Pixie Hat Revisited

So my late night sewing foray led to some wasted material. Argh. Since I was using some really nice organic cotton interlock (more on this fabulous fabric next week), I needed to find something to make...

So remember that pretty little cashmere pixie hat I made a while back? The one that fit like crap? Well it's been on my mind to make one that fits. Recently Sew Liberated generously offered up an adorable Snow Pixie Hat pattern (for free!) yay. I made one in a size 0-6 months but it seems very small. Since two of my friends just had babies in January I'm going to send them a hat to try for size. Kind of a gift but not, because, surprise! It may not fit.

And surprise again! Your baby has the head of a balloon. Since my balloon wouldn't stay propped-up I had to place her in a pot. A charming Chinese ginger pot.

So here is the hat off the balloon. I used a cheapo fleece from JoAnn's and a lovely solid weight cream interlock that sews like a dream and I will be gushing more about the fabric next week so stay tuned. 

I think I need to tinker with the fit a little because my balloon baby was tiny. But babies are tiny so maybe it fits. The whole neck closure thingy I tried doesn't really work (and is not a part of the pattern). I love the pom pom but I think it needs another one on the other side. In person it had a quirky charm that is not quite conveyed in the photos.

 

By the way, when was the last time you made a pom pom? For me it was grade school. My BFF (Who just had a baby that will be getting one of these maybe-not-fitting hats in a boy color), and I made pom poms and sold them to classmates for like I dunno 10 cents each? We sold so many we had like $3.00! Really I can't remember much other than the school officials found out and put the kibosh on that entrepreneurial adventure right quick. Where was I? Oh, so the art of pom pom making has evolved as I soon found out via You Tube. The techniques have advanced but I just went to the old fashioned method. Wrap around a piece of cardboard. Pull off. Tie through center. Cut loops. Fluff. Trim to size. Done.

Sewing After Dark: Fail

Dear Sewing Goddess,

           Is it really too much to ask to make a project with no mistakes? Just one or two little things. I'm not asking for perfection all the time. For example when I stitch a pocket closed and I have to break out the seam ripper is it too much to ask that I don't follow up by sewing the other pocket closed? Come on, throw me a bone every once in a while. Granted, I am up way too late to be sewing, but is there the need to continually punish me? Have I offended you in some way? Wait, don't answer that. I realize I tend to scoff at traditional techniques and often ignore basic sewing rules. I also get lazy and cut corners and hide the evidence from all my readers with my fancy photography skilz. 

          So I'm writing this to appeal to your kinder side. I promise to make good by spending even more time, energy, and of course money on future sewing projects. 

Thank you in advance,

Sewing Drone

{I wasn't giving this garment the attention it needed while sewing - and reading instructions -  and stitched all the way down the placket when all I was supposed to do is sew 3/4 of the way down. Instead of catching my mistake while I could still use the seam ripper I went ahead and added insult to injury by cutting the fabric along the stitchline. No Bueno! Now I need to cut a whole nutha front panel and placket piece}

Bit of Whimsy : MerMae Doll

As promised here is evidence of my madness...

 Behold the mighty MerMae doll made from the delightful pattern available at Bit of Whimsy Dolls. I don't know exactly how I discovered this pattern line, but it must have been close to two years ago that I first purchased a pattern from them. I own five of the patterns and this is my first attempt. I am not kidding when I say I procrastinate.

All the patterns come with very well written instructions (plenty of photographs in the steps) and the designs are simply charming. You'll love them all. When I first started this doll a mere three days before Luca's birthday I thought the hardest part would be the face since I don't embroider. I actually thought I'd whip up this beauty in one evening. HA! Double HA!

Dolls (and I guess plushies in general) are not as easy as they look. There is a lot of tedious little fussy work. The stuffing is the part that killed me. Luckily I had ordered Cluster Stuff eons ago which is much more ideal for doll stuffing than the polyfil generally sold at craft stores.  It doesn't make lumps in the doll. If you are going to make a doll and you've never made one before, remember this... stuff till you think the seams are going to rip. Stuff till you feel like you've been doing bicep curls at the gym.

