Fawn Lily.

I decided this year to make the twins Christmas dresses be something that could be worn long after the festivities were over.  It took me a while to pick a dress, and in the end I chose what I did due to time.  I was going to go with an Oliver and S Library dress and Apple Picking, but it was quicker to make two of the same, so that is what I did. 

I used the Fawn Lily pattern from Willow and co.  I won the pattern forever ago in a giveaway pack and never got around to using it, or any of the patterns, actually.  I tend to go with ones that I know I can trust the fit/instructions/pdf, etc.  

Let's just say I wasn't in love with the pattern.  I love that it is a unique design, and it did have it's good parts; I love the way the sleeves are constructed to give it a clean finish (even if it was extremely fiddly).  But I didn't love that the lines and notches were very difficult to decipher on my printer, I only have a black and white, basically I had to guess on a few things, and the notches are very important on this pattern.  It didn't really work out.  The tutorial pictures were blurry and it was hard to see any details.  Especially since the view I was working on, the lining and main fabrics were the same.  It would have been very nice to have had the lining a different fabric.  Would I make it again?  Yes, but only when I could devote my full attention to the pattern.

For Elizabeth's, I used a gold and white Riley Blake dot with navy blue piping.  I love the look of the bodice, especially with the piping.  I couldn't find any of this pattern all in one fabric, so I wasn't sure how it would look, but I really do love it.  It is so simple yet still unique.

The back also has piping, and I chose the gathered skirt for both dresses.  Also, both dresses are a 4t.

For Georgia's I used some gold bias tape as I couldn't find any gold piping.  One of the important notches was for lining up the center front bodice, well, my top notch and bottom notches didn't match.  Since I couldn't tell which one I was supposed to be using I had to guess.  The dress is a pretty tight fit to get over both of their heads, I am not sure if it always is or if it was because I probably chose the wrong black notch.

I think I will give the pattern another go, but next time in a couple of fabrics, we will see.  There's quite a bit on my list currently that *needs* to be made first.

Hipster Rudolph.

I am not usually one to make my kids themed holiday clothing, but I couldn't resist this one. I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday morning and came upon a post for a groopdealz Rudolph shirt.  Well, I clicked through to buy it and found out it wouldn't even ship until the 17th.  Not good.  So I quit being lazy and made my own. Theirs was a white short sleeved shirt, that's the benefit of making my own, I could use what I had on hand *and* make it weather appropriate.

I used the Oliver and S Field Trip Raglan in a size 18 month and added cuffs and a waistband because I wanted to be lazy and not have to hem anything... And the pants are a pair of 2T Mini Hudson Pants.  He is still a little too small for the pants, but I have been dying to make him a pair.  Both fabrics are a french terry, I love that stuff.

And this is what happens when I attempt to flat lay in the house... I let him off without a warning because he is pretty adorable.  He was hugging the clothing and trying to put it on.  Sooooo, yeah.

In the end, I am happy I made him a themed shirt this year, and he will just have to wear it nearly every day since I waited so long to make it, haha.

Cheyenne Tunic.

I recently helped Adrianna at Hey June test her newest pattern, the Cheyenne Tunic.  I absolutely love this pattern!

This is View A in tunic length and it was made from the final version of the pattern.  I used a nice chambray from the Gertie line at Jo-Ann, I had been holding on to it for way too long, it was time for it to be used.  The fabric worked great for the pattern.  I even found the perfect gray thread in my stash that blended in perfectly.

During testing Adrianna posted an up close shot, I think she was talking about the collar, but we all admired her perfectly straight stitching.  So the conversation of an edge stitching foot came up, I realized I had bought one probably a year ago meaning to try it on an Archer, but that Archer was never made and the foot never tried out.

I should have tried it sooner, the foot is amazeballs.

I am 5'4" and think this is the perfect length for the tunic.  I am not a leggings kind of gal, but I love wearing this with my skinny jeans.

The pattern includes a 5/8" seam allowance and has written the instructions to include french seams.  Of course the pattern can be made without FS, but seeing all these enclosed seams just makes my inner sewing nerd sing with joy.

The pattern also includes a collar with a collar stand.  This happened to be my first pattern to ever have a collar stand so I was a little intimidated, but it was so easy!

This is the shirt length and was an earlier version of the pattern.  Everything stayed the same, except an additional 2" ease was added to the hips. 

The pattern also has another view with different style collar and a partial placket, also included is a long sleeve with a placket.  I am excited to give another view/option a shot!  I love that there can be so many looks in the same pattern!  

Lanes all around.

I recently decided to get rid of all the old clothing I no longer fit or just don't like.  Why let it keep space in my closet when I don't know if I will wear them again, and let's be honest I will just keep making more.

So I cut a bunch of Lane Raglans and sewed them up.  It is really quick when you do them assembly line style. 

There isn't a lot to say about these, but since I want to document all my makes for my notes, here they are. 

This is a gorgeous Art Gallery knit as a hoodie.  

This one is cotton spandex on both fabrics.

