Ottobre 03/2008-19, Rainbow polka dot unicorn style

Myra personal style has experienced some evolution lately. She still loves pink, princesses, and all thing frou-frou, but she's expressing that love in a more understated way. Princess printed tops with skinny jeans or a high-low tunic with ruffle detail and bermuda shorts are much more likely to get worn than a fluffy dress.

But it's Spring, and I always make Myra a fancy dress for Easter, and she's been crushing on unicorns lately, so I decided to try for this pretty but not too fluffy style, made up in unicorn themed coordinating prints by Riley Blake Designs. Which fortunately, she loves, Whew! The pattern is from the 03/2008 issue of Ottobre, style #19. It's a sweet dress that I've wanted to make her for some time.

The skirt is a gathered half circle and the band at the bottom is nicely shaped for fullness. She might be growing up, but she still loves a dress with some twirl! She's been favoring longer skirts lately, so this length is about perfect. Functional when she wants to run and climb, but still long and girly.

The dress closes with a back invisible zipper. I love how the back band isn't broken up by the center back seam. It meant the construction was a bit less intuitive, but it still went together well with typical great Ottobre drafting.

Ottobre's instructions called for a lined bodice, but a separate petticoat in lieu of a skirt lining. I elected to line the entire dress with white satin. The bodice is lined with a lighter charmeuse weight satin and the skirt is lined with heavy bridal satin to give it more body. I finished the lining with a serger rolled hem in pink to tie it together.

I was really worried that this dress was going to be a flop, since she really hasn't been wearing dresses much, but she truly loves it and I've had to fight to get it off her since I finished it. What a relief!

Emma's Winter SWAP: Outfit #2

The second part of Emma's SWAP also coordinates with the charcoal wool pants from yesterday. She needed more tops than bottoms, so that's what I've been focusing on.

But seriously, when I put this outfit together, I wanted it for myself! The purple wrap sweater is so cute! The pattern is from the 04/2006 issue of Ottobre, style # 19. I made it from a soft rayon/cotton rib knit that has a lovely sheen.

The pattern has some really cute details. The hem edge is finished with a lettuce edge flounce, which is topstitched down. All of the other edges are simple coverstitch hems. My coverstitch machine kept trying to eat this fabric, but I'm glad I fought the good fight. The end result is adorable. The pattern calls for twin needle stitching on the ties, but I decided to use a decorative stretch stitch on my regular sewing machine instead, since both sides will show. I really like the result.

Underneath the wrap sweater is a simple black turtleneck. I made it out of a buttery soft bamboo jersey from FabricMart. It's so silky and lovely.

The pattern (Ottobre 06/2008-19) has a pretty gathered detail at the neckline. This is the smallest size available, and I think the gathered effect is a little skimpy. It's probably more obvious in the larger sizes. It's still pretty though, and a basic black turtleneck is a wardrobe staple every woman needs.

I have one more outfit to add (which will also coordinate with the purple wrap sweater) but it is a super secret project at the moment. But you're gonna love it! I promise.

Emma's Winter SWAP: Outfit #1

Since I only have one little girl child, and her wardrobe is immense and mostly handmade, I've been in the habit of passing down Myra's clothes to her sweet little cousin. It makes me happy to think that the item that I crafted are of use to her. This winter, Myra has apparently been unusually hard on her clothes, so there wasn't much to send. I decided to take this week to make a few things just for Emma and to try my hand at my first kid SWAP (sewing with a plan).

And here is Emma's first outfit! I think it turned out really cute. Each piece was intended to be a useful individual wardrobe basic as well, so hopefully she can mix and match them a bit.

The first thing I made was the red tee. It is a simple long sleeve, cuffed tee. The pattern (and all of the patterns for this outfit) comes from the 01/2010 issue of Ottobre. This is style #22. It's a great wardrobe basic. Emma is an icy blonde, so I thought this saturated pinky-red would compliment her coloring.

Of course, I couldn't stop at "basic" and added a line of hot-fix crystals to the neckline. Every girl likes a little bling!

Since Emma lives in a colder climate, I also wanted to make her some layering pieces. I was thrilled that I had enough of this awesome cheetah corduroy to make this jacket! The pattern is # 19 from the aforementioned Ottobre. I lengthened the sleeves for warmth.

I also added some curved patch pockets. Kids need pockets.

The edges are finished with a topstitched facing. I like the clean lines this gives. I used covered snaps for the closure. I really agonized over the closures and went back and forth over several options. So, I did what any Sewcialist would do - I polled Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The vote was unanimous in favor of the snaps! And I love them. Thanks, y'all!!

