More sewing! Are you surprised?

Busted out the yellow synthetic knit I got from my JoAnn fabrics spree, and whipped up 3 more Tees for Two for the girls. I have some fabric left over, and I may sew up the dress version for Thea with the remainder.  The yellow makes me so happy, and the silver glittery threads in the material are just a bonus.

The girls got them today when they got home from school.  They shucked off their school clothes to put on their shirts immediately, and went completely crazy when they realized that Thea matches them.  Cuteness.

I think I may need to go up to a 6 for the Pheebs.  She’s growing so fast! 

Also, I finally busted open the Silhouette that my adorable husband bought me for my birthday.  I was worried about where to set up the machine but that thing is so small!  It fits anywhere.  I didn’t bother with the instructional DVD since, you know, I’m impatient.  Belle had a green hoodie that was fairly boring, so she asked for a robot.  I went on the Silhouette store and found a robot image for $0.99, bought it, and then cut out the stencil.

The process took, like, 5 minutes total.  I think it took the longest for the paint to dry, and I decided he needed rhinestone eyes for some bling.  It looks seriously cute.  I foresee lots and lots of stencils in our future.

Dressy McDresserson

Another Simplicity 4927 dress, for Pheebs.  I added a ruffled collar by taking a strip of black fabric 3” wide, folding in half wrong sides together, and then pushing it under the presser foot to fold it up as I sewed.  Very scientific of me.

I used a hook and eye closure this time on the back, instead of the elastic loop and button.  I think it looks nicer with this particular print and the collar I added.

I thought I’d be sick of this pattern by now, but it’s only growing on me.  I think I’ll make at least one more for Charlie, with pockets.  If, that is, I can find the time to sew while we’re preparing for our impending move.  I do believe that my sewing machine will be the VERY last thing I pack.

KCWC: Day 7

Last day of the challenge! I finished things off with a reversible kimono dress for Thea, out of that pile of new fabric I just got.  Pattern is from Mani Mina, and could not be cuter or easier to sew. 

I liked the idea of contrasting panels so I made one view with the print and a navy panel, and the reverse is navy with one print panel.  It hangs so that you get a pretty good view of the panel that wraps underneath, and I love the interest it adds.

So, that’s done.  The tally for the challenge is:

2 Dresses for the middles
3 pair of shorts for the middles
a tank top for Charlie
skirt for Charlie
2 tunic tops for the middles
a kimono dress for Thea

I guess Charlie lucked out the most, eh?  And clearly I need to sew for Thea more.  The middles have so many mama-made clothes now that I had to buy 2 more packages of hangers.  I probably won’t be satisfied until the clothes I make them outnumber the RTW clothes in their closet, though.

The challenge was really good — it pushed me to pull out patterns that have been sitting in my shelf for awhile now.  Seeing all the other pics in the Flickr pool inspired me to have greater attention to detail and take the time to construct their garments properly, and unpick errors.  It was a great motivator.

I definitely would never have sewn this much if it wasn’t for KCWC.  I tend to do the bulk of my sewing on my days off, and there’s no way I could’ve finished this many projects in only two days.  I didn’t sew for an hour a day, though, that’s for sure.  I picked out projects and completed them, however long it took.  If I do it again I will probably plan ahead and cut out the pattern pieces before I get started so I can get a jump on things.

Ten items in 7 days.  I consider it a success.

KCWC: Day 6

Alternately titled: Today is my birthday!

We didn’t really have any big plans which was honestly fine with me, but I did get some birthday money that was burning a hole in my pocket (thanks dad!) so Bryan suggested we head out to Beckley to spend it.  Because:

A) He knows there’s a JoAnn fabrics there
B) JoAnn fabrics was having a sale
C) There’s a Starbucks in Beckley
D) All of the above are some of my favorite things

Isn’t he the bestest?

