Adelaide Lemonade

Christmas Dress

I finally finished something!

But before I talk about that . . . 

It feels so wrong to blog or really do much of anything when I think about the awful shootings in Newtown.  I have a few coworkers who work in that town, and I realize now that I emailed one of them on Friday to ask a mundane question before I realized anything had happened.  I hope he ignored it.

I was walking out the door on Saturday morning to do some Christmas shopping, of all things, when the news coverage flashed a photo of what looked like a mom or a relative hearing the news.  It brought me to tears and made Christmas presents seem so irrelevant.  Can you even imagine getting a call like that?  I don't want to.

I'm quite sure there's no appropriate seque from that to Christmas dresses, so let me just jump right in . . .

I figured I needed to ease my way back into creativity, since my attempt to make reversible overalls without following the instructions was predictably unsuccessful.  What better way to do that than with an Oliver & S pattern with everything spelled out so nicely.  

I had planned to make this anyway and had even picked up the Aneela Hooey Cherry Christmas fabric at Alewive's over the summer.  I like how the gray is a little less of a traditional Christmas color, but it still makes you think of snow and cold (in a good way).

I managed to find some matching-ish cute little gray shoes for cheap.  (Umm yeah, I did go shopping anyway - I'm a horrible person.)  

I think I'm finally catching on to what will make Addie wear something.  Sparkle.  I found 4 little sparkly buttons at JoAnn.  They basically look like diamond studs.  I used those on the little placket thing-y which you can kind of see in the photo above.  That was my second attempt on making a curve that I was happy with on the placket thing-y.  It's still not quite right.  Another sewing skill to work on, I guess.

Then I picked 3 different sets of buttons and let her choose.  These silver ones are the exact ones I thought she'd choose, but if I had chosen them, she would hate them.  Miss Addie, I am so on to you!

Did you ever do that rhyme when you were a kid about "Miss Mary Mac"?  You know with silver buttons all down her back-back-back?  I thought about that when I was sewing these on.

So then, in the what-was-I-thinking-department . . . 

Okay, so it's kind of cute there, but check this out . . .

What I was thinking was that it would be fun to make something out of fake fur (why?) that she could wear over her dress to be a bit warmer.

What I was picturing was a Narnia-esqe snow queen type thing.

I used the Oliver & S Little Things to Sew Pattern for the Red Riding Hood Cape which is a perfectly good pattern.  My only complaint is that the size that would fit Addie is 5-10.  That's quite a range.  This (obviously) ended up being huge.  I actually tried it on and could probably wear it.  (I did not say would.)

What I ended up with was something that looks more Mrs. Claus than snow queen AND fake fur carpeting my craft room like it just got hit with a Nor'easter AND a huge motivation suck as I struggled with finishing it vs. just scrapping it.

Oh well.  I got rid of some red fabric I didn't like any more for the lining, and Addie and I had fun laughing about Mrs. Claus shedding all over my floor.

I did manage to get my craft room straightened up.  I even have some before and after photos I'll share soon.  Now I'm having fun with a few Christmas gifts that I'm working on (and probably coulda, woulda, shoulda started during my months hiatus from crafting).

It's snowing quite nicely outside right now, so my entire family is keeping their fingers crossed for a snow day.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures of Addie modeling her dress - how do they know how to do this?

This one cracks me up the most, but I think she was only doing that because I told her to get her hair out of her face.

That one was fully intentional.

The windblown look.  (I had to blow dry her hair.  She was just out of the bath, and it was cold outside - even in the Santa suit.  It was her idea to scream while I faked the wind with the hairdryer.)

And the tough-guy look.

Happy Friday!

And Happy Birthday to my brother, Simon.  (Simon, if you're reading this, I still want that sourdough recipe!)

(Here he is on our short sailing adventure last summer.)

And Pearl Harbor Day, too.  My daughter was writing a paper about it last night.  That sparked a heated conversation about war and the nuclear bomb between my husband and oldest son.  Poor Maggie kept trying to get a word in edgewise to ask for help on her paper.

On a different topic, I finally finished a sewing project yesterday.  I'm so happy to be "back on the wagon".  I decided to ditch the challenging overalls for now and go with a nice, straightforward Oliver & S pattern.  I hope to get some photos tomorrow during the (sparse) daylight hours.

