A fancy skirt.

Abby decided she wanted a store bought shirt to wear for Easter this year.  She doesn't ask often for store bought and while I was a bit sad I wasn't really planning anything for Easter outfits this year so I let her buy it.  I had lots of great suggestions from friends as to which skirt to make to go with the top and  I settled on a Sunday Brunch in white denim.  Or so I thought.  Then I changed my mind and stayed up waaay too late last night playing with silk, chiffon and sequins.  (Actually the sequins were sewn on this afternoon). 

 

 



 

I ended up doing a Lazy days skirt with 4 layers of non-fray chiffon and a silk lining.  The skirt is so soft and flowy, so much better in real life than pictures.  I also did separate piece for the waistband.

I couldn't find a gray that went perfectly, but I thought this one went well with the chiffon. 

Pretty, right?  The sequins are only around the front part, the back waistband is plain. 

She loves the skirt and was dancing all over the yard in it.  It is perfectly flowy and twirly, it got her stamp of approval.  (I promise these pictures don't do the skirt justice, it is definitely a see and feel kind of garment)

Ruffle shorts.



I went on a cutting spree last night, 2 Classic Picnic blouses and  4 pairs of Classic Picnic shorts.   I decided to sew one of the pairs of shorts for Elizabeth first, modifying them following Cindy's tutorial for knock off J.Crew shorts.  I still want to get some teal to copy the inspiration shorts. 

 

Anyway, I used some of the MM Dinky Dots that I picked up back when I made the Jumprope in teal. 

 

I made them in 18 month and they are pretty big on her, I knew they would be a little big but she could easily get away with 12 month.  I should have known being yesterday Georgia wore the ones from last summer.  My thinking was they would last for most of summer, we'll see.

I followed Cindy's tutorial almost word for word, the only thing I changed was the ruffle.  I don't know how to do a rolled hem (and didn't feel like figuring it out today;) so I cut my ruffle 3" and folded it in half while she cut hers 1.5" and used a rolled hem.  Also, I just used 44" for the length of my ruffle.  That was just about right, it could have been a little longer but I was going for an easy sew today. 

Cute, no?

Little sweetie's black eye is almost healed, yay! Those darn eye level tables...

Then there is Georgia.  This Ice Cream top is one of the first things I made for them, and also another pair of 6m shorts from last summer. 

Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers (their favorite thing to do while in the front yard). 

Roller skate for the smallest one.

After the first Roller Skate I made for the twins I knew it wouldn't be one they could swap.  I have always just made one size for the twins but lately I have noticed I need to start making them separate for a lot of patterns.  So, I made an 12 month with extra length since she is tall.  I don't know how much length, I just eyeballed it... I should really start making notes!

 

 



She wasn't as cooperative this time, ha! Normally she will stand so still while I snap away, but she was a little ham this time. 

I even tried tossing my lens cap and snapping as she walked closer, but that didn't work too well, I typically got silly faces or out of focus shots (or cut off feet, see above)

So I settled with what I could get.  Oh well. 

So more on the details.  I did the yoke option (obviously) and added a fairy tale like belt over the top.  I didn't think about it until a few minutes ago, but I probably should have lowered the casing since she is more of the 18m/2t length but the 12m markings.  Oops.   When I stitched the belt on the first time I didn't stretch it at all, but soon realized it wouldn't stretch at all then when dressing her, so unpicked and stretched a little as I hand stitched it on.   Oh, and I sewed the pattern per instructions and then just hand stitched the belt on in the end.  I really like the look of it!  It added quite a bit of time considering the time it has taken me previously (the *cough* four previous ones... how long has this pattern been out again? Oh yeah, not that long!)  But I am a slow hand sewer.

