i’ve been KNITerviewed!

January 17, 2012July 7, 201419 Comments

guess what?

i’m so excited that Rae asked me to participate in her “KNITerview” series, where she is interviewing bloggers about how they sew with knit fabric (jersey, interlock, fleece, etc.). my post is up today! go check it out here and the full series of KNITerviews here. as a companion to Rae’s post, i wanted to make something new to remind myself what techniques i use when i sew with knits, and to take photos to give you some tips as i went.

i decided to make Em an oliver + s hopscotch dress (i first made the hopscotch skirt here). it’s refashioned out of a men’s t-shirt and promotional energy drink tank top, with an elephant applique for my elephant-loving girl! i intended it as a nightgown, but so far Em isn’t really buying that – it’s a daytime dress to her! and let me tell you something – with all my project run and play “design it myself” craziness, it felt great to actually sew a pattern as written, especially an oliver + s one! my brain needed a break.

above are the original garments – i got the dark gray-blue t-shirt from target for something like $5, in a men’s XXL. i loved the color, so i picked it up with no specific project in mind. always buy the biggest size possible! the lavender tank was free and never worn. both are jersey knit, and the tank top has a band of rib knit at the bottom, which i used on the neckline. here’s how to take it from t-shirts to nightgown (er…dress):

deconstruct the main t-shirt, cutting up the side seams and around the shoulder sleeves. to preserve the factory hems of the t-shirt as i mention in my KNITerview, line up the pattern pieces with the hems. i was okay with the sleeves being a little longer here, but you should normally take into account the fact that the pattern has a built-in hem allowance. read your pattern instructions and move the pattern piece down accordingly (for example, if the pattern says to fold up 1/2″ then another 1/2″ to hem, move your pattern piece down 1″ on your t-shirt – i sometimes draw a light pencil line on my pattern piece so i know where to line it up on the existing garment).

here’s how i like to cut knits. i iron my fabric well, place my pattern, then use pattern weights to hold it down (i got them at joann with a coupon, they’re filled with ball bearings and are nice and heavy). i trace around the pattern with my disappearing marker or tailor’s chalk (the triangle thing in the upper left), depending on the color of the fabric. i remove the pattern and weights, then pin along the inside of my traced lines to keep the two layers of fabric together while i cut (here it was on the fold). jersey knit especially loves to move around, so the pins prevent the layers from shifting.

the pattern calls for this, but adding 1/2″ strips of fusible interfacing to the shoulder seams helps keep them secure. i’d also highly recommend adding interfacing under buttonholes. for the applique, i use steam a seam lite – that keeps it flexible.

sew or serge your seams (i have a serger, so i serged!). if sewing, use a ballpoint needle. it does matter.

here’s a tip that i learned from trial and error. if i just serged the seams, i noticed eventually they’d pull apart at the ends because you can’t backstitch with a serger and i wasn’t folding up the garment to enclose the edges due to my goal of preserving the factory hem (i think they look nicest). so now i take the edges of my sleeves and bottom hems and give them a pass through the sewing machine after serging – i go back and forth 5-7 stitches or so within the serged seam to reinforce those edges. the casual observer will never know you didn’t hem it, and it stays secure!

place your applique, topstitch around it (which i didn’t do here as an experiment and it peeled up in the wash, so be sure to topstitch), and you’re done! ready for an elephant party!

this is Em’s elephant family. most were gifts, and somehow the collection keeps growing! 😉 she is quick to say that she is not their mommy (they have a mommy elephant over there on the far right), but she is their loving caretaker and has even been known to nurse the baby, little frankie, on occasion. they all have intricate relationships and she has named each one, most of whom are girls (oh shoot, i just realized i forgot popsicle popsicle!). little frankie is her current fave, but she really loves them all.

so now you see the full extent of her elephant obsession and know why i’ve got one happy little girl on my hands in her new elephant nightgown!

