First day.

I realized today the big kids start school tomorrow, Abby has her outfit chosen, but Jack didn't.  I haven't made him anything for a while because he still fits most of his handmades, but I figured the first day of school deserved something new.

I pulled out a couple twill colors and paired them with a couple of knit cuts and let him choose, he picked well.

The shirt is the Oliver and S School Bus T-shirt, my go-to, in a size 8 with a little bit of length added.

The pants are the After-school pants, also a size 8, but I added 2" to the length.  He is only 1/2" shy of the top height in the 8 and I want them to last a while.

I really love these pants, and so does he.

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.

For the boy.

I haven't felt up to sewing lately, and it's killing me!  I wanted a quick project to get me back in to it, and that way if I still wasn't feeling it I wasn't halfway through a project that would become a UFO. 

 

 



 

I recently made a purchase from girlcharlee and threw this moustache print in crossing my fingers Jack would like it too.  I showed him a few months back and he said "no way!" but he tends to like things after they are made, so I took a chance.  Speaking of, remember these red After-School pants?  Yeah, how he REFUSED to wear them ever.  Guess what have become his most worn pants in his closet? HAHAHA!

So, the pattern! It is the Oliver + S Field Trip Raglan, size 5, which turns out is too big for him, hence the weirdness at his shoulders.  I really should have made a 4 with length but I was being lazy, also they were made while he was at kindy so I didn't have his current measurements handy.  And it looks like I could have lengthened his sleeves, oops.

I love this boy.

I ask him for a nice smile and this is what I get! 

Also a permanent silly face when the adorable little photobomber showed up.  She still refused to look at the camera even though she demanded to be in the picture. 

A little ribbon tag, so Peta :)  He said it was his favorite part, ha!

This one is also a size 5 and both knits are from girlcharlee.  For our annual group family photo (Ben's side) the colors this year are red, black, white, gray and blue jeans.  I am thinking I may be a rebel though and have Jack wear these pants.  The twins will be wearing dresses with leggings, so they will be "cheating" too, hm...

Being I haven't been sewing and it got cold here suddenly I had to go out and buy all the kids some long sleeve shirts.  When sweet little Jack came home from kindy and saw his two new shirts he told me "I love the clothes you make me most of all, Mom!  Store boughts are okay, buuuut I like yours best!" Awww, he is my favorite son;)

Silver dots.

Georgia, dear Georgia.  She is so hard to photograph lately.  

 

She tried oh so hard to get back in the house.  For some reason she can open the door to go out, but not to get back in.

Though every now and then I can manage a semi-decent shot.  (would have been a good shot if she had been looking, but she knows where the camera is and seems to avoid looking that direction). 

So she spent her time running from pot to pot trying to pick a flower.

And I caught her red-handed. 

But she's lucky she's so cute, she didn't get in trouble (plus the trailing verbena grows like a weed!  A pretty weed though).

The pants look very linty in this picture for some reason.  Hm.

Anyways, the pants.  They are the Oliver + S After-school pants size 18m lengthened to a 3T.  I added the ruffle to the pocket, but not the back of the pants.  While cute, the material was hard to gather so I didn't bother trying again. 

I cut all my pieces out then used a pencil eraser to randomly stamp silvery metallic dots on the fabric.  I'd like to say I purposefully left the yoke plain, but the truth is I misplaced my painted yokes.  Sigh.  That's okay though, I kind of like it plain. 

I managed to mess up pretty bad though.  Instead of sewing the angled piece correctly (the point towards the back) I thought I was smart enough, since I had made them a few times before (one, two, three, four times before) to not need the instructions for that step.  I realized I had messed up after sewing the seam, serging then two rows of topstitching- on both sides.  Lesson of the day, notches make a difference! I didn't bother notching since I was lengthening and didn't know if they would line up anyways.  Oh, and read your instructions;)  So because of my mistake the pants ended up narrower than they would have and only George can wear them (believe me, Izzy tried to get them on).  The yoke is a little messed up, but they are still wearable. 

