Sailboat pants for J. are done. I made J. the top last month, and started on the pants this week. For the pants, I used the leftover gray linen from H’s 2+2 blouse and puppet show shorts.
I was also able to finish altering H.’s two flower girl dress. So nice to be able to tick of items on my sewing/knitting to do list. Now, I need to start thinking what to knit up next.
In attempt to get a jump start on fall and winter essentials for H & J, I knit them new hats using the Kiddie Cadet pattern on Ravelry. I used one skein of Ella Rae’s Classic from my stash to make both hats.
The hats knit up really quickly–I finished one with two nights of knitting. I made H. the child size, and J. the toddler size. I think they are both a bit too small for the kids. I’m not crazy at how the brims turned out, so I may rip them out and try again. The hat brims don’t seem to stick out quite as much as the other photos I have seen of the hat. I’m going to see how they look after I block them. Perhaps, I’ll just try to cut a piece of cardboard to give the brim the structure it needs. I’m also planning to knit a little flower to add on to H.’s hat.
I’m not quite sure what I will take on for my next knitting project. On the sewing front, I am just about finished with the sailboat pants for J. I want to finish them up, so I can alter H.’s 2 flower girl dresses. I was able to have her try them on last night, so I could pin them up. I have yet to attempt to get squirmy J. into his seer sucker tux to see if it needs to be taken in. I’m saving that task for next week.
H.’s birthday is coming up at the end of this month. As soon as I saw the Oliver and S Popover Sundress (published in Sew Hip), I knew I wanted to make this for her 4th birthday dress. The shoulder ties remind me of the first birthday dress I made for H. when she turned 2.
Since our July is packed with visits and trips, I was able to find a free evening and sew the dress. I used Zinnia Path by Michael Miller for the main part of the dress, medium brown ric rack for the trim, and a polka dot print for the yoke and ties. I loved the way the dress turned out, and I couldn’t wait until H.’s birthday to give it to her. I’m pretty bad at keeping surprises. H. wore it yesterday for the 4th of July.
Since May, I have been slowly making progress on knitting the Dusk cardigan designed by Kim Hargreaves. The pattern is from the Heartfelt collection. I made the smallest size and used the same color Rowan Felted Tweed I used to make H.’s Frilled Crossover jacket as well as another sweater vest I made when I first started knitting 5 years ago.
I have always loved the way Kim Hargreaves’ collections are styled. I think what drew me to this pattern was the amazing leather obi belt in the photo in the book. I was able to find one similar to it early last year. When I purchased it, I had this sweater totally in mind. Luckily since buying the belt, I have been able to put it to good use with.
Since I initially planned to wear the sweater with the obi belt and since I rarely close cardigans, I decided against making the knitted belt in the pattern. Now that the cardigan is done, I really like it just open without any belt at all.
There are a few modifications I made to the pattern. The first one was a total accident. I had about an inch of the first front side completed when I started changing the double seed stitch pattern as described in the directions. For some reason I was distracted (which is fairly common). I ended up doing a 2K 2P seed stitch pattern. I had finished the entire first front panel before I even noticed, so out of sheer laziness, I just stuck with modified double seed stitch for the rest of the sweater. I also made the sleeves and the sweater itself a bit longer. When I blocked the sleeves, I made the cuffs larger to give them more of a bell effect–there is no shaping in the pattern for the sleeves.
It is hard to believe that my daughter is graduating from her wonderful little Montessori preschool this weekend. Since she has been there since she was 19 months and thrived so well, it is so sad to see her move to a bigger school in the fall to start K1. Luckily, J. will be there for another few years. I get choked up just thinking about how quickly the time has passed.
For her little graduation/end-of-school party, I made H. a simple light gray linen a-dress and put chiffon purple flowers on the dress. To make the flowers, I modified this delightful flower collar tutorial. The bridesmaid’s dress I’ll be wearing for my sister-in-law’s upcoming wedding was the source of inspiration for the purple colored flowers. I am hoping H. can wear this dress to one of the wedding-related events. The button in the back is vintage taken for my husband’s grandmother’s button stash.
I have finally managed to sew something for J this year. I made him the Oliver and S Sailboat top (size 2) using blue and white seer sucker. I also attempted to do my first iron-on transfer. I downloaded a free race car template from the Ottobre Designs site and manipulated it using Photoshop. I flipped the image so the 4 would appear the right direction, changed the color, and increased the size. I placed the transfer so it would start on the front side of the shirt and go to the back.
The ink didn’t completely transfer very evenly, but overall, I think the shirt looks adorable. When I was doing the transfer, my iron left a light brown stain on the shirt. I’m hoping I can get this off during a washing. If not, the stain will just blend in with the rest of the inevitable stains my 21-month year old acquires during the course of the day.
