Make it Perfect- Sprout

 The dress I finished last night. My first NON Oliver and S. Here it is in the strange 11pm sewing room light:

The company is Make it Perfect and the pattern in Sprout. The dress is advertised as a winter dress- lined with flannel, long sleeves, hood. Just what we needed around here.

 Notes about the pattern:
1) Make it Perfect is Australian based, so the sizing is different. I had to poke around online to guess which size translated to baby's size. I went with size four.
2) This pattern is an easier one- but I'm still glad I spent the last two years on Oliver and S. Those directions are full of hints and EVERY step needed for a professional finish. This pattern didn't have all that- but it was easy to learn what I used from my past experience.

So, the thing that had me on pins and needles all night- would the dress fit? Did I guess correctly?

 YES!! I did! It fit really well! And she wore it all day with comfort and ease. Played in it, ran it in, napped in it. Lovely.

 I've only been using fabric from my stash. It's time to make a real dent in that fabric stash. It feels great. The floral was a Liberty cotton on sale at Bolt Fabrics and the blue lining was a flannel I bought tons of at Mill End for the back of her baby quilt. I adjusted the hemming so to blue would poke out at the sleeve and the bottom hem.

 I knew pigtails would be just the thing for this dress. With a little lunch to distract her, we managed to wrangle a few hair ties in.
I would change a few things in the next go around. 1) I would either make the sleeve longer or just go up a size in the bodice. With the flannel lining, I'm worried she'll outgrow it quickly. 2) I would use the hood pattern from the school days Oliver and S jacket. It has three pieces instead of two and I like the finish of it.
I just find it amazing I can even think about veering from a pattern at ALL to make something work better for me. This sewing thing has really been a journey.... and I have so much more to learn!

So much running in the new dress meant a little time with Dada was needed. I think we'll see a lot of the dress this winter.

Ice Cream in October

Eighteen luscious, scrumptious flavors
Chocolate, lime and cherry,
Coffee, pumpkin, fudge banana
Caramel cream and boysenberry.
Rocky road and toasted almond,
Butterscotch, vanilla dip,
Butter brickle, apple ripple,
Coconut and mocha chip,
Brandy peach and lemon custard,
Each scoop lovely, smooth and round,
Tallest ice cream cone in town,
Lying there (sniff) on the ground.

-Shel Silverstein

Oliver and S. How I love! And the Ice Cream dress pattern? The best. I've made the dress four times now and the shirt version once. Maybe not 18 luscious flavors- but I'm on my way!

 This particular version is a size four. FOUR! I held it up to the six month size I first made- unreal. That thing about babies growing up fast? True. All true. (Wrinkles in the picture? Because she wore it before I did the photo shoot)
Check the adorable bunny fabric. Perfect.

I made the dress one size bigger than I thought I needed because I didn't want to work and work... then have it not fit. But, I forgot, Oliver and S does a little of that for you. So, it's a little big.

Even a little big, it's perfect for some bunny I know. She wore it all day, put toys in the pocket (is there any other reason to have a pocket?)

 Had to get the the Star Wars shot in all this. She used it as a suitcase, and went on a journey to a galaxy far far away.

Another success. Seeing her in clothes I made... worth it all.
I have another finished, she'll try it on in the morning, fingers crossed it fits. It's not an Oliver and S pattern. Still though, it turned out. Ha! Flannel lined and long sleeves- something for these winter months.

Fiesta time!

Cinco de Mayo is holiday time,
holiday time
in Mexico!

-From some song I sang in a first grade class recital. It's never left my brain.

I had a little fun for Cinco de Mayo. I justified it by saying I would put her in this outfit again... but truly... this was a one time outfit. And it rocked.
Once I saw the tutorial for the skirt on Dana Made it I couldn't turn back. She makes it all look so easy and fun. And it was. I see more fiesta style twirly skirts in our future. It was a great way to use up some of the random trim I've had around- lace, ric rac... I actually had to hold back a little.

Of course, once I had the skirt, she needed a little shirt. Using freezer paper, I cut out the stencil, ironed it on, painted and waited for it to dry. So sweet. I've used the same technique for another outfit I made for her, it's a fun way to dress up a simple onsie or t-shirt.

