Sailboats all around.

Oliver + S sailboat pants. Love, just love. They are meant to be capris, but the girls are on the very small side of the 6m measurements so they are more pants than capris. This was a teal linnen I had in my stash for years, way back when I pretended like I could/would sew, and it was marked for a skirt for me. Fast forward 3 years and now I can/do sew and they became pants for the twins. I just love the look of them! Especially pudgy baby tummy sticking out.





Then I made the skirt, add some leggings or tights, and bam! They will work for winter. I made the 6m, and they are huge!!! Oh my sweet little, tiny girls. So I probably wont need leggings, it will be warm enough by the time they fit!

Ice cream blouses.

This is the pattern that kept drawing me back to Oliver + S. The Ice Cream Dress. This is view C, made as a blouse.

This one was made from some remnants from a local quilt shop. I was still in the mindset of patterns not being sized quite right, so I made the 12m size. It was so big!! I still haven't put the button on back, but I have time, the girls are just in 6m.


This purple one was also a remnant from the same quilt shop. I picked it up for $1.50 and used every bit of it. It is from the Riley Blake halloween line, but the top just screamed Ice Cream blouse at me:) It has a nifty mustard button on the back. I love it.

Cozy winter hood.

I have longed for Oliver + s patterns for ages. The price always made me un-do my cart and navigate far, far away from their site before I just broke down and purchased them. Then came months of frustrations with etsy sellers, I bought patterns from one seller that looked fairly simple, but the instructions were a joke. Another, the pieces didn't even line up! One had their sizing so off it wasn't worth trying to figure it out. Then I went back to the Oliver + s website and found out they were offering pdf downloads on some of their out-of-print patterns. Okay, I can give them a try. The pdf prices were less than the paper, and they didn't have shipping costs since they were a download. I purchased the Tea Party Sundress, and I was hooked instantly!! Crystal clear instructions, perfectly drafted patterns and they gave measurements in inches for each pattern so you could easily find the size you need. Then I bought their book, Little things to sew.

So, this is the first thing I made from the book, the cozy winter hood.



Modeled by my sweet little Elizabeth. I have one for each of the kids cut out, but still haven't sewn them. I got the book at the end of January and it was warming up... and I got a little ( a lot ) distracted with other Oliver + S patterns. There will always be the fall:)

Tohoku tote.

This is something I saw on pinterest, pinned many times. It kept popping up, and I just finally had to make it. My purse was trashed before the girls were born, but since I was planning on carrying the diaper bag 95% of the time, I wasn't worried. But then after a few weeks of church- me in Relief Society, him in Priesthood, each of us with a baby, me without diapers or wipes, I knew I needed something. So I made the Tohoku tote from iammommahearmeroar.net. I reaaaallly love it!! The big bow is what sold me. So girly. I had been hoarding this fabric for a while just waiting for the perfect project.

My box pleat was a little wonky because I made it a little too big. The instructions tell you to pleat and then cut your pattern... That was a little vague... If I made it again I would definitely make a more modest pleat. But overall I love the tote, it is deep enough for a notebook and I added two giant pockets. Plus it is really cool and stands up by itself.

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.

My sewing journal.

I have decided to make a sewing blog/journal because, let's face it, even with my best intentions of taking careful notes after I sew each garment- it never happens! I have a dedicated notebook just for sewing, and it was use for maybe a week. In fact, I am not even sure where it is at this point... one of the munchkins has probably filled it with their colorful drawings by now...