Plaid Refashion

I do not do much refashioning. This Eco-Princess look was my first real try at it from the Earth Day challenge. For Project Run & Play this week the challenge is Mad for Plaid and I just couldn't bring myself to spend any more money on fabric. I've been a very reckless fabric shopper lately. (Someone please ban all online fabric stores from my computer. Girl Charlee I'm talking about you.)

So my plaid fabric source is from my own closet and was a dress/shirt thingy I bought about three years ago and have worn exactly zero times. I bought it because it was on clearance and because it was so super soft, but then like so many other things I've bought, I bring it home and have no idea how to wear it. Too short to wear as a dress. Too long to wear with jeans. Would be cute with leggings but I have not worn leggings since the 6th grade. (I'm hoping for a leggings-change-of-heart though.)

So it was an easy decision to take scissors and a seam ripper to the never worn dress/shirt thingy.



Refashioning has it's benefits and drawbacks. Besides being cheap or free, the main benefit is you can keep cool features from the original item. It is hard to see in the picture but there are two top pockets, two big bottom pockets and snap up sleeve tabs that I was able to just transfer to my new top with no extra work. Of course the drawback is it takes much more planning and there are way more limitations when you are trying to design and cut your pattern. I also spent a lot of time with the seam ripper and had a billion baby threads all over me at all times. Using the seam ripper, I took off the collar from the original, took apart all the pieces, then resized and re-sewed for a smaller version of the collar.

I love that the new top is going to get a lot more use and will definitely look adorable with leggings on my 6-year-old.

Time to return to the sewing table and put to good use all the fabric shipments I've been receiving lately.

Popover Jumpsuit

I'm sewing along with Project Run & Play again as they start a new season! The first challenge was to remix the Oliver + S Popover Sundress Pattern.

I knew I needed to remake the sundress into something that was wearable for fall, but I still wanted it to keep some of the sundress features. I think this knit Popover Jumpsuit does both things.



As my nod to the original pattern, I kept the contrasting yoke and ties, but needed to change up the ties a bit. I'm pretty sure my new kindergartener is the one constantly asking for help opening up items in her lunchbox and I didn't want her to also be the one constantly asking her teacher to re-tie her clothing after she goes to the bathroom. So the shoulder ties are not really ties, just stretchy straps with bows tacked on top. Easy on. Easy off.



The bodice has a lot of gather, unlike the original pattern, and the leggings also were made to be wide and gathered. I encased a piece of elastic between the bodice and legging pieces to bring in the waist and tacked on another bow there too. The waist of this jumpsuit is made the same as in my Hopscotch Romper look.



Instead of wide leg pants on the jumpsuit I opted for more of a legging look finished off with contrasting bands. I really like the way they look on her, although my husband thinks they look like pajamas. But I knew even when this look was only in my head that he wouldn't like or appreciate it anyway. Not much of a jumpsuit guy :).



And since I wouldn't send her to school in just the jumpsuit (need to cover those cute little bare shoulders), I would style it either with a cardigan like below or pair a shirt underneath.



Any time I make this girl something other than a dress I run the risk of her never. wearing. it. again. It is super soft and comfortable and sooner or later she will need to be wearing pants or leggings to school any way so we shall see. Either way she will have something super cute to wear for her school's pajama day :).


***If you haven't voted for your favorite look yet over at Project Run & Play, head over there and vote! The contestants made some really great things.***

(Every time I sew along, I am so pleased I am not begging people to head over there and vote for me! Phew.)

Sewing for Kindergarten

Today I am participating in Sewing for Kindergarten, hosted by Mie over at Sewing Like Mad. She has kindly agreed with me that I am an inconsistent blogger and so sweetly encouraged me to post something new on this rusty old blog. Thanks Mie! (Goodbye Easter dress post!)

So why am I sewing for kindergarten? Because my oldest went off to kindergarten this year.

This can be a touchy subject for new kindergarten moms.

I mean, somehow our babies go from this to this at an unreasonable lightning speed:



One day I am a brand new mom, scared and elated by this new little person I am responsible for. And the next day I am walking that not-so-little person through giant school doors into the real world and turning around and leaving her there. How did this happen?

I felt my share of these sentiments, but no, I did not cry on the big day. It was all excitement for us. After my own childhood experiences and also being a teacher, I have an idealized and special place in my heart for elementary schools, especially the early grades. I will be the mom balling when I have to take my baby to junior high (shudder)!

Note to self: Do not think about how quickly junior high will come. Just focus on kindergarten.



For at least the last year I have been excited for Drew to go to kindergarten, and also to sew stuff for her to go to kindergarten in! For a while I was buying tons of fabric and making tons of sketches, all plans for a homemade kindergarten wardrobe.

Right about the time when I started to draw patterns and sew together those plans I got a bad case of "I-Can't-Even-Look-at-My-Sewing-Machine-itis". It was a bad one and it lasted for a couple months. Needless to say, those wardrobe plans turned into making just a few things and letting H&M and Target fill in the gaps.

Here is what I did accomplish!