I have left over fabric cut and ready to sew for a pair of sailboat pants. Hopefully, I’ll get to that next week.
Our youngest nephew is turning 2 this weekend, so as part of his present, I made him the Oliver and S Sailboat Top and Pants in size 2T. For the top, I used fabric by Alexander Henry, and for the pants, I used a heavy-weight chocolate brown linen. The pattern itself, was so easy.
For those of you who have been daunted in trying an O&S pattern, may I recommend you start with this one? I can’t say enough how well-written these patterns are. They have enabled me to really push myself as a sewer and try things that I once thought were beyond my technical ability.
I am working on another sailboat outfit for J. I finished the top earlier this week, but still need to get around to making the pants.
H. has been asking for a pair for shorts for quite some time now. I think she has only had one pair of shorts since she always insisted on wearing dresses or skirts.
Last night, I finished making her the Puppet Show Shorts by Oliver and S using some black, or is it dark gray, linen I picked up the last time I was downtown. This is the same fabric I used to make the trim for the 2+2 Blouse I finished last week. I love the pockets on the sides. I think I will make more little pockets like these and add them to an a-line dress.
As always, the pattern was so well written and easy to follow. I think I cut out a larger size for the bias trim at the bottom of the short cuffs since these didn’t have the cute gathering on the sides as the illustration showed.
As you can see, H. is totally pleased with these shorts and couldn’t wait to wear them. I’m sure I’ll be making her another pair soon.
I can’t believe how long it has been since I last posted here. It seems as if May has just flown by. In the midst of various spring-time ailments, I have tried to keep sewing and knitting. Below are a some of the projects I have finished in the order of completion.
These two letter and number shirts were made for two of friends who attend school with H & J.
I suppose the most adventurous project this month has been a bridal shower gift. My husband’s youngest sister is getting married this summer, and along with the other bridesmaids, we threw a bridal shower over the weekend. One of my amazing sisters-in-law and I wanted to make the bride-to-be a fabulous Denyse Schmidt-inspired quilt. Since we live on different coasts, since neither one of us are really quilters, and since we were in a bit of a time crunch, we decided that my sister-in-law on the West Coast would make the quilt and have it finished there, and that I would make pillow shams to match the quilt. Both of us just made up the pattern as we went along.
Here are photos of the unfinished quilt:
Here are photos of the finished quilt from this weekend’s bridal shower:
I love the quilt so much. I want one now too! The quilt finisher used a cobblestone top stitch which turned out beautifully. I forgot to take photos before the shower, so you can’t really see the details too well. The little fishes are well wishes from the guests that went along with the “Catch” theme we had (along with fishing waiters filled with white tulle and gifts).
Here are photos of the lined pillow shams I made to match the quilt:
Lastly, I made H. a short sleeve version of the 2+2 blouse by Oliver and S using Amy Butler fabric and black linen. I’ve had the fabric cut for this shirt for well over a month now. This time around, I opted not to make the ties for the shirt as I did for the long sleeve version I made earlier this year. Instead, I added a tiny little button. I am hoping to make H. some matching shorts in the black linen now that the weather is warming up.
I’m also plugging along on my Dusk cardigan. I started the sleeves last week.
I’ve been wanting to make the Farbenmix Anna Wrap Dress for almost over a year after I saw the dress one of my friends had made for her daughter. I’ve had the pattern for a while, but was a bit daunted since there weren’t any drawings to go along with the pattern. I am such a visual learner that I psyched myself out a bit and over thought this pattern to the point where I almost never made it. If I can sew from Japanese patterns with no English translations, I sure can sew this pattern since it was translated into English, right?
I had decided I wanted to make it reversible, so after getting confused as to which pattern pieces to trace out and add the seam allowances to, I finally had that “ah-ha” moment midway though sewing it all together last night. I ended up cutting a total of 4 pieces of the #1 piece and didn’t use the #2 pieces of the pattern at all. I also made 4 sets of ties instead of 2. Here is the result:
The fabric I used is from Heather Ross’s Mendocino line. I made the dress in size 110-116 cm.
Now that I think I have the pattern down, I would love to make more and try replacing the ties with a button. The pattern is so simple, yet there are so many possible variations. There are some great photos on Flickr. It is so inspiring to see what others have created.
With knitting, I have been making extremely slow progress on the Dusk Cardigan.
I did purchase some fun fabric to make a few things for J. Now, I just have to find the perfect patterns. Boy clothes seem to be a bit more challenging since there aren’t as many fun patterns out there, so if you know of any, send the links my way.
