gorgeous fabrics and a new cape

December 27, 2012January 8, 201347 Comments

sometimes you’re just going along, sewing stuff because you love to, linking to your fabric and pattern sources, the usual blogging bit, not expecting anything amazing to come of it.

and sometimes something amazing comes of it.

back when i sewed the breezy green eyelet tunic as a guest tutorial for kojodesigns, i linked to Britex Fabrics in San Francisco as my source. it really is a wonderland of fabric, and this year i was lucky enough to travel to SF twice (once for work, once for an overdue birthday trip with my husband). both times, Britex was a stop i knew i had to make. i actually felt a little out of my element there – there are SO many gorgeous high-fashion apparel fabrics, my head spun with ideas. i picked up a few selections and used the green eyelet for the tunic, with the rest squirreled away.

forest path cape in britex fabrics

Britex noticed my post. and a little while back, they contacted me wondering if I’d be interested in a sponsorship/collaboration to help make people aware of their blog and help promote upcoming sales. i jumped at the chance.

they run monthly sales on certain fabric categories, and their sale fabric in January is wool (and wow do they have some amazing wool!). they asked if i could sew something out of Britex wool that they could show in their newsletter and post about on their blog. the newsletter comes out January 1 and the sale starts that day too, but my guest post on the Britex blog is up today – right here! go check it out!

i made a cape for Em using this gorgeous midweight peacock blue wool on the outside, and this beautiful cotton voile on the inside. in person, it’s especially rich-looking.

the cape pattern…that’s another exciting bit. i guess i’ve linked to Oliver + S enough times that Liesl Gibson, the owner, took notice of that too. i’m now an every-so-often contributor to their blog (my first post was here), but she also offered to send me a few of the upcoming patterns to show how they could be made right at release, before inspiration starts showing up in the flickr pool. so fun. can’t wait to show you more in the next few months.

this is the upcoming Forest Path Cape, sewn in a 4T. it will be available as a “singles” digital pattern for children (6 months – 12 years) AND adults in mid-January (now available for purchase!). it’s a really unique and modern take on a cape, and would be a very quick and easy sew if i wasn’t so dang nervous about cutting into the glorious imported wool and voile that Britex sent over (which made me take twice as long to sew it)! hehe. you can read more about the cape over at the Britex blog and more about the cape patterns on the Oliver + S blog.

for those visiting from Britex, i promised i’d talk about the leggings and shirt underneath, too.

the leggings are the Figgy’s sunki pattern. i sewed them in a 4/5 and shortened them just a bit. they’re actually made from my husband’s old merino wool sweater (the body of the sweater, not the sleeves) and sewed up in a flash. they are SO soft and warm on her and i love how they complement the peacock blue wool of the cape.

the shirt underneath, you may recall if you’ve been reading a while, is the figgy’s ayashe, sewn in Nani Iro double gauze. this is what the shirt looks like…

and my full post is right here.

i’m just beyond thrilled to have both of these companies, whose products i admire so much, approach me with such fun and exciting opportunities. really guys, i’m in disbelief.

hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are coasting out the week until New Year’s!

film petit: moonrise kingdom

December 20, 2012January 7, 201353 Comments

ooooh wes anderson, you’re just too good. we can’t stay away!

it was only a matter of time before we were lured in by the amazing costumes in the visually stunning moonrise kingdom, which came out earlier in 2012. this movie is a story of Sam the khaki scout and Suzy the rebellious bookworm, two kids that each feel alone on opposite sides of the wooded Island of New Penzance until they meet each other by chance. they begin corresponding, then they plan a daring runaway meet up and outdoor adventure, which culminates in a wedding! here are a few shots from the movie to set the scene i was inspired by:

while Suzy’s collared dress is an iconic garment in the movie, her coat in this scene really blew me away too. i love the rosy-raspberry colors set against the greenery of the island and Sam’s khaki scout uniform, as well as the unique design. i knew if i made a coat like that for Em, she’d likely get a lot of use out it as a winter coat, so i went for it! and I knew Sam’s uniform details would be fun to tackle in their own right.