I love, love this ruffled tee. The peach knit is so soft and the blue stripes came from an old tee of mine, cut on the diagonal.

Another note: This messy hair look is what you get after an actual full day of kindergarten. It's the real deal.



Below you can see how I made this pattern if you wanted to try something similar. Start with your favorite bodice pattern. Cut it from shoulder seam to the center, then add your seam allowances. If you want the V-look using diagonal stripes, you will need to have a seam down the center of the bodice. For the front and back bodice of this shirt (not including sleeves) there were 8 pieces.



And another ruffled tee since I had already figured out the pattern. This one more simple though.







These harem pants are not very harem-y, I realize. They are definitely more slouchy around the crotch area than leggings though so I guess you could call them Comfy Pants or No-Wedgie Pants. Either way they are right down Drew's alley who is particularly sensitive about wedgies. I don't know why I cropped them above the calf. It was a last minute decision. I need to try making more No-Wedgie pants and tweak them a bit here and there.

If you'd like to try to make some yourself, see Mie's tutorial about altering leggings pattern to slouchy pants. I made my pattern almost exactly as she did.



And lastly my piece de resistance. The backpack. I let Drew pick out the fabric and the style of pack she wanted. I altered the pattern quite a bit and spent hours putting this thing together. I even hand embroidered little extras to make it extra unique and special.



And then.

At meet the teacher night, the day before school started, I was told kindergarteners aren't allowed to bring backpacks to school! What? "They take up too much room. And we have these cheap plain totes for each child to use. And they cost $3."

So essentially, after making this awesome backpack I had to pay money for her to wear a plain yellow tote to school. Ah well. Maybe she will still like it for first grade?




Here is to new handmade clothes, new experiences, and a great school year!

Sequin Sparkle Easter Dress

Most of the time I am inspired first by a design then I think about the fabric second. But when I walked past this cream organza with flocked polka dots I had to have it and luckily Easter was around the corner and I had a purpose to use it for. Just bolts away from the flocked polka dots was a gold sequin overlay fabric that paired perfectly. The fabrics told me what they were to be made into.

{Nash is sort of covered up in the above photo only because I didn't sew his outfit, except for his tie. That doesn't mean that he isn't the most handsome sweetest little love of my life. Just that I don't really sew for boys, darn it.}




It's all about the collar. As a last minute thought, I used a metallic gold piping around the edges and it turned out to make all the difference. There are so many frustrations in designing and sewing that it is nice when something turns out just like you wanted it the first time you tried it. I think I kissed that collar after it was sewn in.




I also scored these cute mint and gold shoes from H&M (to match the brother's shirt) and a cream tutu underskirt on clearance for $2.50 that was exactly what the dress needed. You can see it peeking under the dress and I could kiss it too.




I tried to keep the design simple on purpose but did add a couple details like the exposed metallic zipper in back and the button closings on the back of the sleeve cuffs.




Hey even Bunny got a matching dress for Easter. I thought about making hers with the collar, but then I thought no. There are more crucial things in life than sewing collars for stuffed bunnies.




And not only did Drew's Easter dress come together so smoothly, but my kids actually loved eachother when I was trying to take pictures of them. I'm glad I documented this early because on actual Easter morning when I tried to get pictures before church, things were not so friendly.




And just for fun...



It was last year's Easter dress that voted me into the Project Run & Play competition! I love that dress although I think she only wore it once or twice. She decided to grow super tall and make that short dress a little inappropriate for church.

Stop growing up!

All Types of Stripes

When I was thinking about Chevron Week for Project Run & Play, I knew I wanted the chevron I used to be subtle. A couple years ago I updated all of our patio furniture cushions and pillows in a bold yellow and white chevron print. While I still like the cushions, I like that they are outdoors and not in my house. I guess after the experience I tired a little of chevron and I have never bought more of it again.



But I am a sucker for stripes. Probably half of mine and my children's closets are filled with stripes. And I have been pinning dresses that play with stripes in all different directions and I am liking that too.



There was no quick part of creating this dress. It took me time to figure out the pattern. Then it took me a lot of time to cut the pieces in the right direction using the right side of the fabric. And then piecing and sewing it all together took longer than I expected too. And in the end there is no actual chevron in the dress, although you are supposed to see it going vertical up the sides of the dress.



This last picture makes me laugh a little. The way her neck and shoulders are all tense and I know her face is scrunched up because I asked her to turn around for a picture of the back of the dress. You see, Drew has been modeling for me since she was two and the girl does not like to be told what to do or directed in her photo shoots. She is in charge of the photo shoot and my job is to just stay quiet and snap away on the camera. "How dare she tell ME how to pose," she is thinking.


Next week is all about the details- choose a favorite detail to showcase in a children's wear design. I'm thinking pleats.

Traveling Artist

I have been looking forward to sewing along with Project Run & Play again, and perhaps sewing past the first week and doing all of the challenges. It is just so much fun to play along!

The first week's challenge is to be inspired by art- Choose an artist, art movement, or artwork and create a children's look inspired by your choice. I thought and thought about this one. There were so many possibilities. But every idea I kept coming up with did not pass my Is This Worth Making Test: Will Drew wear it?

