Huggable loveable (sentimental) fleece

      I am certainly a fleece addict. I have spoken about this before. I can't help it. So soft. Such fun prints. Such a quick sew with results that turn my kids into the most squeezable cozy little things around. When it is cold (which it typically is around here for several months out of the year - this year is not a shining example of this) they will go head to toe in fleece outfits. I might have to admit to doing the same thing myself in the name of pajamas when we are lounging around the house.
      So far this winter, I have made fleece leggings for myself (in a killer multicolored leaf print), for my husband (yup, leggings for him; he can wear them under his work pants - I even included a fly flap! black of course) and for each of my four nieces and nephews. I also made a cowl neck sweatshirt for my sister in law, and, point of this post, outfits for both of my girls at Christmas time.  I will have to come back another time to show you all the fun things I did with fleece on Halloween. So there is a small taste of my addiction. Not one I am even trying to shake however.
      Two years ago I made both girls fleece dresses and they still wear them, but the fit is getting pretty tight. It was time to update. I kind of wanted to make them look like little elves on Christmas and the younger one is totally into it. She was happy with me choosing all of the design elements of this outfit (we agreed together that she wanted a hood to snug up in). So she got a pointy, gnome-like hoodie in a plaid print. The front waist line is rounded, meaning that it arches up in the center. It is subtle though and can be hard to notice in the pictures. The skirt portion of the hoodie is cut on the bias for interest of the print direction. There is also a high-low hem that ended up being more dramatic than I intended, but I have decided I like it.

 I didn't even hem the bottom of this one. I planned to, but after she tried it on, 

then refused to take it off for a while, I realized it doesn't bother me. Fleece! Gotta love it. 

       

    Another thing I am becoming addicted to are heart shaped knee patches. So simple, so cute, so much more fun than plain solid colored pants.

           My older daughter wasn't willing to ride the hoodie train like her sister, so we moved away from the gnome / elf feel a bit on hers. Instead we went with a big cozy cowl-ish collar attached to a dress with a full skirt. The cowl is a contrasting fabric, which I like - it seems like she is wearing an infinity scarf. I used a long sleeve t-shirt pattern from an ottobre magazine as the base for both of these, hacked a bit obviously. On this dress I tried to hack it into a v shaped front waistline but that didn't work for me. Perhaps the fabric was just too bulky? Or else I should have cut the skirt differently. I ended up have to flatten it out a bit which added some extra fullness to the skirt in the form of those gathers that you can see in the picture below.

    I also made her some green fleece leggings with red knee patches. 

 You better believe there are heart patches under there!

     I really was drawn to this cardinal print fleece. It was a different kind of fleece; anti-pill instead of blizzard I guess; or maybe it was even micro fleece. Point being that it was even softer than the other stuff. 

     But mostly this is a sentimental thing for me. My whole family loves cardinals. My grandfather always loved them, along with anything red. Since he passed, we always seem to see cardinals hovering about when we are all together, particularly on special occasions, and we all agree that it seems to be his way of watching over us. This December we lost my grandmother. She had been experiencing dementia and kept forgetting that he was no longer alive, so she was constantly seeking him out. She was missing him so much. The last time I saw her, she spoke to me as if she were on the phone with me, not in the same room, holding my hand. She seemed to be holding two conversations; one with me and one with him. As if she were actually with him at the time and talking to me from across a divide. And soon afterwards she was finally able to rejoin him completely. Eleven of us spoke at her funeral. My brothers words brought happy tears to my eyes, as he asked us all to picture the joyous reunion the two of them were having. Shortly after my grandmother died, my mom had a male and female cardinal pair visiting her bird feeders. I have always loved watching cardinal pairs. They seem to have such strong bonds, neither wanting to stray far from its partner. A perfect image to frame in a heart. And possibly a reminder to treasure these kids, while they are so sweet and young, and are so unencumbered in their love for us, before all of these moments just go racing by.  

