Month: October 2012

kcwc fall 2012: day 1:: daring fireball mini tee

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sew-off challenge: Upcycle a Flashback Skinny Tee

daring fireball mini tee

rocky start to kcwc and the sew-off, you guys, rocky start.

before i started sewing today, i changed my serger thread from white (what i always serge with) to black. i don’t change my serger thread very often, so when the threads were all wonky, i thought it was because i’d done something wrong. after nearly an hour of threading and rethreading, i realized…wait for it…i had lifted my presser foot up to rethread and forgot to put it back down! oof, no wonder the fabric wouldn’t feed through! anyway, once i figured that out, this little shirt came together in a snap.

daring fireball mini tee

behold the daring fireball upcycled tee. my husband follows tech news like other guys follow football. one of his favorite sites for info on apple and other techie stuff is daring fireball. the site is widely read among those that follow that sort of thing, but pretty obscure in our day-to-day lives (kinda like me with sewing blogs!), and it has a really cool and simple design to it. my husband pretty much wore this t-shirt until it couldn’t be worn anymore (by him). so off it went into my upcycle pile for the boy!

daring fireball mini tee

i used his t-shirt for the body plus a slightly lighter gray tank top that my sister gave me for the bindings (she just moved back to town after finishing up school and was doing deep cleaning). the pattern is rae’s flashback skinny tee in 18-24 months.

daring fireball mini tee

then i let the little guy play with our first iPod and iPhone for a bit (both still work).

daring fireball mini tee

no multi-touch on that sucker, buddy!

**check out rae’s ADORABLE flashback skinny tee upcycle (with peter pan collar!) right here!**

giveaway winners and a challenge-within-a-challenge-within-a-challenge

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okay first things first – sweetheart dress giveaway winners!

  • grand prize: Shannon
  • sweetheart dress winners: Brooke and Sarah S

congratulations!  we’ve emailed the winners.  thanks so much for a great giveaway, Shannon!

***

now onto pressing business:

for some reason, my Kids Clothes Week Challenge planning didn’t come easily this time.  i had tons of half-formed ideas, but nothing that jumped out as “must make.”  last spring and last fall, i no trouble prioritizing my always-overflowing mental to do list into a nice balance of wardrobe staples and new pattens i’d been wanting to try.  my KCWC project always end up some of my favorites, and also tend to be worn most by my kids.  you can see all of my kcwc posts here if you’re curious.

so last week, after organizing my stash and deciding i wouldn’t buy any new fabric because i have plenty (my first challenge-within-a-challenge), i waited for inspiration to strike.  i looked for those perfect combinations of fabric and pattern that would cause me to create wonderful things during KCWC.

i just couldn’t figure it out, aside from a couple minor projects.

i posed the question to instagram, to see if any of my sewing buddies out there could help.  i got some good suggestions, but then…THEN…Rae threw out the notion that she should just give me HER list and i could make that.  at first she meant it was a joke, but then it turned into a “hey that could be really fun!” type situation.  apparently her mental to do list was too long too, and she needed help paring it down.  she sent me her list and i picked the ones that inspired me…and a SEW-OFF was born!

i own most of Rae’s patterns already, and they’re always some of my favorites to sew, so she was the perfect partner.

want to know what we picked? want to join us, maybe??  Here’s the Rae-Kristin Sew-Off List for KCWC Fall 2012:

Upcycle a Flashback Skinny Tee
pretty self-explanatory. find an adult tee to convert to a miniature skinny tee. i almost always use upcycled knits when i sew FBSTs, so this is a fun one.  you can get Rae’s flashback skinny tee pattern here.

Mini-Washi Dress
i was SO excited to see this on Rae’s list!  i’ve totally wanted to make one of these and i’m excited to give it a go.  at this point it’s not available as a pattern, so i drafted it myself using the flashback skinny tee as a bodice block and my washi pattern as a reference.  i’ve got no idea if it’ll work but I’m sure hoping it does!

Heather Ross Pajama Pants
sometimes i’ve been lucky enough to come across fabric by the amazing heather ross during my trips to bolt, and sometimes i’ve even bought some!  i tend to hoard it, though…i’m sure lots of us do.  this challenge is to make pj pants (or anything!) from my hoarded fabric!

Shirred Pierrot
i looooove Rae’s pierrot pattern and had already cut out a larger size as a “maybe” when I saw Rae’s list and her suggestion to shirr it!  challenge is to use any peasant blouse-type pattern (if you don’t have the pierrot, maybe use the sweet little dress by leila & ben?). If you use Pierrot, Rae suggests to add about 1″ to the folded width of the tops of each of the sleeves to add more room around the neckline for the shirring (4″ total). she posted a shirred pierrot last week for an example.