Just so I have some crafty thing to show on this blog which I don't think I've done in months, here's a sweater I finished back in September before I fell off the crafting bandwagon.

I had some pretty lightweight yarn in my stash - sport weight probably - which was a bit too light for the pattern, so I decided to make the size 7/8.  By all my calculations, I should have had plenty of yarn, but I stopped working on the sweater altogether when it looked like I wouldn't have enough.  I finally decided to at least knit until I had no more yarn then maybe add a contrasting color or something.  Luckily, it turned out to be just enough.  I think I literally had like 8 inches of yarn left.

I really liked the pattern and would definitely make it again except that Addie tells me she hates sweaters (which I kind of already knew).

Here she is choking even with the top button unbuttoned.

Quite the drama queen don't you think?

This is definitely not the thumbs up it appears to be.

Rather she is practicing her counting.

Here's a close up.  I think the sizing came out okay with using the lighter weight yarn and making a bigger size.

See what I'm up against?

I think it will look nice over her newest item of clothing.  I'll see if I can bribe convince her to wear it again tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

Hope Valley Winner

I know I said I would choose a winner on Friday, so I apologize for being a day late.  It's been a crazy week at work - a 14-plus-hour-a-day, work-on-the-weekend, work-sleep-repeat kind of week.  There were no more comments last night or today, so your chances are still the same.  In fact, there were only 14 commenters, so you had a pretty good chance.

I LOVED all your comments about what you're going to do with the kids clothes you made.  Everyone had different decisions, but everyone seemed to feel pretty strongly about what they were going to do.  It was very interesting.  I'm leaning a bit toward the on-line yard sale option - but still contemplating.

Anyway, you probably really want to know the winner.  It's commenter #4, rachelmp from Four Wise Monkeys who said, "Your Addie always makes me laugh! Love the jacket too and must have another look at the Figgy patterns - just what I need. My daughters clothes are all being kept for grandkids too as I spent so much of my limited time sewing them."  Rachel, I'll send you an e-mail shortly to get your mailing info.

Here's the random thingy to proove it.

I thought it would be fun to create a mosaic of all the things I made when I went through the stash I talked about in my last post.  Here it is:

1. Figgy's Rue Jacket, 2.  Sailor Outfit, 3. Figgy's Ayashe, 4. Japanese Shirt with Lisette Lawn, 5. Shirt Dress, 6. Gingham Shirt, 7. Lawn Blouse and Shot Cotton Skirt, 8. Double Gauze Jumper with Embroidery, 9.  Dress with AMH Voile, 10.  Echino Shirt, 11. Lightweight Denim Shorts, 12. Shot Cotton Shirt, 13. Cloth Napkins, 14. Clever Charlotte Hoodie - Purple Linen with Lizzy House Lining, 15. Japanese Pattern Skirt, 16. Plaid Pants - HH2 Pattern O, 17.  Japanese Pattern Sleeveless Top, 18.  My Fabric Challenge

I'm going to try to be a bit more reasonable this time.  Here is my next stack of fabric to use up:

Fabric Stash - Busted!

And a little giveaway - more on that at the end of the post.

So back in March, I challenged myself to use up all this fabric:

Well, I did it.  I'm finally done. Well, almost.  I'll explain that at the end.  I'm hoping you can help.

My stash went from the picture above to the one below.

I would feel really great about it except that I was bad, very bad.  My intent was to not buy any more fabric until I used up that big stack.  I did okay for maybe the first 10 fabrics then I just went crazy.  I think I bought more fabric than I ever had over the period of several months.  Not sure what came over me.  (Forced abstinence followed by a good tax return might have contributed.)  I think I can live with myself though because I love all the fabric I bought.

The last piece I had to use up was some heavyweight navy linen.  I had planned to make a little jacket out of one of my Japanese pattern books but had sort of lost the inspiration for that somewhere along the way.  It's still a really cute jacket that I will probably eventually make.  When I visited Gather Here a few weeks ago, true inspiration finally hit when I saw a model of Figgy's Rue jacket hanging up in the shop.  There's also the Vien jacket for girls, but I really wanted to make the Rue jacket.

