Fall baby.

I have been sewing quite a bit, but not blogging.  Do you ever get that way?  I have always maintained I blog as my journal, to remember what I changed or kept or what I thought of the pattern, the sweet comments from people are just a bonus.  I am getting behind on my journal, but sometimes cute little kids get in the way of what I want to do, ha!  

So, first up of things sewn but not blogged, an outfit for our family pictures for Sam.  

I used the Charlie Sweatshirt, a free six month sized pattern.  I hemmed and hawed and struggled with what I wanted to make for him, nothing seemed quite right.  I saw this pattern two days before I needed it and printed it immediately.  The fit was spot on, I was thrilled.

Knowing I was going to pair the shirt with his orange jeans I topstitched the elbow pads (what's the technical word?) with the same orange thread I used for the pants.

This knit was awful, when I ironed it it stuck to my machine! What?! I've never had that happen.

The pants are the Small Fry Skinny Jeans size 6 months, but modified a bit.  I made them once before for Sam and absolutely loved them.  So much so, that I cut out a stack of them and have been slowly working on them.  I could never be a sweatshop worker.  I finished up all but Abby's, so at least I am close.  Jack's don't fit at all, sadly, even though he measures in to the size smaller than what I made.  Anyway, so I decided to skip the flat felled seams on the inside of the leg and took a smaller seam allowance on the sides and when sewing the back legs together to give him a little more room since my kids are apparently giants and not really made for skinny jeans.

I chose the half fly with topstitching.  I skipped the belt loops, but kept all the fun stuff like the coin pocket and lots of topstitching.

I even topstitched the back pockets, even though they totally blend in.  I couldn't help myself... I am only a little crazy, most days.

I super duper love the pants pattern and highly recommend it.  I need to sew the button hole on for the twins pants and finish up Abby's, they are all getting antsy for them!  That's what I get for showing them what's in the pipe line;)

P.S. his shoes are the moccs I made for him here.

Easter.

Well, I didn't get all my Easter sewing done, but I am okay with that. I had a Oliver + s sketchbook cut out for the boy, but in my mind I wanted a robbin's egg blue for his shirt and I could only find teal. Gr. But then I went to Old Navy on a whim when Grandma had all the kids and found the exact color polo I was looking for. And at only $5 it was a steal! He was a little bummed but I told him I would make his shirt later.

I went with the Oliver + S birthday dress for the twins. Oh, I am in love. And so, so worn out all at the same time. I like to assembly line the twins clothes if I know I am making more than one and that is what I did here... I will revisit this pattern later. I really love it, but it takes me some time.

I did this for Elizabeth, she looks good in pretty much all colors, but George doesn't look great in reds and some pink. She may be able to get away with this, but I really like it on Iz. The tab is fabric from Abby's Maggie Mae.




This is George's, they are both size 6m.





The hem facing and one bodice are fabric from Abby's Maggie Mae, I thought it was fun to have part of them the same and Abby really thought that was special.





I messed up the darker one's top button hole something fierce, but *sigh* I am okay with it... or that is what I am telling myself. I tested the size on a scrap but I must have messed something up on the first one (obviously) because when I cut the hole and tried to push the button through it didn't quite fit.


Elizabeth sitting pretty in her dress.



Georgia in her dress.


My stud muffin Jack, he has a low tolerance for picture taking. Take them fast or he is done!



Abby in her Maggie Mae. She likes to pose herself lately, and has decided she doesn't like smiling in pictures.




And this is the best I could expect with four kids... Happy Easter!

Magz for Easter.

I made another Maggie Mae but this time I made it a size smaller and in my Easter fabrics. I am pretty excited, I picked out a floral in a white colorway and a magenta colorway for the babies' outfits then picked more... for lack of a better word, calm? Not as busy?... fabric for Abby and Jack. Jack is a solid teal and well, Abby's is below. I wouldn't normally coordinate all the troops, but the thought is this way I can get our family pictures done this spring and just use these outfits. We have been married 7 1/2 years and have never had a professional family picture... not even for our wedding... so I told Ben to suck it up because that is what I want for Mother's day. Plus it will be good timing for the kids, they all have birthday's coming up this summer (all within six weeks of each other) and being I was miserably pregnant last year I never took them out to take their portraits like I try to do every year. Not that they don't get their pictures taken a ton, but it is fun to take them out alone and do some one on one time with each of them. Anyways, I am way off track, back to the dress!

I think I only looked at the directions once since it was still pretty fresh in my mind, and it is pretty simple construction.

