an autumn walk, a kestrel coat, and a giveaway!

November 21, 2011November 28, 201257 Comments

thank you so much for the birthday wishes! it was a really nice birthday…a quiet but sweet day with my little fam that culminated in dinner at my new favorite restaurant (portlanders, you must try the pizza at nostrana!) and drinks at a great pub with great friends. my birthday gifts were mostly sewing-related, which was fine by me!

i was also able to finish up a project i’m really excited about. it’s the kestrel coat, by clever charlotte. have you heard of clever charlotte? they’re a relatively new independent kids’ pattern company, and recently released their second line of patterns for fall/winter. i first heard about them when katy of no big dill reviewed a couple of their spring/summer patterns back in june, and thought they were very interesting and beautiful and different from anything else that i’d seen.

a little while back, i was contacted by erin, co-creator of the company, to see if i’d be interested in trying out a pattern from their new fall/winter line. after getting over my initial surprise (who? ME?! they want ME?) i checked out the patterns and quickly agreed!

erin gave me my choice of pattern, but gently suggested that i try the kestrel coat. at the time i wasn’t so sure…while i thought the coat looked beautiful, i’d never made a coat before and was a little nervous. i practiced on the sunday brunch jacket (because i know i can always trust oliver + s to learn techniques), then felt ready to tackle the kestrel.

honestly, i shouldn’t have worried! the pattern was really well-written, with the perfect ratio of diagrams and clear written instruction. i made the 3T, using a lovely bone colored velveteen from fabric depot, lined with anna maria horner little folks voile that i’d been hoarding. it is a bit large on her, and i know it’ll fit next year too. Em was happy about the “reindeer fabric” and buttons, which are the perfect mix of her favorite colors (pink and purple, duh). it kept her warm during a long, chilly afternoon walk together.

i really like the details in the pattern. i knew it was going to be a special-looking coat when i was done. i did make one modification, on the sleeves. the pattern calls for separate upper and lower sleeves, with the lower sleeve puffed a bit. i wanted to let the scarf collar and full gathered back details of the coat shine, so i opted to modify the sleeves to just one piece. i handstitched the lining in, for a clean finish on the cuff if rolled up, and i left a little extra length inside there to let out next year. here’s a quick “how i did it” on the one-piece sleeve:

line up the dotted basting line of piece 6 (lower sleeve) with the cut line of the bottom of piece 5 (upper sleeve).

put a piece of tracing paper on top. using a ruler, connect the outer edges of the upper sleeve with the lower edges of the bottom sleeve. trace the rest of the pattern, including notches.

now you have a one-piece sleeve pattern! one more step…

square off the sleeve hem, using the cut edge of the sleeve as a guide. i did this step on the fabric itself with a rotary cutter. proceed with the pattern as instructed, skipping the steps relating to the two-piece sleeve.

and now, the part i’m really excited about…my first giveaway ever! if you’d like to give clever charlotte a try or if you’ve been eyeing one of their patterns for a while, leave a comment below for your chance to win a clever charlotte pattern of your choice! you don’t have to decide which one right now – i know it’s a tough decision. 😉

here’s how to enter:

leave me a comment, any comment!
include your email address in your comment, if it’s not linked to your profile. if you’re nervous about spam, the format of skirtastop(at)gmail(dot)com works great.
the giveaway is open until this sunday 11/27 at noon PST, and is open to international residents. **Giveaway is now closed**

good luck and happy thanksgiving to all you non-international residents!

once upon a thread: emily’s balloon

November 19, 2011November 21, 201120 Comments

i love participating in blog events. it’s one of my favorite things about blogging. so when i saw that katy dill was hosting another round of her awesome “once upon a thread” series, i couldn’t wait to join in. children’s books + sewing = right up my alley! and luckily, i’m raising a little bookworm of my own that’s happy to oblige, especially when a balloon is involved.

my inspiration was a sweet book we love to read together, emily’s balloon by komako sakai. it’s the story of a little girl named emily, who one day is given a yellow balloon. she loves the balloon very much, but has a little trouble holding onto it.

so her mother ties the balloon to emily’s spoon. it floats, but it doesn’t fly away!

emily is happy. she takes the balloon outside to play.

but then, a gust of wind blows it into a tree and her mommy can’t get it down! oh no!

emily is sad, because she wanted to eat dinner with the balloon, then they would put on their pajamas, brush their teeth, and go to bed. her mommy promises she’ll use a ladder to get the balloon down in the morning. this is where the sewing part comes in! as cute as they are, i don’t think my girlie would let me dress her in gray overalls with rickrack trim like emily wears in the beginning of the book. however, comfy star pajamas are something she can get behind.

the fabric is a couple of my husband’s barely worn white t-shirts that didn’t fit him well, which i hand stamped with red fabric paint to make the star design. the pajama pattern itself was self-drafted, which i’m pretty proud of, because i don’t usually have great luck with going “off the cuff.”

i used jess’ keyhole shirt tutorial (without the keyhole) as a general guideline for constructing the top, and added red cuffs in leftover t-shirt knit from O’s halloween costume. the pants pattern was drafted from a set of leggings that fits her well. i made them so there are no outer side seams – just two main leg pieces – and again added red cuffs.

i didn’t have enough material left to make a hat for the balloon, but she didn’t mind.

we had a lot of fun with this one. thanks for putting this on, katy!

