Flannel Playtimes.

It's probably time to dust off my sad little corner of the internet, I'm beginning to forget the details of things I've made over the last year.  While I still document all my makes over on instagram, I don't add things like sizes I make and how much length I add for my kids.  This makes my life harder when I go to make something in the next size up, haha.  So here we go, I'm going to attempt to start journaling my makes again. 

And what better way to start than with the Oliver + S Playtime Dress.  I made both girls a size 6 with some length added to the skirt and sleeves.  The skirt is also a little more narrow than per the pattern as I didn't want to have to plaid match two side seams, then since I was making a coordinating set I wanted them to both look the same.  Also, I was worried about the bulk of gathering flannel.

Speaking of flannel, both fabrics are Robert Kaufman flannels.  I really can't say enough good about the RK flannel, it washes up so nicely and continues to look fresh after many, many washes.  It's also super soft.

I chose to line the bodice instead of using the facings.  It really is my preferred method because it's just so fast and I tend not to do the optional topstitching on this dress. 

The fit on them is great, I probably didn't need to add length to the skirt but at the same time I'm wondering if I should have added a smidge more to the arms for longer wear.  I did a narrow hem on the sleeves so there isn't anything I can let out.  The bodice fits well, it isn't restrictive at this point.  This pattern seems to last for a while for these two, they are able to wear them as a tunic once they grow until the bodice is too tight.  In fact, they have had some last two winters. 

Luckily they fit nicely because I have already started on the next two.  A few years back I sewed sequins on the Playtime following the topstitching guide and just loved the result.  I was at Joann's while killing time waiting for Costco to have my photos ready and accidentally decided to replicate the dress, times two.  Because twins.  George and Izzy both added "pridde dress" to their Christmas list and I have a feeling that will fit the bill nicely. 

KCW day one.

I have been sewing quite a bit of knits lately (documented on Instagram since I am horrible at blogging lately), I was dying for a nice woven sew.

I this gorgeous Art Gallery I found in a local shop.  I have long loved this one and was so excited to see it in person.

I made an Oliver and S Playtime dress in a size 5 with some mods.  I left off the sleeves and lined the bodice, I love this one as a summer dress.  Even though I am still sewing the girls a size 4 in most things, I find this one can be a little tight to get on and off at this point.  Elizabeth is on the verge of a 5, and I figured a little big is never a bad thing with the rate kids grow.

I have managed to misplace my buttonhole foot, so snaps it was.  Turns out it was practically fate, I had the almost exact green snaps in my stash.

She loves it and I know it will get a ton of wear this summer.

A pair of Playtimes.

Continuing on with projects sewn but not blogged, two sets of Playtime Dresses and leggings.  I was contacted in December by Danielle, the owner of Whimsical fabric, to see if I was interested in stitching up and photographing a few sample kits for an upcoming sew-along she was running.  I said of course, and she sent me the fabric for these two sets.

Though I have made the Playtime many, many times before I hadn't made them in knit before.  I didn't even think that they would fit a little bigger than the woven ones.

Both the tops and bottoms are a size 4, the leggings I added a couple of inches to for longer wear.

The blue dress I used white stitching and topstitched the neckline collar and the back detail.  For this cream dress I used orange.

The kits came with everything needed, including the buttons.

By the time I made them up in January, it was already starting to get warm here, so they haven't been able to wear them more than a month or so.  But we did have a cold snap last week so I made sure to pull them out.

Check, check.

I got a hold of this aaaaahmazing Robert Kaufman gingham and knew immediately what I wanted to do.

I just didn't know what it was called to figure out which pattern to look for, so I decided to modify one of the ones I already owned.  I used the Oliver and S Playtime Dress/tunic and lengthened the shoulder and under arm area out and lined the bodice instead of using the facings.  

I fussy cut the plaid to near perfection, not going to lie, it was a very proud moment.  However, I wasn't as careful on the back lining pieces so when I folded the arm up it doesn't quite match and it's more noticeable in the back.  So I showed my insecurities and asked on instagram if I should keep it folded up or not and got a definite yes to folding.  So I folded it up just a little more than on my quick cell shot and got it closer to matching then tacked it down.  I realize it is silly and no one else probably will notice if it doesn't match exactly.

I made a size 4, added some fullness to the skirt and 2" to the length.  I am so excited it came out pretty much how I imagined!

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.

Foxy playtime.

