magentaa bimaa (and a skirt)

October 19, 2013October 20, 201315 Comments

helllllloooooooooo!

rare saturday post for you today, because i, along with my pal Erin over at hungie gungie, am the last stop on what has been a pretty epic tour for the Bimaa Sweater Pattern by LouBeeClothing!

i chose to go pretty basic with my Bimaa – i noticed recently that almost every top, dress, legging, and shoe that Em owns has some sort of print on it, and while print mixing is “in” these days, i believe that only applies to two prints, not three or four, which she has often been known to combine. this kid needs more solids to go with all the print stuff.

when i went shopping (at fabric depot), i looked for the perfect solid, and found this magenta knit. it’s a blend of some sort, and i was so excited about the ideal weight to drape ratio that i didn’t check the bolt to give you any details about it (BAD BLOGGER). it sort of turned purplish if my iron was too hot, though, so it’s got more stuff mixed in there than your typical interlock, i’m guessing.

i love how Sarah’s patterns are basics with a twist – they’ve all got unexpected design elements that make them really stand out. plus, they’re just so darn COOL! i can’t wait to sew up some Hosh Pants (and see if I can persuade Em into wearing non-leggings-pants).

i chose to sew the cowl neck version of the Bimaa (there are also hood and a shawl collar options included in the pattern). i love a good cowl sweater though, and a mini cowl was just irresistible. the pattern goes from size 12 mo to size 6, there’s no hemming (i sewed the whole thing with my serger, and did the sleeve cuffs with the same method as the waistband), it’s a super fast and painless to sew, and turns out a very stylish little sweater, don’t you think?

this Bimaa is a size 4T, which is actually larger than i usually sew for her and didn’t match Em’s measurement on the chart, chest-wise, but i saw Jess’ version and knew our little gals were the same size, so i went with it. i will say though, i think this pattern is sized to fit pretty snugly. Em is at the bottom of the weight charts for her age and the 4T fits her great, but if your little one is normal/larger, might wanna size up from what you usually sew, at least in width.

for a normal-height skinny kid like mine, though, the slimmer sizing is refreshing – i usually sew 3T bodices for her but i actually prefer to sew closer to her commercial size, ya know? she’s 5 and a half and wears a 5 in store-bought clothes.

to go with the Bimaa, because she really loves choosing her own skirt/top combos these days and she’s been getting so much taller, i made her a swingset skirt by Oliver + S. i was so hooked on the pattern after making Sadie’s, and i thought the fuller silhouette would be the perfect way to show off the Bimaa. this swingset is also a 4T, and i think i added a bit of length for extra growing room.

the skirt fabric is Heather Ross’ Pink Cricket Clover from Briar Rose for Windham, which I got again at Fabric Depot (but you can find online here). i always love the base fabrics Heather chooses for her lines – the “quilting cotton” Briar Rose is light and soft and awesome for kid’s apparel…never mind her perfect designs. so sweet and playful.

it’s got an organza-type ribbon and is lined with a loosely woven cotton stripe in magenta/red as a fun surprise.

great little layering pieces for fall, winter, and maybe even spring if her growth spurt slows down!

you can get the Bimaa pattern right here and the swingset pattern right here. both are PDF only.

oh and don’t forget to head over to check out my buddy Erin’s Bimaa today too (TEASER: it’s got EARS!) and enter to win a copy of the pattern in her giveaway!

> > > :: < < <

thanks so much for having me on this fun fun tour, Sarah!

i was given the Bimaa Sweater Pattern for free as a participant in the blog tour, opinions are 100% mine.

and the new baby is a…

October 15, 2013October 15, 201355 Comments

heading into my 20 week ultrasound last week, i admit i expected it to be a girl. i tried to remain neutral on the gender front, but it was hard – and here’s why: my daughter REALLLLLLY expected a girl – early on, she declared this new baby would be a sister, and no matter how many times we tried to tell her the baby could be a boy, she was certain it was a girl.

so of course, it’s a boy!

having realized more acutely each time i’m pregnant how miraculous it all to have everything fall into place to give birth to a healthy baby, just praying everything would be okay was my main thought going into the ultrasound. i know a number of gals (in “real life” and in blogland) that have had a range of heartbreaking “not okay” things be revealed during routine ultrasounds, and once that happens to you or someone you know, i think you can’t help but approach pregnancy with more caution. the baby’s health was, of course, the most important thing on my mind.

