Adult romper?!?

I have had no lack of sewing inspiration lately. Ideas have been coming to me from all over and the more I sew, the more competent I feel and the faster I can put things together, the more fun it all is. 

At one point this past summer, I had been away on vacation for a couple weeks, and came home super ready to bust out some projects. One thing that I couldn't stop thinking about was a romper.....for me. I love the look of them and the comfort factor, but hadn't actually gone there until this project. It's one of those styles that you know you will look back on and laugh, and also makes me question if I am trying to pull off a look that may be a little younger than I am.

But hey, I'm not getting any younger, right? So I might as well go for it now. 

I did some severe pattern hacking for this, so was pretty unsure if my vision was going to play out. 

I have waistline issues, so I didn't want to give it a waist. It seems like no matter where I place it (empire / natural waist / low slung) it still makes me look pregnant. So I used the P4P pumpkin spice dolman and added self drafted harem pants to it which were based off the bottom half of the Alley Cat Romper by Lil Luxe Collection. I sewed it up so fast I forgot to add pockets. 

Which was too bad. 

But it was a very quick sew, and a lot of fun. 

These pictures were taken by Fern when I first made it; before I even added a neckband. 

I wasn't sure what I thought when I first made it. I finished it right before bed and then slept in it because it was so comfortable. Then I showed my husband first thing in the morning and he just crumbled into hysterics laughing at it. My kids loved it though. And I kind of thought I did too. 

As time has gone on, I have gotten even more comfortable with it and have worn it around town a few times. It's truly one of the most comfortable things I own, although I do have to strip to use the bathroom (I generally wear a tank top underneath so that I don't feel too exposed / chilly.)

I think this fabric was absolutely perfect for it. It is rayon spandex from knitpop (of course) that I got in an auction box. This was probably my least favorite fabric in the box when I bid, but the 80's feel of it is spot on for this. 

So of course I had to break it out for #memadeknitpop week.

 I think the thing that tickles Dave the most about it, is the flying squirrel aspect. (Along with the fact that he is so clueless about fashion / trends he had no idea women have been wearing one piece outfits along these lines for the past five years at least). Althea loves the flying squirrel look as well. She is always grabbing the front of her coat, ripping open the snaps and throwing out her arms to reveal her "wingsuit" and zooming around everywhere she goes. 

So I will leave you with one final visual treat so that you can get the full picture of all the things this garment can bring to the table....

My dog's even wondering what the hell is going on!

Oh boy. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Harem Pants

   It is Thursday (technically Friday by the time I am writing this), and I am still enjoying playing along with #memadeknitpop. My Tuesday and Wednesday didn't make it onto the blog, because this is a busy week (per usual) and I just wore shirts that have appeared here before on those days.
   Today I was head to toe me made and (mostly) knitpop. Clothes just plain don't get any more comfortable than this. It is glorious being wrapped in yards of this soft stuff. This hoodie has shown up here before; it's reversible and the blue sky tie dye is knitpop. On the flip side, the tie dye is the sleeves and hood and the floral is the body.

Under the hoodie is a flowy tank that I made from that tie dye. This shirt was pretty much my main uniform of summer. Every time it was clean(ish), I wore it. A free spirit tank from Patterns for Pirates; Fern chose the side dipped hem feature. This was a Cape Cod sew. 

And under the top is a pair of harem pants, and I am pretty obsessed. Totally digging the look of wearing them with booties, too. I drafted this pattern based the shape of the lower portion of the Alleycat romper from the Lil Luxe Collection that I have made for my kids. 

I also made a pair for each of my kids; one exactly like this pair, and one the opposite (the wavy tie dye that is on the waist and cuffs of these is the body of that pair, and the navy is the waist and cuffs). Fern likes them and wears them; Althea has decided that she doesn't wear baggy pants, only leggings and certain jeans. You can't win them all. 

I learned a few lessons from the first pair though, and now know that I need to make sure the waist band is tighter or else they start drooping. I also thought the lower leg could be a little bit wider and the cuff should be more snug as well. 