This Bunny outfit was done a few weeks before the Cinco de Mayo outfit. I think it's pretty much the greatest onsie ever.

 A little burro, a little fiesta, a little skirt, a little fun.

At the zoo

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo! How about you, you, you? You can come too, too too, we're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
-Going to the Zoo by Peter, Paul and Mary.

Today we took the new jacket out for a run at the zoo. A long trip to the zoo. It was a delightful, rainy day-the bright jacket served us perfectly.

I love the bright fabric. Just love. In the past, I don't think I would have picked it- but the bright colors match baby's bright personality. And the jacket turned out beautifully. What a sweet pattern. We couldn't use the flash in with the elephants- the baby elephant was running and playing- so this one turned out a little blurry, but it shows the hood. 

Such a sweet little thing. The hood of the jacket is so sweet, but it will never get worn. Even in the rain, baby pushes that hood back and puts her face up to the sky. She's a little outside girl. 

The 2T size proved to be a little big- meaning I get to roll the sleeves back and show of the lining fabric. I love the blue lining, I think it tempers the bright jacket a bit. 

It worked well for hippo rides:

 And elephant rides:

 And camel rides:

I love seeing her ride the same statues I did as a kid. 

The process for making the jacket went well. The sleeves were the hardest part. Working with the larger pieces proved easier. Using the lighter weight fabric probably made it easier too. 

Lovely lovely. Something sweet for such a happy girl. It doesn't get better. 

For Spring, We Begin Again

"The beginning is the most important part of the work."
Plato The Republic

With my graduate class behind me, and no more classes until the summer... it's time to get my creative on again. I had to dig my machine out of the sewing room- a sign that it's been much too long since it's last use- and get her set up again. Not that I have hours to spare, but I have a few moments I can make some choice about how to spend, and I CHOOSE SEWING!

So, I find myself at the start of a project.

It's time for another School Days Jacket. How I love oliver & s. I still love the jacket I made the first time around with this pattern. So perfect. 

This time I'm going for a spring/summer jacket- so I found a light-weight, bright corduroys and I'm lining it with a quilting cotton. So, I've jumped in to it. I traced pieces (size 2T) onto Swedish Tracing paper, ironed the fabric, and pinned it all down. 

In just a short bit, I had this:

A pile of cut pieces. Now I've got all the pieces ready to go- time to fire up the machine and turn them into a jacket! As great as my graduate class was...(and it really was awesome)...it's nice to be creating again. 

Autumn and a School Days Jacket

Now's the time when children's noses

All become as red as roses
And the colour of their faces
Makes me think of orchard places
Where the juicy apples grow,
And tomatoes in a row.

-Autumn Song by Katherine Mansfield

Done! The Olive and S School Days Jacket. It's lovely. It's delightful. It's the perfect jacket. The whole time I was sewing I worried baby would be too big for it. I picked the 12-18 month sizing. Our little darling suddenly went up to 18 month clothes and we've even bought some 24 month.

But it seems to fit perfectly. I'm glad it's not any smaller. But I think it will get us through to spring.
Oliver and s proved again to be a wonderful pattern to follow. While challenging, it was not impossible. In fact, the whole thing moved a long smoothly. I had read some sewers had trouble with the hood, but I found that pretty straightforward. I love how it turned out.
The hardest part for me turned out to be the sleeves. I did a lot of learning while I battled it out with FOUR sleeves (darn that awesome lining).

The outside fabric is a corduroy from Mill End. The inside is the softest woolly material from Joann's. I love how the two go together.

All the details give the jacket a professional finish. The top-stitched seams, the hidden "unfinished" work. The pretty toggles on the front. Wonderful.

The lining is made a little big, so there is movement built into the jacket. I just love it.
A special thank you to my parents, who came over and watched the Oregon/USC game and the baby while I sewed. Once I started I couldn't be stopped. It felt great to have some solid hours to get the jacket done.
Even better, though, was the time today to hang out with the little baby who gets to wear this jacket. And she makes it look GOOD.

Goin' for it.

