Back to School Sewing

I had to take a short break from me-sewing to make up some things for Miss K for back to school.  I spent two nights going through all my Ottobre magazines and picking out things to make her.  I have a huge stack on my kitchen table that I’ve slowly been tracing and cutting fabric for.  I finished up these things over the last two weeks. 

Ottobre 04/2012 #28 “Fancy Mix long-sleeve T-shirt”

Size 146 height and for shoulders/bust, 152 waist. 

I made this once before back in Oct 2013, but it was too big at the time.  I have Miss K’s size down to a T now with Ottobre.  This was a fast sew after attaching the yoke and the bit of gathering.  K loves it and it’s a great pattern to mix up scraps with for the yoke and sleeve ends.  I used clear elastic to do the gathering and my coverstitch for the hems and neckline.

Fabric: 1 yard hot pink/black leopard spots on grey, cotton lycra from Purple seamstress.  Purchased in Nov 2014 for $10. The pink is a Hot Pink Jersey Knit, 50% Rayon 48% Polyester 2% Lycra, from fashionfabricsclub.  Purchased in Jan 2015. I only used a tiny bit of this, we’ll say 1/4 yard for $1.

 

Total Cost of shirt: $11.00

 

Ottobre 06/2012 #30 “Sulka Jersey Dress”

Size 146 height and for shoulders/bust, 152 waist/hip

I’ve also made this pattern once before in Sept 2014 as a leopard dress for K.  This time I wanted to use some super cute sweater knit.  Last time the sleeves were a bit tight so I added 1/2” to the width.  I also had to underline the dress with tricot because the sweater knit was too loose and wanted to grow every which way.  It was pretty sheer as well.  I used clear elastic for the waist gathering.  I was silly and attached it to the “right” side of the skirt so when I attached it I had bits of it showing.  When I went back to serge a larger seam allowance it chopped off most of the elastic so the waistline is a bit saggy.  It doesn’t want to hold it’s shape well.  Sad, because this fabric is so pretty.  Luckily K didn’t notice. 

Fabric: 2 yards, Sunset Stripe Sweater Knit, 95% Polyester 5% Lycra. Purchased June 2015 from fashionfabricsclub for $7.90. 1 yard of tricot Purchased May 2014 from fabric.com, $4.78

Total Cost of dress: $12.68

 

Ottobre 03/2012 #34 “Jungle Stripes Jersey Dress”

Size 146 height and for shoulders/bust, 152 waist/hip

This is a favorite pattern of Miss K’s.  It is a super comfy knit dress and has pockets, so perfect for her.  I’ve made this a few times

1. Yellow Summer Dress
2. Pink Thermal Nightgown
3. Pink and Black Stripe Dress
4. Pink Flannel Nightgown

K wears them until they are worn-out (actually she still wears the yellow one for bed, and I just took away the other pink/black one).  K wanted me to re-make the pink/black striped one because it is her favorite.  This time around I omitted the pleats in the neckline because they don’t look very nice when finished and create too much bulk at the neckline.  I simply smoothed out the neckline when tracing, folded it over for a 1/2” hem, and inserted 15” of 1/4” elastic to make it a peasant neck.  Easy and only took about 1.5 hours of sewing.

Fabric: 1 yard of Hot Pink/Black Stripe Ponte de Roma Double Knit, 97% Polyester 3% Lycra, purchased two weeks ago just for this project from fashionfabricsclub, $4.95. This fabric washed, cut, and sewed like a dream.

Total cost of dress: $4.95 and K is super happy so win-win.

Awesome stripe matching, even on the pockets!

 

Seaside Notions “Point Mugu Maxi Skirt”

Size 12Y in waist and 10Y in height.

I was able to pattern test for this maxi skirt, and K loves her maxi skirts.  It went together pretty straightforward.  I didn’t care for the interfacing in the waistband (in my opinion knits should not have interfacing where they are required to stretch), so I omitted that.  I was testing the regular skirt, there is a cute ruffle option you can add to it as well.  The skirt is for woven or knits.  K loved how it turned out and I am interested in trying a woven version.  The size chart was spot on, too.