the best news is that this little fella is doing great and measuring right on track and is perfectly healthy. so wonderful. but the news that took a bit longer to process is that the little one is a BOY.

our first reaction? “POOR EM!” and no, she did not take it well when we told her that evening. she just was SOOOO certain, you know? she’s only five – she wears her emotions on her sleeve. and then it sort of triggered a reaction in me – i’m one of four girls, sisters are all i know! my mom is one of 11 kids, 8 of whom are girls, many born all in a row. my sister has three daughters. i think, deep down, i always expected another girl, like it was in my genes or something. and as a sewing mama, yes, i wanted another little gal to pass Em’s handmades down to! all that work! all those skirts and dresses she’s already grown out of! ack!

it took a bit for me to adjust to the fact that our family will have TWO boys, one girl, and that Em won’t have a sister.

after a couple days of hugs and snuggles, though, the surprise for both Em and i wore off, and the pure excitement returned. it’ll be fun to have the younger two kids be the same gender – they’ll probably play more together anyway! i love being a mama to a boy – the one i have is super fun! O is a bit clueless about it but is all smiles when we talk about baby brother. Em still kisses my belly multiple times a day and telling us she loves him and trying to feel her little brother kick any chance she gets. and when he does kick her, it seems to make her day. she announces to everyone we come across that “my mommy is having a new baby brother!” with a big grin on her face (she even told the cashier at the grocery store).

all is well and we are very happy and excited and grateful, and can’t wait to meet this little guy in a few months. i love him already. i’m gearing up to do more boy sewing, since i now know it WILL get passed down!

SO! anyone wanna help us out with some baby names?? we have a couple early thoughts but we’d love ideas, if you’ve got ’em! we like names that aren’t super popular or trendy, names that are interesting but widely recognized as masculine. care to share some of your favorites? 🙂

* * *

details on the little elephant pants above:

fabric is gray elephant fanfare flannel by Rae Hoekstra (to match his big brother’s here).
pattern is Rae’s free newborn pant pattern, lengthened 1/2″ so they’ll last longer. i made quite a few of these for O when he was little, and they were awesome. didn’t blog most of them though – they’re just so quick and basic and easy!

fanfare for the little ones

October 4, 2013December 1, 201318 Comments

okay so remember back in May when Quilt Market was in Portland and I got to meet and hang out with Rae, and then she and Cherie and I went to lunch, and then Rae came over to my house for a bit? the story’s all here.

welllllll when Rae came, she brought strike offs (early versions) of her upcoming (now available) line of organic flannels, called Fanfare. as an experiment, we randomized the stack and handed them to Em, then asked her what she thought. she flipped through them, and when she came to the PINK ELEPHANT FLANNEL, she giggled, rubbed it against her cheek, and wouldn’t even look through the rest! she was sold. her one complaint was that it was too small to be a blanket!

but now, the wait is over. Fanfare is out and available for purchase at these shops! and as a super exciting perk of being buds with Rae, i got a package straight from Cloud9 with bundles of Fanfare for me to sew with. omigosh guys, this stuff is SOFT. like ridiculously soft – and upon washing, it only got SOFTER. the colors are perfect for fall, with mustards and grays and aquas and peachy pinks. and the elephants (plus the rest of the critters/shapes in the line) are adorable. i want them all. oh and by the way, it’s also organic!

i knew right away i wanted to sew up lounge pants for both my kids. when i find fabric as cute and cozy as this, i just want my little ones to be wrapped up in it and wear it around…and that’s exactly what happened.

O didn’t take his off for a couple days straight after he put them on! Em, unfortunately, has to go to school, but changes into hers whenever she can.

i chose two of the three elephant colorways – pink for Em, and gray for O, and paired them with coordinating confetti for the waistbands and bindings. the pattern for both is the Oliver + S Bedtime Story Pajamas (pants only), which was one of the very first patterns i ever bought and remains a go to. so fast to sew and i love the pop of contrast the bindings add.

