Understatement of the Year!

 To say I am the most proud momma right now is truly the understatement of the year.

Rocco placed first in his age group at the Braille Challenge in San Francisco this weekend. I am so freakin' proud of him right now.

I know I don't write much about being the mom of a blind child and I really keep meaning to sit down and write some meaningful blog post so you all have a better understanding. I mean, I'm sure if you are anything like me, you are just itching to know some of the details but are too scared to ask me about it. Especially since this blog has somehow become more of a sewing blog than a lifestyle blog. 

How awkward is that? "Um, I really like how you finished the seam of those pants. And by the way... how the heck do you parent a blind kid?"

I will sit down soon and write some stuff. I promise. It's actually quite a story. Until then I leave you with a photo of this little homeless child I picked up in downtown San Francisco. Although quite filthy, he is totally adorable.

I really recommend a visit to "The City" (as it is called to people who live within 100 miles of SF). It's cultural, beautiful, exciting and there are cute things like the above pictured hanging around the streets.

Raglan Tee

I'm really trying to get some serious sewing done in the next month or so. Cenzo had a growth spurt and nothing fits him anymore and I am so close to just caving in and heading over to Gap to get him some new duds. 

Don't get me wrong. He does not wear exclusive home made. I actually buy more than half of what he wears. Oh, and I did get a huge amount of hand-me-downs when he was first born. It's just when I go to buy him things I am drawn to the simple garments and I inevitably put it back on the rack mumuring to myself like a crazy lady about how can they charge that much for something I can sew in like 30 minutes.You know the deal. I leave the store with more ideas for outfits than I have time.

{I'm pretty sure that is why I have no problem spending obscene amounts of money on shoes that he will outgrow in three weeks. I can't make shoes. At least not the rubber soled leather variety}

Of course it's also Celebrate The Boy month which really gets me motivated to make new. Just wish I had more time. We are headed to San Francisco this weekend and I wanted to make some cute clothes for the littlest. I did make this top.

The matching pants are waiting to be cut. We leave in less than four hours and I'm not packed. Wonder if I have time to swing by Gap on my way out of town. 

Fabrics:

Parading Giraffe from Fabric Fairy

Green jersey knit from Fashion Fabrics Club

Orange 2 X 2 cotton rib knit JoAnn's

Sew Annoying

Ha. How do you like that play on words? Sew original I'm sure. Okay, I better stop with the comedy and get on with the joke...

That pocket killed me. This project is what makes sewing with knits frustrating. If it wasn't a pocket I would have used some kind of fusible something to keep the pocket from wiggling around while stitching. Hey, babies don't use pockets. Maybe that's what I should do next time.

I wanted to have contrast stitching which further accentuates the sewing flaws. I'm not getting too down on myself because it is my first attempt at this pocket. I'm hoping to improve on my next version. Greatly improve.

Pattern: "Muksis" Ottobre 1/2009

Edited to add Cenzo wearing the shirt. Oh and wearing a plastic bag scarf. So safe. I swear I went to the bathroom and this is how he looked when I returned. Since he wasn't being strangled by the "scarf" I ran and got my camera.

Another Edit: A few weeks ago I saw this outfit and forgot to bookmark the page. This morning I was furiously searching the internet for my inspiration photo (I wanted to give credit for the color combo. Totally not my idea). I could have sworn I saw it on Flickr. Anyhoo, lucky me because when Greatjen left a comment I immediately had the lightbulb go off in my head. That's where I saw the shirt. So go visit her site 'cause her version doesn't have a bleeped up front pocket!

Boy oh Boy

My favorite time of year is here!

So word has it that little 'ol me will be showing up to join in on the madness sometime in March. So make sure to visit with 

Rae.....

                                                       and

                                              

                                                                              Dana

All month long!

Oh and don't forget to come by and visit with me too

Just Some More Sewing

A while back I bought some knit skulls fabric from Japan. I mean I didn't go to Japan, rather I purchased it from a seller in Japan. Unlike most knits it is a very narrow fabric which I failed to notice during purchase. It sat for a while and then one day I happened to buy this Circo t-shirt from Target and well, the two look smashing together.

I made a basic pull on pant and went the super lazy route. I didn't even pull out a pattern. I just traced a pair that fits Cenzo currently. I also just cut out a front pocket. I tried my new favorite technique. Faux piping (thanks to Patterns by Figgy for the idea).

I added my little "pp" tag and sandwiched a piece of blue twill tape for extra detail.

