A Washi.

I knocked out two more projects for Selfish Sewing Week, though technically one was finished up today, so after the "official" week, but I still gonna count it because I am a rebel.  And it kind of wasn't totally my fault.  You see, I broke my no night sewing rule Friday night because I had made a Washi muslin earlier in the day and was dying to cut in to my good fabric.  My machine started acting up and making a weird noise but I soldiered on anyways, well... That was a bad idea.  My machine totally jammed and Ben actually had to break the needle to get my dress out of the machine. So Saturday morning my machine went to the man with the magic fixing skills. 

My sewing closet was a sad, sorry sight so I ripped it apart to clean it as Ben took my machine to town.  The guy was super awesome and got it fixed within a few hours (how's that for service?!).  I couldn't sew, though, because between Sam and putting my closet back together there just wasn't any time.  So, today I finished. 

I have had this pattern for forever, as soon as it was released in paper form I bought it up, and it sat and sat.  Now that the baby is no longer in my belly I figured it was time to try it out, so I grabbed up some random fabric in my stash and researched.  I noticed a lot of gals with, ahem, bigger chests found they needed to lower the bodice.  I first made the bodice without lowering, but adding a FBA, and it was too high, so this was my second attempt.  For reference, I added 1 1/2".  I like the fit, but I am not sure I would wear this print as it isn't really my style, but it is a nearly finished shirt- maybe I should just finish and try it out!  

So here is my "real" one.  Side note, have y'all ever felt the Art Gallery prints?  They are amazeballs!  Seriously, such a great feel and a great drape for a quilting cotton.  The lady at my local shop said they are a Pima cotton and 600 thread count.  I used one of their prints for Iz's Library Dress and just loved it, so I knew it would work well for this top.

I added 2" to the length, though I forgot to add it to my front pattern piece when I traced it so I forgot to add it on this one, hence the band at the bottom of the top going side to side instead of up and down.  I think I want to add a bit more length next time to be able to wear it with leggings.

I did a FBA using the method in the Weekend Getaway since it worked so well and was so easy when I made it last.  I can not for the life of me get the darts to not point, it is really driving me crazy. I also had that problem on the muslin.

I felt like a rockstar when I steamed the shirring lines and they shrunk right up, definitely worth the half hour it took to figure out the setting for my machine.  

   

 I used the Tova sleeves as I have seen others do.   They barely needed to be eased in, but when I used a 1/2" SA I found that it restricted my movement too much and made the top pretty much unwearable.  I unpicked (including the serged seams, that was a beast) and used 1/4" instead.  It is still a little tight, but not unwearable.

I think I need me a good kid sewing fix, they are so much easier, ha!  No muslins (for the most part) and no weird body issues that need to be taken in to account.  Plus I have a few baby gifts to make, one for a shower this weekend and one for a birth I missed making for due to Sam being itty bitty and no sewing time.  But, I have caught the bug and will start adding myself to the rotation.

Everyday skirt + Metro tee.

I am on a roll!  It's selfish sewing week, so I decided I will do just that, sew for me!  It has been fun and I may be getting a little obsessed (I really should be making the kids pants and jackets).  

So, ignore the random light on my boob, I still am not great at using my remote and this was the only decent shot of somewhere close to twenty.  Ugh.

The top is the Liesl and Co Metro tee in some fuschia polka dot from Girl Charlee that I had left over from making a maternity tee (that was never blogged).  The material didn't hold up great, unfortunately, but I was wearing it 2-3 times a week (because it fit) so I am hoping if it gets washed less it will last longer.  The pattern is great, so great.  But I think all O+S and L+C patterns are the bomb diggity.  I made an XL and didn't change a darn thing.

The skirt is the Liesl and Co Everyday skirt in a Robert Kaufman Essex yarn dyed linen.  I have made this one twice before but didn't get a lot of wear out of them because two weeks or so after they were made I found out I was pregnant with Sam!  I love the skirts and they are so comfy so I "needed" another.  I made a Large with again no mods.