 So it's Kid's Clothes Week again, and the theme this time is Wild Things, which I can totally get behind.  I haven't sewn along with the theme (save the one time Ben made a suggestion).

I have seen this dress on pinterest quite a bit, and thought it would be fun to try and recreate.

I used the Oliver + S Playtime Dress, size 4.  Just like when I made this pattern last time I fully lined the bodice and left off the sleeves.

Ben doesn't think it looks like a fox, something about it needing black to make it look like it has ears or whatever.  Kind of like the first thing he said when he saw Sam's shirt was that my applique didn't have enough legs.  Always a critic, but I'll forgive him, even though now it doesn't look quite right to me.

This is her trying to make a fox sound, she cracks me up.

The white and the nose were sewn on, and the eyes are painted.

I was worried about the white being see through and also getting a nice curved shape, so I decided to cut two pieces for each side and sew them together.  I sketched out the basic shape I wanted, then added a half inch for a seam allowance.  Then, with wrong sides together I stitched the curve, turned it right side out and gave it a good steam, lined it up on my bodice and stitched one side at a time.  Again, not wanting to deal with getting the nose nice and neat with a single layer, I sewed two pieces together leaving an opening at the bottom.  In hindsight, the white was bigger than I really wanted it to be, but meh.

The girls have been loving their twirly dresses lately (let's be honest, what 3 year old little girl doesn't like a twirly dress?).  Instead of using the pattern piece for the skirt, I used the length of the pattern piece but the width of the fabric.  So, 88".

She was SO happy and couldn't stop spinning... until she fell.  Then she took a break.

I took her to this neat little abandoned barn down the hill from our house that I see photographers at quite a bit.  I drive past it all the time, but never got the appeal until today.  It has some real potential, even though it is a really small building.  Cool boarded up windows, broken signs, neat doors and a gorgeous tree right next to it.

So Ben did say that it looked slightly more like a fox when it was on the hanger, so I figured I'd add a shot of that, in case you are on his side.

And of course if I take pictures of one twin, the other will want her turn.  She was angry I wouldn't take her to the spot I took Iz, but when I told her I would take it in front of our purple door (her favorite color) she settled.

They are both claiming this dress as their own, hopefully there wont be too many fights...

At the orchard.

These two can be so sweet it kills me dead.

Except all day long when they were fighting over who got the feather dress.  Then I winked at Abby and pointed to the purple one while asking her which was her favorite, so she answered purple and from then on it was Elizabeth's favorite.  Iz looks up to her big sis like crazy.

I had this crazy vision in my head after seeing a similar dress with a striped bodice and a floral skirt.  I was determined to make it work with only fabrics in my stash and late at night to boot.  So I thought through my patterns and decided on the Oliver + S Playtime Dress, modified to my 'needs'.  I wanted short sleeves and a curved front bodice, so I simply left off the sleeves and sketched out a curve on my pattern piece until I got a shape I liked.  I probably could have made the curve a little higher.  

I made a size 4T and lengthened the skirt.  I forgot that (in my opinion) this one runs a little long- which really isn't a bad thing.

Speaking of the skirt, it is a knit.  I really love the way it moves and hangs, she loves that it is so soft and twirly.  I used the full width of the fabric and made the seam run down the center back.

For the bodice I pieced together strips of cotton, I was crazy excited when I realized I had the exact green in my stash to match- what are the chances of that?  Last year I picked up a yard each of some random colors that caught my eye that I wouldn't normally buy, apparently it paid off! HA!

To keep it nice on their skin I fully lined the bodice, which also conveniently finished the sleeves at the same time. I did the same with the all stripe dress.

I love making the girls coordinate, so then I decided I needed a stripe dress, this time using bigger strips (because small strips were a pain!).  I alternated the direction of the stripes for kicks and giggles.  Plus, I thought it would be a fun look, though at the last minute I nearly kept them all horizontal.

With this one I kept the bodice as per the pattern.

Supposedly they will share these dresses, as George promised Iz she could 'wear da feaders next time Eez!'.  Don't think I believe it, but at least Elizabeth decided to like the purple one.  

A party dress.

I have had this crazy idea in my head for a while now.  When the Playtime dress/tunic was released I immediately thought of a shirt I had seen in Target that had a faux collar of sequins.  The original plan was to make a deep plum version with some white shiny flower sequins that Abby had picked out.  Well, I never got around to it.  To be honest the thought of sewing on a thousand sequins wasn't my idea of fun.  Then I needed a dress for a wedding (that has recently been postponed) right after Christmas and I began to think about my plan again, this time for one of the twins (smaller collar=less sequins! HA!)