Fabric: 1 yard of this blue floral 70s look cotton lycra, purchased May 2015 from FabricMart, $2.40 and 1.5 yards of light pink cotton lycra, purchased Feb 2015 from purpleseamstress, $9.75

Total Cost of skirt: $12.15

You can view/purchase the pattern here if you are interested.

 

I still have 2 more tops ready to sew up for K and I’d like to make her some pants before I can stop with the school sewing. 

 

Can you believe Fall is almost here?

Ottobre Kid Sewing

I had leftover fabric from my Burda top the other day and wanted to use it up right away.  I was able to squeak out a raglan bodice for T, leggings for K, and a pair of undies for K too, (along with my Burda top).  Now that was good use of 2.25 yards of fabric!

Ottobre 06/2013 #39 Raglan Tee

Mr. T hardly gets any sewing from me because he is in middle school now and he is"too cool" to wear any mom made clothes.  I've learned in the past that if anything is to be worn it must be as plain as possible.

I cut a straight size 152 for him.  I used the gray cotton lycra for the bodice and then some scraps I had left of the teal from an Ottobre top of mine for his sleeves.  I really just eeked out the bodice out of the fabric.

No issues sewing it up. Raglans are nice and fast gratification projects.  He said he liked it and wore it all day (at home).  We will see if it gets worn to school.  The neck tends to ride up in the back just a tad when he wears it but otherwise it looks great on him.

poor kid just woke up ;-)

Ottobre 04/2013 #30 Leggings

Miss K can always use leggings.  I was able to easily pop these out of the leftover gray fabric.  They sewed up fast.  I'be used this legging pattern a few times now (I think 4?) and I really like it.  The rise is a tad high on K but it covers her rear well and she doesn't complain (much) about these.

K did however gave me crap about how gray is not a good color for a girl and no one wears gray leggings.  The sass on that girl.  But then after I put them under her leopard dress you see pulled up here, she was fine with them.  Sigh.  Anyway, I used size 152 width, 146 in height. They are a bit long for growing room.

Ottobre 06/2013 #33 Undies

I had the tiniest amount of gray fabric left and cut out this pair of undies for K.  I really love the Jalie underwear pattern and so does K but I like to try new things so I tried these from Ottobre.  I used binding for the legs instead of elastic. with more of the teal scraps as you saw in T's Raglan.

I've been trying to get used to my binder attachment for my coverstitch.  I'm happy to say that these turned out perfect for me! Yay.  I wanted to make them a bit prettier so I added the owl stencil.  Well, that was a bad move.  The paint is "too scratchy" for K to wear them.  Crud.  Fit wise these are excellent and a great alternative to the Jalie undies.  I've made 2 other pairs before, but unblogged up until now because my binding stitches were so wonky from learning that attachment, lol.  K loves these and wears them as often as they are clean.  She won't wear any store undies anymore.

For the price of the binding attachment ($79) it is a useful tool.  It sure does make sewing on bindings soooo fast. It took me a small bit of time to get used to it and now it goes pretty smoothly. You can read more about that attachment if you want by clicking the pic here below. I think anything is useful if it makes sewing easier and faster ;-)

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Xmas Dress - The Mini Penny Pinafore, Ottobre tee and crafts

Mini Penny Pinafore
I wanted to make Miss K a Christmas dress out of these two fabrics but couldn't decide on a pattern. I went back and forth many times and decided to buy the Mini Penny Pinafore pattern by Kitschy Coo.
The pattern was almost $12 and K is at the top of the size range so I had trouble justifying the cost. I almost bought the women's pattern to use the smallest size for her but thought that it would be too long and awkward fitting on her rectangle body.  I crossed my fingers and hoped the kids would fit right.  Well it doesn't. It is too tight and very long.  I can easily modify it to fit right in the future though.

It is snug in the bodice and stomach area, long in the length.  K complained of the sleeves being tight too.  But she did wear it for 3 days straight.  I used size 9/10 everywhere but size 9 length.

I like the design of the dress. I just wish there was more flare for K because this way really shows her rectangle shape!  I will have to go and modify this if I use it again.  More room all over and more flare in the skirt.

