Cool Cardigan

In case you missed it, last week I was over at GotoSew talking about the Cool Cardigan!  I'm completely in love with the fox fabric, but the one with the heart pockets might be my favorite.  Great idea for Valentine's Day, right?  

Here's my review I did for the pattern - 

I'm so happy I got a chance to sew up and review the Cool Cardigan, a Blank Slate Pattern available with Go To Patterns.  It's a versatile pattern that works with both girls and boys.  Here's my "boy" version, though worn on one of my girls.  

This pattern printed off and pieced together wonderfully. I love when pdf patterns are organized well so that less paper is required to be printed. I made the cardigan in a 3T, which is what she wears commercially. The fit is spot on with a little room to layer. Both the Fox and the the Houndstooth fabric are from Girl Charlee and are the perfect weight to sew with. I was totally singing that song (What does a fox say?) while sewing this. It’s one of the girls’ favorite songs right now, so of course this fabric was a hit.

The cardigan can be sewn by using a serger and leaving seams exposed or with a regular machine and seams enclosed.  I tried all methods discussed in the pattern and I preferred to sew it up with seams left exposed.  It was incredibly fast with a serger!

The most difficult part of the entire pattern is the button placket for me.  My machine is a little finicky when sewing the buttonholes and likes to eat up the knit.  I would suggest adding some light interfacing to the waistband corners (similar to the what you would use in the placket) if you have experienced similar issues.

And because I make at least two of everything, especially when I find a great pattern, I made a "girl" version of the Cool Cardigan.  It compliments the Sweetheart Dress she's wearing perfectly and reminds me of a 50s cardigan that belongs with a poodle skirt.

The baby pink fabric is from a women’s medium sweater that I upcycled. I added some white stretch lace from JoAnn Fabrics to make the contrast cuffs, collar, and waistband.

Instead of knit pockets like the other cardigan, I crocheted two hearts and sewed them on as pockets. I also only added one button closure to the placket so more of the dress could peak through.

Hope these variations inspire you to make your own Cool Cardigans so your kids can look "cool" like these jokers!  (her cool face)

 

 

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Snowflakes and Lace Series



Winter Wonderland

The season 8 of Project Run & Play has started today!  I can't help but sew along each time.  I love themed sewing and there are four in this season.  This week is Winter Wonderland - a winter inspired look.  It's a really great theme, especially since it is winter for us now.  Unfortunately the beautiful snow we received last week has melted, but it is still plenty cold - my model kept hiding her hands in her shirt and shrugging her shoulders every time the wind blew, so these photos were taken super quick!

My look is made up of a few things that come to mind when I think of winter clothing - fur, blue/white, and layers.  Let me break down this outfit:

Shirt -  I started with redrafting the Bimaa Sweater pattern with a basic neckline and then omitted the cuffs at the waist and wrists.  The shirt is made with stretch velvet and feels so wonderful.  I couldn't pass it in the fabric store without petting it and ogling the pretty color.

Skirt - The skirt is a faux fur bubble mini skirt!!!  I had some leftover fur from the vests I made and thought this would be really fun - it was really quite simple to make based off of her measurements.  It's not as wide as a bubble skirt made with lighter fabrics because the fur is very bulky when gathered.  I attached it to an elastic waistband.  The lining is a chevron knit from Girl Charlee (you can see it in the first pic).  

Accessories - 

First up is the scarf - I took some scrap plaid and knit and sandwiched a fun metallic trim in between to make an infinity scarf.  The trim reminded me of icicles!  I think it looks best long like a necklace and the kids agree - they aren't big fans of scarfs looped close around their necks yet.

I layered it with a white pom-pom necklace that is tied in the back with a silver ribbon...like itty bitty snowballs :)  Her head is topped with a snowflake clip I crocheted.

Finally, I took a silver sharpie to her leggings to make little pin dots.  A fun way to customize boring tights!  However, my arm is still covered in silver dots from making them - great conversation starter… ;)

So, what do you think?  The scarf may be a little too much, but I just love all the mixing and layering of materials!

I've been so inspired by these colors and materials that I'm pretty sure the rest of my sew along looks for this season will be coordinating like a collection.  How crazy would it be if that was another requirement of the competition - joining four themes into a cohesive collection!  Anyway, check out the competitors and sew along participators here!

 

 

 

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Favorites of 2013

Okay, I feel a little late to the game.  I almost didn't write this post because I haven't blogged an entire year.  But I've made more things than I can keep track of, so this feels like a great reminder to me of what I enjoyed doing the most while learning to sew this past year. 

I haven't blogged about everything I've sewn (who has time to do both?!?), but here are some of my favorites.  And by favorites I mean I enjoyed making them and they were actually worn often instead of thrown into the "not quite right" pile to fix someday.

For the Girls:

Farm Dresses

I modified the Cottage Mama Party Dress, my favorite basic bodice.