I couldn't get a good shot of the back of the belt (remember my uncooperative model?) and she wasn't interested in taking the dress off, so I will explain what I did the best I can, ha!  And if there is any interest I am sure I can be talked in to doing a mini tute on the belt;).  So anyway, when I stitched it on I started in the back middle and tucked the raw edges in to the tube, sewed all the way around, when I got back to my starting point I over lapped my belt by an inch (or under lapped?  I tucked it under my original starting point), then I stitched the top and the bow.  I was tossing around putting the bow in the middle, but I like it off center. 

What to sew now?

Raven shorts.

It's spring here, yay! So that means Abby has been wanting to wear shorts to school, time to get sewing!  She has one or two pairs that still fit from last year, but when she wore one of them the kids teased her and told her she was against dress code because they were too short and she was going to be sent home, she came home crying.  She was at a different school last year and their only policies were no tank tops and no flip flops, apparently this school your shorts can't go above your finger tips with your arms straight down to your side.  Whatever, I seriously doubt they would send her home, but she doesn't want to get teased again. 

 

 

Okay, back story over, let's get to the pattern.  I used the Clever Charlotte Raven pants and shortened them to just above her knees.  I let her pick the color of them (a blue-green twill) since she was home last week on spring break and making requests.  I was trying to get her to go with gray or denim so they would match things already in her closet but she wasn't interested in that.  I "can just make her another shirt, right?" (That is her exact quote)

 



 

So, I had zero control over this outfit.  I tried to get her not to even wear them today since it was a bit chilly this morning but she insisted- in fact, she entertained the twins in their bedroom while I hemmed them since that was the last thing that needed to be done on them.   And honestly, anytime she will actually wear her Ice cream top I don't argue, she has only worn it handful of times since I made it in October. 

These are a size 6- for my notes:) I chose pocket number three, and lined them and the waistband with some scraps from the twins Geranium top, but I forgot to get a picture of that since we were in a hurry to get her off to school.  Aren't those pintucks down the front great?? That is what made me look at the pattern in the first place.  Well that, and also Cindy and Nicole's awesome versions.  They have an adjustable waist and  I thought the way CC instructs you to make the channel for the button elastic was pretty cool.  They are a really quick sew and I can see them being a staple.  I will for sure be making them in the fall as pants.

I am thinking of making them a little shorter next time, definitely in a easy to match color and maybe try a different pocket... I dunno though, I really like this one. 

Another day, another dress.

Two posts in one day?!  The tunic from this morning was made yesterday, and the dress today was sewn during naptime.  Ben's aunt with kids Abby and Jack's age invited them to their pool, what else would I have done with three free hours besides sew? ;)

 



 

Yep, another Roller Skate.  Size 18 months view A with a bit of extra length.  A friend alerted me to a super fantastic sale on the Sarah Jane Out to Sea line last fall and I snatched up a few prints knowing they would be perfect for summer- I wish I would have picked up some more!  Abby has requested a Roller Skate top from the mermaid print, we will see... I should probably move on to another pattern for a bit;)

Little Missy was much more cooperative this morning, tonight she was trying her hardest to avoid me. We were in the front yard and she kept trying to run in to the street, so I tried to distract her by bringing out the slide.  It worked for a minute, then she ran away. 

But George loved it.  She kept trying to go down backwards, silly girl.

After being put back on the grass a couple dozen times, she found a basketball and practiced throwing it in the street, attempted to hula hoop and just ran around the grass for the next ten or so minutes. 

Lesson of the day?  Take Izzy's picture in the morning, or just use Georgia as the model, she holds so still for the camera. 

Roller skate for a little one.

Yes, another Roller skate, I just might be a little obsessed.  This is my third in as many days, and I have one more cut and two more planned! Getting my money's worth from the pattern, right? ;) 

 



 

This one is an 18 month, view D with extra length.  I found the pattern to be a little wide on her, and she measures right in to the 18m- which means it absolutely drowns Georgia!  I put it on her and just laughed.  This is one that they wont be able to share. 

I really like this view, the yoke adds a cute contrast.

