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.

feather skirt for sadie

October 8, 2013October 8, 201315 Comments

i may have mentioned here before that Em and Sadie, daughter of my good blog friend, Vintage May partner, and amazing sewist Jess, are the cutest little long distance buddies. they text emoji “conversations” back and forth, they FaceTime, they send each other drawings with giant 5 year old lettering and stickers across the envelopes (with Jess and i squeezing addresses into whatever blank spaces we can find). i’m sure the post office loves those.

for Em’s birthday in May, Sadie was excited to send a present, and she and her mom worked together to make this ADORABLE skirt, which quickly became Em’s favorite and is in constant rotation. Sadie turned 5 in August, so it was high time we returned the favor!

Jess had written a post saying Sadie loves feathers, which gave me the hint i needed to sew up this skirt for her. the pattern is the Oliver + S Swingset Skirt, which hadn’t grabbed me as a must have until I saw Gail make a few. now that i’ve made one, i’m totally hooked! it’s not quite a circle skirt but it’s very twirly, i love the triple waistband (two rows of elastic and one ribbon), and i love the fact that it’s lined! it’s a quick, fun sew but has more style than the simple rectangle of fabric skirts i usually make.

i used a vintagey lace trim for the “ribbon” since it seemed very CINO to me. i think it came from Cherie (Daiso?).

the feathers i hand drew, stuck on with steam a seam lite (affiliate link) and topstitched around the edges and up the middle using silver metallic Gutermann thread. the top feather is white seersucker, the middle is heather ross far far away double gauze, and the bottom is violet cotton couture, all scraps from prior projects (maybe you can guess them? i used the HR pre-blog/flickr only).

the skirt fabric itself is Denyse Schmidt for JoAnn a couple years back. still getting good mileage out of the 2.5 yards I picked up, originally intending on making something for myself with it!

i sewed a size 4 since Em and Sadie appear to be almost exactly the same size, and threw in some other goodies including this drawing of Ariel (Sadie’s favorite Disney princess) done by Em. Ariel is wearing a “on HUMAN legs!” pink fancy gown, complete with a castle, ocean, and seagulls.

word has it Sadie was thrilled to get our little gift. and one day soon, these two little long distance buds are actually going to get to meet each other in person!!

plans are in the works. 😉

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.

library dress in feathers

September 11, 2013December 2, 201317 Comments

remember this spring when Cherie, Jess, and I had a rolling tour for the new Oliver + S patterns? (here are my roller skate dress and pinwheel tunic posts, if you’re curious)

well, we were fortunate enough to be asked to preview the fall patterns too, and this time Gail is joining us! Gail and I both chose to sew the Library Dress for our little gals today, and though we chose the same pattern options, our results are quite different! here’s mine…

the Library Dress is my favorite of the new fall patterns. i love the faux wrap bodice, pleated skirt, faced waistband, the fit, the interesting shape of the collar…it drew me in immediately! i sewed a 3T with the skirt pieces lengthened to 4T (i lengthened this pattern at the top, not the hem, by extending the 3T side seam lines up to the 4T height and used a ruler to mark where the 3T pleats would go, since it was still 3T width).

the main fabric is feathers from sun print by Alison Glass. i had gone to Bolt looking to find for the perfect fabric for this dress, and a stack of this print caught my eye from across the store. i continued shopping around but kept being drawn to these feathers, over and over. it had to be.

the print is modern and graphic, interesting, but not too busy…and the colors she chose for the line are really wonderful. i could have picked ANY of them and loved the result, but i knew Em loves to wear red and thought it’d really pop, so i went with the red (“rouge” to be precise).

feathers library dress

i wanted to add something to calm the eye, so i used robert kaufman essex yarn dyed black linen as the collar and waistband, and added a light blue piping. the pattern includes instructions for flat piping on the waistband, but i thought round piping would look nice too. i probably should have added a lightweight interfacing to the linen to make sure it held its shape, but it worked fine enough. i hand stitched the waistband facing for a perfectly clean finish.

feathers library dress

the dress itself is a really lovely and interesting sew. it’s not super fast – there are quite a few pieces to cut and assemble – but the result is such clean and nicely finished garment that comes together like a puzzle, which is what i always love about Oliver + S. there are plenty of ways to customize, too – collar or no, short or three quarter sleeves, mixing prints/color blocking…options to make a different dress every time.

Em gave me a nod of approval when i showed her the fabric, but when i showed her the dress itself, she said “ooooooo pretty!” which was great. she is not a subtle type gal – she loves to wear bold prints and colors – so this dress was a win, even without much twirl factor! 😉

one thing i realized though – she grew out of all her ballet flats over the summer! she wears playground-friendly tennis shoes to school, but can’t model dresses without ballet flats! must remedy.

bare feet will not do once the weather cools off.

okay! head on over to probably actually to see the lovely and peaceful crane-filled dress Gail sewed up! i’m always inspired by Gail – when I was fabric shopping for this dress, I kept coming across fabric I liked and then realized Gail had already used it recently! ha!

and if you missed them on Monday, check out Cherie’s adorable striped Striped Playtime Tunic + Leggings and Jess’ HOT PINK dress version! we’ll all be back later this week previewing the Art Museum pattern (assuming Cherie hasn’t had her baby by then!). it’s always so fun collaborating with these gals. 🙂

>>> <<<

i was provided with the digital Library Dress pattern by Oliver + S for free in exchange for this review. my opinions, as always, are my own.