So I applied these bits of knowledge and made a second pair out of two gorgeous pieces of knitpop brushed poly. These were a gift for my sister-in-law's birthday. 

(I swear I only wore them for pictures Lauren! :)

Now I want to make all the harem pants. I almost think they could rival pegs for the spot they could fill in my wardrobe. Just as comfortable; pocket potential; can wear them without a tunic. And I just dig this type of style. 

I'm kind of even thinking about making some for sale. 

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Girls bathers, part 2

  I'm on a roll using up this swimsuit fabric. I have already posted the suits I made for myself and Althea.  Of course Fern got one too.

   I love seeing the girls in things that coordinate but aren't exactly the same. That is part of the beauty of buying a couple yards of different fabrics and mixing and matching them together in different ways.

      Fern's number one request was that she wanted her belly button to show when she wore her bathing suit. Her father heard this and bellowed (partly joking with the seriousness of his tone- but mostly not) "What?! Are you making her a bikini?!!"

     She loved this but didn't quite understand what he said, & began begging for me to make her a peony. I love the types of conversations that this type of confusion leads to with a child; the unraveling of the meaning of their words and subsequent giggles and clarifications.

      I was able to satisfy her appeal for a glimpse of bellybutton and also maintain a good deal of modesty, I believe. The bottom was the same underwear pattern from my Ottobre magazine that I used for the trunks of Althea's. For the top, I used the bodice from the alley cat romper by Lil Luxe Collection & added a high/ low skirt to it. I used the body of the alleycat as a base for this, but ended up cutting it off and removing about 5 inches of width from each side because it was creating too much bulk where it met the bodice.

    She and I are both happy with the result, and I think her father is ok with it as well (although he may be right to be worried about how much more she wanted a "peony" after he expressed his feelings against the idea). 

    Up next …a round of rash guards. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Hullo Spring!

   I just love sewing for Easter. I always had a special Easter dress growing up, or a fun hat or something. And even though we are not a religious family and just have a pretty casual family gathering on the big day with an egg hunt for the kiddos, I still love having something fresh and new and fun for the kids (and sometimes myself) to wear. I guess it has to do with Easter being a sort of gateway to spring and all the new possibilities that opens up in terms of style; or maybe it is just fun to have at least one reason to dress up in every season and this is the big one for spring. The older I get, the more spring becomes my favorite season. (I may change my tune once fall rolls around again). I love to garden and walking around the yard, seeing what is popping up is as thrilling to me as shopping for fabric. Maybe even more so (gasp!). So it is fun to celebrate this wonderful time of year with sweet things for the girls.

Hellebores, one of the first bloomers in my yard this year.

    I have a large project which I am procrastinating on  finishing up right now that had been keeping me from garment sewing this past month. But I decided that I would be able to squeeze some Easter bonnets in there no matter what. And then on Saturday night, I figured that I could make Fern a new skirt to match her bonnet, because skirts are so quick, and I didn't really know what else she would wear to go with the color scheme of her hat. And then Althea asked if I could make her a new Easter dress, and I had to tell her yes, but it might not be done for Easter since it was Saturday afternoon when she was asking. (I had a dress in her closet in mind that matched her bonnet). But I picked out some fabrics and thought about it and knew exactly what I wanted to make for her. So I went to sleep after finishing Fern's skirt and both bonnets and woke up motivated and confident and decided that I could pull off her dress before we had to leave to head to Grammy's house.
     The Alley Cat pattern had been such a fun sew last month. It fit the girls so well and is so cute and comfortable and stylish. I am starting to get the hang of using knits, and using my serger which makes everything so much faster and easier. As a result, I was able to bang out an alley cat dress on Easter morning. I went from uncut fabric to finished garment in two hours, and took a break to scarf down the breakfast my husband made in the middle of that. And another break to braid Fern's hair. This is an all time record for me. I cut the sleeve and skirt hems on the selvage of the fabric, which helped. And I sewed the entire dress on my serger except for the top stitching on the neck. I think using sleeves helps make this an easier sew as well. I still have yet to do one of those burrito rolls. But the dress came out great, and she was enchanted.

