A spot of sewing

I have been doing a spot of sewing lately, just a little bit, in preparation for the warm weather that will hopefully be coming our way soon. I was also lucky enough to have a week off work last week, so I managed to tick a few things off my to-do list.  My plan is to try to ignore the temptation of all the cute clothes in the shops (and there are so many!) and try to make most of the girl's wardrobes this season.  We'll see....

I bought this red and pink spot fabric a while ago with the intention of making a dress for Katherine.  Well, I had actually forgotten I had it stashed away, but I came across it while I was searching for some green polka dot fabric I was sure I had (which I couldn't find anywhere).  This prompted me to admit to my husband that maybe I did have too much fabric, since I am always coming across things I had forgotten I had.  I'm pretty sure he realised I wasn't being serious.  You can never have too much fabric, after all.  But anyway, I dragged this fabric out of the cupboard and decided to finally make that dress.

I used the Rosy Posy pattern from Ottobre 3/2011.  For a while I was tossing up whether to make up the Oliver & S Family Reunion Dress instead, since I haven't made one of those yet, but in the end I went with the Rosy Posy as I've made it a few times now and it always gives such a lovely result.  The only thing I like to do differently is to fully line the bodice (and sometimes the skirt, but not this time), and use buttons down the back of the bodice instead of a zip.  With this particular dress I also added a gathered sash and tie, which I sewed into the bodice/skirt seam at the front, rather than use a detachable ribbon tie.

Continuing with the spotty theme, I decided to make a beige and white polka-dot dress as well.  I was inspired by a dress I saw somewhere but unfortunately I can't remember where.  I actually thought I first saw it at Target but when I went back to have a better look they didn't have it.  So I don't know if they sold out of them or whether I saw it somewhere else.

The pattern I used was Simplicity 2683, and I made view A.  It was the first time I've used the pattern, even though I've had it for a while.  I made it up in the size 3 but with an extra half inch of length in the bodice and an extra inch or so at the hem, for my bean-pole 4 1/2 year old.

At first I was worried about the sleeves as they kind of look funny on the pattern cover.  I was almost going to make up some Rosy Posy style elasticised sleeves instead, but I stuck with the original design and I am glad I did, they are lovely.  The only thing I did differently was not line the sleeves.  I just overlocked the sleeve edge and turned it up to hem it instead.  I figured it would be cooler for summer this way, plus I didn't want to fiddle around with a lining.

Excuse the wrinkled sleeve, I haven't quite figured out how to iron something that small with that many gathers!

The dress has buttons down the back (yes, zipper phobia strikes again!) and a salmon coloured sash and tie.  I really like this dress, but the fit is snug and I am hoping she won't grow out of it by summer.  Although at the moment she only seems to be growing up so maybe it won't be an issue.

I have a couple more dresses I want to make before I'm done yet.  How many dresses should a little girl have?  Is there a limit? Or is is like fabric, and there is no such thing too many?

One scoop or two?

A few weeks (months?) ago I bought some fabric with the intention of making each of my girls an Oliver+S Ice cream dress. I was inspired by all of the colour block dresses that had been popping up around the place, like here, and here, and here. Oh, and there was also the one I made for my sister a little while back too.

Anyway, I enlisted Katherine's help to choose some colours and whaddya know, she chose pink for herself and blue for Ellie. The girls helped me layer up the colours and cut out the pattern - they loved it!  And they really like their finished dresses.

Katherine's pink dress was made up in size 5, but with some of the fullness taken out of the bodice (I was working with fat quarters here, so didn't have a lot of width to start with - plus she is a string bean!).  The heights of each the layers aren't cut exactly according to the pattern either, because I didn't have a whole lot of each colour, I had to use more of some fabrics and less of others.  And I also just made them with a regular old boring hem, because I didn't have enough fabric to make the double-layer hem that the pattern calls for.  Oops! 

Ellie's was the size 2T. Is the neck opening supposed to run small on these dresses? This one only just fits over her (small-to-average sized) head.

Now I wouldn't say the Ice cream dress is my favourite Oliver+S pattern, but I am happy with these dresses and I'm glad I can tick them off the to-do list.  The most important thing is that the girls are also happy with them - I'm guessing they'll get a lot of wear once the weather warms up a bit more for us (do you hear that, Spring?  You'd better hurry up and get here!).

Nightie Night!

Last night as I was getting the girls ready for bed, Katherine asked if she could wear her nightie instead of her pj's.  Well, she only has summer nighties, and even though spring is supposedly only a few weeks away, it's still been getting down around 0 degrees at night here.  I remember when I was a little girl, my Nanna/s (and probably mum too) used to make us these adorable "old fashioned" winter nighties that were all flannelette and lace and frills.  In fact, I don't recall ever wearing winter pajamas... probably until I was much older anyway... it was always nighties.  Or at least, it was always the nighties that were memorable!

So last night I told Katherine that I would make her a winter nightie.  I had some flannelette that she picked out at the beginning of winter that I'd previously promised I would make her some pjs out of, but I figured if it hadn't happened by now, it probably wasn't going to happen any time soon.  So I set about cutting into it - I didn't have a pattern, but took some basic measurements and borrowed some inspiration from a quick Google image search.  This is how it ended up:

The nightie is just a tad too big, but I don't think it's anything a couple of rounds in the dryer won't fix.    She insisted on wearing it tonight, so it's a big success all round!  The only thing was that I couldn't get a decent photo of her actually *wearing* it, but you'll just have to believe me when I say it looks very cute on!

For my sister...