Instead of sewing for today’s challenge I bought a ton of fabric instead.  My fabric-shopping choices out here are pretty limited, so while going to JoAnn’s might seem boring to most people, it’s a huge deal for me.  Most of my cute fabric has to be purchased online, which is hazardous.  You can’t tell how thick a knit is by a picture on your monitor, or how bright or muted colors may be.  It’s a crapshoot.  It’s nice to actually pick up a bolt and feel the fabric and see how big the pattern repeat is.  You know?

I will admit that even though they were having a sale, I did get a little crazy up in there.  I couldn’t help it.  My husband not only waited patiently, he actually encouraged the craziness.  This is one of the (many) reasons why I love him so.

In case you’re wondering (and I’m telling you anyway), the materials are (from bottom to top):

1. Grey suiting destined to be a seashore dress for Phoebe
2. 5.8 oz denim destined to be more puppet show shorts for the middles
3. 6 oz denim destined to be class picnic shorts for the middles
4 & 5. sky blue cotton with a floral pattern & yellow broadcloth (will probably go together to be a kimono dress for Thea)
6 & 7. white cotton with a green, yellow, and navy diamond pattern and navy broadcloth (will probably go together to be another kimono dress for Thea)
8. a really fun pink patterned cotton destined to be a class picnic blouse for Charlie
9. navy patterned cotton destined to be a seashore dress for Charlie
10. a purple patterned cotton destined to be a class picnic blouse for Phoebe
11. some yellow striped glitter knit that will be as many Tees for Two as I can squeeze out of it

Whew.

I may or may not stick with that list, depending on how my mood strikes me, but I bought yardage according to those projects so I would at least have a plan.  Otherwise, I could’ve been in there for hours.

I also got a 45mm Olfa rotary cutter and extra blade, one white spool of serger thread (I have 3 in my machine right now, and the fourth spool is pink. ha!), black cotton thread, and 4 different colors of piping.  Can you believe I can’t buy piping locally?  INSANE.  My husband also picked out a self-healing cutting mat to go with my rotary cutter.

Non-sewing related birthday goodness: coconut mocha frappuccinos (soooo good), burgers from Sonic, and a cute little cardigan that was priced at $19.99 and rang up for $4.  It was a damn. fine. day.

KCWC: Day 5

So, first thing.  I’m checking the KCWC pool here, and some people are tagging projects with Day 6. Did I forget how to count?  Or skip a day, or something?  May 9 = Day 1, May 10 = Day 2, May 11 = Day 3, May 12 = Day 4, May 13 = Day 5. Right? Maybe? I’m going to just keep on keepin’ on.

Moving along.  I thought about making t-shirts today, but it was hot, so I wanted to make something more summery.  I pulled out Simplicity 4613, and cut view B for Charlie.  I should’ve known that just looking at the pieces it would be too wide and too short.  I did lengthen it by an inch, but it’s still too short for my taste.

The way they have you attach the bias tape to the armholes is lazy, so I’ll make it again and take an inch out of the back, lengthen by two inches, and do a continuous circle of bias tape for the armhole.  Really easy to sew up though, and if my mods work out then I envision a lot more of these for warm weather.

Skirt is leftover fabric from this dress (again!).  Simple circle skirt with a 2” elastic waistband.  I’m not a fan of that method though, because my stitching always looks sooo messy when the waistband is relaxed.  It’s annoying.  Doesn’t affect the wearability or function, and the waistband is covered by a shirt, but still.  Ugh.

Then I traced out the Oliver + S Puppet Show shorts.  Of course I love them, it’s Oliver + S.  They’re amazing.  I used the leftover grey twill from these pants and these pants and this mei tai. 

The pockets on these are just adorable, and the little gathers on the sides of the legs are cute, too.  Making the pocket took the longest I think — the rest went together pretty quickly. 

I need to pick up some solid fabrics and make up a bunch of these for the middles for summer, Phoebe was really pleased with hers.

I may not be sewing much tomorrow since it’s my birthday, and we have plans to get out of town, but I might be able to squeeze in a project or two.  I think Thea needs a kimono dress…