Passenger Trench

Pattern: Ottobre 1/2013 #31 Passenger Trench
Fabric: tight weave cotton; lining light green dot cotton
Notions: gray buttons
Total Cost: ~$18.00
Size: 128cm
Child's Age: 8

[Tights: White pin dot Old Navy; Shoes: Mud boots Walmart; Raaf en Vos]
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It's taken me a while to post this one. Spring has gotten in the way. Weeding, biking, mostly weeding. But I'm so glad I got it done in time for the season.

I've been wanting to make Monkey Pants a trench coat for several years now.  I bought my first issue of Burda just for the child's trench coat. I painstakingly traced the pattern, bought the fabric and never made it.
She had a trench from the Gap I loved so much, she wore it for about four years which is like wearing something for half your life when you're child.

When I saw this in the Ottobre issue, I was determined to make it before she got to old for the cuteness of it.
I had a heck of a time finding fabric. I really liked the orange color in the magazine but couldn't find anything like it.  There was a whole incident at the Bernina store with the lady that decided to cut me down to size when I asked for help finding "cotton poplin". She told me there was no such thing. All poplin is polyester. Took me to some hideous 70's polyester. Yes, I had told her I was making a child'r trench coat. When I politely tried to get her to not help me anymore, she through her Major in Fiber at me. Insane.  Then I found this blood orange, unmarked fabric on sale for about $4.00/yd which I'm pretty sure is COTTON POPLIN and bought it.  Then she tried to force me to buy matching thread. It was horrible.  I barely made it out of there without blowing my top.

I'm sure she would balk if she knew that I didn't use matching thread ON PURPOSE.  I used hot pink. Yes people, hot pink with blood orange.  I would have liked to find duck egg blue for the buttons, but no such luck so I had to settle for these gray ones which somehow happened to be the most expensive buttons at JoAnn's.

I was very happy with result despite getting off to a disappointing start. I expected the welt pockets to go quite well but I they weren't as smooth as they should be.  The pattern markings simply weren't enough for me on this one. I also messed up by forgetting to do the double top-stitching on them and had to do the second line after they were already on.  It's not too noticeable though.

Here's a peek at the lining. It's white cotton with light green/gray dots.  A fabric I already had in my stash.

It was freezing when we took this photos. She was a good sport and was very happy when I told her to just put on a hat and that it was OK to be cold in the photo..


And last, I found a great source for European shoes and was so happy when they opened an online store. That is until I went to pay. I had to swallow hard several times before clicking the submit button.  I store these beauties in my closet to insure nothing happens to them and maybe they can become an heirloom her daughter can wear someday.

Blendtec facebook giveaway

Blendtec is having a Smothie Stash Contest on their facebook page.  Vote for our photo or enter your own for a chance to win a Blendtec blender.

I've been making smoothies for the kids for about a year and recently ventured into hummus. I even made my own tahini yesterday (for the hummus). Ironically, I didn't even know what tahini was before yesterday. I also made sun butter for my nut-allergy guy. It's a great way to ease your way into a healthier eating lifestyle.

Camera Dress

Pattern: Ottobre 6/2012 #33 Peilisali Dress
Fabric: 1 1/2 yds camera fabric Hobby Lobby; pin dot fabric Hobby Lobby
Notions: aqua piping, invisible zipper
Total Cost: ~$14.00
Size: 128cm
Child's Age: 8 

[Tights: White pin dot Old Navy; Shoes: Raaf en Vos; Cardigan: Target]
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When I spotted this camera fabric at Hobby Lobby, I couldn't help myself, I had to make something with it.  Why not a dress. I picked out the white with black pin dot fabric for the yoke for a bit of contrast and also decided to add the aqua piping in between the yoke and bodice for a bit of color interest and playfulness to the black and white.

I think it's a fun dress, perfectly complemented by these shoes I was finally able to snag up from Raaf en Vos for the small price of an arm and a leg.

I made the size 128 cm which is probably still a bit big on Monkey Pants' slender frame but that's OK.  Aside from the little fabric variations, I did engage in a bit of totally unnecessary nonsense with the yoke. The pattern has a facing but I decided to do a full lining and then realized I would have to put the facing on there anyway to be able to finish the top edge. Overkill with lining the yoke. But Monkey Pants does have an appreciation for smooth seams.

S.W.A.P.

Sewing With A Plan for Kids Clothes Week.

These are from various issues of Ottobre magazine.

