kcwc fall 2012: day 5: neon dinosweater

October 14, 2012October 14, 201234 Comments

sew off challenge: make a catalogue-inspired garment

i feel like i’m late to the mini-boden party. i’ve heard the name, knew people loved it, but hadn’t REALLY browsed through the catalogue until gail posted her awesome hedgehog pants in meg’s weeklong KCWC lead up. that same day, i think, we got our mini-boden catalogue, i browsed, and i was inspired.

neon dinosweater

i was inspired by a neon dinosaur t-shirt!

so i made one – only mine’s a sweatshirt…and a different dino.

there were a few things i really wanted to do with my final project for KCWC and the sew off – sew for O again (really loving making clothes for him these days, it’s a fun challenge to push my aesthetic with fun details like jess says, but still keep it boyish), use the new oliver + s field trip raglan pattern that i won in a giveaway from sewn studio (thanks ladies!), and knock down some of my upcycle stash once again.

oh and i’ve also been wanting to use a touch of neon on something.

the gray sweatshirt material is my husband’s old j.crew sweater, a soft, heavy interlock. i used the existing neckband and sewed it all on my serger, preserving the existing hems (my tips for how to do that here). i folded the sleeves and bottoms of the pattern up 1″ to allow for the lack of hemming.

i decided i wanted to put a “nice dinosaur” on his shirt, since he’s so little…an herbivore, perhaps. i found my template by googling “brachiosaurus line art” and browsing images until i found the one i liked best. printed it, traced it onto steam-a-seam lite, reversed it. including tracing and cutting the pattern and appliqué, this whole sweater took about an hour and fifteen minutes to make. really not too shabby at all.

the acid green was a shirt of mine from H&M; i got it thinking it’d be fun as a pop of color in my wardrobe but it was just too bright for me. as an accent against gray, though, it’s perfect.

i cut the notch a little too deeply in the back, so added a bit of twill ribbon to cover it up (and to help keep the neck binding from flipping out). i like the extra detail. i sized the sweater up to a 2T instead of 18-24 months, since he’ll be wearing it over another shirt. the fit is great, it was a quick and satisfying sew, and i KNOW i’ll be making more of these as t-shirts, sweaters, maybe even extended to dresses! i’d been on the hunt for the perfect raglan pattern and i think i found it in the field trip raglan.

that’s it for our sew off; this catalogue item was sort of a “bonus” to me when we nailed down the challenges, and i’m not sure if Rae has a project coming…we’re only humans with tiny humans to take care of and normal lives to live and jobs to do and sleep to get, right? i only got this done because it was fast and easy and i really like crossing things off lists. really, though, i’ve got to get cracking on some other pressing projects (film petit, halloween costume, flower girl dress…fun stuff)!

anyway, though, thanks so much for getting me through my KCWC block, Rae! i had a really fun time and i loved pushing myself more than i would’ve without the sew off. it was also fun to see that Rae’s “mental to do list” was just as long as (or longer than) my own!

i’ll leave you with O putting on some gloves with eyes, wearing boots with eyes, as tigger watches:

very fun KCWC guys! thanks for hosting, Meg!!! great things always come from KCWC.

kcwc fall 2012: day 3:: far far away pjs

October 11, 2012October 11, 201226 Comments

sew off challenge: Heather Ross Pajama Pants

it’s becoming tradition for me to sew pajama pants for this kid during KCWC. i sewed polka dot flannel ones last fall, and fox ones last spring. since both were big on him when i made them, they actually still fit and are in regular rotation! i figured why not add another pair to the mix?

the pattern is the oliver + s bedtime story pajamas, which is now available digitally! it’s a fantastic and quick beginner pattern. i made them in the 18-24 month size in a little under an hour (actually stuck to the time frame this time!).

i have a funny relationship with my “special” fabric. i love having it, but i struggle with using it. frankly sometimes it’s just easier to give it away to a friend, then it doesn’t weigh on me! kinda weird, eh?

this sew off challenge was great in that it got me to use some of this far far away ii clothes on the line fabric that i’ve had squirreled away for while. it’s AMAZING stuff. it’s a cotton-linen blend, but very lightweight. it’s the kind of fabric you want your kids to wear all the time because it’s so dang soft and perfect.

the bindings are also far far away ii, golden moons. it’s a heavier linen that i first used for his bucket hat (and hey, her bucket hat was heather ross too – i guess i use it more than i think!). i kinda love that neither of the prints here are overtly “boy,” but they still look great together and on him.

obligatory pajama pants taped to wall photo:

far far away pjs

and kid being cute photo:

there’s the clincher right there. when he’s tired, he sucks his thumb and rubs his feet together. i can’t stop snuggling him!!

just two more challenges left, then i’ll likely collapse from exhaustion. Rae is one tough competitor! check out her adorable nursery versery pj pants and little C roaring like a lion – what a cutie pie. i need to track down some nursery versery, stat!

