lickety split field study bag

January 6, 2014January 5, 201414 Comments

for all the sewing i’ve done from Rae’s patterns over the years, i’d never made one of her purses! she was kind enough to send me the lickety split and the bonsai bag patterns in advance of the holidays, and i sewed up a lickety split for our awesome day care gal as a Christmas present.

Rae actually released this pattern in 2009 (forever ago in sewingbloglandyears)! i’ve always thought it was a neat design and it looked like it could be sewn quickly but also had nice style to it, so it seemed like the perfect project for my gift sewing spree this year.

you can see in the older patterns how Rae’s pattern writing and digitizing skills have progressed over the last four years, but even though it’s an “elderly pattern” it’s still digital, a smart design, clearly written…and a lot of fun to sew!

i used a really pretty Anna Maria Horner Field Study linen (Flower Circuit in Sunny) for the bag, which was given to me by Jess (that gal seems to have become my main fabric provider lately, hehe) and lined it with a pink kona cotton from my stash. i skipped the outer pockets but added one to the inside. the bag can be reversible if you want!

it took a bit more fabric than i expected due to the looooong handles and being cut on the fold, so i ended up piecing two outers together on one side which looked completely fine. after taking these photos, i decided to add a snap (just a normal size 16 metal snap, nothing fancy) at the top center to keep it from gaping open. it just took it from “tote” to “purse” a little more, too.

my big ol’ belly makes it look a little small and out of proportion maybe, but to me it’s the perfect size bag to use everyday for lots of different applications (diaper bag, errand-running bag, gym bag, lunch bag, grocery bag, car bag for road trips) and i love that the straps can be tied to be longer or even separately (say onto a stroller handle or cart) if desired. the boxed bottom is great, too, gives it a nice shape.

the title of the pattern actually describes both the design and the sewing…it truly came together lickety split!

i’ve got fabric picked for another one to keep for myself. 😉

gifts for the nieces

December 30, 2013December 30, 201312 Comments

when my blog is quiet like it has been, it usually means i’m up to my eyeballs actually making stuff.

and aside from making a human (due to arrive in less than 2 months now!), i also sewed quite a few Christmas gifts this year – nine, actually. that’s kind of a lot for me. i got photos of MOST of them ahead of time, but may need to follow up on a few that i really want to photograph modeled rather than taped to a wall, so we’ll see how many of the nine show up here. i even made a MAN gift! anyway, let’s knock three out right now, eh?

i have three nieces – my sister’s kids – and i feel like i don’t sew for them very often. i really wanted to make them each a comfortable, wearable, but uniquely handmade garment to go with some store-bought leggings I picked up on black friday.

for the 4 year old (Em’s best friend, currently in pre-kindergarten, and almost always wearing a knit top and leggings when i see her):

a Nessie Top! i tried to pattern test this for Jess of CINO, but her pattern testings somehow come at especially busy times for me, and I wasn’t able to. however, i still had the tester version of the pattern and was very excited to sew it up! the top comes together really quickly (construction is similar to the FBST, since it’s a simple knit shirt), but i love the swingy girly shape and hi-low hem of the Nessie, and couldn’t wait to make it in some Heather Ross Briar Rose strawberry jersey knit (sent to me by the very same Jess for my birthday, and such a dream to sew!).

i hemmed it using my double needle and a walking foot and it worked great.

i added a little olive colored microsuede pocket for a little extra interest and to make sure it didn’t go “pajama.” i left the pocket edges raw and zigzagged around them to secure. word is, my niece is a fan and it fits great! i made a 4T and she is average-sized (about the same size or bigger than 5.5 year old Em who tried it on and had just the right amount of growing room).

for the 2.5 year old…a peasant dress covered in bunnies and balloons!

pattern is the sweet little dress by leila & ben. i’ve sewed a bunch of these in my time, and they’re always Em’s most-worn everyday dresses (remember this one?). they make it easy for a little gal to dress herself, they’re reversible and comfortable and cute. they can be layered in the winter and worn alone with sandals in the summer. the recipient of this dress pulled it on over her Christmas Eve jammies upon opening it and, i’m told, cried when it had to be washed.

always a good sign.

i made a 3T for growing room, and flared out the sides a bit as i like to do on this pattern. the fabric is Balloon in Aqua by Sarah Jane from her Children at Play line (still available here and here). i think i got it at Fabric Depot way back when.

for their baby sis, who is 11 months and juuuust starting to take a few steps but still mostly crawls, another peasant-style top…

this is Made by Rae’s Pierrot Tunic, another pattern i’ve made quite a few times before. i made this in 12-18 months figuring it’ll be a dress now and a top later (the way these things fit, i bet the middle sis could wear it now if she wanted!). i omitted the neck ruffle but took a cue from Rae and added vintage ribbon trim to the bottom (can’t remember who so kindly sent that pretty ribbon to me! help? fess up!).

