honey mustard dress

July 31, 2012July 30, 201231 Comments

july was pretty crazy here for me here on the blog…did you notice? fresh back from vacation i had two tutorials, two pattern reviews, launch of a new series, started a facebook page, and at the last minute i also snuck in a little pattern testing! post on that coming soon. but yeah, this month was fun but nuts and i definitely had tunnel vision on the homefront (oooooh how the laundry piled up!). i should probably get better about saying no sometimes for my own sanity. on the other hand, it seems that my busy times are my most creative times…maybe better not to overthink and just act?

honey mustard dress

i don’t often feel the need for a break from sewing itself, but i do feel the need to make easy, practical projects. projects that have been sitting in my head that i just haven’t had time for. this is one of those.

honey mustard dress

the pattern is leila & ben’s sweet little dress. it was the pattern remix challenge for season 1 of project run & play (want a trip down memory lane? check out the entries!) and i bought it right then. i’ve made it a few times now, and each dress gets chosen often by either Em or daddy for casual daily wear. she wears the one i made for outerwear week all the time!

i saw this fabric as a little peasant dress on a friend’s daughter and loved it, so when i recently spotted it at joann i had to snap it up! i cut the dress at a 3T, but flared out the sides from the armpit so it’s a lot more a-line than the pattern. i bought 1.5 yards and made the dress as long as i could for growing room, with a 1″ hem (larger hems add weight and don’t tend to flip up as much, in my experience). i also lengthened the long, straight part of the sleeves 1″ to give them more puff.

in a little over an hour, it turns out a roomy, comfy, cute dress that makes self-dressing super easy for little gals. it’s one of my faves.

we decided to skip the summer session of ballet, and Em keeps asking when she gets to go to class again. she doesn’t like standing still.

she’d rather be moving.

just like her mama.

go to patterns signature dress review

July 26, 2012October 22, 201219 Comments

when andrea from the train to crazy contacted me to be a part of the blog tour introducing her new online pattern store, go to patterns, i was so excited! andrea was in season 3 of project run & play with me, and i was bummed to see her go during vintage/retro week. her downton abbey dresses were so beautiful, and i have a torrid love affair with downtown abbey. also, my sister’s name is andrea, so i like her for that too. 🙂

anyway, when she sent me the signature dress for review, it blew my mind!

there are TONS of options in this pattern (three lengths, seven sleeve styles, four pocket types, hood, and appliqué templates, ranging from 12 months to 12 years!). i think another reviewer called this the choose your own adventure of patterns, and it’s true! if you’re the type that likes to follow a pattern and not have to think about switching things up, this is a fantastic pattern for you. and if you’ve never sewn with knits before, andrea includes plenty of great instructions to guide you through.

i used my normal machine with a walking foot for most of the sewing and finished things off with my serger, except for the neckline which i only serged (for stretch) and topstitched the back neckline.

and if you’re the type that DOES like to mix it up, the signature dress provides a basic shape that you can easily customize. i’d recommend printing out the pattern layout and figuring out which pages to print; once you have the pages you need, it’s really quick to piece together.

Em loves her dresses, so i was happy to add another comfy one to her wardrobe.

i made a 3T and originally cut the maxi length, but when i tried to do the neckband in the same apple knit (which is a light t-shirt knit from mill end), the apple didn’t stretch far enough and i had to recut. i should have known it wouldn’t work. so after recutting, it ended up more “tea length” with plenty of growing room. the final neckline is a deep teal interlock with LOTS of stretch. i like this combo better!

i did two lines of shirring (hey hey look at me, i can shirr now!) starting an inch under the armpit, and i left the hem raw to continue the casual summer vibe. honestly i was really worried it might look like a nightgown with the small apple print, but on her it doesn’t at all! phew.

they like holding hands now. O even says “hode hans” and reaches for her. come on. melt my heart.

get your signature dress pattern and browse the rest of the patterns in the go to patterns shop! and if you’re looking for more inspiration, be sure to check out all of the awesome versions of this dress on the tour…

Andrea was kind enough to gift me the signature dress pattern for this review, and i am an affiliate of go to patterns. my opinions are my own.

fruit stripe skirt tutorial

July 18, 2012November 28, 201240 Comments

today i’m posting a tutorial for skirting the issue, a campaign by liz and elizabeth of simple simon & co. to donate at least 100 skirts to girls in foster care by the beginning of august. i’m so happy to join in the effort!

the simons asked a bunch of bloggers to create simple skirt tutorials to share and inspire others to sew for this great cause (or anytime, really). since my little gal is only 4, my first thought was little gal skirts. a skirt is the first thing i sewed for her when she was just 15 months old, and remains a favorite thing to sew. my tutorial today is pretty simple, but it’s got some fun style. i’m also sharing a few general skirt making tips i’ve picked up over the past few years.

for the design, i was inspired by fruits – citrus, berries, and melons – the type of summertime fruit that my sisters and i sat outside and snacked on as kids, juice running everywhere, until we decided the best way to clean off was to run through the sprinkler. well…all but the lime, which was probably adding some flavor to mom ‘s icy cold beverage as she kept an eye on us.

i created an abstract color blocked skirt that gave me that summery feeling. i’m calling it the fruit stripe skirt!

we’ve got citrus in sizes 3T and 2T…

…and melon and a berry varieties in sizes 4T and 18 months!

the colors are interchangeable; once you know the method, you can make your skirts in whatever style you’d like. best of all, these take very little time and require no hemming! let’s get sewing.

