comfy clothes

Sadly, the Fabricland across the street from where I work is closing. No more emergency sewing needs easily solved, no more lunch hour sprees on t-shirt jersey ends. But as I mourned this loss, I stocked up on their more expensive fabrics since everything was 50% off. Mainly activewear terry/jersey that would usually be $29/metre.

The fabric washed up wonderfully. It drapes well because it's heavier than t-shirt jersey so I decided to make a skirt. I used an old American Apparel skirt I have as a guide, but I put a 5" waistband on it that I can wear either up or folded over (so far, I've only been wearing it up). Then I took my boatneck pattern from Wendy Mullin's Sew U Home Stretch to make a tank top. I finished the armholes but left the hem and neckline raw because the fabric curls nicely, and I had already left the skirt hem raw too. All in all, both garments took under 90 minutes to make and I've pretty much had them on ever since. In hot weather they are super comfortable, though as I looked through the photos Sadie took of me (we're testing out Sadie with the camera) I'm not sure that they're very flattering. Not that I care much - comfort is way more important in this weather and chocolate brown is a nice break from the usual black.

the reds

There is one problem I have when sewing for myself: I get stuck at the picture-taking phase. Luckily my friend Catherine has let me off the hook - she claims that photos of the garments by themselves are completely acceptable. So here is another tank and a sundress using the same pattern I've been using for a few months now. Although adjusting the strap style changes each piece a little bit, I may be nearing the end of using this pattern - I still have two other garments to share...so that's 6 in total from one basic shape. Probably enough.

The tank is made from chambray I bought last year to make the tie-front style Mociun dress from, but it never really worked. I think the tank will get much more use, plus I had enough fabric to also make a wrap skirt (again, not photographed yet). The sundress is from a second batch of Anna Maria Horner's voile I bought. I love the pattern, but boy, it's expensive fabric. And so far, I haven't even worn the dress. It's almost too lightweight for me, but I haven't figured out what else to do with it. Now that I think of it, I should have tried the Mociun style dress out of this fabric, it's exactly the right weight.

Oh well.

hoot hoot

With thanks to some instructions from here and a certain six year old who took care of 100% of the decorating, Milo got owl cupcakes for his birthday. I'm not sure that they really look like owls - maybe that has to do with peach slice eyes (hey, we improvised with what we had) - but Sadie told Milo they were owls and then all he kept saying was "owul, owul, owul!"

Sounds like success to me.

the boy loves owls

Hilariously, when I went looking for inspiration to make a stuffed owl I came across Meg's post from 2007 that jokes you aren't officially a craft blog until you've made a stuffed owl. Clearly I'm incredibly behind the times on this one and had no idea that owls were such a craft staple. And since my blog has a personality disorder already (is it for knitting? for sewing? random musings on my boring life?) I'm totally okay with the lack of official status. So that being said, back to owls.

Milo has a real love affair with owls. He spots them in every book, loves saying "hoot, hoot, hoot" and asks Jay to watch videos of real owls on the computer (videos which kinda freak me out - barn owls are surprisingly alien-like). With his birthday coming up, I figured making him his own stuffed owl was a slam-dunk. So over one nap this weekend, I used some fleece scraps and made this funny guy (using this image as a guide). It's not the best looking owl, but Jay assures me that Milo will love it regardless. It's soft and squishy and I'm trying my best not to start all over again.

Hoot, hoot.

this moment

The idea behind {this moment} - courtesy of the always inspiring Soulemama - is just so lovely. There haven't been many pauses around here for a few months but today I took a deep, relaxing breath. Outside with Milo, on a Friday without plans, we played with his train. The breeze lifted the edges of our blanket. It was the perfect temperature for socks, bare legs and a sweater. We laughed, I gazed at the blooming peonies and we ate pickles and cheese, which is Milo's idea of the perfect picnic food. It was exactly what I imagined {this moment} was meant to capture.

(The only real distraction was the actual camera, but without it how could I get such a hilarious, too-close shot of my fella?)

let me explain

A while ago Sadie was planning a costume for a birthday party she was attending (a "halfway to Hallowe'en" theme - awesome idea!). She wanted to be a lamb, which somehow meant she needed a bolero, and after telling her I couldn't possibly knit one in time she agreed that a sewn bolero would be perfect. I had a Fabricland errand anyway, so I figured Sadie would enjoy coming along and picking her own fabric. We had discussed the bolero being pink and I imagined finding jogging fleece or jersey in a solid pink. Perhaps you can already see where this is heading.

We get there and I spot jogging fleece ends that are perfect. Trouble is, the bin right next to the ends is full of hideous crushed velvet bolts, all with horrid patterns - the kind that are burned into the velvet if you know what I mean. This is fabric that doesn't even register in my vision as I walk past it...but it stopped my six year old right in her tracks. Any thought of pink flew out of her mind as she fixated on silver. With snowflakes. In crushed velvet.

I tried a few tricks I'm not so proud of. Worst was telling her it was too expensive (while I'm loading up on fleece ends with no destined purpose), and I kid you not, a sales lady walked by at that exact moment and said, "oh, it's on sale right now too". Defeated. But there was a moment when I heard myself forcing my own style and wishes upon my sweet little girl and I stopped. Grabbed the bolt and said we'd make this work. Not surprisingly, Sadie was super excited.

