Girl's Sassy Clothes - Hat "q"

What are kids like, hey? No sooner has my daughter outgrown something that she had previously refused to wear, and suddenly she loves it?! I'd made Hat "q" twice before (here and here in Flickr) and she was all over the brown wool version recently but it was too small.

I quickly got approval to make another, and yep, it could match her recent coat. When you get that kind of affirmation, you don't hang around, you get sewing!

Yes - that is lipstick. A recent gift that she loves from my MIL and I'm only allowed to remove that which is all over her face, not ANY from her lips. Sigh.

The hat comes from Girl's Sassy Clothes by Yuki Araki which is one of my very well used Japanese pattern books. This is one that I could happily make everything in the book. The hat comes in 3 sizes, 50cm, 52cm and 54cm. The first two I made were size 50cm. I measured her head at 52cm exactly but decided to go up to the 54cm size to avoid it being too small.

Looking back it was two years ago yesterday that I tried to photograph her wearing the first hat. Note the small food bribe and the hand poised ready to rip the hat off any second:

That picture reminds me that I have two cuts of flannelette fabric set aside for more winter versions of the Oliver + S Music Class Blouse. Mentally added to the very long list of things I want to make.

The brim is a really sweet shape with this narrow brim at the back and a lovely face shading width at the front. The brim pieces are cut on the bias and somehow this hat comes together so much more easily than others I've sewn.

The lining is an identical, non interfaced version of the main hat. Both are constructed and then sewn together at the brim leaving a 2 inch gap to turn it all right side out before edgestitching the brim. This is a nice way to sew a lined hat without having to do any handstitching.

I kept it simple on the side this time and just used a little bias tube of the same fabric to cover the join in the band.

Take note: the band pieces are too short to overlap properly. I added the correct seam allowance, but the pattern shows you turning the ends of one piece in, then tucking the other inside the tube of the first. Simply not possible. These only just meet and overlap enough to be stitched. Need to add at least another 1cm to each side in order for a prettier finish.

I should get around to hand stitching the band to the crown to prevent it sliding up like it has above, but also to thwart my daughter in her attempts to remove and lose the band.

So there's my happy hat model and happy hat news.

The sad hat news is that P's Straw Boater, which I had just entered in the Royal Show (for fun!) has had a hole chewed in it by the small furry monster (aka kitten) that is living with us temporarily. I had some leftover straw braid and thought for a moment I could redo the crown and save it, but on closer inspection he has chewed where the crown meets the lid and damaged both parts. It can be patched for wearing but it's not show worthy.

I shall have my revenge as I'm taking him in to work with me next week and will extract my pound of flesh! (so to speak, I imagine they'll only be about 2grams each, not nearly a pound!) :)

City Stroll Wrap Skirt - Road Test

A little while ago I made myself the new Liesl & Co City Stroll Wrap Skirt and I've been wearing it a lot! The skirt and I have been getting along very well and I'm over on the Oliver + S blog today showing what you can, and can not, do while wearing a wrap skirt.

What I'm also doing is fraudulently passing myself off as someone who has "style" and indulging in one of those "How I Wear It" posts. Yep, seriously. No, I didn't remember to brush my hair and there's definitely no manicure or lipstick involved, but I did manage to get possibly the first ever photo of someone cycling in a skirt onto the Oliver + S blog! Go Check it out:

Here I'll talk more about making the City Stroll Wrap Skirt rather than wearing it. I've been on a bit of a bender recently for "one evening sew patterns". That is, a pattern that once you've got it traced off and cut out, can then be sewn in one evening. Now, I'm not quick, and some of those evenings become late nights or even into the early morning, but they still count as one session sews.

This skirt is certainly do-able in an evening. I sewed the first version the night before the kids and I went to the ballet to see Cinderella. Here we are in a low quality phone shot enjoying our ice creams at intermission, all completely dressed in clothes sewn by me.

I bought this cheap cotton plaid from Eliza fabrics ages ago with plans to make another Continental skirt but never got around to it. It was shifty fabric and I knew it needed lining. Partly in order to wear it with tights and boots during winter, but also to stop it from warping out of shape.

 

The pattern has the option of finishing the curved edge with a facing, or using bias binding. I liked the idea of bias binding for what is effectively a blanket skirt. The lining should have been as easy as making a second skirt, putting both under the waistband and then binding the hem. I got it into my head that the skirt and lining needed to be attached at the side seam to help prevent sagging of the main fabric. If only I'd thought about it before hand I could have used Nicole At Home's fabulous tutorial for a Hong Kong finish.