The fabrics are both from Purpleseamstress and cotton lycra.  Pink Plaid was 1.5 yards at $10/yard. Kelly Green was 1/2 yard at $3.25.  So total of fabric, $18.25 and pattern, $12 = $30.25 ouch. The plaid faded quite a bit after the second wash too. Bummer because it is nice and thick fabric.

Ottobre 04/2013 #30 Leggings
I also made the leggings K is wearing.  They are an Ottobre pattern we love in a size larger than usual.  152 width, 146 height.  The fabric was not what I expected when I got it but it worked out ok.  1.5 yards at $9.50/yard = $14.25.  The fabric is super soft but pilled horrible after the second wash.

here is a close up of the stripes in the legging material

they match the plaid so nicely :)

Ottobre 04/2013 #33
I had 1/2 yard of the Kelly Green fabric left over so I made an Ottobre raglan tee for K in a 146.  It is a bit big on the neckline but she can grow into it.  The deer fabric was purchased in March 2014 from a Facebook group for $8 for the yard.  It is a nice thick cotton knit, most likely an interlock from the looks of it.  Total for shirt: $11.25

Simplicity 4786
In other random Christmas sewing, I made K a bunch of doll clothes for her 18" dolls. These are special because they are made from some of K's old clothes she loved (except the snow leopard, that is to match her dress I made her here, and the black/pink top matches her tee here).  

Most of these went together just fine.  The snow leopard, jumper, I didn't care for the instructions.  The bodice is lined but they don't have you understitch so it wants to pop out. Also, they have you sew the shoulders after attaching the linings which doesn't look as nice as when you sew the shoulders and then attach the lining.  K doesn't mind though.  The boots were so cute I had to make them.  The instructions as you to sew the bottoms with the seam on the outside? What? no thanks.  I sewed them just fine with the seam to the inside. Otherwise it's a great pattern with lots of options for doll clothes.



Totoro
I rushed a stuffed Totoro plushie.  It didn't turn out half as good as I would have liked because I had no time to do it correctly, but he is cute nonetheless. Materials cost about $1.50! I used the tutorial and pattern from Cheek and Stitch.

K loves the movie My Neighbor Totoro so it was a big surprise for her.
Here is a pic from the movie


I hope you are all enjoying your holidays with friends and family!  I'm working on a new Burda top and dress for myself in between festivities plus a wrap up post for the year as well as some resolutions for the new year.

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Ottobre Dress 06/2012 #30 and Jalie 2920 Leggings

Sewing for kids is so much easier than sewing for adults. Less fitting is involved and the process seems faster.  Plus, my kids need to be presentable every day for school, whereas I don't leave the house much.  So my things got put on the back burner again and K got a few new things.

First up is this Ottobre knit dress.  K saw a similar one in an ad and came running to me "Mom, I want this, can you make it?" Luckily I could ;-)

(K is under the weather so these are the best pics I could get)

Issue 06/2012 #30 "Sulka" jersey dress. The sizes range from 128-170cm.  I made K a size 140 but added a 1/2" to the waist of the bodice tapering to nothing at the underarm. I also added a tad to the sleeves at bicep and elbow tapering to nothing at wrists.  I stared for a long time at the armhole thinking it would be too tight, and in the end left it. Well, the armhole is tight. I used only the inner bodice lining for this dress because I didn't want the outside piece with the bows.

 

K likes the fullness of the skirt and the swirly-twirly factor.  It turned out as she wanted it so she's pleased, and thus I'm pleased.  Long sleeve weather pounced upon us and it looks like it is here to stay.  We went from 80°F to 55°F overnight (the Midwest temps can be so fickle).

Fabric: Blue Cheetah Jersey Knit, A rayon/poly blend.  I purchased it in August from fashionfabricsclub.com when K picked out the dress and fabric.  It was only $7.43 for the 1.75 yards I used.  I'll pay $8 any day to make this girl happy :)

K also needed some leggings so I decided to try Jalie 2920.  I had it sitting in my stash for a bit and it seemed the right time to try it.  I went with a size "O" which is 150cm or size 11 US.  K has  a larger rear and I wanted to ensure they fit.  The pattern is only one piece, which makes these fast and that is nice.  They looked tiny and I was scared they wouldn't fit but they did!