that’s it for me! i’m truly honored to be included in the fantastic group of bloggers that rae pulled together for…

twirly red christmas dress

December 12, 2011November 17, 201318 Comments

it was a sewing mama’s dream come true. Em’s dance teacher announced that the holiday recital costume wouldn’t be provided, but instead would be “a festive party dress” of our choice. JACKPOT!

i made the bodice of the oliver + s bubble dress in a 2T, which i also used for her easter dress. instead of the bubble, i attached a circle skirt for maximum twirl (tutorial here by Dana).

i cut it up the back to be able to follow the bubble dress skirt-attach directions as written and to give her room to get into it, and lined the whole dress with cream batiste. i wasn’t sure if she’d have the coordination to really be able to twirl it, but i must have been kidding myself. this girl is a dancer. look at her go!

i actually had to bribe her with mini marshmallows to HOLD STILL so i could try to get a couple detail photos. seems counterintuitive, but it worked for a second.

the red satin made me dizzy to sew, but once it had turned into a dress, it was worth it. i added a pre-made cream satin piping between the bodice and skirt, and cream buttons.

it also doubles as a blanket. isn’t it fun? 🙂

as for the recital, she was mad that they had to dance tap instead of ballet, and got a bit of stage fright (i bet she would have been more into it if it was ballet and she got to twirl and dance on her tiptoes the whole time). she made it on stage with no problems, but she just stood there for most of the song. still adorable to see all the little 3 year olds up there, though. it was held at the grant high school auditorium, of mr. holland’s opus fame! she’s so tiny, my little gal…

i’ve got much more to blog about (O’s first birthday party! the fabled superhero cape tutorial!) so let’s everybody just agree that a few hours need to be added to each day so there’s time for everything we want to get done. i did get my first PR&P project finished too, which is a huge relief! glad to get something made and out of my head.

i’ll try to be back posting more here soon!

queen of hearts sunday brunch jacket

November 8, 2011August 17, 201228 Comments

in general, i tend to fabric shop without my kids. i can browse better that way, pick what catches my eye, and take my time. but the other weekend, my favorite fabric store happened to be having their annual big sale, and i seized the opportunity to bring Em along with me after her ballet class. it’s pretty fun to include her in the decision-making process on fabrics every once in a while – she is very opinionated and gravitates towards prints i wouldn’t normally pick on my own. i tend towards simpler prints, but she does not! in the case of this, i steered her toward a rack of anna maria horner velveteens (they were 50% off!), and this was her pick.

it’s the queen of hearts from her innocent crush line. i mean, you can’t really go wrong with AMH, right? it turned out to be a really interesting fabric choice to amp up this little jacket. i was careful to center the print on every pattern piece, so it took a while.

the facings and yokes are bound with a gold polka dot. i figured we can always use a bit of a pick me up in the fall and winter, and surprise gold binding is just the thing. i “cheated” and serged the armhole hems, though.

here’s the front. she was being a bit of a silly model, and daylight savings time is doing me no favors for photoshoots, so this is the best i got.

i’d been crushing on a few versions of the oliver + s sunday brunch jacket for a while now out there on the internet (namely this one and this one, both much more understated than mine ended up!), so i’m glad i finally got to make it. such a sweet little jacket. it was my first time sewing a collar and facings – always good to pick up a couple new techniques! i made the 2T which matched her measurements the best, but it fits her just right. she ‘s a fan of it though, and has worn it every day since i finished it on sunday even though she hasn’t been wanting to wear jackets or sweaters lately (she takes them off as soon as we get somewhere), so that’s promising for it getting some use before she grows out of it.

i’ve been really enjoying collaborating with my little gal these days – it’s pretty cute to see her proud of something i’ve made, since she has a hand in designing it. and if i’m putting in the hours to make it, i want it to be WORN! 🙂

homemade halloween 2011: winnie the pooh

October 31, 2011October 16, 201311 Comments

happy halloween!

