Kids Clothes Week: Two Little Geraniums & a Motorcycle

Another Kids Clothes Week just wrapped up! Most of my sewing lately has been home decorating -- pillows and curtains for our master bedroom (which is finished! and will be photographed this week!).

I've been itching to sew clothes, and needed to make something for our new niece and nephew (twins) born a couple of months ago. Sewing an hour a day for a week was a perfect palate cleanser after last weekend's marathon.

Here are the finished projects!

Pattern: MADE "the perfect Diaper Cover" (free!). RTW onesie with appliqué.

Fabric: Honestly, this fabric had been in my stash for a decade, and I've since gotten rid of it. The little motorcycle was from a fabric I've used to make two pairs of pants. Michael Miller, maybe? It's old, too.

Size: 0-3 month, and the fit seems pretty average with these diaper covers.

Thoughts: I made this diaper cover a couple of years ago (and just kept it for a gift someday) and added the coordinating onesie this week. I followed Dana's directions exactly for this one and found the casings around the legs and waist cumbersome. I used a much easier (to me) method in the polka dotted ones below.

Pattern: Little Geranium by Made by Rae (free!) Lollypop Leggings by Peekaboo Patterns.
Fabric: gifted by Emily and Ashley. It reminds me of my favorite feed sack fabric. The shorts are made from a pair of women's leggings I cut apart.
Size: 0-3 months, and it fit just right. I made the tunic, and it hit just where I would expect a tunic to hit. The leggings are the shorts version, and I chose to do a yoga waistband instead of a casing. They seemed to fit well, too.
Thoughts: I want to have more baby girls just to sew a hundred of these.

The baby piping is a nice touch around the bottom of the bodice, especially with a busy fabric like this one.

This was the first time I've used snaps and oh my goodness these would have been lovely, say, when I was sewing for baby Eliza! So much easier than buttons to insert and to use!

I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend three rows of gathering stitches for even, pretty gathers. One inside the SA, one close to or right at the SA, and one outside the SA. It has made such a difference in my gathered skirts.

Also, I'd recommend topstitching around the armholes and neckline for a nicely finished look.

Pattern: Little Geranium by Made by Rae (free!) and MADE perfect diaper cover (free!)
Fabric: Alexander Henry ca. a long, long time ago. Polka dotted fabric from my sister's wedding. (I've got a whole bolt! Woohoo!)
Size: 0-3 months. Norah hasn't tried this one on, but it'll fit the same. With the band, it's about the same length as the floral one -- a tunic length. For little babies, this is a good length. The leg holes may be a little big, but without measuring her little thighs, I just went with the pattern's recommended length for the elastic.
Thoughts: I didn't get a good photo of the back, but if I did, you'd see I ran out of silver snaps and had to use one black one. Oops. She's a little baby, so her back is usually hidden by a seat or someone's body who's holding her. Also, the placket doesn't fold in like it should, but the gathers make it really difficult to see that unless you're looking for it. Overall I was still pleased with how it turned out.

For this diaper cover, I inserted the elastic like you would for a bathing suit. I sewed the elastic together first in a loop, and then stretched it and sewed it directly to the (serged) raw edges of the wrong side of the fabric. Then I turned the elastic to the inside and sewed around again on the right side of the fabric, sewing the elastic down. It was soooo much easier and neater to me.

That's all for now! I'm in the process of planning out capsule wardrobes for me and Eliza. Do you have any big sewing plans for the spring? Did you have fun sewing during KCW?

Crafting Con Guest Post: Mario

Have you heard of Crafting Con? It's a series hosted by Mae&K and Friends Stitched Together that celebrates all things nerdy. Each month there's a different theme like Star Wars or Harry Potter or Dr. Who -- and guests create tutorials and four bloggers compete with a complete outfit inspired by the theme.

This month it's my turn, and our theme was Mario Brothers! The boys got a Wii for Christmas and have been getting to know Mario and his friends. Daniel's favorite character is Mario - and he's the one who needed one more winter shirt - so, he got a Mario outfit!

Whenever I sew for Daniel, especially if it's something soft and comfortable, he is so grateful. It warms a sewing mama's heart to see him so happy. He wore these pants three days in a row until I convinced him they were stained and needed to be washed!

I wanted the outfit to be a nod to Mario - the converse shoes, slim-fitting pants reminiscent of the '80s, and pageboy hat. The appliquéd Mario silhouette is for fun!

The hat is the Newsboy Hat Sewing pattern from Butterfly Tree on Etsy. It's fully reversible and made with fabric from an upcycled robe my grandmother gave me. The pattern was super easy to follow, and I took my time and am pleased with the outcome.

