a very retro romper

March 27, 2014March 24, 20149 Comments

this post originally appeared as a part of Sew Pony’s When We Were Young series last summer. today i’m bringing it home.

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Hi, I’m Kristin and I’m happy to be here at the tail end of When We Were Young! Such a fun series, I’ve really gotten a kick out of everyone’s posts! I actually sewed my outfit months ago, I was so excited for this. Didn’t get photos until recently though, and my daughter had a growth spurt in those couple months, but ah well. I knew exactly which outfit I wanted to recreate and couldn’t wait to sew it.

This is me in 1986.

As you can see by my mom’s note at the bottom, I was 4 and a half. My daughter is 5 now, so we were pretty darn close in age! We lived on an acre of land out in the semi-country with a couple lambs that helped “mow our lawn,” as my parents put it. I loved basically going outside in the summer mornings and not coming in except to eat.

Here I am in my little romper and saltwater sandals, living summertime outdoors. My mom said my romper was a hand me down (I was the oldest so it was likely from a relative). You can see my early love of climbing too!

With a series of photos like that, of course I had to make a romper for my little gal. I knew the print would be almost impossible to find, so I took some creative liberty both with that and with the design (wanted to make it a bit more modern). Here’s what I came up with…

The fabric is a thrifted vintage bed sheet, with store bought bias tape for the bindings.

Her saltwaters sandals (affiliate link) are a different color too, but it all goes together and better reflects my daughter’s girlier personality (I was more of a tomboy when I was little).

The pattern is the Retro Romper by Blank Slate Patterns (affiliate links), and it was such a joy to sew! I love the instructions for attaching the bodice to the shorts and simultaneously creating a casing for the elastic, and it came together super quickly. I made some fit changes to take it even MORE retro – the bodice is a 4T but the shorts are a 2T (with 4T width). Aside from the shortened rise, I also shortened the shorts to the 18m skort cutting line, re-rounding the edges to keep the sweet running short look. Short shorts are so quintessentially ’80s, amirite?

I think I should’ve lengthened the bodice a bit to compensate for my short shortening and give her a bit more growing room, but how was I to know she was going to grow an inch and a half in, like, 2 months??

She likes it and my husband has said it’s one of his favorite things I’ve made for her, probably because she gets all silly when she wears it – something about a romper makes her all acrobatic, much more so than with a dress. She hadn’t worn a romper since she was a tiny baby, so it was fun to make one she could wear as a big five year old. Rompers are fun!

Thanks so much for having me, Suz!

springtime hide-and-seek dress

March 25, 2014March 24, 201428 Comments

new favorite dress.

i think i mentioned in my garden party dress post that when i saw that pattern in the lineup of the new Oliver + S designs, it seemed so much like Em’s style i gravitated toward it first. but then, i started seeing more versions of the hide-and-seek dress popping up (Gail’s, and Delia’s, and Sarvi’s, and Sanae’s) and they were all so different and great, it made me wanna give the hide-and-seek a whirl.

so i gave it a whirl, and i’m really glad i did. this dress makes me so happy!

without realizing it, i used the exact same main fabric that Gail did, just in a different color! it’s andover chambray in eggplant, i love it! it’s really nice stuff – the perfect weight for apparel and so versatile. i think the eggplant looks great with Em’s coloring.

it was a rare online fabric purchase for me – i bought the chambray from LiMa Sews, one of Gail’s sponsors and a local gal with an online shop. you should check her out, there’s some great stuff in there! oh and the yoke? yeah it’s actually super special Liberty Tana Lawn (in Wiltshire). my good buddy Jess sent a few fat quarters to me as a very generous thank you for “Tim Gunning her” as she won Project Run & Play a couple years ago, and i’ve been hoarding it until just the right moment. that moment was NOW.

a fat quarter was the perfect amount for yoke and lining the pockets – i have only the tiniest scraps left! for a pretty little extra detail, i added a bit of scalloped trim to the front yoke in a subtle nod to the fringe Allison used on her adorable pattern cover version.

i made a 4T and added an inch to the skirt length for extra longevity. otherwise, this is view A with no mods. i can’t stop thinking the 4T is going to be too big on Em, but she has grown and it’s definitely her size now!

we had some beautiful weather last weekend, perfect “go take photos in the park then play at the playground” weather, eh?

i actually had trouble visualizing this dress before i made it – i just picked pretty fabrics and hoped it all came together in a nice way. i was surprised that it ended up with a sweet and lovely French vibe (i’d imagine anyway – i’ve never actually been to France).

it’s cool to me that Liesl has the vision to design so many different dress shapes – it’s impressive! the way this dress comes together is interesting, with tons of room to change it up using different fabrics in different places. i realized as i made it that the seaming is sort of like the school photo dress, though they don’t look that similar at first glance.

springtime hide and seek dress

i love the cuffed sleeves, the neckline notch, the (easy to construct i promise) welt pockets (which Em didn’t take her hands out of during the whole shoot!). it’s an easy and comfortable dress for her to wear – she looked too fancy to be climbing on the play structure and spinning on the tire swing after these photos, but it’s actually a practical (washable) playtime dress!

lately i haven’t been rushing my sewing – i’ve been choosing projects where i can relax and enjoy the process. and though it may seem like i’m blogging/sewing quite a bit, this dress sat all cut out and not sewn for nearly a week because i just couldn’t get to it. sewing and blogging took another few days even though i was excited about it. i just have to spread out my process right now and that’s fine!