Urban Unisex Hoodie {Organic}

I really like the fit of the Urban Unisex Hoodie. The last one I made used a mix of two completely different knits. I used a rayon/lycra jersey with a lot of slinky movement with a cotton interlock lining to stabilize it. I wasn't sure how it would work and I have to say it's a garment I have Vinny wearing quite often. I even had a woman from Germany come up and ask where I bought it. That's always fun because who doesn't love to be able to answer "I made it!"

This time I made one using a brown organic cotton French terry (fabric.com) and a lime green organic interlock (Stitch Simple). I also liked the idea of making a faux piping so I could show a little more of the green lining. Since knit is so very forgiving (and FYI easy to sew with), this little trick was pretty easy. All I did was cut and sew garment as directed. Before doing any topstitching I pressed the garment so that a small bead of lining was evenly showing. 

Then I topstitched which gives it the look of piping. I also used lime green thread for the contrast stitching.

One of the reasons knit fabric can be intimidating to sew with is that it often gets dragged down into your feed dogs and ends up in a bunched up mess. This especially can happen when stitching buttonholes.

What I do, because I'm too lazy to reinforce from the inside (which takes some foresight, which I do not have much of), is to cut a small square of tear away stabilizer to add to the back of the garment where the buttonhole will be stitched. Once the buttonhole is stitched just tear away. Done.

Edited: Thanks reader Emily (see comments below, love your blog BTW) for asking me about the brown sweatshirt fleece I had originally posted. I went back to my fabric.com order history (love that feature) and realized I was using a different fabric! If you are just reading this post for the first time and didn't read it earlier than you have no idea anything was changed. Boy that was a lot of talking to say "I goofed, here's the change".

Elusive Sleep

I am in a surprisingly good mood despite having such little sleep last night. Scratch that. Despite having such little sleep for the past 18 months.

The subject number one around here is weaning. I'm not in a big hurry, but if you ask everyone I come in contact with about the subject, you'll get an earful. Apparently once I wean this little bugger he will sleep through the night within like three days. I'm tired. Very tired. I may go postal if this backfires.

{The high chair is now a staging area}

Did you know that for every project I post on this here blog, there are really-no-kidding, 12 more lined up. Exponentially over the past 18 months it has grown to a monstrous amount. A majority of the ideas will no longer even work because they are for 12 months and under. And poor Luca could have had some really cute clothes by now. You should see the Heather Ross FFA II Oliver + S coat that I have halfway cut out for the past 8 months. Luckily on that one I thought ahead and started cutting a size 7. Let's just hope that I can make it and have her wear it before she turns 8.  That fabric isn't cheap.

The Great Knit Fabric Experiment {Sewing With Knits}

Last week I alluded to some great knit fabric that I was working with. Well here is the post I've been working on for the past month! 

I was contacted by Stitch Simple a few months ago about working with some fabulous organic cotton knit fabrics. I didn't have to think twice about saying yes. It's no secret I like to sew with knits and I'm always looking for great suppliers of quality knit fabrics.

I chose fabrics from the color palette above (Solstice, Apricot, Lime Green interlock) plus a lovely cream interlock. The best part about the fabric is that when you order through Stitch Simple (they also carry quilting cottons), it arrives pre-washed! It also means no shrinkage (and did you know some knits can shrink up to 12%). Yes, that also means no more fabric added to the "please wash and press me" pile. 

 ~They are starting to mumble and grumble in there, I'm worried a mutiny is on the horizon~

The Challenge ~

I've chosen three patterns that are designed to be sewn with woven fabric so I can show you how well they actually work with knit fabric with little or no alterations. All the patterns are from independent pattern companies (I love you guys) and can be purchased and downloaded as a PDF which is nice because there is no tracing, just print and cut your size. I'll also show you how to add a simple knit cuff to almost any knit fabric garment.

{I'm not going to go into too many techniques and tips here because seriously there are a zillion blog posts with pretty much everything you need to know to get started. You Tube is also a great resource for you visual folks. What I really want to show you here is that not only are knits not scary to sew with, but that you also don't need a special sewing machine or "knit specific" patterns. Although I use a serger for my seam work, the beauty of sewing with knits is that they don't ravel so a straight stitch machine really is all you need}

Here are the three patterns I chose to work with. The Relaxed Beach Shirt by DMKeasywear. Heidi and Finn Sweet Wrap Dress. And of course I couldn't leave out the pant pattern that I use most often. Carla from the Scientific Seamstress designed the Easy Fit Pant which although designed for wovens looks pretty darned cute made with knits and adding a narrow cuff.

Here are my versions all made from organic cotton interlock...

Don't you just love the leaf fabric (Solstice). It is really a gorgeous print. I was excited to find a green button in a leaf shape to add to my pleat detail.

