August Challenge Update

When I left off the other day, I had completed 2 items out of my planned 31.  Since it's now August 12th, I should be at 12 items right?  Um, well....not quite.  Behold my updated progress list below.

1. Scientific Seamstress Mickey bowling shirt
2. P4P Essential Tank from Swear Like a Lady
3. Duck Butt Designs Panel Pocket Romper from Wanderlust Designs custom panel & Purple Seamstress solids
4. Ellidactyl 5k Tank from Wanderlust Designs custom panel & Purple Seamstress solids
5. Ellidactyl 5k Tank from Wanderlust Designs custom panel & Purple Seamstress solids

Note: I am not double-counting one item there for the 5k tank.  As you may know if you've read here before/know me, I have two girls that are only 2 years apart in age and they like to fight about EVERYTHING.  I confess last year I had the brilliant idea to make one Easter dress skirt portion from pink fabric and one from purple.  This resulted in a ridiculous argument over who got the pretty pink and who got stuck with purple.  Never again.  So you will see two of the same item a whole lot on this list.  I'm even further behind than I was when I started but I still feel pretty optimistic about my ability to meet my goal.  I've been sewing fairly steadily every day and things are getting checked off so I'm happy!

August Challenge

I confess I am a terrible blogger.  Mostly this is because I am a terrible picture taker and the thing that I love most about other sewing blogs is the pictures, so I feel awful when I don't have any to show.  However, I've decided to make August a big sewing month for me and this blog is going to be my accountability so I expect that I'll be posting quite a bit in the next three weeks or so.

Today starts KCW's summer session and I love KCW.  (For those not in the know, this is Kid's Clothes Week where you commit to sew at least one hour every day for your kids!)  It gives me a goal to work towards and I love goals.  I've decided to expand upon this goal this month and challenge myself to complete one item for every day in August.  Yep, I'm going to make 31 items this month.  This sounds daunting but really is more realistic than it first appears.

I confess I have this terrible habit of starting items and then leaving off and not completing them.  This pile of UFO's (unfinished objects) grows and grows.  Many of them will take less than 20 minutes to complete and yet they do not get done because it's more fun to just move on to something else.  With my lofty goal in mind though, I anticipate clearing my UFO pile in order to meet it and finally getting everything caught up.

And here begins my list of completed items (pictures to come later when I am not running absurdly late for my day job).

1. Scientific Seamstress Mickey bowling shirt
2. P4P Essential Tank from Swear Like a Lady

As you can see, I'm starting at a 6 item deficit since it is already August 8th.  Can I catch up?  Stay tuned to see!

KCW Day Two

Sometimes I fail.  I've accepted that failure is occasionally going to happen, particularly when I am stretching out of my sewing comfort zone (as is the case this week with my stretch fabric sewing).  Yesterday the plan was to finish off my younger daughter's swimsuit with a pair of A Sparkly Baby Board Shorties.  I had them already cut out and just had to sew them together so it was supposed to be an easy KCW day.  This is what they currently look like.

I did not even have to add the waistband and leg bands to know that they were an epic fail.  So, I confess, on the second day of KCW, I failed in my goal of 1 completed item per day.  I did sew for an hour so I'm still calling it good.

Today I'm debating whipping up a quick skirt and peasant dress out of the thankfully woven material that my girls picked out on our last trip to Joann's or attempting another pair of board shorties.  We'll see just how ambitious I'm feeling after getting children off to school.

Kids Clothes Week!

I confess I'm a terrible blogger.  I've been doing well at my 2015 sewing goal of one item per week (admittedly, some weeks I sew nothing but other weeks I sew several things so my average is still good).  However, you've seen none of that here.  This is due almost entirely to my wanting to take "good" pictures before posting a blog post.  I follow many sewing blogs and most of them have beautifully staged pictures of their darling children looking adorable in their momma-made outfits with professional picture quality.  Let's be honest, that's never going to happen here (or if it does, it will be very rare).  So, on that note, I'm going to pledge to blog, even if only with cruddy pictures of my sewing laying on the ironing board or hanging on a hanger on the wall.  Because "bad" pictures are better than no pictures at all.