PS – i got the pattern for free from Oliver + S. and here’s a dirty little secret – i skipped the understitching and didn’t use the buttonhole guide AT ALL! *gasp*

lullaby layette tiny man jacket

March 21, 2014March 21, 201411 Comments

i made this little jacket so long ago! before christmas! but now that the Lullaby Layette Pattern has been released, it’s bloggin’ time.

i was so excited to hear that Oliver + S was working on a layette pattern. most of their patterns start for slightly older babies, so it’s fun to have options for the little ones now. the pattern contains FOUR different cute little baby things to sew – a bodysuit, a shirt, pants, and this jacket. the sizing starts at 0-3 months and goes up to 24 months, so it’ll last quite a while and would make for great baby shower gift sewing, too.

i actually pattern tested the jacket and bodysuit, the first time i’ve pattern tested for Oliver + S, and it was a great experience. the reason i love pattern testing is i get to see the behind the scenes process of patternmaking, and with Oliver + S it was especially fun to get previews of the upcoming patterns, since they tend to be pretty hush hush until release. i was totally flattered to be asked and took the responsibility seriously – i know a lot of work goes into making patterns as good as theirs. the pattern was already pretty darn solid though – i didn’t have to do too much. 😉

i sewed the 3-6 month size for my (at the time) 4 month old nephew, shown here. my own baby boy was still in my belly! i wanted it to be a “manly” baby jacket, so i upcycled my husband’s khaki shorts for the body. i lined it with a pair of flannel pajama pants that were also my husband’s and added a little twill tape loop at the back neck. the jacket can be totally reversible if you want it to be, and the lining of the sleeves is very cleverly done.

please disregard the plaid mismatch – i didn’t try to match it but apparently on one side i matched it perfectly! not so on the other. drat. but i do love how the plaid peeks out when you fold up the sleeves.

i used store-bought double fold bias tape and size 16 snaps to finish the jacket (both larger than recommended by the pattern). now that i look at these photos, i want to make another for my own little guy (or see if my nephew has grown out of this one yet…).

a couple of my bloggy friends have sewn adorable versions of the Lullaby Layette jacket – you have to check out Tara’s tiny sherpa boy (that hat! Tara’s styling is always so good!) and Cherie’s awesome girl version that had me beelining it to the store for neon bias tape. both of those gals also happen to have ridiculously adorable babies, which helps matters.

i’ll show you the bodysuit in a bit! gotta do everything in small chunks of time these days.

small fry skinny jeans (and ramen!) tour

March 12, 2014March 31, 201462 Comments

hey guess what? i made jeans!

no let me try that again with more oomph – I MADE JEEEEEANSSSSS!!!!!

huge personal sewing triumph over here – i’ve wanted to make jeans for a while and eventually would love to make them for myself, but i’m not ready yet. and i know, if you’ve been following along with this pattern tour, you’re hearing the same thing over and over – that the Small Fry Skinny Jeans Pattern is clearly written and incredibly detailed. that the fit is great. that you’ll make legit-looking jeans from it. that you’ll learn a lot. and i’m here to reiterate all of that.

this pattern rocks. it’s just so good and so impressive. it’s not a quick sew, and given the fact that i’ve got a newborn in the house, i spread this out over many sewing sessions. but i really enjoyed the process of making these jeans. it was so fun. it’s the kind of pattern i wanted to take my time with, because jeans are one thing that really shouldn’t look home sewn, if you ask me – especially boy jeans. I wanted these to look like a mini version of high quality man jeans; nothing fancy but still special because of the craftsmanship required.

the fabric is a pair of dark blue Levi’s that never fit my husband properly from my upcycle pile. it’s sturdy MAN denim – real Levi’s denim – and that went a long way toward making these puppies feel legit. there’s no stretch woven into the denim, but i noticed that the original jeans appeared to be cut on the bias which gave them a little bias-cut stretchiness – does that sound right to you? the grain looked diagonal to me! (update: here’s my answer!)

the other thing that makes jeans look “real” is the thread. topstitching thread is recommended, but i had this Gutermann “Extra Strong” thread (affiliate link) on hand from this duffel that was the right color, so i used that. it comes on a larger spool than topstitching thread, so i didn’t have the thread supply issues that some other tourmates had, and i used it for almost every seam except the thread that would show on the waistband facing. i sewed with a size 16 needle but actually broke it while sewing down the belt loops (it’s thick denim and my machine freaked out at the 8 layers or whatever it is – had to do a little hand-cranking to get it through).