Because see, there are too many of my precious hours hanging up in her closet going unworn. It doesn't matter if it had every color of pink and was covered in mermaids, rainbows, and butterflies, and sang the My Little Pony theme song. This girl is all about ease and comfort.

Which for her is a knit dress. No zippers or buttons to deal with. Nothing to give her a wedgie (which she claims every pair of shorts and pants does). Something she can tear off in an instant and put on a different knit dress that better suits her fancy. Knit dresses are the only thing I can get her to wear without putting up a struggle!



So I found this paint splatter knit jersey, in reference to Jackson Pollock of course, and made a simple dress by copying the pattern of her favorite H&M dresses she wears every day and lengthened the shoulder seams. Cutting and sewing this thing together was a breeze. I'm starting to like her easy taste.

So did it pass the Is This Worth Making Test?...



Yep! It's easy and comfortable and she loves it. Add it to her slew of knit dresses she changes in and out of all day long.

And for fun I painted on the little pocket and flowers using a black textile paint and a paint brush. I can't take credit for the pocket idea since I saw it on a cute dress from Anthropologie here.



Since we are on the topic of art and Drew, Drew is an aspirting artist herself.

I think it was Pablo Picasso who said that, "Every child is an artist." I'm sure this is true. I can't speak for every child, but with Drew she is an artist because of her confidence. She doesn't overthink and she doesn't get stuck. That girl produces and produces and I have dresser drawers full of her art, drawings, books, etc. to prove it.

So a couple of weeks ago Drew came up with a whopper of an idea and even though I told her no several times, she persisted and I finally let her follow through with her plan. She combined her love of art and her new found love of earning money and decided to sell her art on the side of the road.

Yes. She made art. Then she made a sign. And she stood outside our house and tried to sell her art for 5 cents a piece.



Her exact words to me, "Everyone will want to buy my pictures and I will make so much money!"



Sadly, she still has much to learn on the business side of things. Her sign was too small and even though she continuously yelled out loud, "Picture Sale for 5 cents!", everyone that drove by didn't know what she was doing and just smiled and waved.



A neigbor taking out her trash did hear Drew's yelling though and came over to see what she was doing. She bought her butterfly picture and even paid her a whole dollar for it. I finally convinced her to close up shop and go back inside after she made a sale.

She rolled up that dollar and carried it around the rest of the day! And then her Daddy came home from work and bought the rest of the pictures from her.



Her confidence makes her an artist and I hope she never loses that. Also her drive to earn money. I think this kid is going to be successful.


If you want to see the looks I made back when I competed in Project Run & Play, check out this post!

Baptism White

[photo by Plainly Taken Photography]

For a very long time I have wanted to sell my tuxedo dress all in white as a baptism and special occasion dress.


[photo by Plainly Taken Photography]

The tuxedo dress is sort of my bread and butter. Over the years I have made well over 200 tuxedo dresses in all different colors. It looks great in every color, but I especially love it in white.


[photo by Plainly Taken Photography]

White is not a color kids can wear every day, I don't think. But a white dress for a blessing, a wedding, a baptism, or at the temple is definitely appropriate and special. Girls in white are angelic.


[photo by Plainly Taken Photography]

The details of the dress are harder to see but as a coordinating fabric I use a white-on-white pindot print for the ruffles, sleeve cuffs, and tie around the waist.


[photos by Plainly Taken Photography]

I hate to add this not pretty photo after all those beautiful images but in order to see the pindots I had to zoom in, boost up the contrast of the photo a ton, and point it out to you with arrows:



Can you see them?

The close up is of the white tuxedo dress I made about a year ago for my new baby niece's blessing day. I wish I had a picture of her wearing it because she is dang cute, but I just have this picture from my phone...




It is quite the challenge to make dresses in these tiny sizes, sewing in those little sleeve holes. But they sure do turn out so cute.

You can find this dress in my shop now finally, I am so excited.

***Also, the beautiful images I noted above are taken by Heather from Plainly Taken Photography who is super talented, as you can see.

****I love this poem...

My Three White Dresses
by Linda Gay Perry Nelson

My mom bought me a white dress,
Not red or pink or blue.
She said it was a special dress
Like very other few,
There has been just one before,
A dress now put away,
That I wore some time ago
Upon my blessing day.
As a little baby clothed in my first white dress,
My dad held me in his arms,
There to name and bless.
So pure and clean was I just then,
With time to grow and learn
About the Father's plan for me.
My glory I must earn.
Now I've reached the age to judge
The wrong road from the right,
And I am here to be baptized
In this dress of white.
So once again I'm free from sin.
The path is clear to me.
I'll grasp the rod and hold on tight, I vow with certainty.
Just as mud would stain my dress,
Sin would stain my soul.
The key is to repent or bleach,
For whiteness is my goal.
And if I try my very best,
Then richly blessed I'll be,
Wearing inside God's holy house
White dress number three,
So today I make this pledge:
I'll strive to choose the right,
Through this sacred baptism ordinance
In my second dress of white.