I have another Everyday Skirt cut, a Traveler view B and a Weekend Getaway so expect some more awkward photos of me to show up here.

Weekend Getaway tunic.

I have been sewing for me a little bit lately, though this is the first I have blogged.  I started wearing my blue Weekend Getaway again, and while it is a little tighter than when I made it (thanks Sam) I decided to make the same size as I have finally started to loose some of this post baby weight.   I decided to make it in a tunic length, I bought my first pair of leggings ever so I wanted something to go with it, though I think I will need to loose a bit more before I dare wear them out of the house, haha! 

I used this lightweight shirting I picked up forever ago, I think it was meant to make Ben a Negroni, but I never dared (though it is on the list now).  Adult clothes take up so much material so I was intimidated.

I made the size 14 with a FBA for my giant nursing boobs (well, giant to me).  The blue dot one doesn't have a FBA so it is a little tight in that area.

I added black to the sleeves to tie in the facing and cut the sleeve on the bias because I was sick of trying to match the plaids.  It would have been a quick sew if I didn't have to do that, but I can't stand when stripes/plaids don't match.

I was also a little intimidated by the FBA the first two times I made this so I skipped it, but oh my gosh!  Liesl's method and instructions are soooo easy.  Seriously, don't skip it if you need it!

I am still not so sure I like the whole showing my face and trying to use my remote (getting myself in frame can be tricky!), but I have a whole list of things to make for me so I better get used to it;)

Prepping for fall.

The fall always sneaks up on me.  One day we are wearing shorts and tanks and the next we need pants and cardigans.  I am *trying* to be more on top of it this year though, of course, with a two month old I can't completely keep up with the wardrobes, but I can try.

So up first is a set for the twins.  Or a twin.  I fell in love with the tiger print and just had to have it and create a whole outfit inspired by it.  Patricia suggested a khaki bottom like the awesome shorts Peta had just made, and as luck would have it I had just uncovered one in my stash.

I made the outfit for Elizabeth's size in, she is a bit bigger around and a little taller, but Georgia threw a tantrum when I suggested Iz put it on for pictures... so she put it on and had her picture taken first.

The tunic is the Oliver + S Roller Skate tunic, size 3T with added length and a slightly lower elastic casing.  This happens to be my fourteenth Roller Skate, so I didn't even pull the instructions out.  Ha! It is in the running for my most used pattern ever.

See?  Still a little big (I want it to fit for most of the winter, hopefully) but a better fit.

For the cardigan I used some interlock from Joann, not the best stuff, but I was experimenting and didn't want to use my good stuff just yet.

I used the Oliver + S School Bus Tee and modified it.  I made a size 4 as I wanted the oversized look, but since I added a cuff to the sleeve hem I probably should have shortened them, but I guess I did say I wanted long wear.

I pretty much love it and will be making more.

The pants, oh the pants.  I bought the pattern so long ago after Katy made a pair for one of her girls and am just now getting to it.  They are the Heidi + Finn Pleat-bottom pants.  I love the look of their patterns, but they don't include a size chart and that irritates me.  I never know what size to pick so I usually stay away from theirs, but since I owned this one already I figured I would make a bigger size than I thought I would need.  I made the 4t as reviews said they were a little short in length and rise.  These are just about right, a little long, but if I had made a 3t they would be too short.

They are super easy to make, though, if you can figure out a size.

I still have a half yard left of the tigers, which is good because I can foresee many fights over this top.

Capes.

I have a million projects running through my mind and I don't have the time to fit them all in, so I am jumping around between a few currently.  Not a good thing, because that leaves the potential of something being left in the WIP so long that it is outgrown before it is made.  Sigh.  

But first, a project that had to be finished by today (and I got done just in time).  My nieces joint birthday party is this evening and they are both obsessed with Frozen (but what under 10 year old girl isn't?).  I was brainstorming ideas when it came to me, capes.  Not only do they love Frozen, but they also love dressing up. 