The Rue jacket is meant for boys, but I just liked it.  I did make one girl accommodation and switched the buttons to be on the "girl" side.  That got me wondering why the difference, so I googled it.  Apparently no one really knows, but the explanation I like best is that the women who could afford buttons and such had a maid to dress them, so buttons for women were placed where they would be easier for the non-wearer to button.  Whereas, men were more likely to dress themselves, so the buttons were placed where they would be easier for the wearer to button.  That doesn't jive with my Downton Abbey watching where the main guy (forgot his name already) had a valet to dress him.  Anyway, I still like the explanation.

I made the size 6/7 because the 4/5 seemed like it would be too small, or at least, not last very long.  The 6/7 is way huge on her, but it should fit for two falls and hopefully two springs.

The pattern was a bit difficult - at least for me.  The sleeves ended up being too narrow, so I had to trim about half inch on either side of the body pieces.  That made me a big cranky because I really prefer precision.  The directions were also pretty sparse.  I really should be okay with that, since I do a lot of Japanese sewing with no directions at all - but at least there are diagrams.  Don't let that deter you from trying the coat if you really like it.  You'll be able to figure it out.  And also, definitely don't let that deter you from trying other Figgy's patterns.  I made the Ayashe shirt recently, and that pattern was perfect. 

In any case, there are a lot of really nice details that I love in a pattern . . .

Pockets.

Little tabs on the sleeves.

(Sorry for the wrinkles.  The sleeves are so long.  She has to wear them rolled up.)

A belted back.

Lots of buttons, but only two of which needed buttonholes which makes buttoning easier and faster.  Not to mention, I don't love making buttonholes.

A button loop at the top for two different wearing options.  Buttoned all the way up.

Or with the loop undone for a more lapel-ish look.

And the lining is very professional-looking.  I used this percale that used to be a twin-sized pottery barn duvet cover.  I think I bought it at some outlet in Wrentham, MA over 10 years ago, never used it for its intended purpose and finally realized it would be great fabric.  I've used it in a bunch of places since then.

I asked Addie to stand in front of the trees.

Here she is explaining to me that they're not trees.  I said, "Okay fine, bushes then".  That wasn't right either.  Apparently, it's a tree wall.

Boy, is this a rambly post or what?  If you've read this far, you really deserve to win my giveaway.  So the last fabric in my stash is about 1 1/3 yards of Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley Wall Flower in Piney Woods (a.k.a green).

Sorry, the color didn't come out too well in my iPhone picture.  There's a better photo here at FabricWorm.

Anyway, I've stared at this fabric for a long time, and I decided I'm just not crazy about it.  I don't think it's a great color for Addie, and I don't think I'd use it in a quilt any time soon, so I'd love it if you would take it off my hands.

Just leave a comment to win.  I'll pick a winner on Friday (9/14).  I will ship internationally.  You can just leave any old comment, but if you sew for your kids, I'd love to know what you plan to do when your kids grow out of the clothes you've lovingly made.  It's something that torments me (I have a small stack already).  I could cut them up and reuse the fabric, but I'm not I'm capable of that.  I could save them for my grandkids, but I'm not sure my kids would care about the clothes enough to make their kids actually wear them (and that better be a really long way away).  I saw where someone had an on-line yard sale.  I think that's the best idea yet.  At least you know then they're going to someone who actually wants them and can get a few bucks to buy more fabric at the same time.

Sorry for the super long post.  Thanks for reading!

Sailor Girl

I cut out this outfit for Addie during Kid's Clothing Week Challenge a few months ago.  I had grand plans to visit my dad on his boat to take the photos, so it would look truly sailor-ish.  I thought better of that when I realized Addie would probably be grown out of it by the time we got a visit in AND had the outfit clean at the same time.  I mean who makes white pants for their kid anyway?!

(I used Pioneer Woman's Soft & Faded Action for this photo.  I think it's kind of cool.)

We ended up at Portland's (Maine's) East End Beach area and had a good time in spite of Addie's many protestations and overall whining.

Poor thing.  The conversation went something like this, "Why did you make me sailor clothes?  I don't like bein' a sailor girl.  And this is a fat shirt and I don't like wearing it this way.  And I don't like sleeves like this.  And Joe said there would be a park here.  And why wouldn't Dad let me buy Ken today to go with my Barbies."  And on and on.  I mean, could you be any more miserable?