film petit: fantastic mr. and mrs. fox

September 25, 2012March 22, 201467 Comments

time for the next installment of film petit! this month, we were itching to do another wes anderson movie. they’re just full of inspiration! we considered a few, but decided that the month of september, with its golden light and cooler weather, was the perfect month for fantastic mr. fox. so that’s what we did!

fantastic mr. fox, based on a book by roald dahl, is about human (fox) nature, love, and family. mr. fox has promised his wife he will never steal from farmers again, but he simply can’t help himself…he decides to secretly do one last big job before he retires forever. he will steal from Boggis, Bunce and Bean – the meanest farmers in the land! the movie is done in stop-motion animation and is one that our whole family never tires of watching. my partners jessica and cherie both sum up the movie better than i do, so check them out if you haven’t already…i’ve got lots of sewing to talk about today!

since i have the oldest girl of the three sewing this month, i got to sew mrs. fox! and because of that, i also sewed mr. fox! i think it is only the second time i’ve ever sewed for both kids and photographed them together, can you believe it? i was worried the photoshoot would be a disaster, but they both played along! yay!

here are some movie stills showing my inspiration for both outfits.

as soon as i looked closely at her dress, i knew the oliver + s school photo dress would be the PERFECT pattern for it. for mr. fox, i sewed the melly sews basic blazer (affiliate link) along with oliver + s sailboat pants. there’s a hidden surprise in his jacket…keep reading!

they both got fox masks, totally overboard on my part but worth it. i made them out of felt and just sketched them out while looking at a photo from the movie. i layered the felt together and topstitched, sandwiching elastic in between.

okay let’s talk more about their actual sewn costumes. ladies first, shall we?

Em was so excited to be “mrs. fantastic mr. fox” and seemed to love this photoshoot more than any other! i used michael miller cotton couture in mango as the base of her dress. knowing there was no way i’d find the perfect apple print to match the movie, i stamped it myself!

i carved a wine cork with an x-acto knife to make the apple (a heart with a flat bottom), then a pencil eraser cut into a teardrop shape to do a green leaf, then a pencil tip to add a stem. i really love creating my own fabric, as time-consuming as it is. it’s totally theraputic and satisfying.

the pocket of the dress was perfect for her paintbrushes! mrs. fox is an avid painter.

she also has a tail (made out of minky and felt and pinned onto her dress).

for O, i sewed a mr. fox jacket and pants in a burnt orange thin whale corduroy (all fabrics are from fabric depot).

rather than welt pockets in the basic blazer pattern, i used jessica’s tutorial to add flap pockets. i used leather buttons and lengthened the 18-24 month size sailboat pants to 2T for a full-length pant. his shirt is store bought.

i decided to make mr. fox AFTER he lost his tail. a felt bandaid masks his injury.

the jacket also has a special surprise! mr. bean has a secret cider cellar full of apples he created himself. they look like this:

so the lining of O’s jacket naturally looks like this:

i painted the suns and dots onto kona poppy with metallic gold fabric paint! don’t you love a hidden surprise? i sure do!

while these costumes were so much work, they were so fun to make too! here’s the part where my little foxes say goodbye, but there’s LOADS more foxsperation for you to see!

film petit: fantastic mr. fox

head on over to a little gray to find out what a fox is doing in a grocery store, and to learn the rules of whack bat!

and skedaddle over to check out the adorable outfit our fantastic guest, you & mie, put together for her little gal. it’s truly inspired!!! it was also ~~cherie’s idea~~ (nevermind, it was jessica’s) for all of the kids to wear masks/fox ears – so fun to coordinate that little detail! thanks so much for playing along this month, cherie!!

we hope you’re enjoying film petit, because we’re sure having lots of fun!

****

here are the guidelines for film petit:

every month or so, Jessica and i (plus a guest blogger) will sew an outfit (or outfits) for our kid (or kids) inspired by a movie we love. jess from running with scissors is joining us in October!
if you’d like to play along, please feel free to add any movie-inspired sewing to the film petit flickr group. if you sew along with our film petit choices, we’d love to see that too. we’ll do a round up soon!
if we really like your stuff, we may ask you to join us for a future film!
this is a pretty relaxed series, really the only rule is to make outfits for kids based on films you love. if you have any questions, please let either of us know.
film petit archives: the life aquatic with steve zissou, amélie

a little plaid jumper

September 20, 2012September 20, 201236 Comments

so guess what, guys? pre-k is going GREAT! sure she’s been slow to get out of bed in the morning, sure she’s in bed by 7pm many nights because she’s so tuckered out, but nearly three weeks in, it’s pretty clear this kid was ready for school.

she’s coming home happy, singing new songs, bringing us art projects, talking about friends, even writing her name more clearly.

the thing i was worried about the most – whether little miss picky dresser would be okay wearing the school uniform – has been a nonissue. in fact, even though she could wear free dress for the first two weeks, she started asking to wear the uniform just a couple days in! i was unprepared!