I was unsure about the paint as the pieces were all laid out on my counter top, but I am happy with how they turned out.  She looks so cute running around in them. 

A baby gift.

My sister-in-law is due to have a baby boy in the fall, and her baby shower was today.  So what do I do?  Decide to wait until nearly the last minute to get everything finished, ha!  I didn't really mean to procrastinate this time, but things kept piling up and that is just what kind of happened.  I was literally finishing up the hems on the shirts an hour before the big bash. 

 

One thing I love about sewing is being able to personalize the items.  I mean, don't we all love that?  My brother-in-law is a huge motorcycle fan (motorcycle racing/motorcycling?  Not sure what the correct term is here) so I knew the second I heard they were having a boy I wanted to make him some moto gear.  He gave me a few ideas of the brands (company? empire?)  he likes so I had something to work with.  I didn't want to give away what I was making, but I didn't know where to start, ha!

 



 

The one on the right is Fox, the center one is Honda, and the skidplate one is my personal favorite- and the one I was most excited about.  You see, he has this sticker on the back of his truck so I went home and googled it, trying to find anything like it.  Turns out he had one of his friends make it, so it was a ooak.  Well, that wasn't going to stop me now, was it?  So I took a picture of the back of his truck and played with it in photoshop until I had it just right, then printed it off and painstakingly cut around each.and.every.letter.  It took foreeeever.  But, it was SO worth it!  I am ridiculously happy with the way it turned out! 

The shirts are the Oliver + S Field Trip Raglans , the two white ones are 6month and the blue one is 18month. 

Again with the Field Trip Raglan, this time 12month with a painted moustache.  The pants are Oliver + S After School Pants, I made them the same time as Jack's red pair.  I did their maternity photos last weekend and we were talking about moustaches, real and fake, I thought they might like this one (they seemed to;).

These snugglers, oh how I love these things! I want to kiss who ever invented them.  When the twins were in the NICU they had just started using these on babies, they were flippin expensive too!  We bought two for home ($25/a piece) and could only afford/justify two, Elizabeth had GERD so she inevitably threw up on hers every night.  Let's just say, I think these will be my go-to baby gift, so handy! 

They are the Lotta Jansdotter snuggler (it's a free pattern) and since he is due in cooler weather I went with flannel on the outside and inside.

I wanted to make him some bottoms to go with the 6m and 18m shirts, but wasn't sure what season he would be in, so I owe her some later.   So a nice stack of handmades off to the next owner, can't wait to see baby C in them eventually. 

Red.

After the comments on my post about his green pair saying, just make the red ones anyways, well, I did. HA! Maybe I should try another pattern soon though, just sayin'.  I cut these out yesterday too, along with a little itty bitty pair for a baby shower this weekend. 

 

 

It was red day at kindy today, so that was when he finally gave me "permission", though I had them cut before we found out he was to wear red.  Guess what though, he really ended up liking them, ha!  He is such a little stinker, and ends up liking things he tells me he will never wear most the time.  In fact, there isn't one thing I have made he refuses to wear (after a while).

 

 

So, same as the gray pair, I added 3 inches of length to the size four After School Pants.  I used a really soft bottom weight material.  Not sure exactly what it was (twill perhaps?)  but it has good structure while still being moveable and not a pain to sew at all.  Probably should have kept track of what it was exactly so I could buy some in other colors, ha!

He also chose to wear his Angry Bird Field Trip Raglan since it had red too, though I think he just wanted to wear it because it was the birds. 

 

 

He wasn't as excited about this material in the pockets, in the store he threw a fit when I bought it (the one and only time I took him with me, for good reason.  Who says the terrible two's? He throws more fits at five than he ever has!)  I made an identical pair for his soon-to-be cousin (baby shower comment from above) so he thinks that is pretty neat, though they wont fit Jack by the time baby C grows enough to wear them. 

 

 



And the tag on the back pocket.  He wasn't thrilled about the tag on the gray pants being on the hem, in fact asked me to cut it off (no thank you). 

