Field Trips for the whole family.

Spring is coming!  (or in our case, is basically here)  Which means, of course, that the kids need warmer weather clothing.  Enter, one of my top 5 favorite patterns, the Oliver + S Field Trip Raglan.

I am making an effort to make things with the kids input, it is a struggle (haha).  But if I want Abby to wear it, she needs to have a say.  Jack is still pretty easy going, and the twins will wear whatever I make, but they do have color preferences.

And an obligatory photo of all five of them in their new tops.  Getting that many little kids to look at you (and not make bunny ears) is a challenge.

I recently (as in today) counted up the number of times I have made this pattern, and the number very much surprised me.  Counting these, I have made the tops 34 times and the pants 4 times, one being shorts.  I don't know why it surprises me, I have a ton of kids, haha. I also have two more tops cut for the baby and two pairs of shorts for Jack. Talk about a TNT, not to mention getting my monies worth many times over.

Georgia's favorite color is purple, so this one was a no-brainer.  I made a size 4 so the girls could share, but let's be honest, there's no way she will let Iz wear this one.  So I could have done a 3, but it is easier to just make the size already traced.

Abby, oh Abby.  She has decided she only wants to wear knits, so most of my patterns are now out of the question.  I don't know why I haven't thought to show her this one before, but she was SO excited.  I gave her a few options, this is what she chose.

Hers is a size 10 with 12 length.  She has requested more, so I told her she could use the line drawings Lotta put together to design some more tops.  That will make it easier for me to sew for her, as I will have an idea of the colors and prints she likes, etc.

Jack, he's my easy one.  He is currently obsessed with Minecraft (what kid isn't?) and requested a Minecraft shirt.  I gave him the option of green sleeves or a different color, he chose gray.  I have to admit, I was trying to steer him towards green, but I like the way this came out.  My lines aren't straight enough for my liking, so I will go back and fix them after it gets put in the laundry.

His is a size 7.  He is still wearing his 4 with length, so I knew this would fit for a while.  He is also wearing his mini hudsons, he is obsessed with them, who can blame him?  They are so soft.  He even wore him to school the other day, even though he swore he never would.

Sammy is wearing a size 12 month and also his sandbox pants.  Poor little guy has been sick all week and now is super drooly, I am wondering (worrying) if he is getting another tooth.  He is up to 8 already!  Speaking of 8, he is 8 months old today!

Elizabeth, girlfriend has a style all her own.  She loves all the animals on this print and kept asking if I was done yet.  Hers is a size 4.

A combination of everyone (except George, knock on wood) being sick this week and Ben working out of town made these really slow going.  I can typically knock one out in about 25 minutes from cutting fabric to the last stitch, so the kids were really anxious for these by the fourth day.  The squeals of delight and declarations of love made all the waiting worth it, though, they were each so excited to try theirs on.

Pants for the boys.

Jack has torn holes in two pairs of pants at the knees, he refuses to wear them now so he has been 'surviving' on 3 pairs.  The kid needed some pants to give me a break, I couldn't keep up with keeping them clean as he plays pretty hard.  

I made him a pair of size 6 Sandbox pants.  He is still wearing his size 5 red convertible pair, but they were getting too short so I figured why not size up the waist too.

The last time I made them with buttons he wore them to death, popped off and lost the buttons, I expect these to be the same.  I did stitch the crap out of them, so maybe they will stay a little longer this time.  

I also made Sam a pair, because assembly line sewing is apparently my thing.  His are a size 12 month and I was so excited I was able to barely squeeeeeze these out of barely 20" of material.  I had this scrap left over from my Everyday Skirt that I held on to not quite sure if I would find something to use it for.

Baby toes.

Oh, and he is wearing his School Bus Tee too.

I added some orange buttons just because, I kind of love them.


Next up I have a stack of Puppet Show Shorts cut and ready for the sew-along.  Are you following the Size 5 project?  I am over on the Oliver + S blog talking about the shorts pattern and doing a sew-along, come sew with us!

Puppet Show for winter.

The Size 5 project continues.

When I started talking with Sarvi about this, it was back in November and she suggested I show how the Puppet Show could be made to wear for winter.  Well, now that it is February and it was 70f outside today, I realized I really should have made this months ago because I love the look.

I have always shied away from shorts for winter, so this was fun to think out of the box.

I made a size 4 for both the top and the shorts, but lengthened the top to a 5.

I used a crisp white shirting from Jo-Ann for the top and this Robert Kaufman fabric for the shorts.

I just love the look of this top and am kicking myself for not making it a bunch more, I will definitely be making more of these.  I am dying to compliment Justine's solid linen version, I have a nice teal I had set aside for a Cinema Dress but never got around to, I think it would be perfect.

A trio of Field Trip Raglans.

The boys need new shirts, so I pulled out my trusty Field Trip Raglan.

I made Jack a size 7 knowing it was a size bigger than he needed.  He finally is unable to wear his size 4 FTs because he is too tall, most of them he has been wearing for over a year, some for a year and a half.

So first up is an Aquabats tee.  Ben had an Aquabats cd in High School and he got a new copy of it for his birthday in December, he suggested I make Jack a tee with their logo on it and Jack was very much on board.

I finally got a shot of his Mini Hudsons I made in December.  He LOVES them, he wears them quite often, though never out of the house.  He thinks they are pj pants so I told him it's cool if he wants to change in to them any time after school and he does- a lot.  At first he didn't like the ankle cuffs because they were 'too tight', I think it was just because he had never had a pair of pants like that before and he doesn't complain anymore.

These are a size 6 with 7 length.