One likes Elsa and one likes Anna, so I made one of each.  Elsa's was super easy, a yard of glittery tulle, some ribbon and gathering, no hemming required.

For Anna's I used the Oliver + S School Bus Tee.  I used some interlock from Joann, some black bobbles and a heart clasp. 

The girls super love them, but understand that they are going to A + C (or at least I hope they understand, ha!).  I showed them the fabric I have for theirs and that helped a little, though they keep asking if theirs are done yet.  I am making them slightly different too, ie Elsa in a different fabric and Anna with a different clasp so that just in case all four girls wear theirs at the same time we can tell them apart.

Hopefully cousins like them, if not I know two little girls who will take them off their hands...

Geraniums by the pond.

Girlfriends need more dresses.  Poor things have nearly outgrown every single one in their closets, actually, every one.  After putting them in too short dresses for church for the second week in a row, I knew something had to be done.  

So I chose the Geranium dress because at this point I can nearly make it with my eyes closed.  Okay, not so much eyes closed, but I don't have to look at the instructions.  And really, what more can be said than what I have already said?  These are my eleventh and twelfth Geraniums, crazy.  

These chicks are getting harder and harder to photograph together.

Even in this gorgeous spot in the mountains next to a little pond.

But, to be fair, they had just been awoken from a short nap on the rhino ride to the pond.
(Yep, I took their new clothes camping so I could find a cool spot to get some good photos.  Too bad they didn't really want to cooperate.)

So, we decided to go on an adventure.

But still very little cooperation, mostly from Elizabeth.

Awww, who doesn't love hugs?

Georgia is obsessed with purple, I mean crazy obsessed.  So I knew she needed something purple in her closet.  She was so happy!

And even happier to find purple flowers to pick and put in her piggy tails.

A few purple snaps down the back.  I want to go back and add another snap to each of the dresses, but I was in a hurry as I was literally finishing the dresses a few minutes before heading out the door.

She is so much like Jack, when he was this age he refused to look at the camera too.  Any time it came out he would look away, I would put it down or hide it behind my back and he would look at me again.  Sigh.

They are both size 4T, so hopefully some growing room.  They are still wearing these ones, though they are getting quite short now and a little tight on Z's chest.

Elizabeth chose her fabric, I think she made a good choice!  I couldn't get any close ups, but there are little pink, red and blue hearts all over.  I only had one yard so I had to do some seriously creative cutting (I love non-directional prints!), I literally had only a few scraps left, but I did it!  I had these cut out for a little bit, so she was so excited when I brought them up to camp with us and showed her.  The big four went to the mountains with Grandpa and Grandma the night before, then Ben, Sam and I went up just for the day and brought the little girls back home with us while Abby + Jack are still up there for the long weekend.

They could definitely use a few more dresses, but I think I first need to get some pants made for Jack.  When I was packing for this trip I realized he had no pants that fit!  Oops!  Well, he had some that fit around, but not in length.  The cool weather sneaks up on me every single year, someday I will be prepared.

Blues.

Ever since I made Sam's first collared Lullaby Bodysuit with a collar I have been thinking about making another one, and even though I have three Geraniums cut out waiting for me (2 for the twins, 1 for a gift) this jumped the queue.  Late night nursing sessions let me brainstorm exactly what I wanted, and I am excited to say it turned out just like I had imagined!  Don't you just love it when that happens? 

I made the size 3 months in a so soft shirting.  I wanted roll up sleeves so I added two inches to them, I still need to go back and tack them to keep them rolled.  I wanted something like the Sketchbook Shirt, so I extended the placket all the way to the hem and added the collar again.

On the back I made a box pleat on the right side of the fabric, it kind of blends in.  I also added two rows of topstitching to the collar and the hem.

I pretty much love it on him.