The tale of the polka dot shirt

There is a very cute tunic in the new Ottobre magazine that I wanted to make for the girls.  So I cut out one for Nin in polka dots and one for KK in cute flower fabric.  So Nin wants to wear hers the next day and this is the arguement that ensued.

KK:  why does Nin get the polka dot one?
Me:  Because I made it in her size and the flower one is your size.
KK:  But you always make her polka dot clothes.
Me:  Really?
KK:  It's not fair.  Sobbing, whining and crying.......

At this time KK stomps off and starts yanking clothes out of closets to prove her point.

KK:  See look at this Nin has way more polka dot clothes than I do.  You always make her more polka dot clothes.  It's no fair.
Me:  Geesh, you caught me.  That was my plan all along.  I discriminate against you and polka dot clothing. 

They will fight about anything! 

Pattern:  Ottobre Magazine 1/2012
#37 size 140







The  unloved floral top!



Look at those snaps! They match perfectly!!

Oh baby!

I don't know what it is about baby clothes!  They are so cute and tiny!  Kind of like babies!  Anyway, I finished up some baby items for no particular reason.  Some are for baby Avie but the other set just hangs on my garment rack. 

Avie got a tunic out of the new Ottobre magazine, 1/2012 #17, and some matching leggings from Otto 4/2004.



Isn't this fabric so sweet! As soon as I saw it, I snatched up 3 yards from Girl Charlee!





And then there is this little jumper! Swoon!

Jumper is Ottobre 6/2009 #4 and the t shirt underneath is 1/2011 #4. Both of these are about a size 3 mo. They are so tiny!

Upcycles

I love upcycling!!  I frequent Goodwill looking for cool t shirts!  You can quit laughing at me now!  Here are some recent finds. 

Supergirl!



Back



Do you like candy?



Or how about Girl Scout cookies?

Pajama-rama

I have a confession.  I never make pj's for my girls.  Seems like a waste of time and fabric considering that they just wear them to bed.  I make them wear old t shirts.  Please don't turn me in!!  They seem to have a never ending supply of t shirts that they manage to collect from random places, like parades or Washburn University basketball games.  So that's what they wear..... 

For reasons that even I don't understand, I purchased a pj pattern from a co-op last summer.  I was pretty excited so I cut out 8 pairs of tank top/short pajamas.  I started sewing them assembly line style and didn't get them done before Stash Game last fall.  I can't complete them during Stash Game because I would barely get any points for them since they were already half sewn.  And by the time Stash Game was over, it was too cold to wear them to bed, so they sat for months and months and a few more months.  Even though it is still too cold to wear them, I wanted to get them finished before Stash Game this month and get them off my desk. 

So the last weekend of January, I set to work to finish them up.  I mean all they needed were hems and elastic in the waist, shouldn't be too hard!  But about an hour in I remembered why I never finished them.  Pay attention folks, this is important!  Sewing 8 pairs of pajamas in an assembly line is BORING!!!!  My sewing ADD was screaming at me to give them up until spring when they could actually wear them!  But I managed, barely, to get them all done.  And now they sit in drawers until it warms up.  Boo!! 

Here is what one set looks like. I mean if you see one set, you know what all 8 look like...





Then, I had another bright idea. Back in the beginning of January when I realized the extent of my fabric stash, I went on a cutting bender and cut out like a gagillion things. The girls had received some nightgowns for Christmas and they like wearing them so I cut 4 out. As long as I was torturing myself with the other pajamas, I may as well add 4 nightgowns to the mix, right?

So I dug them out of the pile and finished them. These weren't so bad because there were only 4 and I finished each one before I moved on to the next.

These were well received! They have been wearing them non stop!!







All of these pj's are from one pattern, Kwik Sew 3025. I can safely say that I probably won't be making any more pj's! At least for a long time!

Theo Rama

I made Theo some new duds while he was visiting.  That way I could have him model.  Since I don't typically see him in the clothes I make him, I wanted to take some modeling shots.  Which is easier than it sounds.....  But more on that later.

I made him 2 pairs of pants out of corduroy.  Same pattern, Ottobre 4/2011 #9.  In size 86.  PS- I actually made 3 pairs of pants but I gave one away, and it was identical to the khaki cords. 





