A Productive Day

It's funny what constitutes a productive day around here.  Something crossed off my to-do list.  A small corner of the house cleaned up and organized.  A sewing project finished.  I've actually had a couple productive days around here lately.

And while getting car in to be serviced this morning (oil change, sunroof and wiper blade recall) let me check something off my to-do list, I was even more excited to finish my first sewing project for Christmas.  Yes, 10 days before Christmas and I am just starting those sewing projects.  But that's how it works around here.  And they are all relatively small projects.  And none of them are necessary - except for the giant sheep cushion which I will start tonight.

Back for Ollie's birthday, I started a pair of sheep pajamas.  They weren't finished in time.  The bottoms were ready so I paired them with an appliqued T and he was happy.  He has been waiting, though, for the complete set.  I finally made the top.  Now I just need to sneak the bottoms out of his closet (they have jumped into his regular pants rotation) and wrap them up for Christmas Eve.  Check Handmade Gift #1 off my list.

** I actually made the top and bottom from two different Oliver + S Patterns.  The bottoms are from the older Bedtime Story Pajamas pattern and the top is from the newer Sleepover Pajamas pattern.  Love them both - and still learn something new everytime I sew with one.  Understitching?  Who new?!

The Walk the Line Pants

Mid-construction, The Dad looked at these and said "Either no one is going to want to play with him when he wears those or the girls are going to be all over him." 

They walk that line.

Funky or Foolish?

They are made from an Alexander Henry Home Dec Weight fabric that feels like canvas.  Sturdy and rugged.  Depending on how I look at them, I think 'Cool' or 'Ronald McDonald'.

The bonus is that he loves them.

They have four pockets, which he was so excited about.  Next time, he wants six.  I turned the fabric 90 degrees for contrasting stripes.  I love creating little details like this.

Made from the Oliver + S Sandbox Pants pattern (with an elastic waist instead of the drawstring), I share with you O's new Walk the Line pants.  What do you think?

Oliver + S Reversible Bucket Hat

 I've taken a small break  from eieio sewing to do a little sewing of our own around here.  First up, the Reversible Bucket Hat from Liesl Gibson's Little Things to Sew.

My kids live in these hats in the summer time.  They started wearing these as infants - best baby sunhat ever - and moved into these last summer.  I am so excited to make my own with fun prints.

For this first one, O picked out his own fabrics.  He calls it his 'Night and Day' Hat - the white side for daytime and the black side for nighttime.  A boy of his own mind, he is...

It was actually pretty fun to make.  I'm always amazed at Liesl's little techniques for simple, quality construction.  The top of the black side of the hat is actually hand sewn on to finish it.  Can you tell?  I can't either!  I'm so proud...

Really, I cringe sometimes when I read that I need to hand-finish something -  but the more I do it, the easier it gets.  And this time?  Sunday night?  I thought "Woohoo!  Handsewing means I can actually watch TV at the same time!"  Yeah, my life is that exciting.

E's is up next - purple glittery flower fairies on one side and a new Amy Butler Soul Blossoms print on the other.  I want to make three for each of them.  Seriously, they live in them - and one inevitably gets lost at some point over the summer.  Summer is coming, right? 

Hello, Old Friend

A couple months ago, after much wanting to add new designs, I stopped making new Reversible Roundabout Dresses.  You see, I had run into an interesting dilemma.  They kept selling.  So I kept making more.  Which meant that I didn't really do anything else.  Don't get me wrong.  I love making these dresses.  And of course, I love shopping for the fabric that they are made out of (definitely my favorite part of all this), but I really wanted to do something different for a little while.

So I stopped.

I had a good inventory stocked up and figured I had some time to deplete that before I would need to make more.

Instead, I made Treasure Totes.  And Lunchbox Napkins.  And started making Twirly Skirts.

And now, with the GFS Craft Show looming, I took stock and realized that I actually needed to make a few more Reversible Roundabouts.