ps – it’s my birthday today! i’m turning thirty and still getting used to the idea… 😉

queen of hearts sunday brunch jacket

November 8, 2011August 17, 201228 Comments

in general, i tend to fabric shop without my kids. i can browse better that way, pick what catches my eye, and take my time. but the other weekend, my favorite fabric store happened to be having their annual big sale, and i seized the opportunity to bring Em along with me after her ballet class. it’s pretty fun to include her in the decision-making process on fabrics every once in a while – she is very opinionated and gravitates towards prints i wouldn’t normally pick on my own. i tend towards simpler prints, but she does not! in the case of this, i steered her toward a rack of anna maria horner velveteens (they were 50% off!), and this was her pick.

it’s the queen of hearts from her innocent crush line. i mean, you can’t really go wrong with AMH, right? it turned out to be a really interesting fabric choice to amp up this little jacket. i was careful to center the print on every pattern piece, so it took a while.

the facings and yokes are bound with a gold polka dot. i figured we can always use a bit of a pick me up in the fall and winter, and surprise gold binding is just the thing. i “cheated” and serged the armhole hems, though.

here’s the front. she was being a bit of a silly model, and daylight savings time is doing me no favors for photoshoots, so this is the best i got.

i’d been crushing on a few versions of the oliver + s sunday brunch jacket for a while now out there on the internet (namely this one and this one, both much more understated than mine ended up!), so i’m glad i finally got to make it. such a sweet little jacket. it was my first time sewing a collar and facings – always good to pick up a couple new techniques! i made the 2T which matched her measurements the best, but it fits her just right. she ‘s a fan of it though, and has worn it every day since i finished it on sunday even though she hasn’t been wanting to wear jackets or sweaters lately (she takes them off as soon as we get somewhere), so that’s promising for it getting some use before she grows out of it.

i’ve been really enjoying collaborating with my little gal these days – it’s pretty cute to see her proud of something i’ve made, since she has a hand in designing it. and if i’m putting in the hours to make it, i want it to be WORN! 🙂

teeny tiny mini pierrot

November 3, 2011March 23, 201210 Comments

anyone else having a little bit of lingering inspiration overload after KCWC? now that i can get back to non-halloween sewing, i find i have too many ideas in my head. i don’t know where to start! i never seem to have a lack of projects, but sometimes when i have too many, i get a bit blocked. usually a trip to the fabric store for the perfect fabric will push a project up to the top of my mental “must make” pile, but sometimes it just takes a ridiculously short deadline. this is a case of the latter. 😉

my cousin therese, who didn’t find out what she was having ahead of time (prompting me to make this gender neutral baby shower gift), gave birth to a beautiful baby girl a couple weeks ago. baby E is a sweet little thing, and so teensy! since they didn’t know they were having a girl, i wanted to make a girly dress, even though dresses aren’t super practical for tiny babies. WHATEVER! i got some ruffle butt leggings to go under it. that makes it practical, right? i think it’ll fit her next spring.

since pierrots can be sewn in a couple hours start to finish, i made this in the evening while texting therese to see if they were up for a visit the next morning. as plans were firmed up, i continued to sew!

the pattern is made by rae’s pierrot tunic (which fits more as a dress for the little sizes), 0-3 month size. the fabric is hide and seek by kayo horaguchi (with kona cotton neckline facing). i wanted Em to show how tiny this dress was in comparison to her wearing one of her two 3T pierrot tops, but instead she insisted on wearing her “zebra dress.” she wanted the dress with the matching fabric!

the selvage side i used for the tiny pierrot is a slightly different print than the one i used for her popover dress, but they match well enough for her!

i’ll end with the picture my little artist wanted to draw for the baby. she tells me it’s a horse. she’s going through a color-blocking period. 🙂

homemade halloween 2011: winnie the pooh

October 31, 2011October 16, 201311 Comments

happy halloween!

i don’t know if i’ve written too much here about the personality of my little guy. we got pretty lucky. he is mellow, almost always happy, rarely cries, and even his “stranger anxiety” consists of simply suspiciously eyeing the stranger, larry david style (versus his sister, who would burst into tears at even the most loving of great aunts). when i read him books, he laughs. he claps when i sing him songs. he’s a joy, and just slightly dopey at times (he usually has a red mark on his forehead from bumping into things). put simply, he’s a tubby little cub all stuffed with fluff.

we were brainstorming his costume this year and throwing out much “cooler” ideas but then thought of winnie the pooh, and it had to be. he’s sweet, he’s got a little belly, he’s winnie the pooh!

you’ve already seen his sailboat pants. i actually made them expecting this to be his costume. the project i tried to get to but never completed for KCWC was his hood, in matching honey-colored corduroy (it’s the oliver + s cozy winter hood from “little things to sew,” lined with joel dewberry woodgrain just like the pants). instead of ribbon, i made a thicker strap of corduroy and attached it with a button.

his undershirt is from old navy, but i couldn’t find a plain short sleeved red shirt, so i decided to make one. it’s the raw-edged raglan from “sewing for boys,” but nothing is raw edged! i sewed it right sides together at the shoulder seams and used a XXL men’s t-shirt (again from old navy, actually about half the price of his undershirt), so i could utilize the finished sleeves and hem. i also double folded the neck binding…so yeah…nothing is raw! also, the pattern starts at 2T, so i shortened the length and sleeves before cutting.

on a last-minute whim, i also made him some coordinating shoes. they’re the cameron baby sneakers from i think sew. i actually had a little trouble with them, but i’m not sure if it’s because i was sewing late at night at the end of lots of projects, or because i decided to use suede from a long-ago thrifted jacket for the soles, but they turned out pretty cute in the end.

since he’s not walking yet, here’s a better view of the shoes. they’re also lined with woodgrain, of course.

and now, winnie and angelina together! i think the fact that he is a pleasant baby really helped ease the transition from one kid to two. his big sister adores him. huge sigh of relief!