kcw fall 2013: day 3&4:: spiderman start

October 24, 2013October 25, 201311 Comments

got some photos early this morning of O in his work-in-progress spiderman costume…

so early i was surprised my camera focused at all!

this is how i typically work, when i’m doing sort of “off pattern” sewing for my kids: i sew late at night, but leave key parts unfinished. i try the clothes on them the next day to assess fit and note the adjustments i need to make. for this suit, the hood is not yet attached (i’m using the bimaa pattern, hacked quite a bit), and the leggings (go to leggings pattern) are a bit too long.

i’ll shorten the blue parts of the leggings and sleeves, sew and attach the hood, and i think it’ll fit great!

i color blocked the shoulders (somehow giving myself a difficult V seam to sew), and sides, piecing in the blue knit and ending up pretty pleased with the result. the blue fabric is heavier than the red, which actually turned out okay! the spider is a hand-drawn freezer paper stencil, and the webbing is also hand-drawn with a ruler and fabric marker. i googled spiderman tons of times as i figured out how to put it all together.

it was pretty labor intensive, actually. i still haven’t “webbed” the hood yet.

but you guys. he LOVES this costume. i was worried because the spider actually scared him when i first showed it to him, but when he tried this outfit on he WOULD NOT TAKE IT OFF. i tried reason, i tried bribes, i tried everything i could. but without the hood attached, the neckline was stretching out the longer he had it on, so finally i just had to take it off of him. poor guy. he really wanted to be spiderman all day.

it’s fun that he’s old enough to get excited about his costume this year. he’s SO pumped for me to finish it up so he can wear it nonstop…too bad Halloween is still a week away!

tomorrow i want to wrap this one up and see how far i can get on a tutu for Em’s costume. wish me luck!

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? 🙂

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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!

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

striped divided basket

September 18, 2013September 17, 201317 Comments

one trick pony over here. someone’s got a baby comin’? time to make another divided basket!

this one was for my sister-in-law’s baby, her fourth boy! a family friend was so thoughtful as to throw a baby shower for her, which i love – fourth babies need new special stuff of their own too, ya know?

i sewed this basket up before the shower, which was held when my SIL was around 36.5 weeks pregnant. just four days later, little W made his grand appearance!

mmmmm baby toes.

anyway…i got the 2am call to come stay with the sleeping older three boys while husband and laboring wife headed to the hospital, a dream come true for me – i love the excitement of labor, even if i’m just back at the house trying to sleep but having too much fun getting 4am text messages. 🙂

i made this basket to coordinate with little W’s nursery, which has a slightly nautical feel – it’s blue and white with red accents and some natural wood too. i chose striped ikea canvas with a robert kaufman red canvas binding on the outer pocket, and natural linen handles. the inside is denyse schmidt for joann.

here are a few shots of little W’s nursery. i think my SIL decorated it so nicely – it’s a really peaceful room to be in and gets beautiful light, too!

you’d relax there if you were a little one, wouldn’t ya? i like the idea of the daybed in the nursery for those inevitable rough nights.

have you made a divided basket yet? if not, you should! such an enjoyable sew, so fast, and so fun to personalize, stuff with goodies, and give as a gift. i’ve now made three to give away (the other two are here and here), and i love making them every time.

oh and nope – still haven’t made one to keep yet!

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!

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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.