I caught up with my sister today, at my niece's birthday party - not my sister's daughter, but my sister-in-law's daughter.  Because our kids are all around the same age, we often all catch up together, like one big happy family.  Anyway, my sister's birthday is next weekend and because I wasn't sure if I would see her for her actual birthday, I brought along the trench coat I had made for her, as well as a dress I'd made through the week.

Are you going to blog me?  She asked as I snapped some quick photos on my phone...  well, yes, yes I am.

The sleeves came up a bit short on the jacket, but I was expecting that.  In hindsight I really should have left myself some "wiggle room" there.  My sister is small pretty much everywhere, except for the length of her arms.  Because I don't really have anything left in the sleeve hem, I'm thinking of adding an extra strip of fabric at the ends and making a little cuff thingy to give them some more length - it really only needs another inch or two.

During the week I also tested out my Oliver + S Ice Cream Dress pattern.  I was inspired by some colour block dresses I'd seen, like the ones here and here, and also this adult version of the Ice Cream Dress.  I already knew from my sister's measurements that the size 12 would (should) fit, so I picked up some brightly coloured polin and got to work.

In the back of my mind there was the thought that maybe the dress would fit me, but being a redhead, orange is not even close to my colour.  Plus I have curves, which is a real pain when trying to sew for myself.  It's pretty much the reason I don't do it.  And the dress didn't fit me, so my sister has scored it for her summer wardrobe.  That's if she is game enough to wear it - it is pretty bright.

Despite adding an extra half inch or to to the bottom of the top panel, it is still just a tad tight around the arms.  I've been trying to think about how I could add some room in there without unpicking the whole top section.  It fits as it is, but it could probably be a little more comfortable.  Plus if I was to make one again, I would make the neck just a teensy bit wider.  Other than that I think it looks great.  

The most impressive part for my sister was that I covered the button on the back with the same fabric as the dress.  Well, as they say, it's the little things that matter most!  

Love you sis!

Secret Agents 004 and 005

Ok, so I may have had just a teeny tiny problem putting the Oliver + S Secret Agent Trench coat pattern down.  I really wasn't planning on making so many of them, but it was so fun and easy to make, and the end result looks great.  Two of my nieces have scored a trench coat for birthdays already, and one more is about to receive this adorable strawberry version (in size 3) on the weekend.  I left the sleeve tabs and shoulder flap off this one, because I gave up trying to match the print!  Anyway, I think because the print is a bit busy, this simplified version still looks ok.

After seeing the red trench I made for my niece, my sister requested one of her own. At first she wanted a red one as well, but in the end she opted for a plain black one. I was a bit slack in getting started on this project so it has sort of become an early birthday present for her, which actually works out well as I wasn't quite sure what to get for her anyway! The weather is starting to warm up again now, so I hope she still gets some wear out of it.

My sister is tiny and will get away with the size 12.  If I was a couple of dress sizes smaller, I'd also be making one for myself.

Frilled to bits

Months ago, I saw this tute over at Sewing in No Mans Land. I actually saw the tute and made the dress that same night, but because the weather here has been a bit chilly to be out in a sleeveless dress, it has remained unblogged - until now.

I made the dress out of some pink cotton interlock and some scraps of dusty rose coloured satin I'd had for years - it was actually an extra metre of fabric I'd bought when I had my bridesmaids dresses made so that I could make some matching ties for the groomsmen. There wasn't really enough of it left to do anything with, but I kept it in my scrap basket all that time anyway, because I am a scrap hoarder. The finished dress was pretty heavy because of the weight of the fabric, and I could see it turning out better in something lighter to be honest, but it was still a fun project. I think my favourite part was piecing together all the ruffles on the front and back panels of the dress. Not having to sew any hems was pretty good as well!

Look at those ruffles - love them!

Tianna Dresses

A while ago I purchased some pdf patterns from the Lily Bird Studio on Etsy.  They have some really cute things for girls and boys.  I liked that their patterns looked simple and sweet - nothing too fussy or cluttered, just clean lines and lovely little details.  Then this week just gone, I managed to make not one, but two of their Tianna Dresses, and I have to say I will definitely be buying and making more patterns from this shop.

The dresses came together really quickly - I made Ellie's in an afternoon and Katherine's I managed to make in under 2 hours, including the cutting out.  Most importantly, the girls actually like them - Ellie has worn hers twice this week, and Katherine wore hers yesterday.  Just after I had sewn it together, but before I had put the buttons on, Katherine came into the sewing room and saw it hanging up.  She clutched it to her chest and danced around the room with it.  I had to gently pry it from her fingers and explain I still had pins in it!  Haha!

The sizing was pretty spot on for my skinny minnies, which was refreshing as I didn't need to make any adjustments at all, really.  I made a size 2 and a size 4. If you have average-to-larger sized children, I would recommend going up a size.  Katherine's dress I made out of some brushed cotton checks (no, it's not just for old men's shirts :P).  I skipped the buttons down the front on Katherine's and just put a pretty ribbon on instead.

Ellie's was made out of some super cute baby elephant cordoroy, with quilting cotton for the lining and trim.  Sorry about the blurry photographs - it is so hard to keep this girl still! 

I thought Ellie's needed something extra, so I cut up an old yellow singlet of mine and made some little leggings using this tutorial from Make it and Love it, made even easier by the fact that I kept the original hem from the singlet so I didn't even have to hem them!  {Future idea - use an old lace-trimmed singlet to make lace-hemmed leggings!}  I added some little ruffles at the ankle, in the same fabric as the trim and lining of the dress.  Also, I swear the legs on the leggings are the same length!  The left leg must have been scrunched up a bit more when I took these photos.

I really like the way this outfit looks, and have resolved to make more outfits as opposed to just pieces here and there.