She even looks unhappy from the back.

This was the least grumpy full shot I managed to get.

She has a cute pair of navy blue Keds Mary Janes that would have been adorable with the outfit, but with the mood she was in, I wasn't going to try to persuade her out of the dorky sandals.

Even though everything was all cut out - even the interfacing - I had a hard time getting started on this project.  I know my crafting self well enough to know I enjoy starting something way more than finishing something.

The blouse is another Blouse D from a Japanese Pattern Book that I call "The Bubble Dress" book.  I used some navy double gauze that I bought from Talk to the Sun Supplies on Etsy.  It's really good stuff.  And as much as I like the Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton that I used last time I made this shirt, I think this double gauze will hold up much better.  I'm thinking that she can get away with wearing it under her school uniform when school starts.  (Oh, and that happened to be my third to the last stash fabric.  Only two more to go.  Woo hoo!)

I did some really simple embroidery with white DMC around the collar.  There's no way I could make my stitches that even on my own.  I did the normal top-stitching in navy thread with my sewing machine then just followed that stitching with my embroidery - going over and under two machine stitches each time.  I also used some of my precious Liberty bias tape that I bought here for inside the collar.  I love how that looks.  I think I'll have to stock up on some more.

The pants (which ended up rolling up quite easily) are the classic Oliver & S sailboat pants.  I wanted the leg to be a little wider, so when I was cutting out, I drew a line from the first notch at the top of the pants down to the outside of the tab for the notch at the hem.  I just skipped the notch.  Then I also sewed two strips of navy grosgrain ribbon on the pant legs just before the step where you sew the inseam together - so I was guaranteed to have the ribbon line up right on at least one side.

After some time playing in the (cold!) ocean, Addie cheered up considerably.

But still changed out of her "sailor" outfit as soon as we got home.  See what I mean?  I don't think I have much longer to persuade her to wear the clothes I make.

Lace, Liberty, and Happiness

Okay, so maybe not so much happiness.

Addie bumped her head on the way out the door.  She cried for a bit, and sadly, didn't want a hug from me.  She got over having bumped her head, but then was generally out of sorts and decided it was time to complain about everything that was wrong in the world - mostly regarding candy shaped like fruit that you can only get at the place where you buy a new car and how it wasn't fair that she never got any.  It's tough to be 5.

I got the red shot cotton at Fiddlehead Artisan Supply when I went there for a SEAM meeting only because they had the sweet red lace, and I wanted to get something to match it.  I had this type of dress in mind all along.  It just took me several months to actually make it.

I hadn't planned to use the Liberty bias tape for this dress, but when I held it up to the red fabric, it just seemed to work.  (Even though the flowers are probably more pink than red.)  I liked the combination so much that I almost left some of the bias tape on the outside, but then I wouldn't be able to use the lace.  I was conflicted!  But I decided to go with my original plan.  I got the bias tape from this Etsy seller who I would highly recommend.

I used pattern R from this book:

(ISBN:  978-4-579-11132-9)

I wasn't crazy about the way the armholes were kind of wide.  I've heard someone call those "French Sleeves"?  Luckily the pattern just happened to overlap a different top with regular armholes, so I just drafted those instead.  Easy.  The pattern calls for a zipper in the back, but I was scared didn't have one, so I put in buttons instead.

I was pretty excited about it while I was making it, but, on Addie, I'm not as happy with it.  I think it's just because it's probably a bit big and gapes a bit in the front where I wanted the cross-over part to lay nice and flat.  See what I mean . . .

I did end up stitching the two front sections together at the "V" part of the neck which helped a bit.  While I was making this dress, I envisioned making dozens of them for the summer.  I may still make one more, and I think it would be pretty sweet as a top.  I might try exposing the bias trim next time.  I have one more Liberty print bias tape left.

Addie did finally get over her grumpiness.

Happy Friday!  Do you have big plans for the weekend?  I'm really hoping to go strawberry picking tomorrow.  We've missed it for the past few years.  I know the fields were ready like a week ago, so I hope we're not too late!

Ice Cream!

I really love Oliver & S patterns, but for some reason, the ice cream dress never appealed to me.  Until . . . I saw some recent examples where people had made view B - the one with 4 different stripes of color.  Then, I decided it was time to jump on the ice cream dress bandwagon.