Long hair minimizes the need for barbers; socks can be done without; one leather jacket solves the coat problem for many years' suspenders or superfluous.
- Albert Einstein

Hopefully this endeavor will solve baby's coat problem for the winter. So help me, if it turns out not to fit her when I'm done... but then, that's always been my biggest fear with garment sewing. Working and working and then discovering it's not really what I wanted. So far sewing clothes for baby has proved rewarding. And it's all fit. 

But I digress...

So, I'm doing it. I'm staring on the Oliver+S School Days Jacket. Evidenced below:

Late night cutting session

The pattern is now only sold as a digital version, but I checked out a local fabric store called Bolt and they still had hard copies for sale. Thank goodness. Printing and taping pieces together would have probably stopped me from taking this on. 
As you can probably see in the picture, I used Swedish tracing paper. I love it. When my instructor at a sewing class offered by Modern Domestic introduced it to me, I was floored. Finally a way to preserve my pattern so I can use it for other sizes in the future. Plus, it's just easier to work with and to pin to fabric than the actual pattern pieces. It's amazing. 

This pattern intimidates me a bit. It's a big project and there are lots of pieces. See-- it's three scissors of difficulty! My hardest pattern yet.

But if (when) I do finish it will be oh so sweet for the winter months. I'm already regretting not making it one size up, so it fits longer. Hopefully this will get us to spring. I'm using a sweet flowered corduroy I got from the sale section and Mill End (the big one on McLoughlin Blvd.).

 I'm still deciding on what to use for the lining, I have a few options. 

Here's hoping in a week (or two or three) I have a finished product to show off. Fingers crossed. 

Perfect Little Dress

I did it. I sewed the perfect little dress. From the perfect fabric. With the perfect buttons. It's perfect. Once again I turned to an Oliver and S pattern and found it to be.... perfect. The pattern was the Family Reunion dress . The directions were easy to follow and the details in the dress make it look like a much more complicated pattern that it was. See the pleating?

And it was so simple!! I actually had the cut out a month ago, but had avoided starting it because I was just sure it would be too hard. Suddenly it hit me that my daughter would not fit it for much longer, so I had reached the point of no return. I gave up a weekend of housework (darn) for sewing.
I love the buttons down the back...

Look, even the birds like it!!I saved some time by sewing in iron safe plastic snaps, then just putting the buttons on for decor. It makes getting it on and off baby a snap.
I love how it looks classic and old fashioned, without being frumpy.

And she can move in it! Here she is showing off the back buttons,

ACK! Baby legs!! I never knew I would love little legs this much. Seriously, who knew?
I love this picture because it shows off the pleats and the detail:

The detail that doesn't show in any picture is the way an Oliver and S pattern finishes each seam so nicely and really hides most of the raw edges.
And, one more picture to take it home:

FLOWERS!! She wants to eat those dandelions, that's for sure.

I would say this dress totaled about 10 hours of work. I'm still new at sewing clothes, so I know this time could be shortened significantly. I plan on making the pattern again in the next size up, so hopefully I'll find it moves along a little faster. It was so nice to slow down for a weekend and make something so sweet and perfect for a little person who fits the same description.

In love with Oliver and S

I'm without camera right now, which is a shame because crafting and sewing has been going strong here. I finally decided to use my phone to take some pictures of my most recent creation... but I'll have to take more pictures when I have a better camera.
I just finished my second Oliver and S Ice Cream Dress. Both dresses are 6m. I finished the green one last August and the yellow one just tonight. Perfect.

The pattern was wonderful to follow. There were some new things in it, since I'm not really a garment sewer, but it all came together nicely. I love the detail these patterns give to the final product.

The little "v" in the pocket and neck gives it something extra. It's details like this I don't see in the patterns from the larger companies.

I enjoy the yoke on the pattern- how it attaches to the dress to make the sleeve. Plus, the pattern leaves almost no raw edges showing- meaning the inside is almost as pretty as the outside.

The yellow dress was fun- it's covered with bunnies and geese and cats. As I got close to the end and was selecting a button for the back, husband suggested a bright red button. This led to stitching a bright red line along the pocket and bottom panel.

I love how it turned out- and now I can plan ahead for it in future dresses and I can give it a cleaner crisper look. Here's the button on the back:

(Because it came from my phone, I'm having trouble turning it, but the idea is there)

Two pretty dresses for baby. Just a few (five!) more weeks until I get to meet her.