The pants are the Clean Slate Pants from Blank Slate Patterns. I've made the pants a couple of times before, so they went together easily, too. I do have one recommendation: if you know yours is a slim kid and you'll be cinching the elastic quite a bit, anchor down the elastic closer to the pockets rather than the side seams. All that gathering makes the welt pockets distorted otherwise. I did widen the legs of the pants a tad for a more relaxed fit, and I'm glad. Melissa's directions for a zip fly are still my favorites.

The first time I sewed these pants was a couple of years ago (at least). I remember how difficult they were for me -- the welt pockets, the zip fly, everything. The fact that things were so much easier this time made me realize just how much all that hard work has paid off! Look -- it's even got a bar tack!

My love for the Bimaa knows no bounds! The hooded version is just as great as the others. Daniel loooooves hooded shirts. This is what? my fourth Bimaa? I won the pattern from Call Ajaire and will end up investing in the updated version that has more sizes.

That's it! There's more nerdy goodness over at Mae&K, and there are some photos I didn't share here, so go check them out if you're interested!

Completed: Flower Girl Dress

Amanda had a lovely vision for Eliza's dress. She pinned a photo way back when (I'll show you in a minute), but it was from a photographer's site and not a sewing/fashion source. So I started with a pattern and did my best to replicate the dress.

We were unanimous in really liking the result. (What will follow is an exorbitant number of photos, for which I cannot apologize. The combination of the warm, fuzzy memories of the wedding day and the adoration I have for my sister, combined with the realization that Eliza will go from age three to 23 in the blink of an eye, has me feeling like there will never ever EVER be enough photos/memories of her at this age.)

I started with McCall's 6304 -- a wonderful romper pattern. A muslin revealed that the smallest size of the pattern was too big, so I made some serious adjustments to the width of the bodice and re-drafted the armholes. In addition I drafted a peter pan collar.

Here's the original photo Amanda pinned. I tried really, really hard to find the original source for this photo but had no luck. The watermark will have to do.

I forgot to add sleeves, and in hindsight I would have used the Norah Dress collar to aid in the beading.

The photos that follow are from the wedding day. My mom did her hair.

To bead the collar, I searched for tutorials and landed on this one. Through trial and error, I realized that the best way to bead the collar would be one pearl at a time. The first attempt resulted in pearls that were too crowded and bunched up. I ripped the whole thing and started over, giving more space between beads with more success. There are still gaps in places, and I can see how I'd do things differently next time, but for my first attempt I'll call it good and done.

We were kind of ambivalent about a belt. Originally we thought a gold sparkly one would work, but it turns out it's hard to match gold to gold. Last week I went to our local fabric store - Let's Sew - and Louis helped me find the PERFECT trim. Originally it just had the light-colored pearls, so I added in the gold pearls I was using in the collar to tie things together. The shiny gold in the belt trim perfectly matches the gold in the fabric. 

The dress is fully lined with cream-colored bemberg rayon on the bodice and a sweet linen with embroidered pink flowers for the skirt (it doesn't match, but it was in my stash and needed to be used).

The fabric! The fabric is from Mood. It's PERFECT (and sold out unfortunately). It's a rayon brocade -- you can really see the detail in the photos above.

Mom found this little shrug at H&M while we were in Nashville for our girls' night. It was great for keeping her (relatively) warm the day of the wedding.

This one also held up really well, and she'll be able to wear it for a while. 

Completed: Bridesmaid Dress

My sister's a married woman! She and her lovely husband are honeymooning in the Caribbean as I type this post. The wedding was spectacular, and we all had a wonderful time.

My sister and parents did 90% of the decorating and 100% of the planning for the wedding. Unfortunately distance made it difficult for me to be involved as much as I'd have liked, BUT my sister asked me to sew some important pieces: my own dress, Eliza's flower girl dress, the garters (one she kept and one she tossed), and a veil for her reception exit. 

This week I'll be sharing details of my dress and Eliza's dress. I'll also share a brief post about the other two pieces.

First up -- my bridesmaid dress.

Amanda asked all six bridesmaids to wear black dresses with gold sparkly shoes. She wanted knee-length dresses, but other than that left us to our own devices. Originally I wanted a dress with a sweetheart neckline and sheer yoke, but I couldn't figure out how to drape the yoke properly. I found this LeAnne Marshall pattern, and in the end decided to stick with it as it was designed.

However, my fabric was much thicker than I'd anticipated, and when it came time to attach the silk yoke, the weight difference was a disaster. I tried to sew the yoke on five times (at least), and finally had a late-night meltdown and considered scrapping the whole thing and buying a dress. (This was less than two weeks before the wedding, of course.)

After much thought and prayer and gnashing of teeth, I finally had the idea to add sleeves in a style similar to the Sewaholic Cambie. It worked like a charm.