For Sam I made a size 12 month and appliqued on a little Yoda, just like the one I made for Jack a few years ago, funny his was made during KCW too.  Jack only just stopped wearing his, mostly because I put it in the too small pile.  He wants another one, too.

He is also wearing his Lullaby jeans.

For this one I appliqued an octopus from here that came with this pattern I made a while back.

I added bands to the sleeves for something different and I quite like it, I love patterns that have so many ways to customize them.  

Puppet Show Shorts.

We are to the point in our weather we can wear bare arms or legs during the day, so now is as good a time as any to start on a summer wardrobe. 

I pulled out a cute twill  I bought last year that I meant to use for Abby's shorts, but she didn't like it and I didn't have much sewing time being I just had a baby.  Izzy is obsessed with polka dots, so I knew she would love these.

They are the Oliver + S Puppet Show Shorts in a size 4, I probably could have been just fine making a three, but this way they will (hopefully) last all the way through summer.   I am sure they will drown George, ha!

It was pretty hard to get her to stand still, she loves hamming it up for the camera.

I love this pattern so much, those little gathers around the legs kill me dead.

Once I showed her the pockets she was SO excited and wouldn't take her hands out.

It's turning out to be a pretty productive sewing week for me, which is pretty rare as of late.  My house isn't too messy (no more than usual) and the kids are all happy and fed, so a tiny bit of balance.
Jack and Sam could use some new tops, so I think that will be next on my always growing, never ending list of makes.

Hide + Seek.

 I knocked out a top today, only because it was already partly sewn from when I made the last Hide + Seek.

This is a Hide + Seek size 4, it is a little big for George for now, but it fits Iz perfectly.   I literally used every last bit of this gray dot, I was surprised I was able to eek it out.  I would have liked to do the back yoke in the gray, but it just wasn't gonna happen, I love Katy's with the solid back yoke, I will be trying that someday.

I laughed as I was looking up the pattern to link to and realized I must have subconsciously taken inspiration from the adorable little girl in the tunic, the top knot and light blue leggings.  I have looked at that picture a million times and loved it, I guess it was burned in to my brain, haha.

I used snaps this time around, because I am lazy, and I love snaps and I am lazy.  I need to figure out how to do buttonholes on my new machine because the lady showed me in the store and it is amazeballs, the machine does it for you!  Maybe I can stop avoiding them now.

In a moment of craziness last night I cut 5 pairs of Puppet Show Shorts instead of just the one I needed for the Size 5 Project, so unless until I get distracted by something else shiny that I must make now, those are at the top of my list.

Mini Hudsons.

It has been a while since I have sewn for the big girl, she has too many opinions to keep up with now and since she is at school it makes it so that I would have to remember to consult with her in advance before I start a project.  That's not really how I roll, once inspiration strikes I am all in and I don't want to wait for anything.  

She will be needing shorts soon, the kids usually start wearing them end of February, beginning of March, so I actually have run a few things by her already.  One being the Mini Hudson pants.  I bought them the day they came out, I may have stalked her site waiting for them... I immediately traced off the three sizes I needed and wished they came in Sam size.  Jack has a pair that hasn't been blogged that he wears constantly, though only around the house as he and Ben deemed them pajama pants or house pants.  

So last night twenty minutes before her bedtime, bored out of my mind from watching gun programs on youtube with Ben, inspiration struck.  Girlfriend would have a pair of minis by the morning.  

I used this sweatshirt knit, which probably defeated the purpose of making them for warm weather, but she loves the fabric and has wanted something from it for a long, long time.  Yay for stash busting! 

She wanted the light pink for the waistband and calf bands too, but I didn't have enough, so she settled with just at the pockets.  

I made a size ten, which is the biggest size, I wish it went bigger and filled the gap between the mini and adult because I can see her wanting a bunch more of these.  In fact, she was SO excited when I showed her this morning and allowed her to wear them to school.  She has tried to wear pj pants or sweat pants before and I vetoed it, only allowing leggings or jeans.  But then I insisted on pictures just in case she horribly destroys them at recess or something, haha, and the sun was right in her eyes (sorry Abby!).  

The material has only 5% stretch, which worried me when the pattern called for 40%-75%, but we were willing to take the risk.  These are a super quick sew, less than an hour.  I did skip the drawstring because my machine hates buttonholes on knit, but that didn't affect the fit as it is more decorative than anything.

I am tempted to make her another pair while she is at school, but I don't think I am feeling that risky, heehee.

Simple skirts.

 It's Kid's Clothes Week, and even though I have something else I really should have been working on, I had to get these out of my head.

I stopped by the fabric shop last week for my birthday, a place I really should be avoiding being I could basically be a small fabric shop on my own already, but you only turn 30 once.  I treated myself to two half yards of fabric and that pink trim, no regrets.

Right away each girl laid claim to one of the cuts, luckily they each chose a different one!

Izzy has been wearing it like this all day, or even more tucked in at times, so that she can see the pockets.

Her favorite colors are yellow and gray, so I thought it would be fun to make sure 'her' skirt would have yellow pockets.  I say 'her' because they agreed to share, but if it is like the rest of their clothes, they refuse to let the other wear things they declare their own.

They have lately been obsessed with pockets, Abby and Jack never really cared much whether their clothes had them, but the girls tend to pick things in their closets with them if available, the bigger the better.  In fact, their Carousel Dresses are worn at least twice a week, more if they make it through the laundry fast enough.

I am hoping this trim washes well, their very well loved Roller Skate dress had pom-poms on it and one by one the little balls fell off and became very faded.  Didn't stop them from wearing it to rags, though.