sweetheart dress pattern and giveaway

October 2, 2012October 2, 2012107 Comments

have i got some sweet stuff for you today!

i was recently lucky enough to pattern test the newest pattern by the lovely and talented shannon of luvinthemommyhood, which was just released yesterday! it’s called the sweetheart dress, and it’s the perfect dress for a girly little gal like mine. it’s a quick, fun sew, featuring a fully lined bodice with the cutest heart cutout in the back, and a gathered skirt for twirling. it’s a dress that’s great for comfy day-to-day wear, but has tons of style!

i sewed it in sarah jane’s find the narwhal fabric from her out to sea line, and i’ve decided it’s pretty much the cutest fabric ever. Em calls the narwhals “unicorn whales,” and i’m not correcting her. they ARE unicorn whales! the fabric itself is quilting cotton, but with a really nice drape and feel.

shannon’s pattern is great, and i even learned how to line a bodice in a way that i had never tried before. it’s always fun to learn something new when i sew! it came together nicely and i was excited to make a dress that i knew Em would love.

the pattern includes sizes 2-6. though it’s a PDF pattern and i know some people aren’t so fond of those, it actually requires no taping! NONE! just print the three page pattern, cut it out, and get sewing.

i just think between the heart cutout and the pink narwhal fabric, this dress pure confection. you probably need this sweet little pattern for KCWC next week, right? well…i can help with that!

luvinthemommyhood is generously offering a fantastic pattern giveaway to skirt as top readers! here’s how you can win:

leave me a comment on this post – any comment will do. if you need an idea, i’d love to hear what part of the changing season you’re most excited about.

bonus entries:

like skirt as top on Facebook and leave a separate comment letting me know
like luvinthemommyood on Facebook and leave a separate comment letting me know
visit the luvinthemommyhood pattern shop and let me know your favorite pattern in there (man i wish i could knit)

that’s a possible FOUR separate entries!

i’ll pick THREE winners on sunday, october 7. one grand prize winner will win the sweetheart dress pattern, plus every pattern in shannon’s shop! yes, EVERY SINGLE PATTERN!! additionally, two runners up will win the sweetheart dress PDF sewing pattern! pretty great, eh?

deets:

if it’s not already linked in your profile, please leave your email address so we can contact you. the format of skirtastop(at)gmail(dot)com works well to help avoid spam.
open to US and international residents.
void where prohibited.
if you don’t want to wait to find out if you’ve won, you can buy the sweetheart dress right here right now!

have a great day, and good luck!

sew ready to play, and playing along…

September 26, 2012September 26, 201214 Comments

wow what an awesome response to film petit yesterday! thanks so much you guys, those little outfits were a major labor of love and i was so excited to share them.

today i’m over at i’m feelin’ crafty as part of her super fun “sew ready to play” series! it’s all about sewing inspired by games – board games, video games, card games, whatever you like! as a child of the ’80s, i really had no choice but to sew something super mario bros. related, right? i was inspired by the previews cherie sent me of her FMF charlie dress and had fun appliquéing a mario scene onto a flashback skinny tee!

check out my guest post and mini-tutorial HERE.

now for a fun little thing…shannon from luvinthemommyhood, pretty much one of the sweetest bloggers out there, put up a mad libs type fill in the blank on her blog today and encouraged people to play along. the idea is to fill in the bold words with your own answers, so we can all get to know each other a little better. here’s hers. i don’t play along with these types of things very often, but i thought it’d be fun to share a bit of my creative process and stuff with you today. here goes:

i’m longing to make “another washi dress and a sidekick tote“ right now.
i want to try “sewing” with some “metal zippers!”
i wish i could sew with “polka dot nani iro flannel“ fabric.
i dream of making “cozy quilts for both kids and a lap quilt for movie watching.”
i keep track of my ideas and inspiration by “sketching them in notebooks and pinning them on pinterest.”
i’m inspired by “so many creative women in blogland!”
i would love to meet “all my bloggy friends” in person. (can’t argue with shannon’s answer here!)
my favorite fiber is “linen.”
i like to sew with “good quality cotton.”
i hate to sew with “minky and satin.“ (this one’s my own addition, hehe)
my favorite color is “blue – all tones – the colors of the ocean.”
i rock at “pairing colors.”
i would like to learn how to “knit and crochet.”
i bring my “iPhone” everywhere.
my favorite thing to “sew” is “kid’s clothes.” (can’t argue with shannon here, either!)
my crafting space “was once compared to a mad scientist’s laboratory.”
if i had my dream crafting room it would be “filled with natural light, wood floors, and lots of room for organization.”
i sew with “a Brother CS6000i…but i’m almost ready for an upgrade.”
i like to draw “little dresses, geometric shapes, and glasgow roses.”
i can never get enough “time to sew…or sleep.”
i adore “seeing my kids starting to play together and having funny conversations.”
i also enjoy “getting sneak previews of my friends’ upcoming projects!”
i like to fill my shelves with “fabric and sewing patterns.”
i create the best when i’m “on a deadline.”
i am currently excited for “elsie marley’s fall kid’s clothes week challenge.”
right now i am working on “organizing my fabric stash and cleaning up my space.”
i love to watch “nothing, but i always listen to music” while creating.
my guilty pleasure when it comes to creating is “filling my stash with pretty fabric from bolt“
my current favorite music crush to listen to while creating is “billie holliday.“

care to join in? i’d love to see your answers! link up in the comments here and over at luvinthemommyhood!

have a great day!

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.

top as skirt

September 18, 2012September 18, 201221 Comments

as part of a recent goal to sew more quick and satisfying garments for myself, i decided to make a skirt like this one, where you just chop a men’s shirt under the armpits, do some pleating, add a waistband and some elastic to the back, and boom. i think this took me about a half hour to make.

it started as a sale rack men’s shirt from old navy. it has a funny little southwestern print on it (southwestern is still kinda hot right now, right?).

i went with a flat front waistband and added interfacing for structure. then i just pleated the body of the front of the shirt until it fit. my goal was not to add too much bulk in front; just some subtle detail and shape. the back has elastic for comfiness.

the shirt tail hem just makes it look like i’m wearing a shirt on my bottom half, but i like it. i wish i’d taken the time to add pockets, but i was being too impatient and just wanted it done.

you better not be judging the white after labor day!! this darn thing was sewn and photographed in august, but i’m way behind on blogging finished projects and am trying to catch up a bit.