Yesterday was the start of Kids Clothes Week!  I have a deep love for KCW.  Inevitably, I'm never able to participate as much as I want to because something always comes up.  This week I'm determined to make it happen.  My goal here is one item sewn up completely each day.  The theme this week is Wild Things but I'm not good at following themes.  I also am participating in a Facebook sew-along of swimwear.  The beginning of this week will be all about swimwear for me.

I also must confess that I hate sewing with knits.  I avoid it.  However one day a few weeks ago I was awake around 4:30 in the morning.  (Yes, my adorable, precious son is not even close to sleeping through the night yet.)  While awake, I saw that Taryn from A Sparkly Baby was working on a crew neck T that she said would be perfect for rash guards.  Also in her group discussion about this, someone posted the link to Chez Ami which was having a going out of business sale on UPF50 fabrics.  I knew my kids needed swimsuits for the upcoming warm weather and, since it was 4:30 a.m., I thought making them would be a good idea.

A few days later I got the shipping email for the 8 yards of knit fabric I ordered and regret set in.  It was too late to turn back now so when Taryn released her EP Crew and Board Shortie bundle, I purchased it.

Yesterday I measured my kids, printed and taped my patterns, and then traced them on freezer paper.  This is the key to avoiding frustration when cutting out knits for me.  I ironed the freezer paper onto the knit fabric (being careful to not stretch the fabric while ironing) and then cut out my pieces for my youngest daughter's rash guard and board shorts.  I did not cut all of the kids' swimsuits out because I've noticed a tendency for knits to curl up if you wait too long to sew them after cutting and I'd rather avoid that issue if I can.

Taryn's pattern is easy to follow and I had no issues with it (even though I still consider myself a newbie at knits).  I used the walking foot that I have for my machine (if you don't have one, BUY ONE).  I also modified the pattern just slightly because I hate hemming.  I know it's silly but if I can do a ruffle or a band instead, I do.  In this case I added bands for the sleeves and for the bottom of the rashguard.  I like the extra interest from colorblocking that it adds as well as the intended purpose of avoiding hemming.  Also, you may note in the picture that my topstitching is a bit wonky.  Have I mentioned I hate sewing with knits?  It was slipping and sliding despite my walking foot and while I should have slowed my machine down and took my time, I was sewing late at night and getting tired and it's for my kid so I'm ok with it not being perfect (and so is she!). 

Shake It Off!

     I've been missing from Craftland for quite some time.  I'm going to blame it all on this adorable squishy faced boy.

     I've been sneaking in a little sewing time here and there and when Paisley Roots posted about the Shake It Off contest, my girls and I turned to YouTube to check out T. Swift's looks in the video.  (See contest details here if you haven't already Shake It Off contest!)

     The oldest immediately wanted Taylor's fabulous white tutu outfit.  That one is still in progress as it's a little overly ambitious for my limited sewing time.  The youngest, however, cut her momma a break and gravitated towards the first outfit shown in the video.  A cute little top with a cat face and a pair of leggings.  Now I must confess that my New Year's resolution was to sew my stash and when I was sewing this outfit I was still holding on. (I lasted about 3 weeks which is probably longer than anyone who knows me thought I could manage.  The fabric addiction is strong.)  So Taylor's white shirt became a gray one and her black leggings became cat print fleece.  It's a perfect comfy, cozy outfit for a 3 year old.
     Before we get to the pictures, I must warn you that sometimes, just sometimes, my darling children do not wish to cooperate with my modeling needs.  Today was one of those times.  You'll notice little miss is wearing a long sleeved v-neck T that doesn't look all that good with her top.  I was attempting to get her to wear a tank top and do a one shoulder look with the shirt.  Didn't happen.  Sometimes even the candy bribery fails me folks.