So, I've been ironing and cutting.  Yesterday I did the first set of sewing.  And honestly?  It felt like coming home.  I know these curves.  My hands know them.  My machine knows them.  I've missed them.

So it was nice to visit them again.  Just a couple for now, but I hear them calling me.  Just in time to get ready for summer.

Design Week at Casa C

So last week the kids went back at school and my New Year officially began.  We were away for the week between Christmas and New Years so there was a little re-acclimation going on over the weekend.  My goal for that first week was to create a sample of the skirt I will be making for the Germantown Friends Craft Show in March.  For over a year, I have been wanting to add a design for older girls to my collection of standards.  Yet I have just kept making the Reversible Roundabouts because people love them.  And they keep selling.

This year I told myself I was going to take a break from the Reversible Roundabouts and come up with some new designs.  Last week turned into Design Week in the studio.  I posted Monday on Facebook (eieio is on Facebook now!) that I was heading into the studio to start a batch of Storybook Skirts.  Based on a design I did a long time ago - a simple skirt with an attached apron.  As I started constructing it, I changed my mind.  And changed my mind again.  What came out of the studio on Thursday is the new Twirly Skirt.  Which I am very happy with.

I think one of the things I struggle with in a design is keeping it simple in a way that allows the design to show off the fabric. And the child wearing it. Because really, to me, that's what it's all about.  I used to love the boutique look, but lots of ruffles and layers don't excite me as much anymore.  And really (again) eieio is about keeping kids looking like kids.  Clothes they can play in and clothes that they love.  And clothes that are easy to put on, take off, and wash.  Right?

O's New Favorite Pants

 

I love that O loves for me to sew for him.  The glee, the pride, the desire.

I took Liesl's sewing-with-knits class last weekend and came away with a pair of the Nature Walk Pants for him and an almost finished nightgown for E.  I used Michael Miller's new-ish Interlock Knit and while it was challenging, it wasn't bad!

O had the pants out of my bag before I even got into the car and had them on in less time than it took to fill the tank at the gas station.

They are his new favorites.  They are oh so soft and comfy.  He wore them for three days before I wrangled them away for the wash and asks for them every morning (unfortunately they haven't actually made it into the machine yet!)

Two more pairs are in the works.  One in a solid black and the other in a brown stripe.  They come together in less than an hour and I figure the more I practice sewing with this fabric, the better I'll get, right?

The Halloween Costumes - The Snow Queen

Growing up, my mom made all our our Halloween costumes.  Every year, I think about what I can make but more often than not have ended up buying.  I think it's always a struggle finding the balance between cost and time...  and cost.

Last year, O wanted to be a puppy dog.  I figured I could easily build a costume off of a hoodie and sweatpants.  That I could find pretty cheap.  So we walked into Old Navy and right into their Halloween display.  Hmmm...  $20 for a super cute (and warm) monkey costume?  Or that much for the sweats plus whatever the rest of the materials would cost plus my time.  Honestly?  I bought the monkey costume but over a year later still kind of wished I had made what he wanted.

This year, E wanted to be a Snow Queen.  Complete with cape.  I told her we could put it together from most of what we had.  Plus some not-too-expensive extras and a handmade cape.  She really got into it.  The Snow Queen had to have long brown hair, though.  And tap shoes.

I was able to talk her out of the tap shoes and we went with standard Target silver glitter flats (like the ruby red slippers).  I also found an 'alluring' long brown wig that once worn looked a little more Lil' Abner than fancy fairy tale character, but...

And I made her a cape.  Which was much more expensive than I had planned but which I loved making and which we will have for a long time.

And while she looked nothing like the original costume she spied in a catalog, she loved it.  And I will always remember this one.

O's New Sketchbook Shirt

In planning for the Vermont Sewing Weekend, I really struggled with projects to work on.  I had a couple of new skills I wanted to try out and practice but I couldn't decide on a big project.  I thought, with Heather and Liesl both there, that it would be fun to do an Oliver + S pattern in a Heather Ross print.