 

Instead I sewed the skirt darts and the lining darts, then joined the skirt and the lining together with 1/4" seams (half the seam allowance) turned it right side out then joined front to back with 1/4" seams. It works as a nice, neat finish and holds the skirt in shape well, but the seams are a little bulky compared to a proper Hong Kong finish and don't lie as flat as they should due to being so narrow. Next time I'll try to remember to do it properly and do it Nicole's way.

 

 

If I hadn't baffled myself with my dodgy lining by this stage then I might have properly understood the closure instructions.

 

The skirt should have an invisible closure with buttons sewn on the inside of one overlapping waistband and the buttonholes on the underneath waistband. It was late and my navy button were looking pretty similar to a navy size 20 snap so I saved myself the task of sewing buttonholes and went out to the shed and popped four snaps in. Done in a few minutes. But done back to front and the wrap is technically the wrong way.

 

Size: 14 with 1" extra length added. Over the course of a day it starts to feel a bit stretched out and loose. Probably more due to the fabric, but I decided I wanted another, and this time went down one size.

 

This one is size 12, again with 1" extra length and is a firmer, neater fit. The fabric is a kind of shot denim if such a thing exists. It has the weight of a lightweight denim, a small amount of stretch, and is navy with this lime green sheen and underside.

 

 

To show off the green, I finished this one using the facing. Curiously though, the skirt almost never flaps open like regular wrap skirts do. It would take a strong wind, or a particularly spectacular leap for the Frisbee for anyone to see the inside of my skirt anyway.

 

 

I'm loving the pockets!

 

 



And the back darts had this size fitting me just perfectly with no adjustments (that I don't know how to do anyway) needed.

Because the waist was fitting nicely I did get this one to wrap in the correct direction and put some sew in metal snaps and a skirt bar and hook in for the closure. I'm very happy with this skirt and when summer eventually comes I can imagine I'll wear it as much with bare legs as I'm wearing the other one with tights now.

I'll tell you more about my tops another day, but check out how nicely my bicycle co-ordinates with my outfit! And yes, I probably have enough bicycles that I could colour match on almost any given day of the week! Handbags on the other hand are a choice of two, either black or brown. Priorities my friends!

 

Edit: It's just occurred to me I made a mistake with my first skirt that probably explains why it was a bit big.

 

The skirt is meant to be hemmed with the facing or bias binding. I realise now that the bias binding should be stitched with the given 1/2" seam allowance then turned to the inside and stitched down, as if it were a facing. The instructions probably explained that and I didn't look?...

 

I was in automatic mode and thought "I know all about sewing bias binding after knocking off that Little Things To Sew book" so I bound the edge. I wanted the binding to show so it was a design choice, BUT I forgot to trim off the seam allowance.

 

That explains why the waistband was a bit big. It's technically an inch (1/2" at each end) longer than intended. Also my skirt will be 1.5" longer than the pattern rather than just the 1" I'd added. If I'd sewn it correctly the size 14 would probably have been perfect. The 12 is a tiny bit too small at the waist and I couldn't quite comfortably line up the waistband with the pocket edge when closing it. A couple of kilos off the frame by summer and it too should be perfect!

Basic Bottoms for the Boy

Not because I want to bore you senseless, but because I try to record everything I make, here are some basics for the boy child.

 

For school uniform pants I've made two pair of the new Oliver + S Parachute Polo sweatpants, and I've got a third pair cut out and ready to sew. I just need a few hours when there is absolutely nothing more compelling to do :)

Yep, it's hard to get excited about sewing navy trackpants. But, oh boy is he happy wearing them!

I added pockets 'cause I knew that would be a deal breaker if there weren't any. There was a time when reading another sewing blogger casually saying "I drafted my own pocket..." would see me awestruck. But it turns out that really, it's not that hard. So yeah, I drafted my own pockets.

While I added pockets, I left off the waistband buttonholes and drawstring. I knew he wouldn't be bothered with tying them and there was no option for any fun contrasting ties anyway.

 

In case you're wondering why there are so many photos of a boring pair of navy trackpants, the answer is that he has the camera remote control in his pocket and is directing himself in his own photoshoot. I was powerless to stop him.