The skirt fabric was from that Knit Fix I bought from Girl Charlee last August. Slowly and surely, I have been ploughing through that soft pile of fun. We agreed the bubbles remind us of eggs and made it especially appropriate for Easter. The top fabric is this stretchy, almost rubbery eyelet material that I got from JoAnn's a year or two ago as an add on purchase. I am so bad about grabbing an extra yard or two (or just a half in the case) of something that catches my eye while waiting in line at the cutting counter. But they usually end up as some of my favorite fabrics. This worked out perfect for this project, and I have enough left of this and the skirt that I think Fern is going to get a legit alleycat out of it. They love to be twins sometimes. 

       
     Fern loves her skirt as well. It has some of that amazing glitter elastic as a waist band and utilizes some of my all time favorite fabric: the wee wanderer by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller. I bought some recently for another project and made sure I had some extra for garments for the girls. This print almost makes me want to cry, it is so sweet.

Fern's face in this kills me. We didn't do a very good job getting pictures; either the sun was in their eyes or the bonnets shaded their faces completely. 

Here is a close up of that print: 

Love it. 

     And they are both happy about their bonnets. Which makes me so so happy. I love that neither of the girls feel too old for them at all yet. I had to expand my pattern to a new size; I now have a 0-12 month (which is probably more like 6-12 month and I will probably make a 0-6 if any of my friends or family have a baby girl), 2-4 year and 4-6 year size. I may put up a tutorial / pattern if there is any interest. A fun thing about them is that they are completely reversible, so you get two adorable sunhats in one. I usually do a print and a solid, but on Fern's I used two different coordinating prints. They are so fun and satisfying to sew and always get so much use over the spring / summer / fall at our house. Just don't let your husband fold them in half, crease the interfacing in the brim and stuff it in his back pocket if you end up making one. Ahem.

Fern is wearing her Easter coat from two years ago. Love that it still fits her! The sleeves are slightly short, but not that bad, and otherwise it is fine. Skinny little girl. It is her go to outerwear throughout spring and fall. 

     Happy Spring time!!!

Sister Alley Cats

This is the final week of Project Run and Play, and it has been so much fun to have the typical format back and to see what everyone has done for each week, both contestants and sew alongs. 

I actually took my inspiration for sewing this week directly from a link up from week one. When I saw Turtle Birdies' Mouse Alley Cat I knew that I had to have that pattern (the Alley Cat Romper from the Lil Luxe Collection). I had seen the pattern before and liked it, but once I saw this version, I just had to sew it up. 

Perhaps taking direct inspiration from someone else doesn't sound like I am finding my own signature style (which is the theme for this week). It works in my mind though, because this is how I sew. Inspiration comes  at me from various places, and once it does I don't feel completely satisfied until I have made it a reality. 

Two alleycats, sewn entirely this week. It's a reality!

This also fits my signature style in my mind because of the eclectic sources of materials used. The brown top with the gold was an old tshirt of mine. The purple fabric was gifted to me by a de-stashing friend. The red was leftover from making the girls leotards a couple years ago. (I love buying a little bit too much every time I shop for a project and building a cache of leftovers). The blue / black / white tribal and the brown with blue flowers are both from a knit fix I bought from Girl Charlee in August which I have been ever so gradually working my way through. I have to admit that I love having a large collection of fabric. (Don't tell my husband! I keep saying that I am going to try and rein it in). Most of it is potential upcycles, but splurging on some yardage here and there is my favorite way ever to pamper myself. 

These rompers are a great way to use up a variety of materials. It is fun to mix and match colors and prints and to add other accents if you are running low on something. And they look way cuter on children than on the floor:

         Althea has been wanting to wear nothing but jammies lately. This satisified that itch for her quite well! Daytime jammies, I told her. She bought it. Once she tried them on, she didn't take them off until bedtime. Even caught a little snooze on the dog bed by the fire with it on!

       I love when they love it! And when they look so stinking cute in something that Mama made them.

    I stayed true to the pattern aside from adding on seam side pockets and changing the sleeve length. I am definitely going to make a couple more and try out the sleeveless version.

Thanks for stopping by!