He has enough pairs of pants for now, since it is still warm enough for shorts, and I am crossing my fingers for a new Oliver + S boy pattern so I will wait to see what is unveiled. ;) ;)

Gray.

I made another pair of After School Pants, though much more muted than last time. 

 

These are a size 4 again, though this time I added 3 inches rather than the 2, for longer wear.  I used a really lightweight gray denim.

I forgot to add my tag to his back pocket, so I added it to the hem-ish area this time, sort of wish I would have unpicked the pocket and snuck it in.  Oh well.  It was a little tough to sew in since it was sewn on last and getting it under the machine was a little tricky, so my stitching is a little wonky.  Though from far away you can't see it. 

In his pockets this time I added some planet fabric he picked out at the store, turns out it glows in the dark!  He thought that was pretty cool, but was disappointed he can't see the insides while the pants are on. 

Green.

Mr. Jack will be starting kindergarten next week and I have put off making school clothes for so long the date snuck up on me!  I have been thinking about these pants for a few weeks now, I asked Jack three separate days, three separate times if I could make him green pants- even showed him the fabric I was going to use.  He said yes, and seemed excited about them.  Well, today he went to play at a friend's house with Abby so during the babes naps I decided to finally make them.  I was so excited to show him... aaaand he hated them.  He said "I didn't think they would be that color green!" Huh?? We talked about this buddy.  So I had to bribe him with fruit snacks to put them on, then a funny thing happened.  An hour passed and he told me they were really comfy.  He still didn't like the color, but I was allowed to make him another pair in a different fabric.  He ended up wearing them most of the night and I *think* he likes them now.  We'll see.

 

These pants were heavily influenced by the fabulous Peta's (but remember how he said no red?  Yeah, otherwise I would have completely ripped her off complimented her design)  She sews some awesome things for her boys. 

 



 

 

So, on to the pattern details.  This is the Oliver and S After-school pants, size 4 with 2 inches of extra length.  I even did it right this time, and followed the lengthening instructions rather than just adding length to the bottom like usual. 



 

I love the fit!  While I have made the top once before this is my first time making the pants, but certainly not the last.  I showed Abby the ruffle pocket version and now she wants to be in line for a pair. 

I almost think I prefer sewing for boys (*gasp!*), I love thinking of ways to make "fun" things for boys as they are so hard to find in stores! 

This was his "can I have my fruit snacks yet??" pose:)

As with all Oliver + S patterns, I am always impressed with the seemingly simple details that make such a big impact.  How many people will look close enough at his pants while he is wearing them to notice them?  Not many, I am sure, but I think it is what takes them from being homemade to handmade.  I don't want my things to look homemade, I am always worried the kids will get teased and not want me to sew for them anymore.  Well, except for Jack.  I bought him a couple of shirts to start school and asked if I should buy him more and he said no, he wanted me to make some more.  Awww. 

Again, a Peta detail- and next I want to figure out how to do those rivets like her.  He loves this ribbon, I use it a lot in the waistband along with my size tags for his things. 

I only had to unpick once to make my yoke line up, yay! (haha)  I can't decide, do I just make red ones anyways, or something safe like gray or blue denim?  hmmmm....

 



Ketchup.

I was going through my pictures from 2012 last night and realized I had a bunch of projects from the last two months I hadn't posted about, and since this is meant to be my "sewing journal" to take notes and remember details, I figure I should post about them.

 

So, in no particular order here they are:

 

 

 

A Classic Picnic turned dress.  This one was for our family pictures in November. 

I LOVED Nicole's picnic with buttons. Loved.  So I tried my hand at it... I promise the buttons don't look this wonky on her. 

I made it nice and long since she has a skinny chest I thought she would get lots of wear from this.  It is size 12m, and still quite big.  She wore this with some white tights and cute brown boots for pictures. Adorable.