Luckily, my local Z Fabrics, had both the pattern and a good selection of Kona solids in stock.  According to my receipt, the colors I used, from top to bottom are; Cactus, Robin Egg, Periwinkle, and Teal.  What I really wanted to use was shot cotton.  It just seems better for garment sewing, since it's more lightweight and has a good drap.  Z fabrics had a pretty good selection of shot cotton that I might choose for a solid dress, but I couldn't find four that I thought went together.  The large selection of Anna Maria Horner Pastry Voile almost tempted me into a completely different project altogether, but I stayed strong - for now.

Even with what I picked from the Kona, I'm not so sure about the Teal.  Oh well, I decided to treat this kind of like a muslin, so that I could get my make-it-right-away fix until I can get 4 shot cottons that I like together.  Portsmouth Fabric Company has a big selection, or I could just be patient and buy on-line.  And I am actually happier with the Kona - weight-wise - than I expected.  It seems to just work with this dress, and it's certainly sturdier and easier to work with.

While I was making the dress, I made a rookie parenting mistake and told Addie we could go get ice cream when I was done.  I assumed she had some idea how long it takes me to sew something and realized that it wouldn't be, as she would say, "this day", but she was quite upset later on when I had to explain that it would take me more than one day to make it.

Somehow she managed to get over it, and I did finish it the next day.  We went to our favorite ice cream place, Super Scoops.  Years ago, they were in our neighborhood which we just loved.  It made for a great summertime, after dinner walk.  Now they've moved about 10 minutes away to Falmouth, but it's still worth the drive.

There was still a bit of daylight left when we got home, so I snapped a few more photos.  Apparently, the ice cream dress is quite comfortable for running . . .

And kicking the beach ball that was in the yard . . .

And harassing the cat who had just moved after being hit with said beach ball - accidentally.

And even being calm and quiet - even if just for a quick second . . . 

Summersville

When I first saw this fabric, I knew I just had to have some.  Okay - yes - I did say the same thing about  almost all of the fabric in my stash.  But I really, really love this one.

It reminds me of this great print that I bought from Swallowfield on Etsy a few years ago.  (Turns out that two of our kids were in the same class for a while - small world.)

I feel like both the print and the fabric could totally be my neighborhood.  The print definitely could be, since she did live in my neighborhood - the fabric - probably not.

Then when I first saw this dress by 190.arch that I think we all saw and loved during KCWC, I was inspired to create my own version.

So here's my combination of the super-cool fabric with the super-cool dress.  What do you think?

I can be a little fickle about the things I make - loving them one minute, being really annoyed by them the next, but for now, I think this is my favorite thing I've made since these pants.  Interesting that they're both probably the simplest patterns I've made, too.

I used pattern Y from this book.

It was a super-simple pattern.  Other than the binding, it originally only had two pieces.  Of course, I had to cut the one front piece into three to get the pieced strip in there.  The hardest part was making that little fabric loop that makes the buttonhole in the back.

Mine is a lot thicker than I would have liked, but I just don't see how you can turn anything narrower.  Any advice?  The linen kicked my butt.  Every time I got it halfway turned, the linen unwove enough for my turner to slip right off the edge.  I finally figured out to sew a line of stitching at one end.

I lined the pieced section with some of the polka dotted fabric.  I didn't want all the edges of those little pieces to show.  I was lazy and ended up using my basting spray to glue the two together while I was sewing up the front.  It seemed to work out okay.  I used French seams to attach the three front pieces.  I didn't want Addie to complain about any itchy seams.

For our "photo shoot" we went on a little walk through the neighborhood.  I love how in the shot above, Addie's feet aren't even touching the ground.

We saw this cute VW prettily sitting amongst someone's nice landscaping,

sat on someone else's new stone wall,

stopped to smell the flowers,  (The Rhododendron's were Addie's favorites.)

And tried to "plant" a few more dandelions.

I ended up loving this fabric combination so much that as soon as we got back, I started on a quilt using the same prints.

I still have some more rearranging to do, but I finished cutting out the pieces last night.

Thanks for reading.

Shirt Dress

I bought this book on my recent trip to San Francisco.