     Pretend you don't see my older daughter in her old lady outfit or my kid standing on the arm of the couch for a picture.  Somehow my photo editing software is missing from my computer and I hear a little man stirring so no time for getting it back on and cropping!  The top is from the always awesome Scientific Seamstress, the All-the-Rage Raglan, modified to suit my needs.  The leggings are a free pattern from Craftsy (because my New Year's resolution was also supposed to include not buying patterns; that lasted even less time than the fabric!)  

Back in the Saddle Again

I have a big confession to make. I've sewn virtually nothing over the past few months. Birthday dresses for my girls and Easter dresses, of course, but nothing that didn't NEED to be sewn. Tax season and the exhaustion of a new pregnancy resulted in me doing nothing but sleeping whenever I had free time!

However, tax season is now over and I'm well into the second trimester so I am feeling much improved! To kickstart my return to sewing, I decided to join in on a UFO (unfinished objects) challenge through one of the many Facebook groups dedicated to sewing that I'm part of. The idea is to complete as much of your unfinished sewing as you can in a two week period. This is the start of the second week and while I've not made as much progress as I was hoping for, I've at least gotten started!

  This is my list for the two weeks (overly ambitious because I like it that way)

2 Peppermint Swirl dresses
2 Norah tunics
pillow cover
baby gift
PAB overalls
2 SS skorts
2 tote bags
2 SS bebops
2 flower girl dresses

Before I started, I had mostly a pile of printed out patterns and a pile of washed but unironed fabric to go with them. My main focus so far has been on tracing pattern pieces and getting them cut out and starting to cut fabric. Yesterday, with my fabulous kid-free hours for Mother's Day, I finished cutting out my 2 Peppermint Swirl dresses. If you've made a Peppermint Swirl, you know those flounces take a long time! I also have my tote bags mostly cut out (I realized I didn't have enough interfacing so those will have to wait until I make a trip to the store). The contest ends on the 18th so check back in later this week to see just how far I've gotten!


(This post contains some affiliate links. When you purchase through those links, I earn a percentage of the sale. Thank you so much for your support!)

Throwback Thursday: Little Lizard King Apron Knot Dress

Today's Throwback Thursday showcases an Apron Knot doll dress that I sewed up for a friend's daughter. The pattern is easy to follow and turns out great! I also used a combination of this pattern and the Scientific Seamstress Simply Sweet for my oldest daughter's birthday dress. It looked fantastic and is one of my girl's favorite momma made items.

Sneak Peek!

I'm so excited about this bitty outfit! This is a 0-3 month romper made using the Bebop top and the Reversible Romper bottom. As you can see, I'm still waiting on my snap tape to ship from Amazon to finish off the bottom but I couldn't wait to share a little preview.

Throwback Thursday: Scientific Seamstress Simply Sweet

When I first decided to start sewing last year, I borrowed my grandmother's old machine (older than me) and attempted a pillowcase dress. I spent more time fighting with the machine than I did actually sewing and by the end of the dress, I had almost decided to give up my new hobby. Then I started looking into getting my own cheap sewing machine. I fell in love with embroidery designs and chose to spend my money on a Brother SE-400. When I got it home, I got out the manual and read it cover to cover twice before I even took the machine out of the box. I was scared that I had just wasted a big chunk of money that could have gone to our Disney trip on something I would use once or twice. Turns out, my machine is one of the best things I've ever bought for myself!

Today we're going to look back at the very first items I sewed with my new sewing machine. I bought the Simply Sweet pattern from Scientific Seamstress after seeing rave reviews for it several places. Those people weren't overstating it. This is one of those patterns that is so versatile. It comes with so many options that you can make it over and over and never make the exact same thing twice (unless you're sewing two identical items as I always do!).