i made a size 2T with 3T length – O is potty trained but the small pattern size range allows for a diapered bum, so there’s actually room to grow in the hips and waist. the pattern has an adjustable back waistband using buttonhole elastic and i made him a quick belt to help cinch them up too (i got a yard of this great cotton belting from JoAnn and cut it to his waist measurement plus 10” then fray checked the end).

i deliberately made the jeans extra long, partially so he could have big cuffs like Celina’s and partially because i knew these would be a lot of work and i wanted them to last a long time.

it should be clear that though this isn’t really a “quick and easy beginner pattern” (make parsley pants if you’re looking for that!), it will lead to fantastically pro-looking jeans. Laura guides you through when and where to add all that topstitching, how to do a flat felled seam (my first time!), how to make a little coin pocket, and your choice of a half or zip fly (i chose half fly). i referred to the mangled remains of the Levi’s to double check the topstitching and seams as i went and added bar tacks to match, but other than that i just followed directions. as you can see up there too, i chose a brass snap instead of a button to close the top – easier and quicker to undo for him.

on the back, I added a little twill tape tab under the pocket and a piece of canvas duck as my jeans “brand patch.” since my goal was to make these as real as possible, those details were important!

to finish my “tiny Portland hipster” look, i made him a silly shirt based on his favorite food!

have you seen this yay shirt floating around pinterest? or this similar pizza one? well my little guy isn’t a huge fan of pizza, actually, but he does enjoy ramen noodles very much. ergo, ramen shirt. it’s freezer paper stenciled – i hand-lettered it and cut it out with x-acto knife. he loves it. LOVES IT. the shirt is a flashback skinny tee in 3T made in a very stretchy midweight knit from JoAnn.

new favorite shirt to shoot webs in.

i really wanted to take some father-son photos in their slim-fitting dark jeans, ironic t-shirts, and converse on the way to get some artisanal doughnuts and cold brewed coffee, but it didn’t happen. ooooh well.

if you want to make awesome jeans for a kid in your life, you need the small fry skinny jeans pattern. the smaller size range goes from birth to 3T, and the larger size range goes from 3 up to 12! and through this friday, it’s 20% off with the code TOUR20.

you know you need it….!

p.s. i received a copy of the pattern for free for being a part of the tour. i love this pattern for realz!

meadow garden party dress

March 11, 2014March 11, 201424 Comments

the spring Oliver + S patterns are here! hooray!

there are three new patterns and they’re all pretty darn cute, as you can see in their announcement post. i was actually a pattern tester for the Lullaby Layette and i’ll post about that later, but the Garden Party Dress (available on paper or digitally) is the one that really stood out to me as being perfect for Em as soon as i saw it.

isn’t it just so pretty and springy and romantic? i love it and Em does too – in fact the photoshoot went something like “hey mom let’s pretend i’m a real princess” and then her pulling out the drama like so…

meadow garden party dress

and so…

meadow garden party dress

her version of a princess is apparently quite solemn, though she hammed up a few crazy zombie faces too at the end, haha. and yeah, we have daffodils blooming in our yard. i’m sorry to those of you still buried in snow! spring is coming, we promise.

about the Garden Party Dress! it’s got a lovely gathered bodice that, to me, looked like more work to construct than it actually was – there’s quite a bit of basting and gathering, but it still came together surprisingly fast.

i made View A (dress with cap sleeves) in a size 4 and added 1.5” to the hem length because she’s still a beanpole. i’m glad i added the length – it hits her just below the knee and should last her through the summer (hopefully maybe). the pattern calls for 1.75 yards of fabric but i think i made it in 1.5 yards or less…so if you have a perfect yard and a half in your stash, you could probably make it work with careful cutting. that’s what i’m hoping anyway, because i have quite a few cuts that size!

the neckline facing and simple single button keyhole closure in the back lead to a quick, clean finish. Em chose the red button. i made an aqua thread chain out of embroidery floss (Oliver + S has a tutorial here – i just made a loop and then tied square knots around the loop string until it was reinforced into a sort of twisty friendship bracelet from my childhood type deal).

the design gives you a chance to play with fabric choice and really change the look of the dress, which is always fun. here i wanted to really play up the garden party theme and make it in a modern floral, so i chose a print from Leah Duncan’s gorgeous new line for Art Gallery Fabrics, Meadow.

i love every print in the Meadow line (and everything Leah Duncan does, really), but this simple line drawing floral stood out and seemed so sweet for spring. it’s called “Lea’s Bloom in Clearwater” and i got it at Bolt, you can find it here online. i paired it with a royal blue kona cotton for the trim. it’s always a risk picking blue for Em, but she approved and called it beautiful, so we were good to go.

it felt great to sew a dress for Em, and dresses with sleeves are a must for her school dress code, so this is a practical addition to her wardrobe.

head over to probably actually to check out Gail’s beautiful version of this dress (in another Meadow print, coincidentally!), and over to you & mie to see Cherie’s adorable layette jacket (fantastically modern fabric combo!). and if you’re still not convinced, you can find more details on this and the other new Oliver + S patterns right here.

happy spring sewing!

p.s. i was given a copy of the garden party dress with no strings attached; my opinions are my own.