i don’t know if i’ve written too much here about the personality of my little guy. we got pretty lucky. he is mellow, almost always happy, rarely cries, and even his “stranger anxiety” consists of simply suspiciously eyeing the stranger, larry david style (versus his sister, who would burst into tears at even the most loving of great aunts). when i read him books, he laughs. he claps when i sing him songs. he’s a joy, and just slightly dopey at times (he usually has a red mark on his forehead from bumping into things). put simply, he’s a tubby little cub all stuffed with fluff.

we were brainstorming his costume this year and throwing out much “cooler” ideas but then thought of winnie the pooh, and it had to be. he’s sweet, he’s got a little belly, he’s winnie the pooh!

you’ve already seen his sailboat pants. i actually made them expecting this to be his costume. the project i tried to get to but never completed for KCWC was his hood, in matching honey-colored corduroy (it’s the oliver + s cozy winter hood from “little things to sew,” lined with joel dewberry woodgrain just like the pants). instead of ribbon, i made a thicker strap of corduroy and attached it with a button.

his undershirt is from old navy, but i couldn’t find a plain short sleeved red shirt, so i decided to make one. it’s the raw-edged raglan from “sewing for boys,” but nothing is raw edged! i sewed it right sides together at the shoulder seams and used a XXL men’s t-shirt (again from old navy, actually about half the price of his undershirt), so i could utilize the finished sleeves and hem. i also double folded the neck binding…so yeah…nothing is raw! also, the pattern starts at 2T, so i shortened the length and sleeves before cutting.

on a last-minute whim, i also made him some coordinating shoes. they’re the cameron baby sneakers from i think sew. i actually had a little trouble with them, but i’m not sure if it’s because i was sewing late at night at the end of lots of projects, or because i decided to use suede from a long-ago thrifted jacket for the soles, but they turned out pretty cute in the end.

since he’s not walking yet, here’s a better view of the shoes. they’re also lined with woodgrain, of course.

and now, winnie and angelina together! i think the fact that he is a pleasant baby really helped ease the transition from one kid to two. his big sister adores him. huge sigh of relief!

she totally did that on her own. i love these kids!

have a happy halloween, and have fun taking candy “fees,” all you parents! 😉

homemade halloween 2011: angelina ballerina

October 30, 2011August 22, 201415 Comments

for halloween this year, my ballet-loving 3.5 year old is angelina ballerina (a ballet-dancing mouse, of course). i had a lot of fun making or adapting her existing ballet stuff, and she was very excited to wear the full costume. ready for the rundown?

EARS:

i covered a headband with white fleece, fashioned ears out of white fleece and pink felt, and attached a big pink satin-y bow. my hot glue gun became my best friend with these!

BODY:

she has legwarmers on as armwarmers, is wearing her regular ballet leotard, and her little things to sew tutu with felt rose clipped on (here are the details on the tutu and rose). because of the fact that it ties in the back, it’s the perfect tutu design for her…

TAIL:

her mouse tail is made out of the same white microfleece, which i stuffed with polyfill and then threaded in a length of floral wire (like you use to make the ubiquitous paper pom poms) so it holds its shape. i just safety-pinned it to her leotard, which is hidden by the bow.

SHOES:

i found her some new pink ballet flats at the gap for $5 on a lucky break (her old ones were super worn out and getting too small). i hot glued lengths of satin ribbon into each for a toe shoe effect, though the ribbons don’t stay up very well. might have to just tie them around her ankles for trick-or-treating.

i put a little cream blush on her nose for these photos because i hadn’t picked up any face paint yet, but that’s been remedied for tomorrow. she has informed me that angelina doesn’t have whiskers, though, so no whiskers.

and now, the reason i have to break the kids’ costumes into two blog posts – the sheer number of photos of my sweet little dancing mouse.

oh yeah, one more thing. at ballet, the girls get to pick a color of scarf to dance around with for a certain portion of the class. Em ALWAYS picks pink, but on saturday she picked the green one! i thought maybe her pink obession might finally be coming to an end, but then…it was time to decorate her pumpkin. wanna take a guess what happened?