IOU one fancy hat

One of the presents that I gave Bryan on Christmas day was a Mars Volta patch, with an IOU. I promised to either sew it on a hat he already has, make him a hat and sew it on, or sew it on something else (a bag, jacket, etc.)  He chose for me to make him a hat, so I found the Felicity pattern on Ravelry and knit it up in a few hours.  It's a little snug, but I think it looks good on him -- he was apprehensive, because he thought it was a chick hat.  I see many more of these in his future.

The biggest nerd I know

Namely, me.  I got the Oliver + S newsletter in my inbox, and while clicking around, I happened to notice that my bedtime story pjs were linked!  Right there, in the newsletter, for all the world to see!

I took a screenshot of the newsletter. So? That's what nerds do. Check it:


That's me. The link for "pajamas."  Right here, my peeps. That's right, I'm almost famous.  Have anything you want me to sign?  Also, the picture you see there of that adorable jacket? It was made by the Purl Bee, who is also a Squarespacer. Could not be ANY COOLER.

How I spent my Sunday afternoon

Alternately title, "Tissue paper, I hate you."

Traced the Fair Weather jacket pattern for Phoebe and Charlie.  I had to trace each piece (11 total) twice, in two different sizes.  And then cut them out.  My very least favorite part of sewing, especially because I have to do it all again, this time, on the actual fabric.  Feel sorry for me?

Phoebe gets some jammies

It cracks me up how excited Phoebe gets when I sew for her now, considering how much she used to hate it.  With a fiery passion.  A really, really, fiery passion.  Like, the time I made her some pants that she wouldn't wear, or when I made her a pillowcase with her name on it, that made her head explode with anger.

Clearly, she's over the hate, because she checked on me about every 5 minutes to see when her pjs would be finished, and almost wouldn't let me take them off to get a picture.  It helps that they're Olivia -- two awesome things (pajamas and Olivia!) all rolled into one.

The pictures are crap, because it's raining today.  I tried taking pictures in the living room, but they're pretty dark, and Bryan is in the process of ripping up the carpet, so everything's a mess.  Turns out we have wood floors, so while they're in pretty bad shape it's better than the disgusting smelly carpet.  I wonder if the people that lived here before us were on drugs.  Why would you put ugly ass maroon carpet over nice wood floors, people?  Why?

Next up I need to make Charlie's Olivia pjs, and then after that?  I don't know.  I want to sew as much as I possibly can while I have this freakish motivation.  I have some fabulous material to make the littles some jackets with this pattern -- as soon as the pattern gets here I'm going to be all over it.  Do you know how hard it is to find cute jacket patterns for kids?

Anyway, check out the picture of Phoebe, jumping for joy with her new pajamas.  She's going to want to wear them for the next 3 days straight, so it's good that they're so dang adorable.

Burda 9843

I love Burda patterns usually, and I especially love pattern 9843 for pants.  I made pants for Marissa about 5 or 6 years ago using this pattern, and they turned out perfectly.  They were my favorite pants for her because of the big flares they had.  Is there anything cuter than a kid in bell-bottoms?  I think not.

I had to buy the pattern again because the one I have is cut for size 5 or 6, so useless for smaller sizes for Phoebe and Charlie.  I read through the instructions and they've changed since the last time, and not in a good way.  Some of the instructions are moronic -- baste the inner leg seam and then sew it?  Um, why, exactly?  And the way they explain how to insert the elastic into the back seems more confusing -- I remember how to do it from the last time I made these pants, and the older instructions were much clearer.

In any event, they turned out waaaaay too big in the waist, so I had to add ties in order to keep them on Charlie.  They were even too big in the waist for Phoebe, but at least I know for next time, and don't end up paintstakingly inserting a zipper that serves no purpose.  Because I have more important things to do with my time, like shower.