Little missy has been obsessed with this flashlight lately, I couldn't pry it out of her hands for a quick picture even if I tried!

The elastic does ride up and I have to pull it down every now and then, but it doesn't seem to bug her. 

I was able to cut the main fabric out of 1/2 yard!  I was way excited, I had this fabric left over from when I covered their car seats a few months before they were born. 

Twins were a bit of a shock (and that is a bit of an understatement) and new matching car seats were out of the question money wise, so I took on the crazy task of covering not one, but two car seats!  (***I know the argument about is it safe or not, I made my decision and respect others decisions, please don't leave me a rude comment about it***)   One was a blue bear we had from Jack and another was one I found at a garage sale for a good price, also dark blue.  This was before I had sewn anything more than a simple elastic skirt... yeah, I didn't realize what I was getting myself in to.  

Anyways, I had just 1/2 yard of the flowers left and about 1/4 yard of the blue.  I have always loved those two together so it was like fate that it all worked out, ha!

I have another 18 month dress cut out in a Sarah Jane print (way excited) and will have to figure out something for Georgie, so I see more Roller Skating in my future!

The perfect canvas.

The Oliver + S Roller skate really does make the perfect canvas, don't you agree?

 



 

 

 



 This dress was nearly completely designed by little miss.  I chose the applique and and the fabric for the hot air baloon, she chose the rest.  That means she'll love it even more, right? I made a size six view A just like yesterday, but added even more length than before.  Like 3-4 more inches.  I wanted it her to be able to wear it without leggings for one, and also maybe get longer wear from it too. 

I actually bought enough of the hot air baloon fabric to make her a roller skate from it, but she pretty much refused it.   That's alright, the twins will look beautiful in it.  She placed the clouds and baloon where she wanted them, then instructed me where to make the rainbow.  She wanted  the traditional rainbow colors, but I guided her to these since they went with the fabrics she chose.  I kind of regret not putting a sun behind one of the clouds... maybe it would have been "too much" though- yep, that's what I will tell myself.

Then a fun yellow button in the back! It really is sewn on straight but since it is a bit big it twists when you put the loop around. 

Spring dress.

 Did you hear?! Oliver + S released their new spring patterns last week.  As I impatiently waited for my paper patterns to arrive I had plenty of time to plan.  I immediately knew I wanted to make the Roller skate dress use some of the yummy AMH voile, I have used it for a Pierrot and an Ice cream top and absolutely loved it.  

This is a size Six with a bit of length.  I wanted this to be simple and show off the fabric, so I went with View A minus the bow.  I centered the pattern so the solid was in the middle, I like it. 

I really like the way it turned out in the back too, I was able to make the seam nearly invisible (at least I think).

 

 

I didn't have any exciting buttons, so just a simple gray one.  The pattern is absolutely wonderful, not that I would expect anything less from Liesl and co.  It has such a great shape, and it is fully lined.  Abby has requested many more of these!  ... That's right! She asked for more dresses!! I think I can fulfill that request;)

 

 



I used the tutorial on the Oliver + S website to make a stack of these cute bows. She loves them all:)

 

 

I may have gone a little overboard...



The Fern shirt.



Today was dress like a book character day at school today.  Abby begged me to make her a "Fern shirt", she even did extra chores yesterday to butter me up.  I made the mistake of choosing to finish the fairy tale from yesterday before starting on the shirt, which turns out was a bad idea as I ended finishing just after midnight (had wait for it to come out of the wash to get rid of those blue placket marks). 

 

 

So I used the Oliver + s jump rope pattern in size 7 just like last time, but this time I shortened it to a shirt.  I love it!

 



And so does she.  I used a gingham since that was the only red in my stash, I am undecided on the buttons, but I didn't want to take the extra time to cover buttons.

Are you wondering what exactly a Fern shirt is?

