Rescuing an orphan

My Rambo skirt is one of my favorite makes. It's fun. It fits well. It's easy to wear. It should be a favorite in my closet, but unfortunately it isn't. The body suit I made to wear with it is lovely and comfortable, but suffers from requiring specialty underwear, due to the low back. The color scheme of the skirt is unusual in my wardrobe, and I just didn't have another top that looks good with the skirt.

Fortunately, I did have a remnant of the ITY I used to make the original bodysuit. It was a smallish piece - long but skinny. And I didn't have enough for mess ups.

I decided to use Ottobre 02/2009-5, which I have made before here. I knew this pattern was a winner, and even if it wasn't perfect with the skirt, I would still wear it a lot.

Fortunately, it turned out to work well with the skirt, so it's a win all around!

I'm particularly pleased with the sleeve this time! The rayon jersey I used to make this top last time was quite limp, so while the sleeves are attractive, they don't really flutter. In this ITY, the sleeves are much more full and graceful. It's a winner!

Ottobre 02/2009-5: Vibrant Color stashbusting theme

The April theme for the Stashbusting Sewalong is Vibrant Color, and I got in right under the wire with this top!

I actually hadn't really planned to do the color theme this month, although I do love bright colors and I have plenty in my stash. I was just kinda sewing along, and I made a dress out of this fabric for Barbie. It was still sitting out on my cutting table and I decided to go for it, but for me! Barbie can't have all my fabric.

Choosing a pattern was more of a challenge than usual though. I could not decide what I wanted! I even had a Burda partly traced then changed my mind. In the end, I went with Ottobre 02/2009-5, the Waterfall blouse. I've been looking for a cowl neck top that wasn't super low cut, and I think I've found it!

This cowl drapes gracefully, but is high up enough that people in front of me don't get a view of my bellybutton when I bend over.

The feature that keeps the cowl in place is the shoulder seams, which are rotated slightly toward the back. That way the cowl is draping from behind the shoulder, rather than down from the neck. It really works well. The back neckline is finished with a facing, I topstitched it down. Rayon jersey tends to roll out.

I'm so glad I jumped on the Vibrant Color bandwagon! I really love this top. The fabric and pattern are both great, and I know I will wear it a ton, and definitely use this pattern again.

Ottobre 05/2009-5 drape neck top

I'm taking a quick break from the jungle to try out a pattern that has been on my radar a while.

Of course, you can't see any of the details that make this pattern cool. But I did need a basic black tee...

Here is a slightly overexposed dress form shot. The pattern is from the 05/2009 issue of Ottobre Woman. When I first got this issue, I was drawn to that draped neckline in the line drawing, but the fashion photo is impossible to see. I looked up the reviews on PR, which all said that the drape was skimpy.

Given those reviews, I added an inch to the width of the gathered area within the drape. It looks lovely on the dress form, but with wear, the draped section tends to collapse. It's still pretty and very wearable, but I think I'll leave well enough alone on my next version and make it up as drafted.

The fabric I used is a shimmery jersey that I got in a free bundle from FabricMart. It's hard to get a good picture of the shimmer, as it is subtle, but this pic and the dress form shots give a good representation.

Other than the width of the neckline drape, the only other alterations I made were to omit the sleeve flounces and to do my usual cheater FBA. I also lengthened the top about 2 inches. Ottobre tops always seem to be drafted a bit shorter than I prefer. In this softly draping fabric, I could probably also use a swayback adjustment, as you can see I have a little pooling in that area.

Overall, I am pleased with this pattern! I think I'll make it up next in a silver leopard sweater knit I have. And while the serger is threaded with black, there is another all black project that I've had on the backburner. It's gonna be fun...

ETA: A couple of y'all have asked about the jeans I'm wearing. They are Vogue 1059, and you can check them out here!

Ottobre 06/2012-4 & 5 Baby Boy dress clothes

I mentioned in the post about my jeans that I had a lot of family stuff to sew. I promise I won't bore you with most of it, but this outfit...

You'll have to pardon the maternal gushing, but that kid is CUTE! And he has been madly wearing out and outgrowing all of his church appropriate clothing.

I was pretty thrilled with the 06/2012 issue of Ottobre, but I was particularly excited about this shirt. It's style #4. It's nice and dressy, with a collar and button front, but it is made of knit fabric, so it is super comfortable.

The fabric I used was a knit remnant from the stash (yay for stashbusting and using teeny bits of fabric!!). The collar, collar binding and pocket are cut from the cotton twill I used for the matching pants.

I just love how Ottobre patterns are relatively simple designs and easy to make, but with great details that make them special. In this shirt, the contrast pocket and collar are super fun, and make it easy to personalize. Seriously, how cute is that little pocket?!?

I'm pretty thrilled with my stripe matching across the front and the seams. I'm kind of neurotic about stripes, and when I see mismatched stripes on the street, it makes me cringe. These make me smile. It was a little tricky getting the stripes across the front just right, since I used ring snaps as the closure. They really had to align just perfectly. And they do! Yay!

Of course, he also desperately needed pants. These are from the same issue of Ottobre. They are style #5.

They are an elastic waist pant, but with a few fun details. In front, patch pockets and knee darts, which make bending and crawling more comfortable. Duncan is a walker, but he does a lot of climbing, so I thought he'd like these. They also have a faux fly and jeans style topstitching.

In back, we have patch pockets and a yoke, again styled like jeans. Since these are for church, I didn't do any decorative stitching on the pockets, but if I were making these as a casual pant, it would be a fun addition.

The fabric for the pants is a very densely woven cotton twill that was given to me by a cousin of mine. She had used some of the yardage, but gave the rest to me. It's really lovely stuff, with a nice sheen, and just perfect for durable boy pants.

