Spring Top Burda 7051

I made myself a top! The weather is finally warming up, people! That means I need something other than the long sleeved shirts and cozy sweaters that got me through the winter of the Polar Vortex. This top took about two evenings of watching Farm & Food documentaries on Netflix while sewing like mad. I used Burda 7051 which is a nice, basic shell pattern. I made a muslin from it, and the top is very fitted, which was not what I was going this time around. I sized up, and it was perfect. To make the lace inset at the top, I cut the pattern along the 'lengthen' line, and added seam allowances. I also lengthened the top by an inch and switched the zipper from the back to the side. I would definitely like to try this pattern again with other fabrics. I think it would be really nice in a drapey fabric too.

Simplicity 2907 Boys Shirt

 A few months ago I stumbled upon this awesome twill robot fabric at Joanns. It is such a nice weight and the print is really fun. I bought it thinking that would make my youngest some overall shorts out of it. But apparently, people don't sew for boys and it was nigh on to impossible to find a decent overall pattern. I made this shirt instead and it will get longer use anyhow. I made it pretty much exactly as directed (shock!!) and I am happy to say that this was my best attempt so far at a collar.

A while back I saw a dress with mis-matched buttons and I have been wanting to do that ever since. I figured this was a good project to try it out! The fabric has a lot going on and I wasn't sure if it would be over the top. And it is. But so is the kid wearing it so I am OK with that. :)

I appliqued a wool felt robot peeking out of the pocket. It's hard to tell, but he has free-moving rick rack arms. Yes! I can even work rick rack into a project for boys. Thus is the depth of my skillz sickness. My only beef with this pattern is that the sleeves seem a little bit full to me and I am either going to a) press the heck out of them to get them to lay flat (as opposed to slightly poofy) or b) rip 'em out and trim them down a little. Other than that, it is a nice pattern to work with.

And the recipient is very happy!! 

The Tunic of Mass Frustration

So...the tunic. I see cute renditions of them around the web and I had big dreams for making one of my own. The problem is that they don't have a whole lot of shape. Translation: they can end up looking like a tent. I used a very basic tunic pattern to start, and then went from there. I made several tweaks to it and redrafted the facing pieces into one piece and made it an exterior facing. The sleeves were also a funky length, which I shortened and added the contrasting band. The white is this really pretty eyelet I got on fabric.com and the navy blue is from a bed sheet (!) When I completed the top, it fit well in the shoulders but it hung like a tent. I ended up adding diamond darts in the back and that helped, but the front is still a little poofy. I am debating adding darts in front, but then I would have to add a side zipper, and as it is the fabric wrinkles fast I don't know if its really worth it. I think I might make it again in a fabric that has a nice drape and it would be more successful. Thoughts, questions, concerns? Should I wear it or is it destined for the scrap pile??

Another Knit Shirt

I have given up taking decent pictures of myself in the clothes I've made. So here I am, settling for some really cruddy pictures in the interest of actually getting things posted. I made another shirt using this free pattern.  This time bit the bullet and bound the neck like a big girl. I must say, I was impressed that it turned out. I have never done it before and it looks harder than it actually is. I watched Threads video tutorial and that was a real help. Yes, you really do have to stretch it a lot.

Airplane Shirt

I finished this one few months ago. He has worn it a lot but I never got a good picture of it. Anyway, here is the little man cranking out apricot jam, sans pants. The shirt is very basic. There is a placket in the front with snaps. The fabric is from Obi's, of course. Where else could you find awesome airplane fabric?

Butterick 5495

After realizing that knit was not, in fact, my enemy, I have been playing around making myself a few shirts. My first version is here. This time I raised the neck line...maybe a little too much...to alleviate any wardrobe malfunctions.

P.S. I have now resorted to having my 6 year old take pictures of me, because its that...or never post my projects.

Tie Dye!

