Well hello there! My it's been a long long time.

As is my tradition, I took a blogging hiatus over the holiday season. I never take a break from sewing  though, so I will begin a partial review of some of my favorite projects from the past few months.

On Halloween, Knitpop had a trick or treat sale in which they added an extra yard of fabric to your purchase if you spent over $50 (a mystery treat!). I was happy to oblige them and met that quota, and in return they sent me this gorgeous red rose fabric. Then, to make things even more exciting, they announced a December sewing contest with big time prizes in which everyone had to use this lovely fabric (Edith is the name of the print) to sew something for themself and also for someone that they love and post a picture of them side by side in the knitpop facebook group. 

I have been seriously working on my ninja fabric cutting skills. 

Along with some olive french terry (also from knitpop) and some pretty black lace that I picked up I believe at JoAnn's a while ago, I was able to make three garments from that one yard!

It's just too hard for me to choose one person to join me in a situation like this, I love to sew for both of these beauties so much.

        On the left we have Fern in a Margot top by Violette Field Threads. I shortened the bodice by a few inches and added the lace over some of the olive in lieu of the ruffle.  I finished the neckline with a facing from the olive and finished the sleeves with regular cuffs (as opposed to the fancy ones in the pattern).

    On the right, we have Althea in a Me Hearties dress / tunic from Patterns for Pirates (aka P4P). I used the olive for the top of the bodice, obviously, and also for more than half the skirt. Basically I used as much of the rose as I could and filled in the rest of the skirt with the olive. It worked out great, though, I think hers is my favorite. The french terry is really heavy and has a great drape; it is perfect for winter time and also twirls fantastically.

    I am in the center with my Maria Denmark Day / Night drape top. This makes the third one I have made of those now. It is such a fun pattern. I knew I was going to have to make myself a top, not a dress if I was going to squeeze three things from the one yard, and I thought for a little while about how I could make something that would still be unique and stand out in the contest. I came up with the idea of adding the lace panel to the front of the shirt. Man, that took a lot of trial and error, basting and seam ripping, cutting and then recutting that panel. But it was a labor of love and in the end, I am really thrilled with the way it came out. Exactly what I was going for! Although it does sometimes ride up (the lace is sewn into the armscye and goes down below my bust, so I can kind of tuck it into my bra). I wanted to avoid creating a seam across the front of the shirt, but I may tack it down in a few places at least. I finished my shirt with olive bands on the arm holes, which I was a little unsure about, but I really didn't even have enough Edith left for that, so there you have it. I think it works.

It was pretty cold that afternoon when we went out for a photoshoot in the driveway. The girls were troopers. At least they had sleeves! And I am always warm when I am excited - and I was pretty excited to be triplet-ing with these ladies in this beautiful fabric.

     Dave does a great job running around as our photographer; he acts really silly and makes it fun and gets us laughing. Love that guy. 

    And I love these two hams....they are getting so grown up, <sigh>.
 
                            Thanks for stopping by!

Margot Dress and Daphne Knickers

I mentioned the other day that I scooped up multiple Violette Fields Threads patterns during their summer sale. I've got two more of them in action today. One is the Margot dress and tunic, which is one of the few VFT patterns drafted to be used with knit fabric. Since I have been on a knit kick this summer, I felt I needed that one. It is typical VFT in that it is a simple pattern that is dressed up with a few key details that make it special. Margot has a high-low hem with an added ruffle on the bottom and comes in two lengths; tunic and dress. It also has a fancy french cuff sleeve that can be made to coordinate with the ruffle for lovely additional detail. The cuff and ruffle are great places to mix in some woven fabric. I made my version in the softest, most gorgeous french terry fabric from Knitpop however, and I wanted to wrap her in as much of this luscious fabric as possible, so I made the long sleeve version with no cuff. For the same reason, I made the dress length. 

I fully intended to do some selfish sewing when I bought this fabric, but the girls couldn't stop petting it and raving about its softness, so I ended up sewing small clothes with it instead. 

I can make a single yard go much further when it is in size 5t however. She got a matching pair of Bonny Leggings by Made for Mermaids to complete her outfit (they really love having super coordinated clothes in ways that almost make me cringe; I wasn't really thinking these needed to be worn together, but she feels otherwise. The ruffle helps me with this; breaks up the visual a little bit so it doesn't appear quite as pajama-y or jogging suit-y or something. Honestly though, I understand why she loves to dress head to toe in this fabric. She is awful huggable in this!)

 There will be more of these dresses / tunic in our future for sure. 

The other pattern I used recently was the Daphne Knickers. 

Cue googly eyes! I love this pattern. These little pants are so cute. They create the perfect balance of a structured pant with gorgeous details, whimsy, vintage charm and comfort. 

The pant is drafted for woven fabrics and can be made for all season depending on the thickness of your fabric selection. I actually used a knit fabric though, because I had this lovely liverpool (from a knitpop scrap pack)that I felt needed to be used for this. I didn't adjust the pattern at all to account for the stretch in my fabric, because I used a woven fabric to make the ruffles and I sewed the ruffles on with a straight stitch that won't stretch. It worked out fine. 

The one thing I would do differently next time, is probably not make the ruffling strips quite as long. Lining them up and sewing them onto the cuffs and waist was by far the most challenging part of the whole process. 

I actually made two pairs, one for each of them, and they both enjoy wearing them.

 They are soft on the inside and have a comfortable elastic waist which is key in getting these girls to enjoy a pair of pants. We inherit so many pairs of adorable jeans / corduroys / pants with fly's that go unworn. 

It's a comfort thing. I get it. 

I love the compromise these pants provide. They have a button cuff on the bottom that adds a structured detail to the pants without hampering the all important comfort of the waist. (I just sewed the buttons onto both layers of the cuff and omitted the buttonholes. They slide on over their little legs with no problem, and I avoided sewing several buttonholes- hurray!)

 I might even go back and top stitch the cuff down completely instead of leaving the buttons as the only thing holding the cuff closed. Then there will be less of a chance of a button popping off and the cuff flapping open. 

So there you have it! Two of my new favorite patterns for kids.

 I kind of want to make myself a pair of knickers like this, but I haven't convinced myself I can pull it off without looking like I'm off to a renaissance fair. But who cares, right? If I want to wear it and think it is cute, why not. I specifically remember discussing with friends while in high school my style goal for myself: to be able to pull off anything. I wanted to be able to rock any trend no matter how extreme or mundane, no matter what decade it was popular in. 

I think it is probably rare that we look back at the wisdom of our high school selves, but I am going to try to draw inspiration from her on this one. 

I did make myself an adult romper. I am actually wearing it right now, and wore it out in public already today. 

I will have to share that with you soon!

Thanks for stopping by!