These are both french terry.  The gray is a really light weight, so cozy.

The blue is a french terry, the arrows are a cotton spandex.

The abstract is an Art Gallery, and the blue is a french terry.  I modified the hem line to have a slight curve,  I just free handed it.

Basically I now have more than a week's worth of Lanes, if you count my previous ones.  And I actually had to stop myself from cutting out two more at the same time.  I really love the fit of this pattern.  Lucky for me raglans seem to be very 'in' lately.

Hatteras and Halifax.

 A while back I tested the Hatteras Hoodie for the oh so awesome Adrianna at Hey June.  I am just a slacker and haven't blogged them yet.

My original tester call was for the size 7 view A.  That would be for this stud.  I used a denim jegging material and for the accents used the wrong side of the fabric.

As it turns out, I probably should have made him a size 8.  That's what I get for not updating measurements more often, but I really like the slim look it gives a size down.  He wears this one most days to school, so I call that a win.  I really should make him another one...

After that was finished, I decided to try out the view B.  These two were while still in testing, so the fit was tweaked a little for the finished pattern.

I love the slight hi-lo hem on them.

This one is also view B, size 10.  Again, she wears this one all.the.time. I used the rad quilted heart knit from the doodles line at Jo-ann's, and ribbing for the neck and cuffs.

These were made with the final pattern (though before the pattern was released).  Georgie (on the left) is in one that is way too big for her chest size, but since they share and these are meant to be worn over another shirt, she gets to wear Elizabeth's size.  These are both a size 4.

 Abby loved her first one so much she demanded begged for another one.  I let her design this one herself, though I did pick to change up the direction of the stripes.  This one isn't quite as warm as the first I made for her, so it is more of an around the house rather than out in the cold mornings on the way to school.

I thought it would be fun for my niece's birthdays to make them a kitty sweater.  I have two nieces and they play most Sunday nights with the twins at Grandma's house while we visit.  One of their favorite things to do is pretend they are all cats.  I added a toy in too, since I don't want to be the weird aunt that just give clothes when they really want toys. This one is for the younger niece, in a size 3.

This one is for the older niece, in a size 5.  Iz is just about that size, so I had her model for a quick picture.

During testing, we kept pestering, begging, bugging suggesting how awesome this pattern would be in adult sizes.  And, um, it is amazing.

For my tester version of the Halifax Hoodie I sewed up a view A in a french terry from Jo-ann's.  I really love it and am so excited it is finally cold enough to wear it!

Then, last week I made a view B for me, too.  I have been dreaming of one for a while now, and it is so comfy! The mint is a french terry from Jo-ann's and the quilted knit is from Raspberry Creek Fabric.  I have worn this a ridiculous amount of times already.

Again a view B, but this time I copied a few other ladies and used this Robert Kaufman mammoth plaid for the front and a french terry for the body, again both from Raspberry Creek.  I didn't change anything to accommodate the woven since it was roomy enough in my first run through of the pattern.

There are lots more options in the Halifax, five views in all.  Also, the Hatteras includes a zipper option.

I think we may all need a few more of these soon...

Halloween.

Confession, I still don't love sewing for Halloween.  I should, because my kids get so excited about it.  And the twins are still wearing their Elsa and Anna from last year, so I shouldn't mind putting a lot of effort in to something that will be well loved, but I just can't... 

This year the twins knew immediately what they wanted to be.  Georgia wanted to be a witch, then I suggested maybe Izzy should be a kitty (the witch's kitty).  It stuck and they never changed their minds.  I will be sad someday when they end up without coordinating costumes. 

For Georgia, we had borrowed a costume from Grandma but managed to misplace it, so I talked her in to using her recently made Fairy Tale dress with some cute tights.  

She wanted a green face 'cause that's what witches have' but with the stipulation that she 'was still a nice witch'.  

Elizabeth the kitty has an Oliver and S School Bus T-shirt in a size 4 with length added to the sleeves.  I used a RTW pair of leggings and a kitty kit from the Halloween aisle. 

They make an adorable pair, I think.

 Abby went easy on me and chose a Ninja Turtle, the mask from the kit was too small, so she used a scrap piece of knit to make the eye band.

The kids were on their way to a church activity and they requested no masks at the party, so Jack used one of his old costumes from a few years ago.  At the time we had to roll up his pants and safety pin them.  So glad I didn't cut them off like Ben suggested!

He really wanted to be a Lego man, so for our family party and his school parade that is what he went as.  He will do the skeleton for trick-or-treating as he can't see out of the head when it is dark outside, plus it would have been hard to go door to door in.

Dear Pinterest, thank you.  I saw this idea popping up early in October and decided to give it a go.  He is my only baby to love the pacifier for this long.  Iz took one until about 6 months, but none of the other kids did.  He depends on it, it's bad.  I try to keep it limited to nap/bed time, but sometimes if he is crazy bad in public I give in, it calms him immediately.