Lots of tags on these!



Helicopters!



More on the pocket in the back



An action shot?



Blue cords that were made to match a super cool new shirt! I even topstitched in lime green!





back pocket with a cool rocket tag!



Another action shot?



2 Ottobre shirts! Super fab watch fabric from Girl Charlee!



At this point modeling was getting harder and harder. I resorted to bribery. It went something like this:

Me- Theo please stand here so I can take your pretty picture.
Theo- No.
Me- Pretty pleaaaaasssseeee, you look so handsome.
Theo- No, dont want to.
Me- Pppppplllleeeeaaaasssseeee!
Theo- No, Kewwwy, don't want to.
Me- Please, I will give you a piece of candy!
Theo- Ok.

I win!





And that's all I got!

Farbenmix Encinitas

I ordered a bunch of Farbenmix patterns in a co- op last summer.  I finally got them in January and set to work sewing one up for Addi Bo's birthday gift.  I chose the Encinitas which can be a super frilly, ruffly, twirly dress.  It can also be made plain, but what's the fun in that!  And since the birthday girl is very girly I chose pink!

3 1/2 yards of fabric later and I had this!





Upfront ruffles



Top view



And a little tag that peeks out of the ruffles when the dress moves



The dress is a peasant bodice attached to a double layer skirt. The upper skirt has 3 long tear drop shapes with 3 shorter upside down u's all sewn together alternating long, short, long, short, long short. It's what gives the dress the scalloped effect. The under layer is just 6 long tear drop pieces that also create a scallop shaped hem. Now, I don't technically know if I did this correctly. I mean, the pattern was in German, and I don't speak German. And I had a few pieces leftover. But from what I gather looking at other examples is that the leftover pieces are to create pockets if you want them. But I went without because I didn't think the dress needed them!

So has it really been that long?

Where did January go?  Really!  We were so busy, but I managed to make a bunch of clothes, finish up some UFO's (unfinished objects) and clear off my sewing desk.  Oh, and I sucessfully managed to run my hubby and his hobby out of the sewing room!  So it's all mine now!  Theo Rama came to visit for awhile, so he got some new duds, and my Grandmother turned 90!  Whew, I managed to fill that month up!

Once I kicked the hubs out of the sewing room I rearranged my fabric.  Which was a bad idea because now that it's all out in the open, you can really see how much I have!  When it's stacked in piles on the floor and shoved into the corner of a closet, you really can hide a lot!  Once I figured out how much I had, I set to work sewing some of it up so it would all fit on the shelves.  I decided to start with the bulkiest stuff to make the most room.  The bulkiest things are french terry, sweatshirt fleece and fleece.  Prime jacket making materials!  So that's what we got!

Two jackets for me from the 5/2011 women's Ottobre magazine. These are a great fit and pretty easy to put together so I made 2!







Each of those jackets took 2 yards of material, which was super bulky and left a big void on the shelves!

PS- in case you don't believe me here are my knit fabric shelves...

Before:



After:



The girls each got a hoodie. I made one of these before so I already had the pattern traced and ready to go! Plus, I knew the girls would love them!

Pattern:
4/2007 Ottobre # 34.

Nin got hearts:



Kk got bunnies:



Pow! Another 2 yards gone! If you are counting that's 6 yards down...

Then baby Avie got a new coat. I made her one of these in the past and since the child never grows, I could still use the same pattern tracing since it still fit her. I just had to lengthen the sleeves.

Ottobre 4/2010 #7



Look at this, I even fussy cut the pockets so each one would have a cute little elephant on it!



Here she is, not so happily modeling it.



There were also school dresses. I mean, only my kids are asking their mom to cut up their brand new school spirit shirt to make it into something else.



Leggings:





And an outfit for KK. Which you can't really see here. She picked it out of my most favorite Ottobre mag and asked me to make it for her. How could I say no?

1/2009 Ottobre: tank, skirt and leggings



Closest matching zip that I had!



Pockets!



The bad thing about this outift is that the tank needs to be ironed before she wears it because the hem is not large enough and it flips up in the wash every dang time! And you know me, I cannot let her go to school with it flipped up. It's the ironing OCD coming out in me....