(ISBN 978-4-579-11121-3)

I'm a little disturbed that the sizes are in English - 5/6 for example instead of 120.  Could I have purchased an English book translated into Japanese?  I don't think so, but boy would that ever be stupid.

Anyway, I was excited to make the cute shirt dress pattern from it.  The contrasting placket fabric really appealed to me.  I agonized over what fabric in my stash would work best.  I have a seersucker stripe that really just screams Oxford-style, but in the end, I decided to use the ice-blue Kaffe Fasset shot cotton from my stack of stash fabrics that I'm working through.  I couldn't find just the right contrast fabric for the seersucker, but I had just enough leftover from another project that I thought went with the blue.

I didn't really think the yard that I had would be enough, but I ironed it then arranged and rearranged and shortened the pattern pieces until I could make most of them fit.  I didn't have enough for the pockets or the belt which I think would have given the whole thing a more finished look.  As it is now, I think it just looks like she's wearing one of her big brother's shirts - which I suppose is part of the appeal of a shirt dress - for a kid anyway.

I think it's cute, and it was really fun to figure out how to make the Oxford-shirt style collar, but I'm counting this one as more of a muslin really.  Next time, I'll get some real shirting fabric with some coordinating trim fabric that I won't have to piece together.

I hate to think that KCWC is almost over.  My older daughter and I just got back from watching one of my co-workers dance recitals.  It was really cool.  Tomorrow, we're going to another feis, so it's turning into a dance weekend all around.  I don't think I'll be able to sew much tomorrow, but maybe, just maybe one more thing . . . 

(And I did finish one more shirt today to share soon.)

KCWC Day Five

I can't believe it's already Day Five.  I'm looking forward to having the day off of work tomorrow to sew all day.  I finished this shirt yesterday morning (or maybe it was the day before?).

I got a few shots of the shirt alone while everyone was still asleep and planned to race home after work to take some with Addie actually in the shirt, but it ended up pouring rain.

The weather was much better today.  A bit cold, but we survived for a few photos.

I wasn't all that crazy about the fabric at first.  Addie picked it out from the "Homespun" section at Jo-Ann Fabrics.  There are some really great things made out of gingham in some of the kids clothes flickr groups I like to follow, so I thought it had promise.  (Check out this great shirt from the KCWC flickr group.)  As you might know, I've been working through my stash, but I wasn't in any hurry to use this one.

Nevertheless, I found a pattern in this book to try.

(ISBN:  978-4-529-04953-5)

It's actually the one on the cover.  It comes in a dress version, too, which is actually what made me want to buy the book in the first place.  I'm actually really happy with how it turned out, and I think it's the perfect pattern for that fabric. 

It has a slightly Western feel with the V-shaped yoke in the back.

So I decided to continue on that theme with some pearl snaps.  

I tried the method they recommend on the package which is to hold a spool over the snap and pound it with a hammer.  I ended up shattering the pearl part, so I broke down and bought the pliers.  They weren't quite as magical as I expected, but they did end up working better - after I screwed up the first few - luckily on a scrap of fabric and not on the shirt.

I think it's the first shirt I've made with a pointy collar instead of a rounded one, so that was kind of fun.  The yoke part actually overlaps the shoulder parts which was a cool technique I hadn't tried before either.

The pattern also had a few nice little touches like sleeves that role up and snap (or button) into place with a tab.  I was a little hesitant to use the snaps there, too because when the sleeves are unrolled, you see the boring side of the snap.  I'll probably keep them rolled up anyway.

I didn't have quite enough fabric.  Sadly, I think I'm going to have to start buying more than just a yard to make shirts for Addie.  I only had to find more fabric for the under-collar and the finishing strip at the inside of the neck.  I ended up using a cute green print I had (Carolyn Gavin, I think) that I think looks pretty cool with the purple - although you really can't see it much.

How are you doing on your KCWC?  I'm almost done with my next project - just buttons and buttonholes left.  I think I'll take some time off tonight after that to look at everyone else's blogs and photos and start fresh in the morning.

I'm thinking I really should apply this KCWC technique to a few other things like organizing/editing my photos and finishing up some quilts.  I think I might just be ready for taking a break from sewing kids clothes after this week to do just that.

But then again . . .