The face actually wasn't too bad. I did my very first French Knot (for the eyebrow dots). Super cool and super easy, thank you You Tube. And as you can tell I dipped into my Heather Ross fabric stash.

Oh and of course you are all wondering how she was received in the face of other more exciting gifts. I was pleasantly surprised that Luca likes her so much. Of course the iPod Touch trumps everything in the entire world but the ipod doesn't offer nice cuddles in bed at night. So here's a big raspberry in your general direction Apple.

p.s. Luca has been going on and on forever about getting an iPod Touch. We have been encouraging her to save for one knowing that would take years. It's amazing how many kids at her school have these gadgets and many more. Also, don't get me started about the American Girl doll collection some of her classmates have (those beasts are $100!). Anyway, Chef found out you can by a refurbished older model iPod from Apple for waaaaaaay less than a new one. The gift was given from parents (us), grandma and my sister. A group purchase. So I don't really know why I just defended a present we got our daughter to the world, but I must be feeling a little judged. So I had to kind of clear the air. Thank you for listening.

The Insanity Continues

We have this tradition of decorating the dining room table the night before a birthday so when the kids wake up in the morning it's like a little party before school. I'm not sure how the tradition got started but my mom did it for my sister and I ever since I can remember. Of course to make things more difficult on myself I decided I wanted to make a fabric bunting to hang over the table. By decided I mean at 8 p.m. I started cutting out triangles. Clearly I'm not running on all cylinders. Chef mentioned to me they make a prescription for that.

 I cannot believe I finished the doll at 11:30 last night. The eyes are a bit wonky, but I love her dearly. Pictures soon to follow. Luca won't be home until tonight to unwrap her presents so we'll have to wait and see what the reaction is going to be. Today she took the school bus straight to a neighbors house for a birthday party. It's for one of her closest friends (and Girl Scout buddy). It was strange not having her come off the bus with Rocco. It's really not like me to even have her go to a strangers house without me there. Gosh, I say "stranger" like I don't even know the family. She's just never had a playdate over there. It's actually our Girl Scout troop leader and she is the mom of three girls. I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would have an all girl birthday party at their house with 15 screeching 7 year old children. A drop off party with little or no help from other moms. In her defense she did email us that we could come a little early to pick up and there would be wine for the big girls. The party ends at 6:30. Do you think it would be rude to show up at 4:00 with an empty wine glass in hand?

Oh and I know you are itching to know what the bizarre photo is on the top of the collage.

 Chalk that up to asinine idea number 32 this week. At the kids school they are allowed to bring a treat on their birthday to share with the class. You know, cupcakes and such. Luca just adored these funny cupcakes from the book Hello Cupcake! Since I don't do the whole baking thing (I forgot about last year's mishap), I got store bought cupcakes from the market with blue frosting so all I had to do was decorate with circus peanuts, skittles and other junk. I love how they are just a bit creepy. It took forEVAH!!! Like I said... they have prescriptions for people like me.

Happy F$&%ing Birthday

So it's my precious baby girls 7th birthday in like a nanosecond and what do I decide to do last minute? Yes. Make her a homemade gift. "Wait", you say, "back the truck up Jack". Okay maybe that's not exactly what came out of your mouth but a few of you were thinking it. And some of you didn't say "truck" (hint hint, it rhymes). 

I do not do homemade gifts. Strange? Yes. I do homemade other things just not gifts for my kids. Enter brilliant idea three days before her birthday... a doll! Made by Mommy! Yay! This will take me one evening. Two tops.

     DAY ONE:

 I stopped photographing the evidence of my downfall at this point. The arms! Oh the arms were killing me. They didn't seem so tiny. Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! 

Here is the scene I pictured when this asinine brilliant idea came to me just three days before Only Daughters birthday.