The fabric is a thick cotton, very twill-like with lines for texture. It has just enough stretch to make it comfortable. I bent over, squatted, and literally ran around all day Friday and was comfortable the whole time. (My feet -- now that's another story.) All of these photos were taken today after wearing the dress through the whole wedding prep, wedding, and reception. And wadding it up in my suitcase to bring it home.

Details

Pattern:  Simplicity 1353 LeAnne Marshall Collection (View B)

Fabric: cotton from Mood. It has a medium drape and ridges for texture. I really, really like this fabric, but it's not the kind of fabric for which this dress was designed. I got lucky with the result (other than the yoke fiasco).

Adjustments: Lengthened bodice. Added straps.

Thoughts: I highly recommend this pattern. The instructions are well written, and it's a well designed pattern. The waist hits high, so I can see how the pleats might give too much volume in the hip area, but it gives me the illusion of curves, which is nice.

I had to re-work the pleats to line up with the bodice seams.

There are a lot of pieces to this dress: the bodice is in seven pieces and is lined. There's an underskirt and overskirt, too. My Elsa dresses prepared me as they're identical in the bodice construction.

Also -- pockets!!! Having pockets on the wedding day was awesome.

All in all, I was very pleased with the look and performance of this dress.

Up next is Eliza's! It beats mine to pieces.

Completed: Eliza's Fall Ensemble #1

First up on the list for Eliza's fall wardrobe is a pair of jeggings. She has a polka dotted pair that she's worn threadbare, and a lightweight knit pair that she loves despite their being two sizes too small.

It was time for a replacement pair.

Here's what I started with:

also, my feet are jacked up. but seeing that flaming duct tape that holds my cutting mat together makes me SO HAPPY.

I started with the polka-dotted pair, which I ripped apart and used to draft a new pattern. When I cut the new ones too short, I decided to add an angled detail at the ankle. For the ankle pieces, the pockets, the yoke, and the front pockets (which I didn't photograph), I used the reverse side of this denim-look knit. It's super shiny, but of course shows up as a dull gray in photos. There's a sheen to the knit that doesn't translate into photos either.

But it does translate into pants that my all-things-shiny-loving daughter will wear. Score.

I used navy thread for all the topstitching. Why? Because I didn't have silver.

And now the Bimaa. I've made this shirt several times (four times, actually), but this is the first time with the shawl collar. I used an old dress of my sister's for the collar, sleeve bands, and waist band. When it came time to find coordinating fabric, I had a tough time choosing from my stash. I knew Eliza would only wear it if certain criteria were met (shine!), so I finally landed on this teal fabric with metallic stripes.

Stats:

Patterns: Bimaa Sweater by LouBee Clothing (shawl option). Self-drafted jeggings.

Fabric: Upcycled knit for sweater bands and shawl. Other fabrics from Jo-Ann. 

Thoughts: I would like this outfit in my size. Really.

I need to bring the neckline up on the Bimaa. I know this and just keep forgetting. Also, I need to shorten the sleeves a tad. Then the 3T will fit her perfectly. There are a few more Bimaas on the list for the Fall, including a hood version and a maxi dress. The Girl loves long dresses.

The jegging pockets are a little big for her tiny tush.

This look was inspired by the "'80s Cartoon" theme for Project Run & Play week one. (I was thinking "Jem" with the zig zags and metallic fabric.) It also fits the upcycled theme (week two) and the denim theme (week three).  Too bad I didn't finish it in time for any of those sew-along linky parties. Ha. And. . . meh.

Up next: a denim skirt with tights and (another) Bimaa. Then my practice version of The Bridesmaid Dress. I'm saving some awesome t-shirts for the boys for Kids Clothes Week (October 20-26).

Completed: Paper Piecing for Halloween Basket

Just jumping in to show you a basket I made up for the Halloween Basket Swap on Instagram. (follow me on IG here) It was a fun little change from my usual apparel sewing.

For this project, we used the fabric bins created with a free tutorial from Birch Fabrics. My assigned partner said she liked lime green, orange, and black cats. From the beginning I wanted to have a paper-pieced feature on the front of the basket.

After hunting around, I found this free pattern for a paper-pieced black cat. It took a few failed attempts to get the hang of it, but then things went together easily after that. It helped when I finally found a tutorial that explained it wonderfully.

I'll definitely be trying paper piecing again. Look at these sewing-related paper-pieced blocks. And this Polaroid camera! And these witch's shoes are adorable. These ballet shoes would be perfect framed on Eliza's wall.

I could go on and on. The possibilities are endless! (Lego Star Wars!)

with the lining folding down

without the lining folded down

Have a great weekend!