KCWC spring 2012: day 4:: fox pajamas

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cuffed fox jammies

it seems that all of my girl outfits this week have been “new to me” patterns/tutorials, and the boy items have been familiar ones. funny. these are the oliver + s bedtime story pajama pants (sadly out of print – hopefully they release this one as a digital pattern!). it’s quick, easy, and cute. i’ve sewn it a couple times (here and here) and was curious how fast i could make it. so i speed tested myself.

fox jammies

starting from already cut pieces, these took me 50 minutes! i had guessed it’d take 45. my stitching isn’t as straight as i’d normally like, and i was slowed down by too-wide-of-elastic for the waist (all i had at 11pm). but i also added a yellow elsie marley bunting tag to it so i suppose under one hour is pret-ty good!

the shirt is one i appliquéd during my very first KCWC last spring. radiohead reference anyone? i chopped off the onesie part but it’s still way too small on him. might be time to make a new one.

fox jammies and big tummy

i can’t remember if i made 18-24 month or 2T pants for 17-month-old O, and can’t find my pattern pieces in the disaster area i call my sewing room, sorry about that. the adorable fabric, however, is aneela hoey’s blue bell foxlets with kona olive binding. i firmly believe kona olive goes with everything. EVERYTHING.

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i grew up with three sisters and i’m finding it so funny how differently little boys play – O is so much rough-and-tumble than Em ever was, and he and my husband have a running game where they roar at each other like bears and chase each other around the house. O thinks it’s HILARIOUS. here it is in action:

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while mommy activities are a little more calm:

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we love our little guy!

okay, now i’m caught up on posting prior projects. i didn’t sew on friday night, but i’m going to try to finish my final KCWC project and post it tomorrow. have you gotten lost in the flickr group yet? sooooo much great stuff in there. it’s an inspiration fest!

KCWC spring 2012: day 3:: elephant charlie dress

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elephant dress and baby

i sewed this on day 3 of KCWC. it is now day 5, and this evening was the first chance i had to get a photo of her wearing it! oy. my day job is interfering with my photoshoots!

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if you’ve been hanging around my blog for any length of time, you’re probably well aware of my almost-four-year-old’s love of elephants. it started when a good friend (YO E!!!) painted some sweet elephant art for her nursery and gifted her a stuffed elephant as a tiny baby. at a certain point, Em adopted elephants as her sort of mascot. in fact, i’m considering an elephant theme for her birthday party next week…nope, haven’t planned it yet.

elephant dress collage

anyway, so when we hit the bolt sale one recent weekend and Em spotted this elephant print (ellie fam by birch organics), there was really no choice but to buy it. together we picked the PERFECT kaffe fassett shot cotton to pair with it (steel – the crossweave is orange!) and she immediately started asking me when it’d be done…

shot and organic cotton

i originally planned to make the new oliver + s croquet dress with this combo, but it seemed a little too involved for my KCWC goals, and besides, Rae went and released her charlie dress add-on which i’ve been wanting to sew forever! i decided the fabrics were more suited to the charlie dress instead. like so many of Rae’s patterns, i had swooned over the many tester versions she posted about in recent months, waiting for the official release. that girl is a GOOD pattern maker, seriously. you never know when you download something from “a blogger” whether it’ll actually work out, and hers are high quality and clear. i trust her completely. i’d never made a yoke like this, and her instructions made it a snap.

ETA: i’ve been seeing a lot about sharing struggles this week, so i did want to mention one thing – the sleeve facings were hard to get a clean topstitching line on, since they’re a couple inches up the sleeve and i wanted to sew on the right side rather than “in the tube” like usual.  i got it, but on a 3T it was hard not to sew multiple layers by mistake.  i think next time i would attach the sleeve facings first and THEN sew the side and arm seams, and add topstitching to the edge of the sleeves to tack down the seam allowances.  anyway, not a mistake in the pattern, just maybe an easier way to do it in the future?

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Rae’s clothing designs have unique and exaggerated shapes that i love, and Em still gets so much use out of her pierrot tops (one and two) that i could just keep making those and be set. but i get a total kick out of this dresshiki and think it’s great that the charlie can make a darn cute boy shirt, too.

elephant dress front

so yeah, it was fun for day 3 to try another new pattern, experiment with colors combos i’ve never sewn (orange isn’t my fave, sorry to say…but i do like making something other than pink!), and give my little gal something she had a hand in designing.

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it has sparkly buttons, but she wouldn’t hold still enough for a photo of them. that’s a good sign.

KCWC spring 2012: day 2:: stripey sailboat top

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a couple of my goals this week are to sew for both my son and my daughter, and to use both new and familiar patterns.  yesterday’s was for her and new, so this is for him and familiar.  it’s also a good layering piece, since our springtimes tend to be sunny and 75 one day, and rainy and 50 the next.  gotta layer up.

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the pattern is the oliver + s sailboat top, in 2T (his 12-18 month one is getting too small, and the 18-24 month measurements didn’t look much bigger).  i REALLY love this pattern.  the fabric is a men’s sweater from old navy in kind of an interesting vintage-y sweatshirt knit material.  it actually frays a bit, so i serged everything on the inside.  i applied interfacing under the buttonholes as instructed, and otherwise just sewed it with a longer straight stitch, since it’s a loose-fitting top with a neck opening that doesn’t need to stretch.  this top works really great with a heavier interlock type knit, IMHO.

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after seeing jessica’s awesome yellow topstitching for her winning PR&P design this week, i decided to go nuts and add yellow topstitching and buttonholes, with minty green buttons.  it’s not a color combo i’ve used before, but i LOVE it on him!  it feels both neutral and fun.

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the top is too big and the sleeves are way too long, but that’s what he grew out of first on his first sailboat top, so i left them.  this kid grows really fast and the wide hems actually look pretty cute cuffed up, especially while he’s doing mischievous boyish things like trying to squeeze himself behind the fireplace screen…such a toddler now!

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up tomorrow – a new pattern for her!

KCWC spring 2012: day 1:: knot shorts

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knot shorts

first up this week for KCWC, a tutorial by the woman herself, meg “elsie marley” spaeth!  i bookmarked her knot shorts tutorial almost exactly a year ago during grosgrain’s free pattern month, and i wanted to make it SO BADLY!  but at the time i didn’t feel i had the sewing prowess to create my own pattern.  after my stint in PR&P, i knew i could handle it.

knot shorts upside down

the problem was, my sewing mojo was WAY off last night.  i made just about every mistake possible, sewed the inseams wrong, tried to fully line them but didn’t think far enough ahead and had to change them to facings, etc.  even though i stumbled at every turn, they still came together super quickly and turned out pretty darn cute!  oh and she likes them.  they’re good for practicing her new skill – headstands.  🙂

knot shorts

fabric is chambray from joann and pink voile from this shirt, almost a copy of the fabrics meg used.  i highly doubt our daughters will run into each other on the street, so i think it’s acceptable.

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see you tomorrow for day 2!  woot!