Sewing therapy

Yesterday was One of Those Days, or at least the morning was. After lunch I decided that sewing time was needed, so I headed downstairs. Everything on my To Sew list was either too complicated or uninspiring, but then I remembered that Silly Boy had recently informed me that he only had one pair of pajamas. Alrighty then. . .my first thought was to make a pair of pajama pants to be worn with a t-shirt, but the first suitable piece I found in my stash was a leaf camouflage cotton jersey that wasn’t big enough for pants. I continued looking and found a slightly larger piece of green waffle knit. Perfect!

I used Kwik Sew’s Sewing for Children; he still wears a size small. I used the basic t-shirt pattern and my no side seam version of the pull on pants. Plan A was a print top with solid pants, but there wasn’t enough print for long sleeves and Wyoming nights are cold. There was enough green for pants as well as sleeves, so that’s what I did. Plan A also involved self fabric neckband and cuffs; I cut those out and then realized they wouldn’t stretch nearly enough. Thankfully I had black in  my ribbing stash! (Actually, I think Plan B looks better. )

I’ve used these patterns so many times, I could almost sew them with one arm behind my back. . .I was able to cut them out and sew the shirt in a couple hours before I needed to fix dinner, and then sew the pants in not much more time than it took for Silly Boy to shower in the evening.

Giddy up!

Twirly Girl had been outgrowing her nightgowns & pajamas lately, so over Christmas break I encouraged her to sew her own. Last week she finally finished. She says she likes to sew once she gets started, but it usually requires a bit of prodding to actually get her started on a project.

She used Kwik Sew’s Sewing for Children, and I used the book’s directions to alter the sweatshirt pattern to a nightshirt for her. The yellow horse flannel was a stash hand-me-down from Gina, and the brown ribbing was from my stash (probably a SewBaby assortment). Her favorite parts are that it is long and snuggly.

September sewing

More schooling than sewing happened this month. . .which is as it should be!

• Ottobre blouse for me, blogged about here.
• Flannel pajamas for Baby Boy using Kwik Sew’s Sewing for Toddlers. If memory serves correctly, this was the first Kwik Sew book I purchased–and also my most used. It’s full of basic patterns for everything a toddler needs in his closet. I had enough flannel to make a second pair of pants as well as a fitted sheet for his toddler bed–voila, one big piece of flannel gone from stash.

And. . .that’s all, unless you want to count the half hour or more I spent patching the backside of Larry’s army pants after he spent a Saturday working on a church roof.

Well, technically that’s not quite all. I’ve started another blouse for myself, this time a modified version of Ottobre 4/2004 #44. I also cut out a third blouse, Ottobre 5/2007 #1, but we’ll see if I have time to sew that one before vacation: I will probably whip up a chocolate brown skirt first. Also Twirly Girl picked out some denim when I got my brown twill and I suspect she’s going to want some help with her skirt before we leave.

Two down. . .

Umpteen fair projects to go! Sigh. . .but a start is a start, right?

I told the boys they needed to do Fabrics & Fashion at least one year if not two and Boy Genius decided this year was as good as any. He chose to make a pair of pajama pants using Purdue quilter’s cotton and the Kwik Sew Sewing for Children book. He was so excited that he’s worn them every night since he finished them!

Twirly Girl just finished her skirt last night so I don’t have a modeled picture yet, but here she is working during a meeting at the extension office earlier this week.

She found a purple quilter’s cotton that goes with a lavender interlock I had in stash; she plans to make a knit top too so that she has a complete outfit for the Fashion Revue. Both her patterns are Ottobre; the skirt is #12 from 1/2006 and the top will be #29 from 3/2009. Her sewing has really improved since last year; she isn’t ready to construct her top on the serger, but she did a great job using it to finish the seam allowances on her skirt!

June sewing

• Mother-daughter Romantic dresses.
• Swimsuit for me using the new Fresh Modesty ebook. I’ll write a review later once I actually wear it and have a picture.
• Mending for Drama Boy–patched the seat of an otherwise good pair of jeans so they can at least be worn for mowing, and also repaired his favorite pair of pajama pants.
• Full slip for me from pink silk jersey (well aged stash). I didn’t have a pattern so I combined the tank top from Ottobre 2/2007 with the half slip from Kwik Sew’s Beautiful Lingerie book. Very easy sewing–shoulder and side seams, neck and armholes finished with decorative elastic, and blind hem stitch to create a scalloped hem. It’s deliciously comfortable under a dress, although is too warm now that it’s suddenly turned hot this week.
• Remade a rather old half slip of mine (too small, lace half gone, and elastic completely shot) into a “new” half slip for Twirly Girl. I offered fresh lace for the hem, but she chose a scalloped hem like my new slip.
• And I’ve nearly finished another 1912 Kimono Dress. This time I shortened the sleeves and used the neckline with inset. I did use two layers for the skirt this time–because my fashion fabric is semi-sheer. I thought about making the overskirt shorter, as shown on the pattern, but decided against it. I still need to make a belt before Larry marks the hem for me.