   

 Thanks for stopping by.

Fi Na Ly - more fleecy fun

   Some time this fall I stocked up on awesome fleece prints when it was crazy cheap at... where else- I need to broaden my horizons in terms of fabric shopping, but JoAnn's is so close by, the sales / coupons are so tempting, I know the layout of the store - for now I'm hooked. 

   And those prints are finally turning into some garments. It's cold enough outside, I'm not too sure what took me so long. I suppose I go in rounds of what I am inspired to do - cooking / baking / preserving; practicing violin (I'm teaching myself and it is slow going but very fun! When this school year ends and we don't have two kids in preschool anymore - because Fern is going into Kindy next year yikes! perhaps I will finally take some lessons); dance / yoga; researching / reading; office time; cleaning ? (am I ever inspired to clean? I don't know if I'd say that, but it has to happen every once in a while); back around to sewing. All the while trying to fit in outdoor time on a regular basis, and of course play time, library time, gymnastics....insert kid activity here. So I guess I do know why things take time. 

    This past week I went on a rampage of hoodies! One for each of the girls, and one for me. They think their father needs one as well, but I explained that his taste doesn't extend to the range of prints and colors that I like to use for the rest of us. He's mostly grey and brown, navy and green, while we are plum and pink with bikes and bright orange with birds and flowers. 

     Here is Fern's: (Althea's is exactly the same except for slightly shorter sleeves and different colors)

        We've got your basic raglan hoodie, drawstring hood and reverse kangaroo pockets.

We've also got thumbholes. Yes! I love thumbholes. The girls are pretty appreciative of them too right now. 

I got some pocket inspiration from Vera luna; I wanted to do something different than your average kangaroo pocket (they love finding their other hand inside the pocket, so the kangaroo was for sure). Especially since this print is so fun, why cover it up?

This was a good way to do it, and you get the added bonus of an extra pop of color at the side. 

It is so simple too; especially with fleece - so forgiving when there is no fray. I held the bodice up to one of the girls, figured where the pocket should go, then cut it out. Then just fold the edge of the pocket over about 1/4 inch and sew it in place. Then I added a big rectangle of the pocket fabric to the inside of the bodice piece as in the picture below. 

     It needed to be stitched across the top, but the sides and bottom were attached when the sweatshirt was sewn together and hemmed. Very simple. 

    I have been finishing my seams with fleece by opening up the fabric in the seam allowance and sewing each side down. I think it looks nice on the outside as well on the inside; it also makes for a flatter and more comfortable seam allowance.

        I made mine very similar to theirs. I traced a loose fitting knit raglan shirt and lengthened the sleeves. I free-styled the hood and made the front edge come out much farther than the one I traced. I also added long "arms" to the front of the hood that wrapped around the front of the shirt for a slight shawl collar feel.

 I also used the reverse pocket idea on mine, but in order to avoid the seam going all the way across the middle of the shirt, and also to save some fabric, I didn't do a full kangaroo pocket. Instead I kept the pockets more like the ones on my inspiration shirt. I have been wearing this hoodie almost every day (ok, I have actually worn it for part of every single day since I finished it - 5 days in a row and counting). The pockets are perfect; nice and deep to just drop stuff into them, they hold my phone without it ever falling out and keep my hands nice and cozy.

         I did actually make a couple things earlier in the season. At the end of November, I made a little dress for my two year old niece's birthday.

     I used the same pattern I had made for Althea's Red Riding Hood dress.  It has side seam pockets, a hood with a drawstring (a ribbon with little froggy buttons tied on!) and is a fleece dress- perfect for winter time. I'm not sure if I love keeping the sleeves attached to the bodice though. It saves a couple steps, but can end up a little hard to take on and off. 

   There were also some elf slippers for the girls, but I think that will wait for another time. I'll sign off with the girls dressed head to toe in this weeks sewing fun! Yay!