Make a catalog-inspired item
after i saw gail’s adorable hedgehog pants on elsie marley, i started browsing the mini boden catalog myself.  it’s so inspiring!  i’m often pinning things by companies that i want to try to make, so that’s the challenge here – be inspired by something you see in a catalog.  could be Gap, Hanna Andersson, Crewcuts, mini boden, whatever!

want to sew along within the sew along? join us! this was just a low-key* challenge designed to motivate us, so if you like any or all of these ideas, go ahead and make them along with us this week!  and then let us know!!  remember, the KCWC challenge is to spend 1 hour each day sewing for your kids, so these are not meant to be ridiculously intricate or time-consuming. just easy, cute items to add to your kids’ wardrobes.

and if you don’t…no worries at all!  there’s loads of inspiration out there!  i really can’t wait to see what starts popping up in the KCWC flickr pool.

ladies (and gentlemen??)…let’s sew!  KCWC starts tomorrow!

*oh but did you know i’m sorta kinda really competitive?  so of course i will crush her.  😉

sewwwwww yummy!

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i’m over at craftstorming today for laura’s sew yummy series, where she has deftly combined her two passions, baking and sewing, into a series that’s so inspiring!

she has her lovely guests either baking sweet treats inspired by sewing, or sewing fun projects inspired by baking.  i sewed a pleated pillow and there’s a tutorial for you!

pleated bundt pillow tutorial

do you remember O’s birthday cake?  i’ve always loved the bundt pan that i made it with, and it was a pretty easy choice for my inspiration.

pleated pillow tutorial

head on over to check out my tutorial to make this pillow over at craftstorming!  while you’re there, don’t miss laura’s great sewing projects – her urban duck hoodie and stripey jim jams that first grabbed my attention during KCWC this spring, and her AWESOME SAUCE tour de france yellow jersey tutorial that every mini cyclist needs!

have a happy friday!

sweetheart dress pattern and giveaway

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have i got some sweet stuff for you today!

sweetheart dress

i was recently lucky enough to pattern test the newest pattern by the lovely and talented shannon of luvinthemommyhood, which was just released yesterday!  it’s called the sweetheart dress, and it’s the perfect dress for a girly little gal like mine.  it’s a quick, fun sew, featuring a fully lined bodice with the cutest heart cutout in the back, and a gathered skirt for twirling.  it’s a dress that’s great for comfy day-to-day wear, but has tons of style!

sweetheart dress

i sewed it in sarah jane’s find the narwhal fabric from her out to sea line,  and i’ve decided it’s pretty much the cutest fabric ever.  Em calls the narwhals “unicorn whales,” and i’m not correcting her.  they ARE unicorn whales!  the fabric itself is quilting cotton, but with a really nice drape and feel.

sweetheart dress

shannon’s pattern is great, and i even learned how to line a bodice in a way that i had never tried before.  it’s always fun to learn something new when i sew!  it came together nicely and i was excited to make a dress that i knew Em would love.

sweetheart dress

the pattern includes sizes 2-6.  though it’s a PDF pattern and i know some people aren’t so fond of those, it actually requires no taping!  NONE!  just print the three page pattern, cut it out, and get sewing.

sweetheart dress

i just think between the heart cutout and the pink narwhal fabric, this dress pure confection.  you probably need this sweet little pattern for KCWC next week, right?  well…i can help with that!

sweetheart dress

luvinthemommyhood is generously offering a fantastic pattern giveaway to skirt as top readers!  here’s how you can win:

leave me a comment on this post – any comment will do.  if you need an idea, i’d love to hear what part of the changing season you’re most excited about.

bonus entries:

that’s a possible FOUR separate entries!
i’ll pick THREE winners on sunday, october 7.  one grand prize winner will win the sweetheart dress pattern, plus every pattern in shannon’s shop!  yes, EVERY SINGLE PATTERN!!  additionally, two runners up will win the sweetheart dress PDF sewing pattern!  pretty great, eh?
deets:
  • if it’s not already linked in your profile, please leave your email address so we can contact you.  the format of skirtastop(at)gmail(dot)com works well to help avoid spam.
  • open to US and international residents.
  • void where prohibited.
  • if you don’t want to wait to find out if you’ve won, you can buy the sweetheart dress right here right now!

have a great day, and good luck!