I did it! I actually accomplished all of my sewing goals for June!!! And then some. Now, once I finish the kimono dress, I really need to stop sewing dresses for myself for awhile! Except that quilt shop sale yielded the perfect fabric for a vintage 1940s pattern I won on eBay. . .drat. I also have yardage for a couple summer skirts, and. . .oh, you get the idea! Except for perhaps *one* skirt, I really don’t need any more summer clothes this year. So for July, my goal is to mostly put aside garment sewing and either start Christmas gifts or that new quilt for our bed. County fair is at the end of the month, though, so I will also be busy helping Boy Genius and Twirly Girl with their projects.

Nightgowns

Leslie asked what patterns I use for my nightgowns, and I had to stop and think a bit before I could answer. For over a decade, I alternated between the two nursing gown patterns (#104 and #105) from Elizabeth Lee Designs; both of which I highly recommend if. . .well, if you need a nursing nightgown. It’s only been in the past year or so that I’ve needed to find normal patterns, although as I recall I made a couple of nightgowns B.C.

So. After giving it some thought, I realized I can answer the question with two words: Kwik Sew. I’ve purchased a couple single patterns, but mostly I rely on their sewing books. Beautiful Lingerie offers basic ladies’ gown patterns with plenty of variations and ideas for trim. For Twirly Girl, I have used Sewing for Baby, Sewing for Toddlers, and now Sewing for Children. All three books have basic patterns that can easily be adapted to make nightgowns or nightshirts (as well as pajama tops & bottoms, of course). Again, there is plenty of room for variations and trim to make personalized garments.

Ottobre has also offered a couple of pretty nightgowns over the years. Twirly Girl has had more than one gown from design #10, 4/2003. I haven’t sewn her #18 from 4/2005 yet, but I have sized it up to make a gown for myself. My most recent gown is actually a modification of dress #1/tunic #3 from 5/2008: I omitted the belt and center back seam (having realized I can put my blouse on without the zipper) and added enough length to reach my ankles. I also changed the tucks to gathers to speed the construction process.

I’m sure the major pattern companies also offer nightgowns, but the closest fabric store is over 2 hours away so I usually stick with patterns I already have at home. For something like a nightgown, I find it easier to make minor style modifications to a pattern that fits than to start with an unknown fit.

January sewing

Last year’s monthly reports inspired to make sure I had something to report. . .so I decided to continue them this year.

• 2 pairs flannel pajama pants for Silly Boy–one pair to replace the ones that met an untimely. . .demise, and a second pair so I wouldn’t have to put the rest of the fabric back in stash. Kwik Sew Sewing for Children, size small, no side seams. They’re big but he’s been stretching up lately! The other pair has orange ribbing cuffs like the original pair (to match the shirt).

• Ottobre 5/2009 #4, “The Perfect White” shirt blouse.
• Hangers for two kitchen towels, pictures and details here.
• Shopping bag that stores in its own pocket. Once I have time to improve my initial design, I plan to post directions.
• White Kwik Sew nightgown for me.
• Floral stretch poplin Romantic blouse. This was a wearable muslin for another blouse, and I will post details once the second one is sewn.
• Yellow Regency dress for Twirly Girl; white pinafore & pantaloons for Twirly Girl, pictures and details here.
• Six white half aprons for Twirly Girl’s tea party guests. Simple self-drafted design, although I did add lace, tucks, or rick rack to each one.

Phew! No wonder my house is in a state of slight disarray. First project for February will be my blouse; after that I have any number of projects swirling about in my mind, as usual. And speaking of projects reminds me that I haven’t shared any knitting accomplishments for some time now; I’ll try to fix that later this week.

Sweet dreams

I thought I’d share a couple pictures of my newest nightgown, as I am pleased with the end results. I had tossed and donated a drawer full of nursing nightgowns and was getting tired of wearing the same one every week. I had originally intended to use up some horse print flannel that is better suited for a girl 1/10th of my age, but found this white cotton in my stash and decided to aim for pretty rather than cute. I used the gown pattern with long sleeves from Kwik Sew’s Beautiful Lingerie book. Last time I used this pattern I made a small; it always fell off my shoulders so I cut my pattern down to extra small.

Blue is not my usual color, but I love the classic feminine look of white trimmed with pale blue. I can’t remember why I had a scrap of blue trim in my stash, but it was just the right length and I had ribbon that matched.

I added 5″ length to the body of the gown plus a 6″ ruffle to make my gown ankle length–I like being able to tuck my feet up under my nightgown for warmth in the winter. I added the lace as I was topstitching the ruffle seam to the gown (this makes ruffles lay nicer even after washing). It may be an unconventional spot for lace, but it won’t itch!

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.