This was Jack's outfit for pictures.  (Hat not included). Flashback tee and his very favorite Sandbox pants.  Also, Abby wore her mustard + ivory dress shown here and Izzy wore her Pierrot.  My family didn't get individuals (as I think I mentioned before, sorry if it's a repeat) but if I manage to ever get everyone ready again,  I will make sure to post all the outfits together.  I thought they all coordinated quite well with the group.

Then a pair of Sandbox for George.  I rounded the pockets to make it more "girly".  Aaand she got only a few wears out of them as she had a growth spurt right after they were made. Awesome.

They are made from a gray linen and supposed to go with her After school shirt (details here). 

Pockets lined with left overs from the shirt.

Then I went on a pj pant spree... sort of... I had 10 cut out, 6 were completed, 2 only need elastic and 2 need leg binding and elastic.  I am not good at that much repitition and set them aside for a bit.  There are 2 of these lady bug print pants, both in 12m.  I had just enough to make 2 in this size, so I figured why not.  P.S. the pattern is the Bedtime Story. 

The first ones were tiny twin, and these are on big twin.  There is a 5!! pound difference between them which affects their shirts, but not their pants oddly enough.  Also 12m.

Matching for Christmas + Jack's have double decker busses with "London" printed on them, a shoutout to his 1/4 British self:)  Abby was so excited they all matched and were triplets, ha!  I had flashback shirts all cut out too, but things got crazy and they weren't completed.

And this is how our pictures always look if I try to get everyone in.

Last but not least, 2 Field trip raglans.  I love this pattern.  I had 4 that I was making at the time and wasn't paying enough attention and put the neckband seam in the front middle instead of the back.  Oops.  12m, 18m length.  Made in a thermal I picked up from girlcharlee.

Fabrics also from girlcharlee.  This is her "chis" (cheese) face.  She can be such a ham. 

I don't normally keep a WIP pile, but I have the 4 above mentioned pj pants to complete, a jumprope view B cut, and I am about 3/4 of the way through a puppet show dress.  My serger is off to the doctor and it just makes me not want to sew! Though I think I will attempt french seams on the jumprope and wait for the machine to finish the puppet show since most of it has been serged already, keep up the same look on it.  Who knows though, I have also been meaning to size up the geranium for Abby, I guess I'll just see what happens!

After school.

So, I wont bore you with the annoying details about how we signed on the house on Friday, but still haven't recieved the keys... Grrr.  I am pretty angry about it, and used my anger to go throw boxes around in the garage looking for my box of cotton fabric.  I have been enjoying sewing with knit, but I had a craving for some good ol' cotton. 

 

 

I found a box with some of my cotton, not really the box I was looking for, but it worked, and pulled out a pattern I haven't tried before.  Oliver + S After School pattern has been on my want to sew list for a while, and now that the weather is cooling down I decided it was time.  I checked out flickr and blogs (like I always do the first time around)  and noticed comments that it could be longer.  Knowing my tall girls, and my hope they don't outgrow their clothes too quickly, I added some length.  Though I am thinking it could use even more, maybe it is just big twin's belly...  I haven't tried it on tiny twin just yet.

 

 

 

 

I had a small amount of the bird fabric, and a bit more of the peach from a skirt I made Abby a while back, so I decided to combine them for a unique look.  I made size 12m on the chest with 4t length, though I may go longer next time, per my personal prefrence.

 



 

 

 

I tried to  put her next to the pretty flowers and bushes, but then she spotted her siblings that snuck outside within thirty seconds when I asked them not to...

 

 

 

 

 And she took off...  (imagine a high pitched squeal and wobbly run that almost resulted in a face plant) ...



 

 

 

But I cornered her next to the weeds. 

 

 

I didn't realize there were also buttons in the back until I traced off the pattern.  I kinda like the look.  Chest fits great, sleeves perfect length, cute style, one to make again.

 

 

*Updated to add pictures of tiny twin*

 

 

Well, hello cutie pie!

 

 

I definitely think big twin's belly made the difference in the fit.  I think it may end up being tiny twin's shirt...