These leggings are more like tights without bottoms.  They are snug, no bagging and sagging on them.  In the future I might do a large rear adjustment for K because I'm worried she will outgrow these super fast.  If I was making these for my self, I would definitely be doing a large rear adjustment!

Fabric:
The Purple are a stretch nylon/lycra rib knit.  It is super soft but I'm afraid she will snag them the first wear.  This fabric has been in my stash for.ev.er so I'm ok with it.  1 yard purchased in Feb 2012 from fabric.com for $2.99
The Light Blue are a cotton/lycra jersey I picked it up in August 2013 from Mill End Textiles before they went out of business.  It is sooooo soft and yummy but I only had 1/2 yard so I made them shorts/capris :) $1.75
The Pink are a 100% cotton jersey with less stretch. I picked it up from Hobby Lobby May of 2014, 1 yard for $4.89

This month has been rough as I'm still under the weather.  I hope to pull out of it soon because I'm starting to get patterns piled up in the "to sew" bin.

I was able to sell 23 yards of fabric and haven't bought anything yet so that helped my totals out a bit. It blows my mind how much fabric has come in so far this year and I haven't sewn as much as I think I can.  I need to remember that there will always be fabric I want and I don't need to buy more until I use what I have.

September Totals:
(stash is anything purchased before Jan 2014)
Stash used: 1.5 yards
Fabric Out: 27 yards
Fabric In: 0 yards

Totals for the year to date:
Stash sew this year: 42 yards
Fabric out in 2014: 168.75 yards
Fabric in 2014: 154.5 yards

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Ottobre 03/2014 #30 Flycatcher jersey tunic

I had a different dress on the ironing board ready to cut out, but I couldn't get this pattern out of my mind so I had to sew it up today.  When inspiration strikes, seize the moment!

This is from the new issue of Ottobre (03/2014 #30) and is called Flycatcher jersey tunic.
There are 5 pattern pieces to trace, 8 total when cut with the doubled up things, like pockets.
I traced and cut this out this morning.  I started sewing around 1:30 and finished around 4:30 - plus I even had distractions from K and the puppy.  When tracing, I had the hardest time with piece #2 because it is laid over piece 1 strangely and I had to really concentrate to figure out what line went where.  Plus, it is in orange.... not the easiest to see.

This is not a hard sew.  Once you get the pockets attached and that weird front panel on (piece 2) it is just like sewing a t-shirt dress.  I made sure to interface the directed areas, especially the point where the panel meets the front piece and pocket.  I foresee that being a weak point in the fabric.

For this dress I used 1 yard for all the blue pieces, and 1 side of 1 yard for the front castles. You will want a whole yard because you need the length.  Oh, speaking of length... I traced a size 134 for the bodice and out to a 146 in the hips and length. K wanted it longer than the picture in the magazine.  I even added an extra inch after that in the hem.  When I tried it on her it was still above her knee so I made a tiny 1/2" hem to save some length. She also turned up her nose at the rounded shaped hem so we flared it out a bit.

Fabric:
Main:  Laguna Stretch Knit Turquoise $5.93 (bought in March)
Panel: "Castles" by Sweet N' Charmed Facebook group. used 1/2 so $6 (just got this month)
Total Cost: $11.93

The bodice is a bit big on K even though she is almost 134 in height and of "normal" body (not skinny).  I think it may just run bigger in this pattern? When she puts her hands in the pockets it pulls down the top and she needs to be careful not to flash anyone :-O
Regardless, it is an awesome design, she has room to grow into it and I love how it looks.  I would sew it again in a heartbeat.

May Totals:
Stash used: 0 yards
Fabric Out: 4.5 yards
Fabric In: 20 - It has been a stressful time for me, shopping is my outlet.

Totals for the year to date:
Stash sew this year: 27 yards
Fabric out in 2014: 99.5 yards!
Fabric in 2014: 97.5 yards

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~