Em has actually grown out of my pattern – the smaller range only goes up to a 3T. it fits her waist but not her height, so i guessed and added 1.5″ to the length and they fit her just right. O’s are a straight up 2T and a roomy fit on him, mostly because he’s now potty trained (yay!) and doesn’t have a big diapered tush to keep them up.

i put O’s mattress on the floor of his room for these photos, and i’m pretty sure it’s the most fun they’ve ever had in a photoshoot. trouble was, either she was moving…

or he was…

pretty much the whole time. so we’ll see how much lounging actually gets done in these puppies…apparently “jumping pants” may be a more apt description.

wish me luck?

thanks so much to Rae and Cloud9 for generously sending this fabric for me to play with, and be sure to follow along as some of my favorite bloggers in blogland show off what they made with Fanfare! it’s the coziest blog tour ever – get all caught up here.

for Portland locals, Fanfare is available both at Bolt and at Modern Domestic, and for those in Seattle or elsewhere, it’s also available at my lovely sponsor Drygoods Design (in store and online)! if you can, you should really go touch it and see for yourself – you’ll be sold on the feel as well as the CUTE!

* * *

PS – the winner of the Sally Dress pattern giveaway is Beverly Clemmer! congratulations Beverly, let me know if you didn’t get my email. 🙂

nordika sally dress and giveaway {closed}

October 1, 2013October 3, 2013119 Comments

sometimes, it’s impossible for the weather not to influence my fabric choices. last weekend we were hit with a decent little rain/windstorm that knocked out power around town and didn’t let up for days. at the beginning of that storm, i pulled fabrics for my stop on the sally dress tour!

the sally dress is the newest pattern from Shannon of luvinthemommyhood / very shannon. she actually debuted this sweet design as my guest on vintage may this year, so it was a no brainer for me to help her promote the pattern now that it’s been released!

i’m so happy with how this little dress turned out!

the pattern comes in sizes 2T – 8, has three sleeve options, and actually pulls on with no closures, which could be a bit scary, but the fit is great! the design of the dress is smart in that it doesn’t slip down in any kind of noticeable way. see that little point at the shoulder? i can’t be sure, but i suspect that helps.

the stormy fabrics i chose for this dress make me happily fallish. i’d been wanting to use Nordika by Jeni Baker ever since i saw it debuted at Quilt Market this year! Jeni is such a sweet gal and i really admire her work, so it was fun to showcase her fabric here. this print is called Whimsicöl Mist and it’s part of a panel that’s really stunning. i only had a fat quarter and it was just barely enough! i got it at Bolt of course.

the skirt is a wonderfully drapey charcoal gray baby wale corduroy from fabric depot, and the pockets are lined with scraps of gray shot cotton. for a storm-inspired dress, it sure is soft and light!

i added flat piping between the bodice and lining but sewed it a bit out of order and had to fold the piping up and stitch it down to make it work. kind of a nice effect in the end.

this is a 3T bodice with a 5T skirt to fit my little beanpole. the pockets a tiny bit low because of that two size discrepancy, but just barely. i never know when i sew non pink/rainbow dresses whether she’ll actually like them, but she loves this dress! woo!

i’ve got one tip when sewing the bodice and its lining, since Shannon’s method differs from other patternmakers a bit. if you’re going sleeveless like i did, sew a 1/2″ basting stitch around all armholes before sewing anything together. this will guide your pressing later and help everything match when you join the shoulders and topstitch. i always have trouble pressing evenly along a tight curve, personally, but this helps me. 🙂

be sure to check out the versions my co-pattern-tour-stoppers Tara and Sabra made today, too! the sally dress is such a great little dress for customization, and i love seeing what those ladies came up with.

nordika sally dress

okay! miss sassy pants wants to know if you’d like to WIN a copy of the sally dress pattern!

:: Giveaway details ::

~~> giveaway is open until Thursday, October 3 at 9pm Pacific Standard Time~~ Giveaway is now closed.

> winners will be chosen at random and will be contacted by email and announced on the blog

> open to US and international residents

> void where prohibited

:: Here’s how to enter ::

> leave a comment telling me your favorite warm drink to curl up with in a storm. my current addiction is a homemade decaf salted caramel latte – mmmmm so good.

additional entries – PLEASE LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH:

> follow my blog and leave a comment telling me you do so (Bloglovin, email, feedly, your pick).

> like skirt as top on Facebook and leave a comment telling me you do so.

> like luvinthemommyhood on Facebook and leave a comment telling me you do so.

that’s four maximum entries!

good luck and thanks for entering! hugs.

