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 ~

L/S Top, Leggings, and Nightgown for K ~ all Ottobre

I managed to pop out a few things for Miss K while I was not feeling well this last week.
Since the weather is turning she is in need of longer leggings.

I went with Ottobre 04/2013 #30  and made 2 pairs in size 146

I don't even know what this Pink Knit is made of but it reminds me of runner's pants.  I have no clue what they are made of but they have minimal stretch.  K loves them.  The material sewed up wonderfully even when I thought it would fight me.  They are really quite long as seen in the above pics.

For the second pair (the bottom blue) I folded out 2 inches to make them shorter. These are out of a very soft and stretchy pointelle knit.  Too soft and stretchy.  K wore them to school this week and when I picked her up they were very baggy and drooped around her ankles.  Cute fabric, Cute pattern: bad together. Sad because I really loved the blue knit and was saving it for cute leggings.

I also made Ottobre 04/2012 #28 "Fancy Mix" Long sleeve T-shirt in size 146.  This was also huge on her.  Maybe she shrunk on me? Lol.  I usually make her the 146 and they fit fine.  Anyway, the fabric again was my enemy.  The cute floral print is slinky but really soft.  It is not good quality.  I picked it up on the remnant table at Mill End Textiles for $3.95 - also the pink rib knit I picked up for the same at the same place.  It is not a good rib knit either.  It stretches all out of shape and doesn't want to sew well.

I put twill tape in the shoulder seams.  Used elastic to gather as the instructions stated.  I made the bottom parts of the sleeves cuffs instead of hemming them.  Thankfully I had my order of WonderTape arrive and could use it on the bottom hem or that would have been wonky as heck.

I really love this cute pattern but it is

1. too big
2. wrong fabrics - I need something more stable and less slinky

I will attempt it again sometime soon.  

Finally, I also used some flannel I had sitting out and ready with Ottobre 03/2012 #34

I originally wanted to use a Simplicity pattern but didn't have the yardage. Now this Ottobre pattern is for knits but I knew it had a lot of give in it so I went for it with the woven.  I eliminated the pleats and just used the elastic for the neck to have it all gathered.  I omitted the sleeve elastic because K feels "trapped" in it. 

I love this pattern as evidenced by the 4 times I've now used it! 

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

terrible lighting and you can see what the cable guy did to our outlet.... we have plaster walls

Sometimes my productivity surprises me ;-) even if my attempts are not completely successful. 

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~