 

Actually this is the side view that would look great if you had the option to put a contrasting strip of fabric in the side panel. Mine's navy on navy, but I do want to make another pair for fun with some nice racing stripes down the sides.

 



Pattern Oliver + S Parachute Polo and Sweatpants
Size: 7 (straight)
Alterations: Front pockets added, left off waist ties
Fabric: Fleece from Spotlight
Verdict: Love the fit on these straight out of the packet. Look much better than the cheap chain store school pants and so much cheaper and better than the official uniform trackpants. Two thumbs up.

I had visited one of those super cheap chain stores that sell school uniform colour skirts and pants in the hunt for some green shorts for P's new team sport. No luck, so of course we went straight from there to the fabric store...

Yep, he's joined the local Lacrosse team in the under 11's. Our team seems to be just about the littlest in the whole league, and we get soundly clobbered at almost every game, but the kids are having a blast and really enjoying playing together. This is his first foray into competitive sport, and his use of the stick is somewhat closer to interpretive dance, or hobby horse riding, most of the time.

Anyway, the right shorts were needed to make him at least look the part. I picked up a metre of this athletic pique knit at Spotlight for only $8 and have made two pair of these shorts already. There's probably enough left over for another pair. I think he's needs some lycra tight shorts to wear underneath as it's just freezing at the moment.

The problem with winter sports? They're played in winter!

Pattern: Oliver + S Sunny Day Shorts - FREE Pattern!
Size: 6
Fabric: Athletic pique knit from Spotlight
Alterations: none
Verdict: perfect length for sport shorts. That top on the other hand is so oversized. We had to tuck it in or you couldn't see the shorts at all!
I'd lengthen them and add pockets to make perfect casual shorts.

Just Another Tee

Seasonally completely inappropriate, but possibly ahead of the next biggest thing in PDF pattern land for the first time ever.*
I made a T-shirt.

Not just any old T-shirt but Just Another Tee by Monika of Schneidernmeistern

Apologies for the dreadful, grainy photos. It's a miserable, ice cold, rainy day and it's school holidays. So while I'm sure there's a way that a good camera can be manipulated to get decent shots in light like this, there's no manipulating my patience in order to make it happen.

Out of patience too? Well this is the T-shirt you want to be sewing. Seriously fast folks.

It's only two pattern pieces and a neckband. There are no instructions, but I think we can all figure out a front a back and a neckband, right? Well, possibly not, but I'll talk more about that in a bit.

The hem has a nice hi-low curve and is plenty long enough. FYI I'm about 170cm (5'7")

That's relevant 'cause it's one size only, which is a M, roughly correlating to a German size 40-42. When I last bought any clothes in Germany, circa 2001, that's exactly the size that I was. But it's apparent that my hips have seen many desserts since then, and while the top part fits nicely the hem are narrow on me. However, I've decided I kind of like it that way, with a bit of a band effect.

The pattern doesn't include seam allowances (those wacky Europeans) and for some reason I thought that they shouldn't be added to the neckline. That left my neckband being a bit too short and it was quite a stretch to attach it. I chose to attach it as a binding rather than a folded neckband. Cutting without a seam allowance and binding the neckline means that this is as low as the neckline can go (without altering the pattern) and for me I think it's perfect. On people who haven't indulged in as many puddings or are just littler, it could be a bit risqué.

 

 

Ok, so you don't need another T-shirt pattern in your pattern stash, do you? I didn't think I did, but this one is a bit different in just enough ways and it's FREE! There's some great inspiration for this pattern on Instagram where so many gorgeous versions have been sewn and shown.

 

Best mid winter mood lifter ever: Put on some coconut smelling sunscreen and sew up a quick T-shirt. Seriously, it works.

* qualifier: Outside of Germany. This pattern is already all over the German speaking blogosphere but I'm going to claim to be ahead of the wave anyway.

Kid's Clothes Week: Pyjama fest!

I'm going to confess that while I did some pattern tracing and cutting of kid's clothes the weekend before Kid's Clothes Week started, I was sidetracked by some sewing for me, and didn't get back to the kid's stuff until after Wednesday. So it was a half and halfer kind of sewing week.

Once I knuckled down to the kid's sewing I slaved each evening late into the night to make three pairs of Oliver + S Sleepover Pajamas before the end of the weekend.

The littlest pair are for Oscar who turns two tomorrow. He's previously been the recipient of a little blanket, and then last year the Playtown set from Little Things To Sew.