I finally tried using a twin needle (I know, where have I been). I'm not sure why I haven't before, but I found this video helpful for threading my machine when using twin needles. I've done tons of knit sewing without one so don't worry if your not ready to try it out just yet. When sewing with knits you want to use a knit specific needle or a ballpoint needle. You'll also want to set your stitch length longer. On my machine I generally adjust to either 2.8 - 3.0. I test on a scrap piece of the knit I am sewing with.

The Harmony Art knits are really easy to work with and I didn't have to change too much in the patterns when working with these knits. For a true beginner sewing with knits, using interlock is definitely the way to start. If you are new to sewing with knits, Oliver + S has some great information about the different kind of knits.

Don't get discouraged when sewing with knits. Sometimes as you are sewing, things can seem to go awry (look at that hemline above). When pressing your knit garment make sure that you don't drag your iron across the fabric. With a steam setting you want to do more of a dab and press motion.

Interlock knits have less stretch than other knits and therefore translate very well when using patterns designed for woven fabric. In many cases when using a pattern intended for wovens you may want to adjust the sizing down because of the stretch. When I made these garments I did not adjust the size, but I did adjust the seam allowances to make them smaller. I believe all three garments are pretty true to size when made with the knits I used.

If a pattern calls for bias tape made from woven fabric (like the neckline of the Relaxed Beach Shirt) you will not cut knit fabric on the bias as you would for bias tape made from a woven fabric. Using either the same knit fabric as the garment or a rib knit, you will cut your binding across the grain or across the stretch. Kitschy Coo does a fabulous job of showing you the many different ways you can achieve this look with knit binding.

Below are two different tutorials  I created for this knit challenge. The Box Pleat Cuff as shown in the Easy Fit Pants uses my cuff pattern that can be downloaded by clicking the second photo.

Box Pleat Cuff: Tutorial ~click on  photo~

Knit Cuff:Tutorial with pattern size 12 mo-6yr~ 
click on  photo for pattern link~

I'll be making a few more things this week with different knit fabrics from Stitch Simple.


Here's a list of patterns and tutorials for patterns using knit fabrics. Obviously there are many more out there, these are just some of the patterns I've used and would like to use in the near future. If you have other favorites leave them in the comments section so other readers can find them too!

OTTOBRE design magazine
Sewing Clothes Kids Love I love the IMKE top (hope to make this in the next week)
 90 Minute Shirt by MADE (tutorial to make a pattern)
Snow Pixie Hat (free pattern)
Modkid Sewing Patterns
Oliver + S Sewing Patterns
Lil Blue Boo Patterns
Hipster Hoodie Pattern by Running With Scissors



~

Oliver + S Nature Walk Pants

So I made another pair of the Oliver + S Nature walk knit pants. This time I went a little wider and added a flare at the bottom. Oh, and I also lowered the rise about 1" in the front and 1/2" in the back because Luca is freaky about having waistbands that come anywhere near her belly button. Did I mention that last time? Oh, and I added a side seam in order to make the wider leg. I was going for gaucho pant. Not there yet but I hear three times a charm.

This pant is ridiculously fast to make. I mean if you don't accidentally sew the wrong legs together like I did. Twice.

On the hemline I made them a little short (she likes them this way) and I used contrast stitching. Orange! Do you want to know something? I'm in the middle of sewing something with orange and I was too lazy to change the thread on my serger. So there.

I inserted some Farbenmix ribbon into the side seam. I was feeling the German vibe today so I thought I'd add a little spice. I have some Farbenmix patterns I'd like to try soon. If I ever get around to tracing them.

The Blame Game

I blame you fellow bloggers for this mess.

 You see... if I had not been sitting here at the dining table with my laptop, immersed in the backlog of blog posts filling up my Reader, I may have been paying more attention to the rascal who found the container of raisins. I have 542 unread blog posts! We are fast approaching a state of emergency!! One of those posts could be yours!!! 

Oh the horror. To top it off, he now thinks the broom is his new toy. Note to self: purchase kid sized broom a.s.a.p. This could work out to my benefit after all.

p.s. Cute pants huh? I still have like three piles of coordinating fabric ready to be cut and sewn into these pants, but time, where does the time go? Oh yeah, time spent reading all your blogs.

She's Back

Remember her? from last June? Nod and say yes. I like to think you guys have been reading my blog at least that long.

This photo is from last year. She's been avoiding the paparazzi this year.

She's back. At least I think it's her. Or maybe her offspring? I'll have to do some investigating to see if she's building a nest in the same spot. I'm pretty sure I collected her empty nest (I collect the empties around my property) after she was gone this Winter. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. Now I'm all worried.