i did get this jumper made for her. i was pretty excited about trying to sew some uniform stuff, because it’s tradition – i’ve got a cute photo of me in pigtails wearing a mama-made jumper on the first day of first grade. Em’s school uniform policy is more strict than mine was, but i talked to the principal over the summer and she said as long as i bought the plaid fabric from the uniform company directly and tried to copy the styles as closely as possible, she was very encouraging of me sewing some things for Em. it was a bit of a bummer for me that i didn’t have much leeway though, especially since i’ve been so inspired by the variety of uniforms night knitter makes with oliver + s patterns. oh well, i still snuck one in. 😉

since i couldn’t change things up much, i ended up sewing more for cost rather than creativity. though the fabric is $20/yd (way more than i normally spend!), the jumpers are $47 to buy. it doesn’t even take a yard of fabric to make one, so the savings is pretty hefty. the principal gave me a jumper from the uniform exchange to make a pattern from (very helpful!), and it turns out the construction was pretty simple – just a bib with facings and folded over sides topstitched to a pleated skirt. for the bottom i used the 2+2 skirt by oliver + s which was totally perfect, but that polyester is weird stuff and there is a learning curve on matching up the plaid (though i think i might’ve done a better job on that than the factory!). i made a 3T lengthened a couple inches, then blindstitched the hem by hand to mimic the original.

and because i have a rebellious streak, there’s a pink button hidden in there for her.

she loves looking like the big kids, down to the playground-friendly shoes her grammie and grandpa got her (way better than the ballet flats she usually lives in). really, i think her favorite part of school is that she feels like a big kid when she’s there. the school is pre-k through 8th grade so she looks TINY next to the rest of the grade schoolers lined up in the morning; but it’s pretty much adorable.

so even though she’s a big important school kid now, she’s still our twirling little Em.

and we’re very proud of her.

elbow patch tutorial

September 12, 2012November 28, 201212 Comments

i first posted this tutorial for elsie marley‘s fall 2011 kid’s clothes week challenge (right here), and now that fall is right around the corner, i figured it’s an appropriate time to bring it home!

***

Hi, I’m Kristin from skirt as top and I’m here today to talk about elbow patches! I’ve been spotting lots of elbow patches on adult shirts and sweaters heading into this fall, and I love the trend. I thought it could be fun to add them to homemade kids’ clothes for a little “mini-professor” style, too. Problem is, kids’ sleeves are very narrow and that means it’s pretty much impossible to sew the patches on after the garment is already completed. That makes finding that right placement for your elbow patches a bit tricky. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to add properly placed elbow patches when you’re making a shirt from scratch.

MATERIALS:

Tailor’s chalk or water-soluble marker
Clear ruler
Elbow patch pattern (draw an oval shape onto a piece of paper – mine is about 2.75″ tall x 2.25″ wide and works for about 6-12 month – 3T sizes, though you can make it whatever size you like)
Cut (but now sewn) sleeve pieces from your shirt or sweater pattern (shown is the Oliver + S sailboat top. Maybe try Dana’s free 90 minute shirt tutorial!)
Scraps of fabric for the patches (try a small floral for girls, or suede if you’re daring!)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Wrangle your kid while they’re wearing a long-sleeved shirt from their wardrobe. Mark an X on their elbow with chalk or water-soluble marker.

2. Take the existing shirt off of your child, measure from about .5″ above the shoulder (to account for the seam allowance) down to the X that you marked earlier. Write down this measurement (for my 10 month old, it was 5.5″). We’ll call this the “Elbow Measurement” because I’m super original.

3. Go to one of your new garment’s sleeve piece. Fold it in half to determine the center line, and press. Mark your seam allowance from the cut side of the sleeve with water-soluble pen or tailor’s chalk, then find the center point between the folded center and the seam allowance mark and draw a vertical line (just guess approximately where the patch will hit on the vertical axis).

4. Measure down from the shoulder edge along the vertical line you marked in step 3. Mark your sleeve with a horizontal line at your Elbow Measurement (remember mine was 5.5″) so your markings form a +. I shifted my ruler over to the edge for clarity, but you should line it up through the middle of the ruler to make the + shape.

5. Trace the patch pattern onto your scrap, cut out the patches, and find the center of each patch by folding it into quarters and pressing slightly. Apply fusible web if desired (the patch is essentially an appliqué). Match the center of the folds on one patch with the + marking on your sleeve and pin into place.

6. Lay your other sleeve piece down, aligning both sleeve edges side by side. Using your clear ruler as a guide, place the second patch on its sleeve to mirror the one you already pinned on. Make sure they are mirror images so you don’t apply the patch to the front of a sleeve! Pin the second patch into place. Be generous with pinning if you didn’t use fusible web.

7. Sew around the edge of each patch using a straight, zig zag, or blanket type stitch. I used the blanket type stitch here (number 11 on my machine).