Me: "Honey, here is a special gift just from Mommy". Holds back tears as Chef quietly takes photos for posterity.

Luca: "Oh Mommy!" Throws arms around my neck at the same time as she flings all other gifts into a corner (including, and especially, the goddamn iPod Touch that we caved and finally got for her).

Everyone in Attendance (her two stinky brothers): Cheering "Long live Mommy!"

Pattern Update

A few weeks ago I made the Urban Unisex Hoodie by Heidi and Finn but when I posted about the pattern I had not yet tried it on for fit. I just wanted to give you an update in case you want to make this top but not sure of the fit/sizing. I know some of you are more hesitant about the pattern fit for smaller pattern companies. I made this in a size 2 for Cenzo (17 months old). There is room to grow so I think the sizing is accurate.

 The hood fit nicely even though he can't stand wearing anything on his head so it's a miracle I even got these two photos. I think I may not even make it with the band on the bottom next time. It can also be made into a cardigan style sweater that opens in the front with some minor sewing changes. Overall I'm totally happy with this pattern. The size range is 6m-5T and no tracing because it's a PDF. Yay! I wish it went a little larger so I could make one for Luca but I'm thinking it may not be too difficult to make it into a size 7? Maybe that's pushing it. I am no pattern drafter. To see some other cute versions of this hoodie visit Laura's Blog. Laura also had great results with this pattern and this was her first go around with an independent pattern company.

Indulgent

My sister came for another visit this past weekend. The kids were so looking forward to her visit. They just adore her. Of course since she always brings gifts that sweetens the deal. She came prepared for another photoshoot. I have to say I love taking her picture. It is one arena where we do absolutely no bickering. We get into a zone. So now I will indulge in some seriously fierce sister love.

The last time we did a photoshoot we found a great abandoned building that we had intended to re-visit.

 Unfortunately the buildings are now all padlocked and each structure has a chain link fence surrounding them. Some even have barbed wire.

So we had to drive around the closed down Army base looking for buildings we could enter without totally breaking and entering.

We hit the jackpot by technically not coming across any "no trespassing" signs and by walking through a busted out door to enter the building complex. I cannot believe the amazing areas we found to take photos.

The Army base closed down at least 20 years ago so there have been quite a few years for the surrounding scenery to "age". There is no place left untouched by vandals.

Most of the graffiti is pretty vulgar which of course my sister loves so we took plenty of photos featuring the art. I will refrain from showing them here.

What I couldn't believe is how great the lighting was in most of these buildings. I seriously took these photos with my Canon Rebel xsi. No lighting other than nature.

Although I did a lot of photo editing on many of the frames, the above photo is an example of straight from the camera. There were dozens of fabulous photos that really didn't need any work. I took 611 frames and we kept 209 of them.

 

Here is another straight from the camera. When I say some amazing stuff took place I cannot even  speak in words, so I'm showing you my weekend in photos. Thanks for indulging me by reading this post till the end.

Oliver + S Knit Pants

I've had the Oliver + S Nature Walk Pullover and Knit Pants pattern since it was released and finally I got around to tracing the pattern. I sure wish I had done it sooner. It is literally the fastest garment I have ever sewn. Like lightening fast. Two inseams on the serger, two yoke seams on the serger, stitch elastic closed in a loop, insert elastic and attach yoke. Oh and hem, but the pants in the photo aren't even hemmed yet. Luca was so excited to try them on that I didn't get the chance to hem them yet. 

I altered the pattern slightly by making the leg wider. I just eyeballed it and I must have added at least 2-3 inches of width near the bottom and tapered up to the original pattern at the waist. I did this because the fabric is such a slinky jersey and I didn't want it to cling. I think I'll go even wider next time. I'd like to make more of a gaucho pant style out of these. Did I mention how fast these were to make?

p.s. I love Oliver + S patterns. So well designed and fabulous instructions.