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handmade halloween 2012: pink elephant costume

October 31, 2012November 7, 201250 Comments

you know about Em’s elephant obsession, right? and her love of the color pink, right? so you’re not surprised at all that this was her halloween costume choice, right?

there’s something about four year olds where they just get obsessed with things. any child psychologists out there, please clue me in. it’s like her whole life is pink and elephants (and maybe ballet?). so predictable it’s hilarious.

when we first asked her what she wanted to be for halloween (maybe in august?), she drew this:

a pink elephant sketch for me to sew from. since she drew it, she has not wavered. okay no, ONCE she said she would be fantastic mrs. fox, but the next day she was back to pink elephant. dang! i was kinda hoping my costume sewing would be taken care of with film petit.

i had a hard time fully conceptualizing the elephant. couldn’t figure out my designs – hoodie? jumpsuit? separates but wearable later? very specific and one-time use? i ended up going with separates, and had to do my own sketch because hers wasn’t entirely humanoid (yes i said humanoid).

here’s the pattern rundown. it was all sewn in fleece from joann because halloweens get chilly here and it needed to be cozy.

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procrastination project: field trip raglan tee

October 26, 2012October 27, 201211 Comments

sometimes (a lot of the time) i’m a terrible procrastinator. as i write this post, i should be finishing Em’s costume so I can move on to her flower girl dress. i should’ve also been making her costume when i sewed this raglan tee:

sometimes when you’re knee deep in pink fleece making a top/pant/hood/trunk combo, you just need a twenty minute break to sew something super easy, you know? this field trip raglan, which i had cut out during KCWC just in case i needed to deliver a death blow to my friend Rae over there (haha), was just the ticket.

it’s size 18-24 months, made with cream super soft organic bamboo jersey something-or-other that i found in the remnant bin at josephine’s dry goods, and a maroon men’s t-shirt i got at Target for $5.

i left the bottom hem raw, and used the existing neck ribbing and sleeve bindings. no hemming on this shirt, and it was all sewn on the serger except reinforcing the bottom side seams, quick quick quick. helped that i’ve already made it once before!

(his sister took a field trip to the fire station this week; he has commandeered the hat)

so yeah, nothing fancy or groundbreaking, but the boy needs some long sleeved shirts heading into fall, and quick/easy finishes make me very happy. i’m falling hard for this pattern; want to make more ASAP!!

okay i’d better go finish that darn pink elephant now…have a happy weekend!

guest posting at oliver + s

October 16, 2012October 16, 201217 Comments

i don’t think it’s any secret that i love oliver + s patterns. i showed a partial stack of my patterns and explained that love in this guest post. since then, my pattern repertoire has grown by two (i now own and have sewn the school photo dress and the field trip raglan)!

though my mom can sew anything, i didn’t have much of an interest in sewing myself until i got fed up spending more than i wanted to on the simplest cotton toddler skirts and asked for a sewing machine in 2009. at that point, i was married with a daughter of my own and no longer lived at my folks’ house to learn from my mom directly (bummer!). i started sewing in our basement during Em’s 4 hour monster naps, when i was stuck at home but couldn’t make much noise. i credit oliver + s patterns and the online sewing community with teaching me how to sew, building my confidence and skill, and making me fall in love with handmade. i think it was always in my blood, i just hadn’t discovered my passion for it yet.

here’s my first sewing/oliver + s project! Em was just 15 months old.

today i’m guest posting on the oliver + s blog, and i’m over the moon about it! when i took two hours to sew that first little lazy days skirt three years ago, there was no way i imagined it leading to something like this – that the designer of the pattern would notice my work and comment, that she’d notice and link to other things i’ve made with her patterns over the past couple years, and now that she’d approach me to write a post for the company’s blog. i still can’t really believe it, frankly.

check out my post for the oliver + s blog here!

i rounded up some of my own projects and mixed them up with a bunch of lovely autumnal inspiration from the ever-bustling flickr group, to show how even the more summery oliver + s patterns can be easily adapted to fall sewing.

thanks for reading, guys.

PS – for even more fall sewing inspiration, caila has a really wonderful series going on this week with some of my favorite bloggers sharing their favorite fall patterns – you can find that right here!