Seriously, the cuteness... A note on sizing - Duncan measures to an 86 in Ottobre right now, but they are a PERFECT fit, which means they are exactly one growth spurt away from too small. I made these in a size 92, and while they are a little big, as you can see, he can still wear them, and I won't have to make another set next week when he outgrows them. I think this is one of the trickiest things about sewing for young children. You just never know! I tend to go a bit larger, since they will always grow, but I have yet to meet a kid who shrunk.

Ottobre 01/2009-5

For Duncan's "Make it in a Metre" tee, I wanted to go in a somewhat different direction. Instead of a raglan sleeve, I went with a set in sleeve. but an envelope neckline. I wanted to use the astronaut fabric as a decorative element as well.

I immediately thought of the "Muksis" tee from the 01/2009 issue of Ottobre. I've made it before for my nephew, and I even had the correct size traced. I just love how cute it is.

I used the astronaut jersey for the adorable pocket as well as the sleeves. There is a lot of binding happening on this tee. Last time I made it was pre-coverstitch machine, and it was a surprisingly quick sew, even then. Now, with the coverstitch binder is was crazy fast. I did all the binding and made the cuffs of rib knit. The white body is cotton-lycra jersey.

I used my coverstitch machine to attach the pocket as well. To keep the turned under edges nice and sharp, I stitched some fusible thread onto the fold line on the wrong side and fused the hem edges down. It gave me a nice crisp edge that didn't wiggle around. I used magic tape to position the pocket for stitching, which also eliminated any movement there so that it stayed where I wanted it to. The end result is darn adorable. Duncan is going to wear it a lot!

Ottobre 01/2009-5 and 06/2009-5

Now that Christmas has passed and presents are opened, I can finally share some of my creations with you!  This was the first thing I made for the holidays - way back in November.

It's an outfit for my nephew, who is 16 months old.

The top is Ottobre 01/2009-5.  Ottobre calls it the "Muksis" tee.  I love the fun kangaroo pocket, and all the bindings.  The envelope neckline allows for easy on and off.  I was afraid all those details would make this tricky to sew, but I should know Otto better!  This was a super quick and easy sew.

Here is a closer shot of the pocket and hem binding.  They are stitched down with a twin needle, so they look nice and are stretchy.  I love that the cuffs roll up to give the tee built in growing room.  And I'm very happy with how well the stripes came together, both across the pocket as well as sleeve and side seams.

The jeans are Ottobre 06/2009-5.  This is such a super pattern!!  The pants are lined - I used the same soft jersey as I did to make the tee.  The waistband is ribbing, which makes it soft.  The pattern calls for a drawstring, but I prefer to avoid those in baby clothes, as they can be a choking hazard.  I just ran elastic through it like a casing.  The jeans-style topstitching and faux fly are super touches.

From the back you can see the cute pockets and the yoke.  It doesn't actually provide any shaping, but gives a more authentic jeans look.  I did all of the topstitching on my Singer.  It was so nice to have a dedicated topstitching machine, or I'd have been changing thread and needles constantly.  As you can see, the cuffs are rolled up to show the lining.  More room to grow!

I also knitted a little cap to go with the whole look.  Ravelry notes are here.  Little B is going to be one well dressed little dude!

Ottobre 06/2010-5 sort of

The Wee Professor is my first winter baby, so as I've been sewing snuggly fleece jammies for my big kids, I couldn't neglect him!  I really prefer a sleep sacque for wee babies, but footed sleepers are a nice thing to have as well.  I was so excited to win Ann's giveaway of this adorable sleep sacque pattern, but until it comes, I decided to sew up a footed sleeper from the most recent issue of Ottobre.  I really prefer a front zip closure, so I made a few modifications.

The pattern is Ottobre 06/2010-5, but with a front zip closure, no pocket and no rear diaper flap.  This pattern felt a bit like an afterthought in a magazine full of well planned and thought out garments.  The pattern didn't even include full dimensions for the binding - just "cut binding 4 cm wide".  I measured along the pattern pieces where I was binding the edges and cut that amount, then trimmed off the extra, since I had stretched it a little to sew it on.  Typically Otto includes a separate pattern pieces for the binding, so I was a little surprised at the omission here.

Here is the back.  Since the front is cut on the fold in the original design, all of the shaping for the diaper and crotch are incorporated into the back panels, so I couldn't just merge them all into one piece, since there is significant shaping in that curved seam above the bum.  It does give the sleeper plenty of diaper space!  I don't cloth diaper, but I imagine you could fit a diaper, cover and soaker in there with no problem.  I did forget that the bottom was supposed to lap over the top, so I really didn't need to add as much seam allowance.  Fortunately, it was a minor matter to ease in the extra length in the back - it was less than 1/2 inch.

I don't like having to flip a baby over to dress him, so a front closure is my favorite.  I used a zipper here, and added a little tab over the zipper pull, so that it doesn't scratch his neck.
It seems like all I've sewn this month is fleece.  Perhaps I'll find something new to sew next...  Until my bunting pattern gets here, that is!

Ottobre 02/2005-05

The more I sew from Ottobre, the more I love it!! Not only do they have the coolest boy clothes ever, the patterns are well designed and the instructions, even without diagrams, are easy to follow. I may never buy another children's pattern again.

I finished Logan's first birthday shirt. Obviously, he can't model it for you yet, but here it is.
And a close up of the cool sleeve detail.
No, I didn't have another difficultly with ripply hems. What the poor picture can't tell you is that this is a sleeve band rather than a hem, and it is just right! Thanks to good quality fabric, I had no trouble with this tee at all, despite the fact that the sleeves are rib knit. The design is great! The curved shoulder seam is so cute and goes together easily. All of the seams are top stitched. I used a double needle on the regular sewing machine, but coverstitching would work as well.

Now on to more birthday sewing!