A few weeks ago I did tie dye with a group of kids, all under the age of 7. Considering the age of the participants, I was thrilled that everything turned out well. We did a lot of t-shirts, a tote bag, and several onesies. I am amazed that it seems like a pretty hard craft to screw up. My little one sprayed nearly the entire bottle of green dye on his shirt, and I thought for sure it was doomed. It ended up turning out great! Now I want to tie dye everything in sight...:)

Butterick 4800

This top is made from Butterick 4800, view C. This is one where I was very glad that I made a muslin first. The neckline is very....plunging. Like the kind of plunging where you have to wear a coordinating bra because, honey, its gonna show...a lot. And that's not really my style. I traced the pattern piece onto tissue and raised the neckline a full 2 inches. Much better! The fabric is this really gauzy crinkled stuff that I just loved from Joanns. It was actually not to terrible to sew with as long as I pinned it well. To alleviate fraying, I did French seams. And my little secret? I decided that the bottom should be lined (the top is self lined) but had no lining on hand and didn't feel like going to the store. So? I raided my daughter's dress up box, where she has Rachel's bridesmaid dress. I cut the lining out of it for the shirt. Sweet! :) 

Knit!! Butterick 5495

What's up with the arms?! Its the only decent shot that my, uh, photographer got. 

While I have tackled zippers and buttonholes, piping and french seams...even a wedding dress, I have yet to try sewing with knits. What was I waiting for?! I will confess that up until now, knits scared me. I have seen adorable patterns that call for knit and have passed them by. On my last trip to Joanns I saw this fabric and decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a try! Turns out, it's not so scary after all. This top uses just one yard of fabric, and goes together very easily despite its tricky-looking detailing. I used a very narrow zigzag stitch to sew the seams, and it really worked great. I see more knits in my future!

Matching Summer Top

Here is the top I made for my daughter. I left off the sleeves and added some vintage lace and rick rack.

Simplicity 2365

For a while now my daughter has been asking for matching outfits. I put it off for a while, but recently found this fabric at my favorite Lancaster spot, Obi's. It was only $3.69 a yard and I love it! I bought about 5 yards thinking we could have matching dresses. However, we are both in need of summer shirts so I decided to head in that direction. (I still have enough left to make other things anyway) I haven't really delved much into making shirts, but let me tell you, I am a new fan! It is hard to find shirts that are a)well fitting, b)of decent quality, and c)cute. The pattern is actually for a shirt with sleeves, but I left them off. Who needs them anyway! :) I finished the arm holes with bias. I did tweak the pattern a bit, taking in the sides above my hips, and sloping the shoulders a little more. I love the shirt, except next time I think I will extend the tucks down a few more inches to keep it from poofing out in the front. The buttons are some vintage beauties I got at a yard sale for dirt cheap! Matching pictures to come...

Owl Shirt

This shirt was made for my littlest boy as a Christmas gift (thus the reason he is not modeling it now). I found the fabric at fabric.com and couldn't resist it. The pattern was horrendous and I will not be using it again. I'd tell you all the pattern number but I threw it in the trash already. The facings don't line up by a long shot and the collar had to be tweaked to even fit on the shirt. Oh, well. The kid's two years old. He won't be complaining! I will, however, be ironing it before I give it to him, because I do have some self-respect! :)

Spring Shirt

This top was made from a toddler dress pattern. One thing I have noticed with girls clothing is that often an outgrown dress can be used as a top, and so I figured it would work with a dress pattern as well. There was originally a wide ruffle along the bottom, which I omitted. This fabric is one of my favorites and I was excited to use it. When my daughter saw it, she said that the fabric was 'disguuuuusting' and she wasn't wearing it because it has bees on it. (The number of bees in the design is very minimal) This is the first item of clothing she has not liked. I decided to spice it up a little and add a flower broach, as well as a matching flower barrette. The flowers are from the scrapbooking section of the craft store. Not really sure their original purpose, but the are a nice, velvety material and look vintage-y. We'll see whether it gets worn when the weather gets a little warmer!

90% of the pictures I tried to take had this, or similar, expression :)

The barrette

Yeehaw!!