I had the Jumprope Dress pattern and had been wanting to make that for E, but I knew I was going to make her a zippered pouch for school while I was away and felt like I should bring something home for O, too.

I'd been eyeing the Sketchbook Shirt pattern since it first came out.  It looked similar to Heather's Kai Shirt pattern from Weekend Sewing that I made O in Spring 2009 and he loved.  Her pattern only went up to a 3T so I needed Liesl's pattern to make O one that would fit him now.

Luckily Liesl had one in her studio and brought it with her for me to purchase in VT.  Combined with some Mendocino fabric I'd had in my cupboard since back here, I was all set.

I love the way it turned out.  I did the inside button placket and the underside of the color in a complementary fabric and love the contrast.  The Oliver + S patterns are so incredibly well-written and detailed that even when I get stuck I can figure it out if I read a little more closely - rereading the last step and previewing the next step usually helps.

Thankfully, he loves it.  And actually wore it two days in a row, which says a lot.  There was a moment, though, where he looked down at it and back up at me and said "Oh mama, you forgot the pocket!"  I see more in the future.  With chest pockets.

A Little Pink: Summer Song by Riley Blake

As I neared the end of my load of dresses for Art Star, I realized that I was missing some pink.  Lots of teal/blue and cream with graphics, but not a whole lot of that girly color some folks (like my almost 6 year old) are drawn too.  So, off to the fabric store I went.  Really, my life is tough...

A little Summer Song by the new(er) Riley Blake Designs.

Beautiful colors, great quality.  Just what I was looking for.

Now back to the ironing board.

Literally!

Hoping For Rain: The Oliver + S School Days Coat

I had the great fortune last Saturday of taking a sewing class at Cloth and Bobbin with Leisl Gibson, the designer behind the Oliver + S patterns.  So much fun - and a fabulous pattern!  One of the more challenging I've done, made more challenging with Laminated Cotton - but how cool that I could actually sew E a raincoat - under the tutelage of the designer?!

I had actually been eyeing a different Kaffe Fassett laminate and was showing it to E online (I've learned it's sometimes better to consult her ahead of time since she is a child of definite opinions) and she pointed to this one - immediately smitten.  "But mom, it will look like the roses are growing all over me in the rain!"  I folded, still not in love with it myself.  But I tell you, with each stitch it grew on me.  And by the end, I loved it as much as she did.

It's lined with some super soft Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton (in caramel) which almost shimmers.  Luckily I bought more yardage than I needed - she has already requested a nightgown out of it, too.

I'm already planning a wool coat for O for the fall....  (After these pajamas for both and this dress for E...) 
And there are even more new patterns coming out in the Spring...

Some Productive Studio Time

 It always amazes me how much more productive I feel - in general - when I get a couple quiet hours in the studio.

I love this Modern Home print by Michael Miller.

It's such a big print, though.  This dress doesn't quite do what I wanted it to.

I have another idea, though.

And a full day in the studio on Friday.

Stay tuned!

It's A Crafty Advent - Day 5: The Auction Dress That Wasn't

So I got the studio picked up.  And spend the rest of the morning making a dress for our nursery school's Winter Auction.  I actually finished the dress in one sitting and photographed it in hopes of listing it as a custom item in my shop.  I took pictures of the front.  I flipped it over to take pictures of the back...  And found a couple spots/fabric flaws I had missed when I ironed the fabric before I started!

So, no longer a viable donation, I switched gears and finished this up for the auction instead - one of those moments where it is good to have a couple projects sitting around half-done.

But really, while it was frustrating at the time, I'm more excited and motivated that I managed to finish two pieces today!  On top of a little straightening up/de-cluttering of my workspace.  I call that a success...

30 Days of Summer :: Day 26 :: Attempting to shoot the Storybook Skirt

To re-open my shop, I need to get some pictures done.  Which means I need some cooperation - both from the weather and from the kids.

