of the V for safety’s sake, and the bust darts are too low. While I will wear the dress (the fabric is too yummy to leave hanging in the closet), I’d also like to try-try again for better fit!