I already had the size 2 pattern drafted as that's what A's been wearing since here and here. They really do fit forever as turning down the cuffs gives another inch in length and they're pretty generous to start with.

A's pyjamas are a size 4. I chose to leave the ruffles off for the first time. They're super adorable with the ruffles but I knew it would be the time consuming bit that would put me over the edge.

There's no getting around it. These are some time consuming pyjamas to sew. Maybe I've become lazy with all the knit fabric overlocker jammies I've been making, but these ones kicked my butt.

Thank goodness for snaps as doing buttonholes on all three pair would have been untenable! I had A helping me in the garage lining up the snaps and setting them into the snap press, so naturally she got to choose her own colours, hence the rainbow snaps on this pair of pyjamas.

Finally, P got a pair in size 7.

Can you see the pockets? They're pretty well camouflaged as I was particular about fussy cutting them so they matched. I've said it before: you don't need pockets on pyjamas but if you're going to put them there you may as well do it right!

The kids chose the fabrics themselves from Spotlight last summer when it was on sale. My recollection is that the main flannelette fabric was $2/metre at the time. As they chose one fabric each they also volunteered that baby Oscar might like the blue camping animals fabric. So his birthday present was planned by the kids a long way out.

I would never have thought that I'd get into pyjama sewing, but if you're tired of having tasteful, darling dresses rejected then knock out some novelty print fabric pyjamas. The kids will love them and they'll get a ton of wear compared to anything else you make.

As I sewed these, my 5th, 6th and 7th pair of Sleepover Pajamas, I counted up all the other pyjamas I've made and came up with a decent list.
7 pair of Sleepover Pajamas
2 pair of Bedtime Story Pajamas
2 pair + 1 pair of Flashback Skinny T with Bedtime Story Pajama pants
2 pair of OUSM Ruffled PJs (pattern link)
2 pair of Tron Pyjamas (Rowan tee and Twisted Trousers)
1 pair Spider pyjamas (Rowan Tee and Bedtime Story Pajama pants

17 pairs of pyjamas!

Sewing these three pair was made trickier by our little houseguest seen photobombing above.
He gets a serious attack of the ratbaggy demon kitten just after the kids have gone to bed and I'm trying to sew. Obviously, a moving sewing machine, a pile of fabric, pattern paper, threads, it's all just too much for a kitten to resist. I had to press all the seams on these pyjamas with the cord to the iron wound over my shoulders so that it didn't get attacked from below!

I think that's us done for pyjamas for a while. At least until summer rolls around.

How was your Kid's Clothes Week. Was it slow and steady or a 4 night bender like mine?

Birthday wishes: "Yoda, the green one, mum"

For a few weeks P's Darth Vader stencil T-shirt had been missing. Once we found it down the side of the wardrobe I realised it was getting a bit small now. With a birthday coming up I asked what he might like on a T-shirt for his birthday...

The short answer was "Yoda". The lengthy answer involved a detailed description of what Yoda looked like.

As if that I am not knowing.

I did an online search for Yoda images and found this How to Draw Yoda tutorial. I made it easy for myself and printed the finished black and white image then traced the image to get the shape and outline of each colour block area.

From that I cut a freezer paper stencil and then ironed the stencil onto the T-shirt, putting each piece back until the jigsaw was almost complete. I left off the areas that would be green, then painted the green. Then I peeled off the centre area and painted it brown. Then peeled off the beige areas and painted them, and finally the black walking stick.

When the colour paint was dry, I painted the black lines to give detail by referencing the image by my side and freehand painting it. I had a shocking head cold, was as grumpy as a bat, but found this to be really therapeutic!

I've used Setacolour paints, which, so long as you give them a very solid ironing on high heat once they're dry, wash and wear very well. I should photograph the Darth stencil now after 18 months of washing and wearing. It's faded but at about the same rate that the t-shirt is outgrown anyway.

The T-shirt is the Oliver + S Field Trip Raglan Tee in size 6 with 6cm length added to the body and 8cm (holy crap!) added to the sleeves. Perfect fit!

For another bit of birthday sewing I followed the much loved Tron pyjamas with a similar pair in knit fabric.

I found this spider web fabric at ClearIt and noticed that the markings on the spiders backs looked to me like a number 7 (French style). Perfect for my about to be 7 year old, so I snapped it up.