2nd pick Easter dress

Pattern: Ottobre 3/2012 #28 Hawaiian Flowers Dress
Fabric: 1 yard Heather Bailey, Nicey Jane, Lindey Leaf - Pink
Notions: elastic thread
Total Cost: ~$4.50
Size: 128cm
Child's Age: 8

[Cardigan: Target; Salt Water yellow sandals]
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I wanted to make the Trumpet Flowers Dress from the 3/2012 issue since I got it. I even got a hold of the fabric from the magazine but my daughter was too scrawny last year to fit into the smallest size. I meant to make it for Easter but I ran out of time, and I didn't want to be making it in a rush since I've been considering it a special project. So, instead, I picked the Hawaiian Flowers Dress #28 from the same issue and used a fabric from my stash. I was very pleased with it. I think she's finally at the point where size 128cm fits her! It worked out great for a casual Easter spent mostly playing out in the back yard.
   

from Ottobre
This shows a better view of the top as it is hard to see in my pictures with the cardigan.

I was going for something quick and easy, and it was.  The only time consuming thing was learning to do the rolled hem technique on my serger.  The tension on the bottom looper of my serger is pretty whacked out so I feared if I made drastic changes to the set up, it would never work again. Luckily it worked! Frankly, I was rather surprised that I pulled it off having never done it before and dealing with the tension issues.  I also quite like the way my Kenmore does the rolled hem, by actually folding the edge under instead of chopping it off.

Another fun technique was the shirring.  This was only my second time doing it and it turned out great except for the first three rows. I think I was going way too slowly and the elastic in the bobbin was slowly unwinding when I would stop. It ran out after three rows, and the succeeding rows from the new winding of the bobbin came out great.  I also decided to change the top thread from white to yellow because it was hard to see while sewing. I mentioned this was a casual dress, right?

One thing, I don't know that 1yd of 44" wide fabric is enough for the pattern. In my haste, of course I cut the pattern wrong and was forced to cut the skirt section upside down and join two pieces at the back. Luckily, it's not a big deal with this patterned fabric on this dress.

I really liked the end result. It's a nice way to get a dress on Monkey Pants that she can still run around and play in. I tried to get a yellow cardigan at the last minute. There were some cheap ones at Walmart for $10, but I guess everyone wanted the yellow ones, they were all gone by the time I went back ... to three Walmarts.

Babylock giveaway

Baby Lock is giving away a serger this month!

Bugle Boy

Pattern:  Jalie #2802 Men's Skating Bodyshirt; Jalie #2803 Men's Figure Skating Pants
Fabric:  7/8 yd tan polyester; 1 yd tan faux linen (JoAnn Fabrics)
Notions: black grosgrain ribbon; gold colored buttons, elastic
Total Price: $15.50
Size: Jalie kids size G

(I did not make the hat)
Tie was made from a McCall's pattern
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I decided to make this dance costume for my little boy two days before his team competition.  They have been learning this dance for months, but somehow, I only then realized that he was the bugle boy???  I don't know how my brain works sometimes.

I have only recently found Jalie patterns. They seem to be the only pattern company that focuses on sportswear.  I have made a girl's leotard and boy's, so this was my third project.  I bought all these patterns at the same time directly from their website with the buy 3 get the 4th for free deal, as I find them kind of pricey, especially with the shipping. The nice thing about the Jalie patterns is that they include all sizes, and by all sizes, I mean ALL sizes from toddler to adult.  That means my boy better keep dancing or go on to figure skating so I can get my money's worth out of these patterns!

One thing, I'm not fond of is that the pattern and instructions are all printed on one side of a giant sheet of paper.  Although, I recently found out that the instructions are available for download from their site so they can printed separately.

The pants turned out pretty well.  I omitted the fly to save time, hoping they would just slide up despite their close fit, since he has no shape what so ever.  I'm pretty sure his chest, waist, and hips are exactly the same.  Both the shirt and pants are meant to be made from stretch fabrics.  I figured the polyester would have enough give for the pants but I wasn't able to find stretch fabric in the right color for the shirt. I went up a size to compensate but it is very fitted and he was barely able to put it on.  The shirt has an under part with snaps to keep it from popping out of the pants which is really nice for dancing (not just ice skating). He has danced in regular shirts before and the shirt tails are all over the place by the end of the dance.

Well, that's it.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time for any photos of the actual pieces.  I'll be updating with another costume I made for his dance soon.  Luckily, I'm done with costumes for the year, (I think) as they are just starting out getting into competitions.