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shorts and a top on the line, and another thing

July 13, 2012July 18, 201227 Comments

today i’m over at small + friendly guest posting for shorts on the line! what a fun summer series this has been so far, and they’ve still got another week to go! head over to read my pattern review and see how i altered the clever charlotte finch shorts from a bloomer to a full, culotte style. shorts that look like a skirt? sign Em up! my post is here.

but wait! i couldn’t just make the finch shorts! i’ve had the finch top on my “want to make” list forever, really ever since katy made it, and knew this was the perfect opportunity to sew that up too.

i made the top in a size 2T, with a 3T length (as i mention in my shorts post, clever charlotte patterns tend to run a bit large). it fits great. i eliminated the bow and added a button closure, finishing the bottom by folding the main fabric under to the wrong side by 1/2,” the lining under by a little more, pinning them together, and topstitching. it was a quick and easy way to finish the top without bias tape.

after sifting through my stash for the perfect fabric to add some pop to the linen shorts, i chose this glorious washi tape by rashida coleman-hale. ooooh man, i’m such a washi fan now. what a fun fabric. i love how the bright tape jumps off the charcoal background. it’s one of those fabrics that looks good on the bolt, but truly comes alive on a garment. i lined the top with an ikea sheet that i typically use for muslins (lots of yardage for just a little money).

and check out my fun button!!! as a thank you for co-hosting vintage may with her, jess sent me the cutest package of fabrics and notions, including these little buttons! it’s handmade by incomparable buttons, and it adds the perfect touch to finish this little top. i almost always sew with cheap plastic buttons, so this was a real treat! thanks again, jess! can’t wait to use more of the gift pack in my sewing, it’s super great stuff.

i’m so happy with this finchfit, it’s a great addition to Em’s lilac tree-climbing summer wardrobe. i love making clothes she can move so freely in. thanks again to clever charlotte for providing this pattern for my review, it was great.

clever charlotte finch shorts and top

okay, one more thing. i started a facebook page for the blog. this week, i took a fantastic class through alt channel taught by liz stanley and got all motivated, so here we go! click like on the skirt as top facebook page to be notified of posts and whatever else i might want to talk about in between.

if you blog, i highly recommend the alt classes. it’s so much easier to learn how to sew than how to blog sometimes, i swear! these classes help you skip the trial and error and learn from those that have already figured things out. through the end of july, there are even ways for you to take classes for free! (#thanksbing)

that’s it! if you haven’t yet, go see my acrobatic little gal in her new shorts, and have a wonderful weekend!

later alligator lazy days skirt

July 3, 2012July 3, 201220 Comments

here is Em posing like a boss in hawaii with her pink pool noodle, wearing a skirt full of alligators!

the fabric is tammis keefe tribute later alligator by michael miller, which i picked up at bolt. tammis keefe was a pretty cool lady, you can learn more about her here. i got the fabric when it first came out, and this skirt has been an unfinished object for a long time! i don’t actually have many of those floating around; i tend to finish what i start or it bugs me, but i think i cut this one and sewed the center back seam during a KCWC (maybe last spring?) and never finished it. luckily, i cut it long enough that it still fits my little beanpole.

i used the oliver + s free lazy days skirt pattern. i know i’ve mentioned my love for that pattern before; it was my first sewing project when i started to sew as an adult. i’ve made many since. it’s an easy sew, but has a lot of style. it made me fall in love with making clothes for my kids, liesl gibson commented on my flickr photo which made my stomach do flip flops, and i became quickly addicted to both sewing and the sewing blog community. this little free skirt pattern probably changed my life. sappy? overly dramatic? true.

there is one change i make when i sew these skirts: when i first pin the ribbon to the skirt, i align the long edges with each other rather than placing the top edge of the ribbon 1/2″ above the raw fabric edge as instructed. i sew the top edge of the ribbon per the pattern, then trim away all but 1/4″ of the skirt edge before folding the ribbon over to the right side and stitching the other long edge. i think this small change just makes it even easier for a beginner and saves time, because you’re not fiddling with making sure the floating ribbon is right where it should be. you could also simply mark your fabric 1/2″ from the edge with disappearing marker/chalk to guide your pinning and follow the pattern exactly, if your ribbon is so wide you’re worried your sizing might be thrown off by aligning the edges.

as i sewed this skirt, however, Em claimed she didn’t like it. i was bummed but didn’t totally believe her (because of the pink ribbon and the fact that “never smile at a crocodile” from peter pan is her jam). but while we were in hawaii, she picked it out to wear multiple days in a row! yay! she actually doesn’t want to wear skirts very often these days – only dresses – so i was pretty relieved.

finally, to wrap up what is turning out to be a more emotional post about a skirt than i intended, i want to put in a plug for “skirting the issue,” which is a great new series going on in the month of july from liz and elizabeth, the ladies in charge of project run & play. they are pulling together as many skirts as they can from the greater sewing blog community to donate to girls in foster care around the country. i’ll be posting a fun skirt tutorial later this month on the project run & play blog, but if you would like to sew for a great cause, the lazy days skirt is a great project (especially if you’re a beginner, someone that has a sewing machine but has never used it, or a mother of boys that needs a little girl sewing in her life! if you can thread your machine, you can make a lazy day skirt). find out more about skirting the issue here.

okay that’s all. late night slightly jet lagged blogging for the win!