For the top I've used the Titchy Threads  Rowan Tee again. Of course I forgot to add sleeve length, so I cut the cuff piece 1" wider than the pattern calls for. I wanted straight leg seams for the pants, so I used the Oliver + S Bedtime Story Pyjama pants. They're size 5 ('cause that's what I had traced) with about an inch added to the bottom and then a knit cuff added as well. Turned out to be plenty of length.

The spider man poses were getting a bit elaborate by this stage...

His birthday was on a school day, so we had grandparents around on the weekend before, presents the morning of his birthday and then a party with friends the weekend after. Way to drag out a one day celebration!

While I technically sewed these all over a week ago, it's Kid's Clothes Week starting today, so I'm going with the what gets blogged during Kid's Clothes Week counts as time spent on making kid's clothes approach. Also, cause I've cut out some things I want to make for myself next, and I may have little else to show by the end of the week!

Happy birthday P, now clean your footprints off the wall please!

V neck tutorial tested on me and the kids!

Today is another of my regular posts on the Oliver + S blog where I tinker around with their patterns. Click on the image below to go to the Oliver + S blog to learn how I converted a circular neckband to a V neck for both the Metro T-shirt and the School Bus T-shirts. Or hang around here for pics of the kids and me.

Straight up I'm going to confess that I'm not actually much of a V neck fan. But when there was discussion on the Oliver + S forum about how it could be done, I became intrigued by the question and decided it was a problem I wanted to solve...

I figured I could be happy with a V neck if it wasn't too high. I was wearing my relatively risqué Camas blouse at the time and decided that a V that was in line with my armpits would feel more like a blouse than a dorky t-shirt. From then on I was sold on the idea.

I love the way the Metro T-shirt fits me and I can't have too many long sleeved T-shirts. If a V neck made this one a little different from the others that would be a good thing. The fabric is a relatively thick knit, not quite a ponte, but not far off. My T-shirt is a straight size XL and is now my fourth version of this pattern. Needless to say, I love it.

But before I cut into so much fabric I figured I'd experiment with something smaller. So P was first in line for a V neck T-shirt. His is the School Bus T-shirt, which is essentially the kid's version of the Metro T-shirt. I thought about how to create the vertical seam in the neckband without needing to measure angles and I think it worked well regardless of how acute the V angle was each time. Then, to attach the neckband to the T-shirt involves sewing two very opposing angles to each other. Not too dissimilar to a sleeve placket, only with a little bit extra awkward.

I'm acutely aware that I am a self taught experimenter when it comes to things like this. I intentionally don't search for other online tutorials as then I would feel like I'm presenting someone else's work as my own. But I'm also mindful that I don't really know what I'm doing. My solution is not necessarily the best solution, and for this tutorial I did shoot an email to Liesl to check that I wasn't going about it all wrong. She was supportive and so I plunged on.



P's T-shirt is size 6 with an arbitrary 2 inches added to hem and sleeve length in order to finish each on a dark band of the stripe, and account for his monkey arms.

If only I'd thought to bring the apex of the V down to meet the dark stripe too. Just a half inch lower would have looked so much neater. I cut the neckband a bit wider (about 3/8 of an inch?) than the pattern called for to make my first time a bit easier. It's not perfect, there's a little blip on one side but it wasn't bad for a first effort. I added some twin needle top stitching in orange, just for a bit of extra colour.

Even though it could have been positioned on the stripe better, I do think his is the one with the best "depth of V" of the lot.

Yep, there's another coming.... I knew mine would have to be all in one dull-ish colour in order for me to ever wear it and that wouldn't make for a good photo tutorial. So I made a third with some more photogenic colours. This time for A:

Of course, it's when you photograph something that you don't do your best work, right?! Well, actually, there's nothing wrong with the V neck itself, it's just that I cut it too deep. Lesson learned for the tutorial. What's "cheeky" deep for a grown up is just plain weird on a kid.

But a 10cm strip of stretch lace from Spotlight handstitched to the inside of the neckband seam is a great save. Now that it's there I really quite like it as a little feature. One of those happy accidents in sewing perhaps.

Hers is the School Bus T-shirt in a straight size 4. Note for next time: I could probably start adding a little bit of extra body length for her too.

Trying to get a group photo to celebrate our V necks was a challenge.....

P thought he was hilarious and then there was no way little sister wasn't going to join in with that gag...

V necks, love and peace to all!