My oldest daughter really likes rainbows so when I found this rainbow fabric, I bought it up. The rainbow Mickey head design from Frou Frou by HeatherSue was perfect to go with it. I did make these a size larger than I likely needed since I was sewing in February for a trip we were taking in September and didn't want to risk a big growth spurt making them too small. I still think they came out wonderfully!

All-the-Rage Raglan Sew-Along: Success!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have completed raglan dresses! As mentioned before, I used Jeanine's tutorial from the Scientific Seamstress blog to turn the raglan into a dress. In this case, I used the width of the fabric and just folded it in half and had a seam on one side instead of measuring and cutting two pieces for the skirt. I'm happy with how they turned out, and more importantly, the girls love them. They especially like the hoods. The mark of success in my household is how long my daughters will keep clothing on. (Does anyone else have kids that like to change their clothes multiple times per day?!) These dresses lasted from the time I finished them up until it was time to put on pajamas.

I'm happy that I managed to get my Kids Clothes Week goal completed in time even though there were a few hiccups for me. I confess I did not have at least an hour every day, it just wasn't possible for me, but I did make up some of that time yesterday! Hopefully next week, I'll have 2 completed Ellie Inspired dresses to show off as well. (Don't hold your breath though, I've been working on these dresses for a very patient friend for a looooooong time already.)

Do you have a raglan finished? Make sure you add it to the sew-along album in the Scientific Seamstress Lab Group. In just one week we'll be randomly choosing a winner for a SB/SS pattern of their choice!

All-the-Rage Raglan Sew-Along: Moment of Truth

Today we're sewing the sides and sleeves together. If you're making a shirt, all you'll have left to do is the hem! I'm using Jeanine's tutorial for a raglan dress, so tomorrow I'll be finishing up with a ruffled skirt attachment! Here is my completed top.

I confess, even though I knew I had cut the stretch in the correct direction this time, I was still holding my breath hoping that it would fit my girl. I had to bribe my oldest into trying it on but once she had it on, she didn't want to take it off! That is how we judge sewing success in my household.

If you remember back to the beginning, I sized down a size for this since I wanted a more fitted look. As you can see from the picture, there's still plenty of room in it. I probably should have gone with her regular size or a size up for the hood though as my children have large noggins and it'll likely stop fitting over her head before it stops fitting her everywhere else.

I'm eager to see the raglans everyone else has been sewing. We'll have an album in the lab group for everyone to add to and then on February 10th, we'll select a random winner for a free SS/SB pattern!

All-the-Rage Raglan Sew-Along: Hood Time

Is anyone else now singing "Stop! Hammer time" in their heads? Just me? I'm ok with that. Today we're going to be attaching the hood to the shirt. The first step for me, since I'm making a lapped hood, was to baste the edges together. After that, it's time to pin. The pictures below show the way my hood and top look after using pins to mark the points where we're going to pin the hood and top together.

I'm using an overlock stitch on my machine to attach the hood to the top. As Carla mentions in the pattern, you can use a regular zig-zag if you prefer. After that's done, we're just doing the standard 1/4" seam using the straight stitch with the modified settings (longer stitch length, lower tension) and then the hood is on!

Tomorrow I'll be hemming the sleeves and sewing the sleeves and sides together. Then it'll be time for the moment of truth. Will this one fit over my daughter's head? Check back to find out!

Throwback Thursday: Elegance & Elephants Pleated Playsuit

It is currently 1 degree here in Pennsylvania. I confess I do not enjoy winter, not the cold temps or the snow or the amount of laundry caused by the need to layer. For today's Throwback Thursday, we are going to take a look at a perfect summer outfit in hopes that it'll make me feel warmer. Most of the sewing I did last year was for our Disney trip and these outfits are no exception.