On the way home we brainstormed how snowflakes might work with a lamb costume until we landed on Sadie being a Snowflake Fairy. So by the time we walked in the door, my unfortunate reaction was forgotten and Sadie was thrilled with her costume idea. Sewing with the fabric was absolutely awful, but the resulting bolero is what Sadie called "the most favourite thing I've ever made her". This whole episode made me appreciate my own mom all over again, because even though her style is far more in line with Sadie's, she accepted my plain and simple tastes while I was growing up. We may have had moments like Sadie and I just did, but my overall memory is that she never forced her styles on me which allowed me to be confident in my own opinions. And Sadie should feel proud of her love of all things sparkly and silver, just like her grandma.

This mothering thing sure isn't easy. And I should say, Sadie was a beautiful Snowflake Fairy.

kcwc: the end

Okay, for the sewing that I did manage, this is absolutely my favourite piece. Sure, it's just a sweatshirt but it's red and white - and it has red and white stripes in the hood! I would wear this everyday if it was my size. And I made it using a pair of pre-loved sweatpants from my dear friend Ragdoll, so as long as Milo doesn't stain the bejeezus out of it, her little baby boy will be next in line to wear it. It's funny, I love raglan sleeves in knitting, but this is the very first time I've sewn a raglan sleeve. I didn't use a pattern but drafted a pattern from an existing hand-me-down. I know I will use this a few more times.

As soon as I finished the sweatshirt, I took the inspiration from this skirt (oh my goodness, it's awesome) and pulled out a thrifted shirt hoping to cut a few triangles out of it. But the shirt had these crazy diagonal sleeves and I realized I could make the whole skirt out of the two sleeves cut open. Fifteen minutes and three serged seams later and Sadie had a skirt. She wore it instantly (yes, over top of rainbow leggings).

Almost forgot this shirt! I made this on Tuesday with the same jersey as Sadie's pants. Easy style and it seems anything with a ruffle gets a thumbs up from my girl.

So another KCWC week done. I may not have sewn as much as I'd hoped, but no matter - I got to make a few wearable pieces and have some fun photo shoots with the kids. I know I've already said it, but this last photo reminds me even more - there's sewing and then there's spending time with my little people. I'll take a laugh-off by the blackboard anytime.

kcwc: a bit more

This funny romper was supposed to be my big plan for the week. I had sketches, I drafted pattern pieces...but it has ended up as a so-so experiment. The whole layering-for-pockets is what had me excited, and I suppose that worked (even though Milo was much more interested in dropping toys down the inside of the romper so that they fell out onto the floor - I guess pockets don't excite him yet). And I did like attaching the ribbed edging on the inside and then turning it to the front to top stitch, so that's a good lesson for the future. But as for the wearability and look of the romper? Not sure.

What will get worn is these shorts. Funny how thirty minutes of investment can be so much more useful. And now there's no more gray fleece left (points scored for using up every little scrap of this fleece) so I've moved on to other colours. More to show later today!

kcwc: the beginning

So far, this week hasn't gone as planned.  Double shifts at work, hardly seeing the kids...so sewing has taken a total backseat.  But on Monday I accomplished a little, starting with a quick kerchief for Sadie -  pretty scraps of fabric to help keep hair from her eyes.

And then a pair of desperately needed pants (well, that's according to Mom, because I'm not a fan of her all-tight-pants wardrobe, but I'm trying to be subtle about it).  The fabric is a lightweight, almost pique jersey so they should be great in warmer weather.  I used some older pants as a guide and dressed them up with the ruffle cuff. There were two tiny holes in the fabric so I covered them with the blue heart above and Sadie seems pleased with her "peek pocket". Already they've been worn twice and washed once, so I think they're a success.

Hopefully more to come, but I'm predicting a blow-out single post late in the weekend. My fingers are crossed, hoping for sewing time to magically appear (and work related projects to magically disappear). But I'm also overdue for some serious kid loving, so we'll see. Kids beat out time at the sewing machine any day.

adventures in fleece

How is it that you can have shelves of fabric but still realize you have nothing of something-or-else? For me it was fleece. Now that I'm comfortable sewing with knits, fleece seemed like a natural next step and wouldn't you know it, Fabricland had a pile of awesome jogging ends for $5/metre. So I stocked up even though I have nowhere to pile it and already way too much fabric in my stash.

At least I have a plan - sew through the pile quickly. Everything got washed right away and my first experiment is this cardigan. I used my adapted t-shirt pattern for the basic shape and then copied a fleece cardigan of Sadie's that I love. Hers buttons all the way down but I'm a sucker for comfort and I think the single button is a little more sophisticated - if that's at all possible with a fleece garment. To break up the all gray look, I added striped cuffs (better photo below) which are actually attached on the wrong side of the fleece and then folded up. Then one pocket, a little striped loop and a button from Paris finish it up.

It's probably not one bit flattering, but I love wearing it - it's really comfortable and the striped cuffs make me smile, so I've got a black version planned next. As long as this spring stays cold, I'll have plenty of chances to wear it. But then again the Kids Clothing Week Challenge  is coming up soon, so my sewing should switch over to Sadie and Milo. Hopefully I can make a dent in my stash for that.