 

 

 Skipper Tops 

It should come as no surprise that I love these tops (I made 11!)

 

Wpants

The best fitting pants I've ever made for the girls. 

I'm also in love with those shoes I painted with gold triangles.

 

For Me:

 

 Sundress

I modified the Casual Lady Top to make this.  It was my second time using knits and looking back I'm pretty shocked it was sewn up without too many problems since I was making it up as I went.

  For the Man of the House:

 

Burda Style - Pete Tee

I really need to sew more men's items!

 

 

 Non Clothing:

Fabric Dollhouse

Someday I'll make another...

 

So those are the favs that I've actually taken pics and blogged about.  Hopefully I can get more efficient in the new year and share more - I already have a few new favorites to show soon.

 

Wishing everyone out there a Happy New Year!

 

Dishtowel to Child's Apron - in less than 10 minutes

A friend's birthday was coming up and I asked the girls what they wanted to give her.  Since they had just made cookies and could think of nothing else, they requested I make her an apron and get her some baking supplies.  No problem.  I made them aprons last year out of some dishtowels and ribbons and they love them.  There are several ways to do this, but here's how I do it-

You'll need:

• a dishtowel - mine was 17" x 24 1/2"
• ribbon - at least 50"
• any embellishments you want to add to the apron

 Step 1:  Pinch the towel at about 8 1/2" from the bottom.  Slide the towel up to overlap about 4".

Step 2:  Stitch the fold in place along each side of the towel.

Step 3:  Stitch down the middle of the towel to secure the fold further and also create two pockets.

Step 4:  Turn the towel over.  Fold each top corner down to line up with the top of the pockets.  Stitch down each side making sure there's a space about 1" on each side for ribbon to slide through (less or more depending on the ribbon you choose).  You can also folder under the corners of the triangles to secure them better.

Step 5:  Slide the ribbon through each casing that you have made.  Seal the ribbon edges with a lighter and tie the ends into knots.  The knots are intended to keep the ribbon from sliding out of the casings.  You can also sew down the ribbon to the apron, but I like to leave it free so it's adjustable.

Step 6:  Finish off by adding any other embellishments to the apron you can think of.  In the two aprons I made the girls I didn't even bother since they already had plenty of interest on them.

There you have it!

This one is a gift, but here's the girls in action wearing theirs…

I couldn't believe they could roll out cookies and cut them by themselves.  The baking set we got from Ikea was a hit!  The smaller roller is perfect for them.  The amount of flour all over the house was pretty ridiculous though.  One of them (hint…she thinks she's tinker bell) decided it was fairy dust and practically started a flour fight.  It was worth it though.  They were so proud of themselves and it was probably time to scrub down every surface in the kitchen anyway.  Still finding sprinkles in random places though. 

Hope everyone out there is finding time to bake and have fun with this season!

Penelope Peplum

I haven't finished Christmas gifts yet, but I sure did find some time to make myself a new shirt.  A way to be productive while still procrastinating.  

You may have noticed it in the Faux Fur Vest Tutorial post.  The pattern is the Penelope Peplum by See Kate Sew.  It was on-sale during Black Friday weekend and I snapped it up as quick as I found out.  

I heart peplums because they are fitted where I feel confident, and flowy where I don't.  It was pretty quick to sew up and straight forward.  Everything worked out like it should, but I'm not sure if the peplum skirt is at the right place on my waist.  I keep thinking it should move up a couple inches, but the next day I think it's great as is.  Or maybe I should've sewn a shorter sleeve option.  What do you think?

In case you're wondering, the fabric is from JoAnn Fabrics.  It's a very nicely weighted knit.  I walked by it and debated forever whether or not it was outdated looking or fashionable - so hard to determine when it's on the bolt rather than a person.  I think in the end it's pretty trendy - reminds me of some Urban Outfitter shirts I've seen.  

I hope to sew up another soon - gotta get this peplum perfected so I can look good while still indulging in all the cookies we've started making!  Any one else procrastinating, or is everyone finished with Christmas gifts?

Make a Faux Fur Vest

Ever fall in love with a faux fur vest in the store, only to look at the steep price tag and have to walk away?  I've wanted one forever but didn't want to pay over 50 bucks for a item that might fall out of fashion soon.  So what do you do?  Make one!

There are already some tutorials out there online, but in case you haven't seen one I wanted to break down the how to for you.  You'll need about 3/4 yard of faux fur and 3/4 yard of a lining fabric (less depending on your size).  I got my fur at JoAnn Fabrics.  Linen or quilting cotton works well as a lining, but you can try knit too.

Start out by making a pattern from a tshirt you own or a tshirt pattern.  (sorry no pictures for this part)  If making one from your own tee, start out by folding your shirt in half with the arms tucked in and the back facing you.  Trace the folded shirt back and add seam allowances (1/2 inch).  Make the front pattern from the back pattern, but angle the neckline into a low V.  You may also want to curve the front piece like in the picture below, but keeping it straight works just as well.