Usually, I attempt some pictures on a sunny day when the children are playing quietly.  Although this usually ends the playing quietly piece.

So today I thought I would try to incorporate them into the shoot.

I may just have to wait until school starts...

30 Days of Summer :: Day 21

Some of the materials taunting me from the table in my studio.

Some fun, fresh Metro Market fabric I received in a swap with Julie of Jaybird Quilts. She was one of two people I met at Art Star who bought dresses for kids they didn't have yet (with husbands they didn't have yet) because they loved the fabric. I love that!

So this fabric, combined with some red Michael Miller checked bias tape and ruffle rac, hasn't decided what it wants to be yet. It's coming, though! I had first thought of another pillow case dress (which needs another name, by the way) but maybe a fun little skirt with a trimmed pocket... Or something from my Japanese pattern book... It's so hard to decide!
I will though. Maybe tonight...

Is she really 5 now?

We celebrated E's 5th birthday yesterday with a Wizard of Oz themed party.

A table decked out with three yards of this fabric as the table cloth, matching cups, napkins, and plates from Birthday Express, some repurposed yellow brick road pieces, and some fun jingly rainbow trees.

I even found Wizard of Oz confetti on Etsy!

I made my first, somewhat sorry, attempt at a doll cake. Can you see that the layers were slowly sliding to the side?

And the much promised Dorothy Dress. Which she is wearing for the second day in a row and has already requested to wear again tomorrow. Made a size or two too big so that it will fit for a long, long while.

"Am I really 5 now?", she said to me last night after the lights were out.

"Because I really still feel like I'm 4."
"I should be as big as Noah. That's how big real 5-year-olds are."
"Oh sweetie," I told her, "you have all year to grow as big as a 5 year old."

My First Sewing Class

Yesterday afternoon, as part of a fundraiser for E's pre-school, I taught a class on how to sew a simple ribbon-hemmed skirt and matching headband.

It was so. much. fun. To be a teacher again. To feel like I have some (even if very little) expertise on some topic again. To share the joy of making something, the accomplishment of creating something unique for your child. To spend the afternoon with three other moms just working and talking, (mostly) uninterrupted by children.

I hope to do it again. Soon.

If you're interested in making one yourself, you can find a tutorial for a similar skirt here.

The Finished Product

I finished O's shirt today! I really like how it came out.

Luckily, so does he.

I found this great rocket fabric from Free Spirit at a local quilt shop and even lined the collar with the same coordinating fabric as the pocket.

And I am so in love with my (relatively) new snap press, I may have to devote a whole post to that.

Stay tuned...

An eieio Giveaway at Mommy Works Blog

Hop on over to Mommy Works and leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway of one of my Carnaby Street Reversible Roundabouts!

She has a bunch of great giveaways right now, as well as tips for making life as a working mom a little bit easier. Good Luck!

The Collared Shirt

I finally got my hands on Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing last weekend and was able to flip through it in person. The moment I hit to this page I knew I had to bring it home.

I have been searching for a good pattern for a boy's short sleeved collared shirt. More bowling, less church. This is, at least, a starting point.

I found some great fabric at the shop where I bought the book and am excited to be starting the foundations of O's summer wardrobe. Stay tuned!

Finally Finished - The County Fair Nightgown

So I've been working on these matching nightgowns since way back here. And they are finally done. Truth be told, I tried to get O to model the smaller one so you could see both but he would have nothing to do with it.

It was fun to sew something different, experimenting more with the peasant style top. I'm looking forward to trying some other new styles out over the next couple weeks. My fabric stash is slowly filling out with fabric for summer wardrobes for the kids.

When all is said and done, I'm really happy with these and am looking forward to tweaking the design and experimenting with sleeve lengths to come up with some fun shirts and dresses for E. She has already asked for "three more nightgowns, please". Ahhh... my little clotheshorse who always has an idea in her head of exactly. what. she. wants.