cars pajamas by request

January 21, 2014January 20, 201431 Comments

this guy, sometimes he just wraps me right around his finger.

he’s a really good errands-runner for a 3 year old. recently i took him along to my midwife appointment, where he was very patient and quiet. when we were back in the car, i asked if he wanted to go home or go to the fabric store with me. HE SAID “I WANNA GO TO THE FABRIC STORE.” i mean seriously!

while we were there (at Bolt of course), he sat and read books at the little table they have set up for kids, then joined me to browse, went straight to this fabric, and was so excited about it, he immediately asked me if i could make him some pajamas out of it.

how am i supposed to resist, i ask you? it was impossible.

he asked for pajama bottoms and a matching shirt, and this is what i came up with. the pants are Rae’s Parsley Pants in a 3T. i knew they’d be big but i wanted them that way – i’m sick and tired of these kids growing out of stuff all the time! fabric is masquerade party by fresh designs for henry glass & co. it’s lightweight for a quilting cotton and really nice as pajamas.

the shirt is the Oliver + S Field Trip Raglan Tee, in a 2T with length added to the arms and body (NEWSFLASH: it’s now available as an individual PDF pattern, plus 25% off through Friday in their January Sale, which makes it less than $7!). i already had the 2T traced from sewing it before and time was of the essence – i sewed this set during his naptime AFTER pre-washing the fabric right when we got home. it was a 4 hour turnaround from deciding on/buying the fabric to finished product and he wore it to bed that night (plus whenever it’s been clean since then)

the raglan is two shirts from my upcycle pile, with appliqué fussy cut car patch so the tops and bottoms “match” (per his request).

this all still wasn’t quick enough for him, though. as soon as we had gotten home from Bolt, he stripped down to his undies and said he was ready to put on his pajamas! had to break it to him that i still had to actually SEW it all first. ha! sewing is magic to 3 year olds. they go to sleep, wake up, and POOF – new clothes.

once i fiiiiinally finished them, though, he was an immediate fan. O loves transportation, the color black, and comfy wear, and i love patterns that are so fast they basically sew themselves. win-win. 😉

rainbow roller skate dress

December 4, 2013December 5, 201310 Comments

every year i seem to forget how hard it is to blog in December. the weather and daylight are bad for photography (especially for those of us with daytime away-from-home jobs), weekends are packed with activities, and the sewing that is done this month is almost all Christmas-gift-related. SO. while i am busy behind the scenes elving it up in my basement sewing lair, i thought i’d haul out an unblogged project i’ve been meaning to show you for months!

this is Em’s 5th birthday dress.

i think it perfectly captures her personality on the day in May that she turned 5 years old.

the dress is the Oliver + S Roller Skate Dress. it’s a 3T with 4T length, just like the first one i made. the pink base is kona cotton, and the appliqué was ALLLLL Em’s idea.

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super mario bros. shirt

February 25, 2013February 25, 20138 Comments

as Celebrate the Boy kicks off over at MADE and Made by Rae, i thought it’d be fun to bring home a post i did for I’m Feelin’ Crafty’s “Sew Ready to Play” series a few months back. O is actually wearing this shirt today, though it’s starting to look even tighter on his growing toddler belly!

***

growing up, i was the kid who didn’t have any sort of video game system at home and was constantly trying to talk the neighbor kids into playing nintendo. if you were the kid with a nintendo, you probably had an annoying friend like me, right? i was pretty persuasive in getting the neighbor kids to play (not too hard), and i especially loved super mario bros. i’m talking about the original one here…super mario 2 was fine, 3 was better (remember how you could drop behind the background?) but the original was the best. it’s still fun…have you played it lately? do you remember how to turtle top? i could never quite get the hang of it.

so anyway, it was almost a no brainer that i needed to make my toddler son a super mario t-shirt for this series!

i used my favorite basic pattern, made by rae’s flashback skinny tee, and knit fabric from two sale rack men’s shirts (my tips for sewing with sale rack t-shirts here). i appliquéd a mario scene right onto the front! the scene appliqué idea came from my friend cherie, and what exactly to put on there came from a quick google search of super mario bros images. want to make one?

gather scraps together in the appropriate colors along with some steam-a-seam lite fusible web…

draw a grid of 1/2″ squares for the stairs then cut them out, and a strip of woodgrain fabric at 1/2″ for a base. sketch and cut out clouds, a pipe, a hill, and bricks. i then added a little stamped mushroom left over from one of my project run & play creations! i just played around with the scraps until i had the shapes i wanted.

add the fusible web to each piece and arrange the scene on the front piece of the shirt, not yet sewn together. once you have everything where you want it, fuse it down with an iron and then stitch around each item with black thread, for a sketchy outline look. if you’re good with a free motion foot i’d recommend that here for the little curves, but i used my regular foot and just lifted it up a lot as i sewed around.

super mario bros flashback tee

finish the shirt as instructed per the pattern, slap it on your little guy, and he’ll be looking like a child of the ’80s!

i love how this skinny tee clings to his toddler belly…

and he likes how soft and comfy it is!

ready to play! thanks so much for having me, Louise!!