Here it is...the western shirt that has consumed all of my crafty time for the last week or two. Lately, we've been reading a book called The Home Ranch by Ralph Moody. I think at this point in time the series is probably pretty obscure, but it is so fun to read! In the series, Ralph (known as 'Little Britches') tells the tales of his childhood in the early 1900's, growing up ranching in Colorado. Little Britches had a knack for getting himself into a pinch, but also for getting himself back out (usually). Little Britches gained his moniker by doing trick riding at the Littleton Rodeo, at the age of 9 or 10. He could stop his horse on a dime, launching himself out of the saddle to flip through the air and land, on his feet, next to his horse. (He didn't enlighten his mother on this hobby of his until the actual rodeo.) Reading this book got me thinking that I could make my son a fancy Western shirt. After seeing the Once Upon A Thread series at No Big Dill (where you sew something themed on a children's book), I knew I had to make it, and make it NOW! I already had a pattern for it, which I had previously used for a vest. (Simplicity 5366) The fabric was a shirting fabric I found on fabric.com for less than two bucks a yard. It went together very nicely despite the fact that I lost the entire second page of instructions. My previous experience didn't quite cut it when it came to making the stand collar, so Google to the rescue! I embroidered the back yoke prior to cutting the piece out. For the design, I modified a clipart image for the horse and rider, and sketched out his name in lieu of a lasso. The buttons are pearl snaps, of course! I am really thrilled with how this project came out, if you can't tell. :) I have never made a dress shirt of the male persuasion and so I got to learn a few new things! And the best part? My son loves it. He even got right out of his warm, comfy jammies early this morning to get dressed up in his new shirt, jeans, cowboy boots and his favorite hat. That is success!

A Shirt For My Girl

I just finished this shirt for my daughter. She is happy about it, which means I am happy about it too. I think I will be making more of these, with a few variations. The fabric was a nice 'quilters cotton' that I found on the clearance shelf at JoAnns. The buttons are some older ones I had in my stash. Each time I find the perfect buttons for a project in my stash, I feel justified in my button habit. :)

Chop, Chop!

(My apologies for the lousy picture)

I had a dress that I didn't wear very often. I liked it but it just wasn't quite right. Now, I think I paid something like $9.99 for this dress at Ross so I wasn't exactly indebted to it...but still. I hated to get rid of it after only wearing it a few times. Then, inspiration struck! I chopped off the bottom, hemmed it up, and had myself a shirt. I even have enough fabric I might be making a cute skirt for my daughter!

Freezer Paper Shirts

Here are a few shirts I made for my (pesky) brother-in-law. I really like the whole freezer paper stencil technique, and am finding out what works and what doesn't. While using text seems like a nice idea, I found that cutting each letter out is very tedious, and it is difficult to get a nice crisp edge. The shirt that has the city skyline on it (Austin, TX if you must know) was actually supposed to turn out differently. I did one of his favorite lines 'Good and good for you.' But the text didn't turn out as crisp as I wanted it to and it bothered me. I decided to do the Austin skyline over it and salvage the shirt, but the text was visible even after stenciling over it. I added a few more layers, but it is still faint. So now I am bothered by that, but what's done is done. The top shirt is something from the Office (I think?) meant to be Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica. I don't think I'll ever have another opportunity to stencil a beet on a shirt. :)

Grandpa's Shirt

Here is a shirt I made using a shirt of Grandpa's. James now has a little piece of his Great Grandpa to wear. I cut apart the shirt at the seams and positioned the pattern pieces in such a way as to make myself a lot less work. I was able to use the existing plackets and button holes, the bottom and sleeve hems. It really made the shirt simple to make, because all I had to do was the shoulder and side seams, and the collar. I need to work out a nicer way to finish the placket edge since I didn't use the facing, but there's always a next time. Even with it being my first shirt like this, it took less than an hour, and if you have a mens shirt already, its a free project! I suppose you could do this just as easily with a womens shirt and a girl's shirt pattern.

The Ruffle(less) Shirt

Here is my latest project: The JJ Ruffle Shirt, a free pattern from Burda Style. This is another one of those that Rachel found and let me be the pattern tester. The only thing I am disappointed with is the absence of the ruffles. Because European fabric is a different width than we are accustomed to (who knew?) I was short on fabric and had to omit the ruffles. I am still looking for the 'perfect' belt for this shirt (or an idea for making one, I do have a vintage mothe-of-pearl buckle I might use). Also, the hem of the shirt is straight, despite the picture. And the buttons? After having a hard time finding the right buttons, I admit I took them off one of my daughter's outfits...she'll never notice! :)