* i received the sally dress pattern in exchange for this review, and was not compensated for the giveaway. my opinions are entirely my own.

herringbone art museum vest and trousers

September 13, 2013January 6, 201421 Comments

i’m back with the other pattern i sewed from the new Oliver + S fall line – the Art Museum Vest + Trousers! this pattern is the “boy” offering for the season and though i did sew it for my little guy, it could definitely work for a little gal too (as Cherie and Rachel clearly show!). i chose to go pretty traditional/formal with my fabric choices, which could be boring, but look how dapper he is!

herringbone art museum vest and trousers // skirt as top

like he’s ready to go to a wedding or something!

herringbone art museum vest and trousers // skirt as top

the pattern consists of a fully lined vest with front darts, welt pockets, and a back belt, as well as flat front, slimmer leg trousers with lots of professional options – slant front pockets, separate waistband, belt loops, and back welt pockets!

herringbone art museum vest and trousers // skirt as top

i believe this is the first Oliver + S pattern to include welt pockets. it’s funny because since i basically learned to sew from Oliver + S patterns, and i rely on Liesl’s patterns to teach me new techniques which I then apply to my sewing elsewhere. this time, i had already sewn welt pockets from a few other patternmakers and had a handle on how they worked, so i was very curious to see how they were tackled here, especially with the darts underneath.

herringbone art museum vest and trousers // skirt as top

gotta say – i LOVE Liesl’s method! it was different than how I’d sewn them before, and a few more steps, but MAN they result in a perfect finish. everything is so clean, the contrast pocket bag is such a fun touch, and i like that i don’t have to topstitch around the outside to make it all stay in place – the origami you do makes them stay that way!! seriously, i sewed the vest welt pockets around midnight during a marathon sewing sesh and they STILL look perfect, and i give the pattern full credit for that.

while i had no trouble, discussions with others made me think there should be some sort of companion photo walkthrough of this welt pocket process, just because of the limitations of the diagrams in the pattern and the different technique. maybe it’ll end up on the Oliver + S blog someday…i think if people get stuck that might be helpful. just read the directions completely, though, and you should be fine. full disclosure there.

i should also mention that i sewed this vest and pants in one long nighttime sew. i had the pants pieces cut out but nothing else done, and sewed it all in about 6 hours, ending at 1:30am. i don’t recommend that – but we were out of town the last two weekends and last week was short and crazy with back to school, so all of this week’s sewing and blogging has been a little bit compressed!

herringbone art museum vest and trousers // skirt as top

okay back to the Art Museum. i sewed 18-24 month size in both pieces for 2.5 year old O based on his measurements. Gail finished her pants sooner and told me they ran a bit long, so I felt okay going with the smaller size instead of the 2T like I’d originally planned. my pants are about an inch too long, but are folded under for the photos – I wanted to keep the growing room for this guy but didn’t want saggy ankles on the blog. trickery.

the fabric is from Bolt again, and the bolt said it was “Marc Jacobs Pale Herringbone,” which i couldn’t find online (…if you call Bolt i’m sure they’d sell you some!). it’s a bottom weight cotton twill. i was looking for herringbone and i think my most successful boy clothes are made with heavier fabrics, so this was perfect (plus it’s washable). it has a little stretch in it but not too much. it’s awesome stuff.

i lined the pockets, waistband, and center of vest lining with some Birch Organic elephants (by Ellie Fam) which i first used here, along with some dark brown quilting cotton for the front vest lining. i’m kinda ready for fall, can you tell?

herringbone art museum vest and trousers // skirt as top

and this guy’s ready for a monster truck rally. every pickup is a monster truck.

i agree with Rachel’s assessment that while the Library Dress was the pattern that most caught my eye, and the Playtime is a great basic set, the Art Museum is the best sewing pattern – it teaches you SO many valuable techniques, results in a super professional finish, is unisex, can go formal or informal, and fool someone into thinking it’s storebought. i look at these garments and i still can’t believe i sewed them! it’s a sewing class in a pattern. all Oliver + S patterns are that way though, and that is why i love them. I’ve never taken a formal sewing class but look what I can make just by following the directions! i dunno. it’s pretty cool.

check out Gail’s ADORABLE version of the Art Museum Trousers on her little conductor boy, and check out Cherie’s vest paired with a dress for her little gal! so ridiculously cute.

thanks so much for following along!

>>> <<<

i was provided with the digital Art Museum Vest and Trousers pattern by Oliver + S for free in exchange for this review.  my opinions, as always, are my own.