I didn't actually use the curved front pattern piece shown and instead made a more square one later.

Before cutting into the fur, a few things to know…

• Pet your fur!  Seriously.  You want to be sure of the nap so that when you are cutting out your pattern pieces the nap is facing the direction you want it (usually down).  
• Some furs shed a ton so you may want to cut it out outside.  I tried cutting it out with a razor on the back side of the fur to avoid the shedding, but that technique didn't work out for me.
• When sewing the fur together, make sure to tuck the hairs inside so they don't get sucked into the seam.  If they do you can fix it later by gently pulling out the hairs that got sewn down.
• Also when possible, sew with the fur on top of the lining pieces when feeding through the machine.  I found that the pieces fed more uniformly that way - though it was only a major difference when I used thicker fur.

Use the pattern pieces to cut out a back (on the fold) for the lining and fur, and a left and right front piece for the lining and fur.

The next steps of assembly are very similar to the assembly of a sleeveless bodice.  If you're familiar with sewing those this will be super easy!

1.  Sew the lining front and back pieces (right sides together) at the shoulders.  Do the same for the faux fur pieces.  Pay extra attention that you're sewing the front pieces on correctly so that the armholes are on the outside and neckline is in the center (make sense?).

2.  Next up, we're going to sew the neckline.  Match the front lining pieces to the front fur pieces (right sides together).  Make sure the shoulder seams are matching up.  If you have really thick fur, definitely pin or clip the fabrics together as it will shift around while you're sewing.



Too bad my lining looks the same on both sides - wrong side shown on top in picture.

 

3.  Sew the arm holes on each side (fabric still right sides together), leaving the side seams unfinished still.

 

4.  Now that you have the shoulder seams, neckline, and armholes sewn together, reach in and turn the vest right side out.

Only the side seams and bottom to finish.  The side seams will be tackled next.

5.  Take one side and match the fur front to the fur back, and match the lining front to the lining back - all right sides facing.  Make sure the bottom of the armholes line up.  Sew it up and repeat for the next side.

6.  Almost there!  Turn it inside out so that you can match the bottom hems of the lining pieces to the fur pieces (right sides together).  Sew from one front piece to the middle back and stop.  Then sew from the other side to the middle back and stop again, leaving a gap large enough for your hand to fit through.  Then use that gap to turn the vest right side out again.  Hand sew the opening closed with a blind stitch.

DONE!

You may love it so much you'll make two like I ended up doing.  Trendy Christmas gifts for all!  

Use a fun lining….

Or a plain one…

Either way Good Luck!

 

 

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Plain Tshirts Holiday-ed Up!

Got any plain Tshirts or hand-me-downs that you want to give new life too?  Turn them into Holiday shirts with some bleach, paint, or sharpies!

I'm a little fascinated with using bleach to write and draw on fabric and was eager to try the technique again.  It's so easy!  All you need to do is pour a little bleach straight into a bowl and use a Q-tip or paint brush to "paint" the bleach on the fabric.  Make sure you place cardboard between the front and back of the shirt to prevent bleed through!  The bleach reacts quickly with the fabric and you'll see your design start to show up within 5-10 minutes.  You have to hand wash the fabric after those minutes to see the final results of the bleach (sometimes it looks more yellow before washing).

I couldn't get the idea out of my head of sprinkling bleach on a tee to make it appear like snow was falling.  So I grabbed some shirts and my bleach painting supplies (err Q-tips…).

But first I started out with the red shirt.  I had lots of ideas - candy cane, santa hat, christmas lights, ornaments… the candy cane won out.

The bleach didn't turn the red completely into white, which was little disappointing.  Bleach reacts different to every fabric/color, so you never know what you're going to get until you try it out.  I highlighted the candy cane with a gold sharpie and added a little green ribbon.  *Note - If you use a permanent marker on fabric, you should iron it for a few minutes afterwards to set it in and prevent future fading.  My favorite part about this candy cane shirt is probably the lace at the hem of the shirt.  Adding the lace takes away from the stretch of the shirt, but it's not a big deal since it's at the hem.

Next up came the blue shirt with snow effect I wanted to achieve - with the phrase "Let it Snow".  If you follow on instagram, you may have seen what happens when bleach takes a little too well to a particular fabric.  The bleach spread really fast from the letters I had painted on with a Q-tip and turned the phrase illegible.  A bleach pen may have had less tragic results.  All was not lost though!  I used a silver sharpie to rewrite "Let it" and outlined "SNOW".  Way better.  I also added some texture to the shirt by sewing on some extra snowflakes I had crocheted.  I've been addicted to making them lately and have a bunch laying around.

Hope everyone is enjoying the snow that has seemed to touch almost every bit of the country the past week.  We definitely have!

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