I used the free Pleated Playsuit pattern from Elegance & Elephants which can be found here. I was still very new to sewing when I made these and still found the pattern easy to follow. I did modify the ties by using the scrunched elasticized straps from the Scientific Seamstress Simply Sweet (found here). My girls like to dress themselves and the elasticized straps made that a little easier for them. My daughters each got to pick 4 designs from this set by Frou Frou by Heather Sue for their outfits and they loved being able to design their own little outfit.

I'm looking forward to using this pattern again this year in a few months. Is anyone feeling a little warmer? No? Me neither.

All the Rage Raglan Sew-Along: Progress

I've spent quite a bit of time with my seam ripper over the past few days. As I mentioned before, I make two of everything and I usually do them assembly line style so if I make a mistake on one, I make a mistake on the other. This method usually saves me time but when I make a big error, as I explained I did on Monday, it makes seam ripping even more tedious. Making it even more difficult this time is the fact that I actually matched my thread perfectly to the sparkle jersey so the stitching joining the hood and sleeves is almost impossible for me to see. Happily, I got one girl's sleeves and hood detached from her top and decided to cut a new front and back and move forward on hers (both in the interest of having progress to post and saving my sanity with a break from seam ripping).

This time when I lined up my pattern on the fabric, I made extra sure I paid attention to those handy little stretch arrows on the pattern piece. I got the front and back cut out and changed the settings on my sewing machine as recommended in the pattern and sewed some sleeves on! I confess I think the best part of working with knits is not having to finish off those seam edges everywhere. As you can see in the photo below, I'm still definitely in the beginning stages of this one but there is progress!

As I've mentioned before, this week is a busy one for me at work (CPA firms tend to get that way the end of January through the middle of April) and so my sewing time during the week is limited to the little bit of time I can squeeze out after my girls go to sleep and before I myself am drooping too badly with exhaustion. Kids Clothes Week is a great reminder for me though to take a bit of time out each day to sew. I've found that if I don't take that time for myself, I end up overly stressed and ready to snap. A very good friend sent me this cute little sign for Christmas this past year and I love having it hanging in my sewing area.

How is everyone else's sewing going? Are you, like me, going one little step at a time or have you completed a raglan this week?

All the Rage Raglan Sew-Along: And So It Begins

All-the-Rage Raglan Sew-along: And So It Begins...
I confess I am a knit fabric newb. I knew that going into this project and looked forward to learning my favorite way, with a Carla C pattern. I can officially say my first raglan has been a learning experience.

This weekend was a busy one in my household and I found myself starting to cut fabric on Sunday evening so I could get this post up. Sometime between getting a snack for this kid and water for that one and the general refereeing that occurs during the day at my place, I forgot to pay attention to what I was actually doing. Yep, I cut the front and back of both dresses I was making in the wrong direction of the stretch of the fabric. Of course, I did not realize this at the time...

Now, not all of my learning experience was bad. In the beginning when Carla suggested using a straight stitch, I was a little skeptical. And then I reminded myself who was the sewing expert here and changed the length of my stitch as recommended and it worked PERFECTLY. In a surprisingly short amount of time I had a beautiful top with a hood attached. I should also note here that my sparkle jersey is showing the "wrong" side of the fabric. This, however, is not an error but a deliberate stylistic choice by the seamstress (fancy talk for my kids preferred that side to be showing and when I googled, it used that language and said I could do it)

I realized the stretch error at that point and attempted to put it on my youngest. See the picture below to see how well that went. (please ignore the crayon on the wall, my children are very creative, which is a nice way of saying I have no idea how to make them stop coloring on walls).

The excellent news here for me is that since this is such a fast sew, I don't think I'll have any problem making 2 of them this week (with the correct stretch this time) even though my work schedule is full. How is everyone else's raglan going? Anyone want to share a rookie error they made in the past to help ease the sting of my mistake?