Anyways, I used the O+S  Field Trip Raglan, size 18 months, and the O+S Playtime leggings, size 18 months.  I found this rad french terry that has a bit of a sheen to it, I knew it would be perfect for looking like a wet suit.

I couldn't find a pair of black socks in or around his size, so while I was at the dollar store today picking up the black tape and yellow gloves for Jack I spied a pair of toddler sized mittens.  Perfect!  I just sewed the thumb hole shut and cut it off, it worked out great.

He didn't love when we strapped the 'tank' to him, which is why it is so low on him, but quickly stopped trying to take it off.

Happy Halloween!

A peplum top.

Our family pictures are coming up in just over a week, Abby needed something in our colors so I wanted to make her something cute.  First, though, I needed a trial run.  I took a risk late last night and picked fabric without her approval, but it wasn't too girly and the colors were pretty fall, so I figured she'd go for it.  And she did, she loves it. 

I used my favorite School Bus T-shirt, size 12 with mods.  I followed the instructions on the Oliver and S blog to make the shirt in to a peplum.  I measured to her natural waist before, knowing I wanted to try this, but then panicked that maybe I had done something wrong and I shouldn't cut it that short.  It's not bad, but I think I should have gone a little higher.  That's why this is a test run.

She will wear elbow sleeves year round, so I figure why not go with that length, plus I didn't have quite enough fabric for a full length sleeve.  I squeezed this out of a yard, barely, I was sweating it just a little.

I am so excited my new tags finally came.  My old ones, while I like the look of them better, they were just printed on.  The listing claimed they wouldn't fray or fade, but they did both.  This time I found another shop that makes them woven in, which is what I had a long, long time ago and they were awesome.

So, now on to the 'real' one!

Woodland friends.

When I bought this fabric, I thought it would make an adorable Geranium Dress.  Rarely do I actually make what I intended when I bought the fabric, but this was an exception.  I made a size 4, these dresses seem to last forever so I figured I'd help it out a bit by adding some length.  Though, sadly, I don't know how long this one will last.  As I was sewing the bodice to the skirt I noticed these odd lines running through, turns out the fabric is pretty damaged in a few spots.  I am so annoyed, but I was far enough in and without any extra fabric, so I finished anyways.

I swear the buttons and the back bodice aren't wonky, I couldn't get her to stand still/stand without puffing out her chest.  There's finally a nip in the air this morning and she wasn't that interested in being outside.  I am so ready for fall!

KCW days 2 + 3.

Catching up on blogging for yesterday's Kids Clothes Week make.  It was a busy day, so I snuck in a quick project in the morning.  It didn't hurt that this was already cut out and shirts are crazy fast.  A School Bus tee in size 8 with a heat transfer vinyl, a copy of a long ago and long outgrown favorite.  

Today I grabbed a cut of fabric on my way out of the room after laying Sam down for a nap on a whim.  I had no plans for it, but a few hours while he slept and the twins played quietly.  I picked out the Oliver and S Playtime Dress, and made a size 4.

I was able to get it out of a yard and a half rather than the two yards in the requirements, which is always a plus!  I added an inch to the sleeves and an inch and a half to the skirt.

I love it and so does she.

She posed herself most of the time, I have thirty of her making silly faces or doing things with her hands/arms.  She thought it was great fun and refused to change poses until she heard the shutter click.

I don't have any particular plans for the rest of the week, but I do have a few shirts already cut and a Fairy Tale I set aside two weeks ago and should probably finish before it falls in to the black hole that is my UFO pile.

Striped pajamas.

I snuck a few minutes in here and there tonight before bed to knock out a quick pair of pajamas for Sam.  I cut this pair and another out last week, which made it even faster.  

Last week I made this pair as a test run, I used the Peekaboo Alex and Anna winter pajamas in size 2t knowing they were a very snug fit.  I liked the bottoms, but not the top.  The top gaped a ton at the neck (not noticeable in the picture, but very in real life) and didn't like that the sleeve cap was basically flat.  I decided to go with my stand-by Oliver and S School bus tee in a size 2T for the real one, and as expected liked it much better.

I used some Riley Blake knit that I have been hoarding, and they turned out just like I wanted.

Cozy dress.

It's that time of year again, Kids Clothes Week.  While I try most weeks to knock a few things out, I usually push myself this week to make at least one thing for each kid.  

So I started off easy, well, somewhat easy.  Ottobres are always a beast to trace.  I made #13 from the 4/2015 magazine in a cozy, soft french terry. I made size 104cm, which as far as I can tell translates pretty well to a 5t, that's the size I have started to buy for them (if I buy) from RTW.

It was a really easy sew, and she absolutely loves it.  Again, the part that took the longest and most thought was tracing off the pattern.

Pockets were a major plus in her book.  I used the wrong side of the FT for the pockets, cuffs and neckband.  The fit is a little big on her, but since she and Elizabeth still fight over clothes I made it big enough for Iz, too.

Now I have the internal debate, make another because I love it that much, or move on to another pattern as I have so.many.patterns.?