the fabric had no selvedge info but has a really nice feel to it (almost like pima cotton maybe?) and was sent to me by Sanae Ishida as a thank you for guest posting for her – thanks, Sanae! it worked perfectly for the Pierrot. i stitched the ribbon on by staying right on that purple edging – so glad my machine allows me to move my needle ever so slightly to allow me to get that precise.

and there ya go – three pink/purple garments for three sisters! i didn’t want to make anything so fancy or precious that it wouldn’t be worn, and i put a lot of thought into the styles i chose for each little gal. these were the first three gifts i made this year and i was nowhere near burnout yet, so they were super fun! it was good to sew patterns i was really comfortable with, too. that helped a lot.

i’ll be back with more handmade gifts!

gold dot christmas dress

December 13, 2013December 13, 201324 Comments

i realized as I was sewing this that it had been a while since I made a new dress for Em – over two months in fact! it felt sooooo good to sew a special dress for my gal!

she has a lot of fancy events coming up – dance recital, school Christmas program, mother-daughter date to The Nutcracker, plus the usual Christmas Eve festivities. and since her legs just keep getting longer and longer somehow, a new dress was definitely in order.

the pattern is Rae’s Geranium Dress, a classic, great-fitting design that can be either a nice everyday dress or go really special when sewn in a fancy fabric. it’s my third Geranium Dress (here are one and two, plus she has the tunic Delia made) but my first time sewing View A with the gathered skirt and flutter sleeves. i think those features give it just the right amount of fancy.

the bodice is a 4T and the skirt is a 5T – the other two times i made a 3T bodice with a 4T skirt length for her, but she sized up!

i wanted the skirt to be suuuuuper full, so i cut the front and back skirt pieces each selvedge to selvedge and gathered it all up. then i added a chunky 1.5” hem; which with the empire bodice and muted color scheme makes her look like a vintage doll to me.

also, TWIRL FACTOR!!!!

the skirt fabric is Confetti Sparkle in Cream, compliments of the fine people over at Dear Stella. this dress is what came to mind immediately when i first saw that gold dot fabric, it’s just so festive and beautiful! my original inspiration was this mini boden dress.

cream confetti sparkle is available online from my sponsor Drygoods Design (plus a couple other colorways), so get it while you can! did you see the navy Hanami dress that Cherie posted yesterday? SO cute.

the cream bodice is a Moda Bella solid from Bolt, and the flutter sleeve edges are finished with a double zigzag of gold metallic thread, which i also used to topstitch the neckline and button placket to bring the gold up to the bodice rather than letting the skirt have all the fun.

after getting some good advice from instagram friends, i decided to go with a “four calling birds” button motif. these perfect little birdies are by Incomparable Buttons and were were sent to me by Jess (thanks girl!). i think they have found their perfect home.

just some nice subtle details on this festive Geranium, which made it really fun to sew and hopefully fun for her to wear, too.

Christmas dress done…

now on with the festivities!

film petit: zoolander

November 21, 2013November 27, 201338 Comments

and now, two really, really, really ridiculously good looking mini models duke it out on the catwalk as film petit returns with….ZOOLANDER!

OH YES. today we celebrate 2001’s Zoolander, directed by and starring Ben Stiller in the title role, in all its silliness. the plot is something about a very very dumb male model (Derek Zoolander) being brainwashed to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia to prevent him from enacting stricter child labor laws and destroying the fashion industry or something…(?). it’s totally random, it has crazy outfits, it reminds me of college for some reason…it’s just fun.

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kcw fall 2013: day 7:: parsley green parsley pants

October 28, 2013October 27, 201310 Comments

KCW BONUS PROJECT!

once those costumes were finished i just felt like i wanted to sew something for everyday. and since my little guy needs pants and i knew i could sew some up pretty quickly, i did just that.

meet straight-up-from-his-nap mr. mcgrouchypants and his parsley green parsley pants.

as the post title suggests, i used the parsley pants pattern by Rae in a 2T. love this pattern – i helped test it in April, and back when i did that, they were pretty huge on him. for some reason i thought they might still be big, but now the fit is PERFECT. huh. i guess kids must grow or something.

i chose the pintuck option for the first time and love how it takes the pants up a notch and makes them look a bit retro too. also went for the front patch pockets, they’re fun.

the fabric is a soft medium weight green twill from Hancock Fabrics that i got when i visited Jess. twill is one of my favorite fabrics to sew little guy pants with – sturdy but still soft.

i was super inspired by Laura’s green banyan pants and also stumbled on Sabra’s green jeans post from last fall, and styled my guy to match those two dapper little fellas. gray cardigan and a white shirt with green pants, check!

now i REALLY feel like i participated in KCW – i usually sew basics that end up getting worn a lot and this project fulfills that.

although, based on his reaction to his spiderman costume and utter refusal to take it off whenever he tries it on, i might have just made a “basic” there too, eh?

thanks for following along!