The final piece in the SWAP which works with both outfits, is a basic pair of pants. This is design #13, a simple elastic pant which I've made twice for Myra. I love the shape of it. I made this out of a wool poly suiting with a thick, sweatery feel. It's really the loveliest fabric and should keep Emma nice and cozy. You'll be seeing more of it, since both Myra and Logan requested pants from it when they saw Emma's!

Satshbusting bonus - except for the snaps on the cheetah jacket, every single thing for this ENTIRE SWAP came from my stash!!! Woo hoo!!

Ottobre 03/2009-19

When I ordered the pink matte jersey I used for my Vogue 1020 cardi, I thought I'd use it to make a dress, so I got 3 yards. When it came, I realized that it was too thin to make an unlined dress, so I put it aside until inspiration struck. Since I had so much yardage, I thought Myra might like a cardigan, too. I had already traced out this pattern for a friend, so I had it on hand and just cut out our cardigans together.

The pattern is from the 03/2009 issue of Ottobre. It's a bit of a sleeper though, as there is only one photo of it and it is on a page with several other designs; easily missed! 

That's too bad, because it really is quite a nice pattern! I love the ruched yoke and the bound neckline, and so does Myra! It is otherwise a very simple waist length cardigan.

Here is a closer view of the neckline (and the cute elephant buttons). The yoke section is gathered into the body and then into the binding strip. Since I wanted to use the binding attachment on my coverstitch machine, I gathered the upper yoke onto a strip of fusible interfacing, which I fused onto the gathers to stabilize them, then ran it through the binder. It worked, but I think the interfacing made the neckline a little too stiff, particularly since the gathering already adds a lot of bulk there. Speaking of fusing, I did use fusible thread on the hems (both this and the Vogue cardi), and I LOVE the result! The fusible thread tames the tendency that thin knits have to shift, so the hem doesn't end up twisted, which used to make me crazy. It also makes the hem allowance easy to keep even, since you stitch along the hem edge. This is great for coverstitching/twin needling especially, since you need a nice even hem allowance.

The front edges are finished with cotton bias strips. I used Wright's quilt binding, cut to the appropriate width. How great is that color match? Anyway, I like the way this stabilizes the buttonholes and the front edge, but still is quite flexible. I'm not usually a fan of a bias finish for knits, but it really works here. I can also see the potential for some fun color and print combinations. I think the ruched yoke section would work well in a lightweight cotton (like a voile or lawn) and then the bias bands could coordinate. How cute would that be?

A note on the sizing - Myra is a 92 at the moment, but I heard from some other sewists that this pattern ran a bit small. I sewed her the 98, and I'm really glad I did! the sleeves are just a smidge long, but I really like the fit in the body. So if you're planning to make this cardigan (and you should!) I'd go up a size from what you typically sew and just check the sleeve length.

Simplicity 2290 and Ottobre 03/2004-19 (and Otto 06/2009-3)

My sewing group at church just started working on PJ pants.  We're using Simplicity 2290, which is a part of their Learn To Sew line.  Thanks to Beth for recommending this pattern to me.  It is really great for learning the basics!  The instructions are very complete and clear, and the diagrams are bigger and easier to understand.  For this one pattern piece pants pattern there are 6 pages of instructions!  The pattern comes with all sizes from child size 4-5 up to adult XL in one envelope, which is nice.  I had this cute duckie flannel that was calling to be PJ pants for Logan.

Naturally, I couldn't stop at just pants.  Those duckies are too cute!  So I traced off Ottobre 03/2004-19, which is a basic sweatshirt pattern with bands at neckline and wrists and a stitched hem.

Ottobre appliqued their version with a fish motif, but I went with an octogon.  Logan has a bit of an obsession with polygons right now.  I used self fabric for the neck and wrist bands, partly because matching this particular shade of red was impossible, but also because the fleece is so soft and snuggly.

The fabric is more of the Black Friday fleece from Hancock.  Logan chose this dark red and told me he wanted me to make a shirt.  My turnaround time with this fleece purchase has been really fast!!  I haven't even had a chance to put it in the closet yet and already have made 3 garments from it!

Because of course, the Wee Professor needed a mini version to match his big brother!  For the wee one I reused Ottobre 06/2009-3.  Instead of binding the neckline, I just added an allowance and did a turned and stitched hem.  The fleece is already so bulky, I didn't want to add more layers of ribbing.  I'll be working on the mini PJ pants at sewing group on Tuesday!