I made a size six because I tried on the seven and it was pretty roomy on her, and since I want portraits done I want it to fit well rather than make it larger so she can grow. Plus, it just means more sewing for me in the future, right?

I made a skirt for a friend a few months back and she told me I was "totally legit" because I have my own tags. Ha! And that makes me feel pretty old... I remember when I used to use the "cool" slang words. Now they just make me feel old.

The back. I must have been having a crazy moment because I went with magenta thread for my button holes. I considered doing white on the yellow/green and magenta on the magenta, but I am too lazy when it comes to switching out my threads. Luckily they were some of the better holes I have made. I also stitched the buttons with magenta to make them "pop".

Still in love with the pleats and the curved bodice.

Abby looooves the pockets. I went with the bodice fabric for a hidden suprise. One item down, four to go! Getting closer to my deadline!! But Grandma is taking oldest two for a few days for Easter break so I will have plenty of time... probably...

Maggie Mae.

A while back I tested two patterns for Shwin&Shwin designs (the Sadie tunic and Nowhere man pants, both great patterns!) and in return for testing I got to choose two other patterns I wanted, so I chose the Maggie Mae as one and finally got around to making it! This will be the pattern I use for Abby's Easter dress. Usually I go over the top frilly, but I have been drawn away from that since I found my new bff Oliver + S patterns. It is funny how quickly my tastes have changed to the more simple lines and patterns, not to say I wont go super frilly again, but for now this is what I am loving. So anyway, back to the pattern. I tried it in a 7 and I can't decide if I want to go to a 6 or not. On the one hand, it would fit better for Easter, but on the other a 7 will fit longer. Hm. The girl was already at school this morning when I finished it (finished except for hemming) but I tried the bodice on her last night and it looked pretty good. This was another remnant I picked up, love when I can do that!



The top is cream, though it looks kind of white in the picture. The pattern can be a top or a dress. I chose dress (obviously:), and the pattern calls for a band of the bodice fabric around the bottom, but my cream was VERY see through and I didn't want to line it. Though I really like it this way.
I just love the curved bodice, and the pleats! Oh, how I love the pleats! It has a button placket down the back, more pleats and pockets for treasures. I love the bodice, wouldn't it be great to line the curve with piping? Or embroider the top? Oh the possibilitles!

Sadie tunic.

Shwin&Shwin again put out a call for pattern testers, and this time it was large enough for Abby. Most patterns I have found (before I discovered Oliver + S) only go up to a 5t, or sometimes a 6. Really frustrating since I would rather not draft my own patterns. I could, but I am lazy:) This one is a six, but the pattern goes up to a 8 I believe. Plus, I will make it for the twinners when they fit in the size range- someday. They are still so little. That is another thing I have found, the patterns (again, pre Oliver + S) start around 12-18 months. That was soooo frustrating last year when I was trying to make their blessing dresses. Anyways, back to the tunic.

I thought I would jump on the plaid bandwagon. I have seen so much on pinterest lately, I just knew I had to make something in plaid. (Sadly after I washed it, it shrunk- Major. It was a homespun from Joann's. I really loathe that store most times...)




She really loves it!




It features cute button closures.

And pockets "big enough for my treasures"

Nowhere man pants.

Shwin&Shwin put out a call for testers for their new patterns, one of which was a pair of boys pants. I hadn't sewn much for Jack, and it was starting to show. He would bring me fabric from my stash and say "Mommy, would this make a nice shirt for me?" or "Mommy, I want you to make me some pants with this." Poor kid, his sisters are always getting mommy made wares, he was feeling a bit left out. So I volunteered.

I tested a 4t and he loved them. Well, not so much the plaid print... but I did...

I really should have paid attention to how the plaid was lined up... but I was just testing and wasn't sure how they would turn out, plus I got this print when the local variety store was closing down for a few dollars a yard.

Then one week I dropped him off at Sunbeams and noticed he had a giant hole in the back of his pants just above the hem. AAAAgh! There was no time to go home to change, I was mortified. So he needed new church pants.

This was in my stash for a while when I thought I would sew him some cool skinny pants from a tutorial I saw online, but I never did. There was just enough to squeeze these out of what I had.

I think they look very sharp, and he loves them! We call them his church pants, and he has requested "Grandma pants" to wear to Grandma's house.

Ben says boys pants (or clothes for that matter) shouldn't have buttons, but I like them. Plus it helped Jack feel included... sort of... I gave him the choice of two different buttons, but heavily pushed him towards these.