My original plan was to make a black dress with silver sequins, but then my local shop didn't have any black tulle (yep, added some lots of tulle too), so I went with gray.  I really love more "adult" colors on kids.  Don't get me wrong, I am all for bold and brights on kids (obviously) but there is something about the more muted colors.

These dang sequins took f-o-r-e-v-e-r, I didn't pay really close attention, but somewhere in the ballpark of 4 hours.  But I think it was worth it.  At first I was trying to sew two on at a time to save time, but then they didn't lay right so I went with one at a time, and by the end I had mastered picking the sequins up with my needle so I was able to work a lot faster.

Sweet little George, I put the dress on her and she immediately declared, "I a princess! I Cinderella!" and "I so pretty!".  I think it is safe to say she loves the dress.  I need to figure out other shoes to go with it though...

I was struggling with a button choice, I was trying to use what I had on hand but couldn't find anything "just right".  I have had these in my stash for years and always wanted to use them but never knew what for, I think I like them here (too late now, ha!), but I am still undecided.  If I didn't need the dress in two days for a party I may have held off and just went to the store.  The pop of color is kind of growing on me though.

After seeing A little Gray's version the other day I decided to copy compliment her's and use bias on the sleeves.  I had been thinking it would be cute with short sleeves in the summer but thought I would need to add length to account for the hem, but the bias is just brilliant!

I also added 4 layers of tulle and a lining for the skirt.  I am undecided as of now on the length of the tulle though, and may end up cutting it so as to not poke out the bottom, hm.... Or maybe I will just be lazy and leave it, ha!

Playtime Dresses.

I made two new dresses this week for the twins, and after the last photo shoot with Elizabeth, I thought things had changed, that now I would be able to get some decent shots, hooray!  Ummmm, no.  We went back to the same spot and Elizabeth ran up the stairs calling to Georgia to follow her, but then things got crazy.  George was all.over.the.place.  Which in turn made Izzy act naughty too.  Oh well.  So bear with me on these photos, somewhat blurry and not framed well, but what can you do when you are trying to capture two two year olds?

 



 

 

 

The dresses are the new Oliver + S Playtime dress.  Both are size 2T with 3T length in the sleeves and hem.  Izzy measured in to 2T but George measured in to the 18M.  A combination of not wanting to trace two sizes (lazy, I know) and knowing by the time they get to wear them for reals there will likely be a bit of growth.  Typically mid to late October we can start wearing a little warmer clothes. 

 

These dresses were completely inspired and shamelessly copied complimented by this adorable dress.  I have never actually bought a Heather Ross fabric before (gasp! I know!), I have never really given any of it a second look but these strawberries kept popping up and I just couldn't get that dress out of my head!  So, I gave in and am so happy I did. 

 



 

 

 

Aw, these two <3.  They are so cute together. 

 

I had a fellow twin mom ask me how I manage to get them both in the same picture, I told her it is sort of like seeing a unicorn, a very rare occurrence.  I somewhat managed today, only when I asked them to hug each other.  George was totally in to hugging, but Elizabeth was still trying to be good and stand still for her pictures (there may have been a promise of candy *cough, cough*) but eventually she gave in.  I tried to get them to hold hands, but again, George had a one track mind.

 

 

 

 

Then Georgia figured out she could tackle Elizabeth, oh what fun she had!  So they wrestled around on the ground for a bit and Georgia started tickling Izzy. 

 



 

 

 

Theeeen they decided it was fun to run away from me.  Two are much harder than one!

 



 

This was pre-hugging, wrestling, tickling.   The sleeves are just about right for Elizabeth, as is the fit in the chest (duh me, that's what she measured in to for chest). 

She looks so much older with her hair pulled back.

I did topstitch both dresses, though both with white, so it shows up on this dress but not the other.

This was a pure luck shot.  The second she noticed I was taking a picture she turned and ran.

 

 

The sleeves are a little long on Georgia (she is a bit shorter) but since the dress is still big on her around the chest I am not worried about hemming them up any more. 

 



I went with snaps (I almost regretted my decision as I ((and Ben)) ripped some of them out more than once).  It makes getting the girls dressed so much easier!  Though I am finally getting closer to happy with my button holes.