Throwback Thursday: Sis Boom Marissa

In honor of the sew-along that we're starting this week, the Throwback Thursday for today is the first sew-along I participated in! In July of last year, I was furiously sewing outfits for my girls for our Disney trip in September. I had previously purchased both the Jamie and the Marissa patterns to make for our trip but hadn't gotten around to them. The announcement of a sew-along with those two patterns jumpstarted my girls getting princess dresses. Jamie/Marissa Sew-along

I confess I still have yet to make the Jamie (I am awful at following through on selfish sewing since sewing for my daughters is just more fun for me) but it's on my list of things to make when I have extra time. I loved the way that the Marissa dresses turned out though and so did my girls! I added a cuff to the bottom of the dress so that I could easily enclose the back of the embroidery. I also added ties to the side for a big bow in the back to cinch in the bodice a bit since I sized them up a size (I was afraid of a drastic growth spurt making them unwearable if I did the current sizes that my kids were wearing but didn't want them to be too big). As you can see from the pictures below, they fit well and looked so pretty!

I hope everyone's preparations for the raglan sew-along are going well. I'm excited to start sewing!

Preparing to Sew

This week we'll be getting our fabric and patterns ready to sew! Confession time: As I mentioned in my previous post, I've had fabric and the pattern ready for months for this particular project. However, after I had already purchased the fabric, Jeanine posted a modification to the raglan pattern that she made for her oldest daughter. Dresses are All the Raglan Rage!
Having two daughters myself, I loved it. When preparing for the sew-along, I realized if I wanted to add a hood and a ruffle skirt like Jeanine, I was going to need more than 2 yards for my 2 girls. (I generally make 2 of everything because it cuts down on complaining in my household and I love having them match.) My first thought was to get more of the fabric I already have but, as tends to happen when you hoard fabric, there is no more to be found. So I hope you will all join me in crossing my fingers that the coordinating solid I ordered from Fabric.com on Saturday morning will in fact coordinate.

I will be using this jersey knit from Girl Charlee.

Along with this sparkle jersey knit from Fabric.com.

That takes care of the fabric part of the equation for me; on to the pattern. I measured both of my girls, resulting in a size 5 for the oldest and size 3 for my youngest. I chose to size down a size though as suggested in the pattern if you want a snugger fit. I have a size 2 and a size 4 pattern cut out and ready to go! How about you? Is your fabric and pattern ready or are you still shopping around for fabric you love? If you have your fabric ready to go, please share a link in the comments so we can see what you'll be sewing with!

All-the-Rage Raglan Sew-Along

When I started sewing it did not take me long to discover my favorite pattern designer. All of the Scientific Seamstress patterns I tried had me learning new techniques and ending up with gorgeous finished products. Carla (the creator of the Scientific Seamstress patterns) taught me how to sew with minimal frustration. There is not a single pattern of hers that I've tried (and believe me, I've tried many!) that has resulted in a less than fantastic garment.

I still do not have much experience working with knit projects and so the obvious answer for me was to purchase the All-the-Rage raglan sewing pattern and learn the basics from Carla. Here's the first confession of this blog: I bought the pattern on November 1, 2013 and have yet to sew it. I purchased fabric specifically for it and the pattern and fabric have been sitting on my shelf waiting for me to start for months.

And so that brings us to the sew-along! I find it motivates me to have a group sewing through the same pattern within a set period of time. Seeing all of the beautiful creations inspires me to create my own. I contacted Jeanine Thomlinson (one of the fabulous administrators of the Scientific Seamstress lab group) and asked if I could do a sew-along here on my brand new blog.

The sew-along will start January 20th with purchasing the pattern and fabric (a part I already have done!) and preparing the fabric for sewing. We'll start the actual sewing on January 27th thus allowing plenty of time to get everything ready! The sew-along will end February 10th with a randomly selected participant winning a Scientific Seamstress/Sisboom pattern of their choice!

All-the-Rage Raglan pattern link

If you're not already a member of the Scientific Seamstress Lab Group, please join us there! Scientific Seamstress Lab Group