PS – i didn’t even realize when i was making this how close the colors and theme were to narelle’s post from the other day! who doesn’t like old school video games, eh?

foldover doily clutch tutorial

November 12, 2012November 1, 201319 Comments

i recently gave a clutch like this to my sister laura as a birthday present, and i thought i’d write up a tutorial for it because…you know…it’s getting to be that gift-giving time of year! i think a pretty but casual little clutch purse is great for girl time, date nights, a quick errand, that type of thing. it’s the perfect gift for sisters, moms, babysitters, teachers…any lady in your life, really!

this foldover style clutch features a metal zipper and appliquéd doily on a lined bag. in these photos it’s carrying my wallet, phone, and keys – the essentials.

it has vintage-modern style with the doily and rough linen-y hemp fabric i used, but you could skip the doily and do a fun print, or stamp a fun design on there too. i had fun adding a doily to a skirt during vintage may, so i thought that’d be neat to try that technique again.

due to the proportions of the clutch and zipper, you don’t need to reach for the pliers and you don’t need to worry about breaking a needle, either! deep cleansing breath – you can totally do this.

okay let’s get started…

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sew ready to play, and playing along…

September 26, 2012September 26, 201214 Comments

wow what an awesome response to film petit yesterday! thanks so much you guys, those little outfits were a major labor of love and i was so excited to share them.

today i’m over at i’m feelin’ crafty as part of her super fun “sew ready to play” series! it’s all about sewing inspired by games – board games, video games, card games, whatever you like! as a child of the ’80s, i really had no choice but to sew something super mario bros. related, right? i was inspired by the previews cherie sent me of her FMF charlie dress and had fun appliquéing a mario scene onto a flashback skinny tee!

check out my guest post and mini-tutorial HERE.

now for a fun little thing…shannon from luvinthemommyhood, pretty much one of the sweetest bloggers out there, put up a mad libs type fill in the blank on her blog today and encouraged people to play along. the idea is to fill in the bold words with your own answers, so we can all get to know each other a little better. here’s hers. i don’t play along with these types of things very often, but i thought it’d be fun to share a bit of my creative process and stuff with you today. here goes:

i’m longing to make “another washi dress and a sidekick tote“ right now.
i want to try “sewing” with some “metal zippers!”
i wish i could sew with “polka dot nani iro flannel“ fabric.
i dream of making “cozy quilts for both kids and a lap quilt for movie watching.”
i keep track of my ideas and inspiration by “sketching them in notebooks and pinning them on pinterest.”
i’m inspired by “so many creative women in blogland!”
i would love to meet “all my bloggy friends” in person. (can’t argue with shannon’s answer here!)
my favorite fiber is “linen.”
i like to sew with “good quality cotton.”
i hate to sew with “minky and satin.“ (this one’s my own addition, hehe)
my favorite color is “blue – all tones – the colors of the ocean.”
i rock at “pairing colors.”
i would like to learn how to “knit and crochet.”
i bring my “iPhone” everywhere.
my favorite thing to “sew” is “kid’s clothes.” (can’t argue with shannon here, either!)
my crafting space “was once compared to a mad scientist’s laboratory.”
if i had my dream crafting room it would be “filled with natural light, wood floors, and lots of room for organization.”
i sew with “a Brother CS6000i…but i’m almost ready for an upgrade.”
i like to draw “little dresses, geometric shapes, and glasgow roses.”
i can never get enough “time to sew…or sleep.”
i adore “seeing my kids starting to play together and having funny conversations.”
i also enjoy “getting sneak previews of my friends’ upcoming projects!”
i like to fill my shelves with “fabric and sewing patterns.”
i create the best when i’m “on a deadline.”
i am currently excited for “elsie marley’s fall kid’s clothes week challenge.”
right now i am working on “organizing my fabric stash and cleaning up my space.”
i love to watch “nothing, but i always listen to music” while creating.
my guilty pleasure when it comes to creating is “filling my stash with pretty fabric from bolt“
my current favorite music crush to listen to while creating is “billie holliday.“