Apparently Fern is the character in Charlotte's web.  Ben's cousin gave Abby a bunch of books she had outgrown (sixteen year olds don't need these kind of books anymore apparently ;) ) Abby is an avid reader, in fact, she is in second grade reading at a sixth grade level (please excuse the brag). 

Of course Fern needed a red ribbon (like the book cover)

And a pig. 

She was super happy with it.  First thing in the morning she ran in my room asking if I was able to finish it, and then gave me a "Thank you SO much Mom, it's perfect!" and a giant hug.  Worth it. 

She said one other girl was Fern today, and that one other girl was the only one who knew who she was, HA!

A fairy tale for fun.

I have been thinking about making another Fairy tale dress for a month or so now.  I made one last fall for halloween, but it was a PITA because I was working with satin.  I *thought* this time around would be much easier.  Well, it was as far as the fabric went, but I made some really stupid mistakes.  For some reason I couldn't for the life of me figure out the invisible zipper.  I unpicked it four times... I think... I lost count.  Then I just abandoned the instructions and did my own thing and it worked the first time.  Then, I attached the skirt lining wrong so the tulle would have been touching skin.  Blah.  I didn't want to unpick all of that so Ben suggested just sewing another skirt to it.  So that's what I did. 

 

Plus, I only had half a yard of what I wanted to use for the skirt, so I had to adjust the pattern to make it less full.  I made a size 18m and added two layers of pettiskirt netting. 

 

 

One benefit of having twins?

 

 

When one baby doesn't cooperate... just walk home and grab the other!  I thought Izzy would be happy this afternoon, but she wasn't.  Too bad, because the dress actually fits her best since she is bigger.

George was more than willing to stand extra still for me.  Not willing to smile, but that's okay.  The bodice is a pale pink, I thought it would add interest to the dress (the birds are cream).

She was obsessed with the bow. 

I originally wanted to do sleeveless, but when I got frustrated trying to bind the arm holes I decided to add the sleeves.  Plus, isn't the tulip sleeve just adorable?

I love the insides.  Plus, with the two layers of pettiskirt netting and two skirt linings (oops) it helped make up for the fullness I lost when having to adjust my pattern pieces.

I was lazy and chose to utilize a decorative stitch on my machine instead of hemming by hand since this is more of a casual dress. 

Mistakes and all, I want to make another one fairly soon, I have a few things on my list first.  I love the shape of the dress and the look of it on the girls, so cute!

Sketchbook shorts.

I bought the Oliver + s Sketchbook shirt + shorts pattern last summer, but was intimidated by it at the time.  I didn't think I could do it with what little experience I had back then.  I was so silly.  These shorts are SO easy! I made a size 4 as that is what I normally make for him in the other O+s patterns, but these turned out a little tighter than planned.  (to be honest, I didn't look at the measurement chart before I cut them out).  They are fine for now, but I am almost certain they will be outgrown with in a month or two. 

 



 

I used some army green bottom weight.  He has never noticed pockets until I started making his pants, now he can't get enough of them!  He was disappointed there were no "secrets" on this pair of pants (ie, different patterned waistband lining or pocket lining). 

He is also wearing a field trip raglan, size 4, that I made a couple weeks back. He has no idea who Weezer is, but he loves his "flying W shirt" (what he calls it) and picks it everytime it comes out of the wash.

I chose not to do the exra topstitching around the pockets since I didn't have a thread that would match well.  I love those pleats!

The shorts are perfect for jumping on the little trampoline,

climbing over obstacles,

going super fast down the slide,

 

 

swinging,

 



 

And just running around the back yard in general.  He was so funny, "Mom, take a picture of me doing _______ " "Okay, now take one of ________" he was quite the director this time.  Oh boy, my back yard needs some TLC.  Guess what though? It is finally warm enough to wear shorts (anything over 60f is perfect) so that means it will be time for the grass to start growing again!  ... and that means it is time to sew faster, we'll really be needing shorts before you know it!