OTTOBRE - Sparrow (4/2009)

After seeing this amazing set of jackets followed by this amazing set of jackets, I thought to myself "I can give that a try". After reading the basic instructions provided by Ottobre (issue 4/2009, Style Sparrow) I quickly revised that to "Oh crap". I really, really want to be able to make this jacket even if it looks only half as great as the beautiful creations from Millie. 

Sorry for the extremely vague photos. I could not get this great navy wool to photograph well. I thought I could get a photo of Cenzo wearing the coat, but a) it's too big on him and b) he was being an ass.

So as I started sewing I was pretty intimidated but I already knew that I was not going to line the jacket or use binding so basically it is a raglan sleeve coat with a hood. Not much to it. Since I was using felted wool I didn't even finish my seams or hemlines. With those modifications it's definitely a coat that a beginner sewist could achieve. I'm starting to think I'm on to something here. There are lot's of patterns that people are intimidated by, but sometimes if you take it down to it's simple form it actually becomes quite and easy project.  

Having said that I still would like to make a lined version as the pattern was intended. My "to do" list keeps growing. I've still got piles of projects from 2010. I think I need to compile a list and start checking things off. Maybe that will motivate me to start weeding through the ever growing list.

After writing that I couldn't get a photo of him wearing the coat, Chef said let me give it a try. He actually got Cenzo to keep a hood on his head for longer than 5 seconds.

I can't remember what size I cut out but it may be a 92?!? I'm so bad with centimeter sizing. Us Americans get so used to the crazy notion that a size should match the age. It's clearly too big. If I revisit this coat in the next couple of months I will size it down.

Houston we have a problem

Our indoor cat (click on link to read about her previous antics) is now an outdoor cat. We adopted her November of 2009 and since we live in the country we were too scared to ever let her outside. The neighborhood is filled with coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions. 

Photo Caption "These stinkin' things don't seem to get the game. I caught you, now you're supposed to try to get away. ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?"

Turns out just as we were too scared to let her out, the bird population was all too glad to see her kept in. She brings 4-5 birds to the door every week. I'm no bird expert but I've noticed a trend. About 75% of the birds she catches are the same species. I'm not exactly sure of the exact scientific name, but Genus: Stupid As Shit, Species: Can't Seem to Fly Away From Fat Lazy Cat works fine for me.

Growing

I can't believe how fast kids grow. As much as I love to sew clothes for them, it's kind of a bummer when they grow out of garments that I created and I absolutely love. 

 I made these pants in November and when I made them I had to cuff the bottoms. This morning I put them on Cenzo and cuffed them as usual and when I took him down from his changing table I couldn't believe my eyes. It's only been two months.

I know this should encourage me to sew more and more often, but honestly it kind of delflates me. 

Oh, and because I like to keep it real.. have I shown you guys the nice white scar that Cenzo is sporting on his forehead? Imagine what that looked like with a big ugly scab just in time for Christmas photos.

Urban Unisex Hoodie

I actually had a little bit of sewing time yesterday. I was able to finish projects that have been sitting around gathering dust. 

I  made this Urban Unisex Hoodie by Heidi and Finn. I haven't tried it on Cenzo yet so I'm not sure of the fit. I can't even remember what size I cut out (it's been that long). It was pretty straight forward and I only changed two things. In the instructions it calls to finish the bottom before attaching the bottom band which is not necessary, especially when using a serger. When attaching the bottom band to the bottom of the shirt the seam gets finished. The other thing I did was use a cuff pattern from Ottobre. It's from the Muksis tee (Katie made a great version here). I just like the cuff so much I pretty much use it on all kid knit tops that call for a cuff.

I also made another pair of Sandbox Pants. I had planned on making these with the intended drawstring waistband but it invloved buttonholes and I wasn't in the mood so I quickly cut up an old red t-shirt in the recycle bin. I did it so quickly I accidentally left the serger seam on the outside in the center back but it really doesn't matter because it's for a 17 month old and I'm thinking he really couldn't care less. I also didn't quite figure the back pocket pattern correctly because I meant for the car to be centered.