Ottobre 06/2010-15

This cute face. How do I ever sew for anyone else?? Sadly, Duncan's wardrobe needs are simple, and he does have a lot of Logan hand-me-downs.

But he doesn't have much in the way of long sleeve shirts, which gives me an excuse to sew my favorite pattern with my favorite fabrics.

I mean, seriously. Those hipster frogs are killing me. I got them from Kitschy Coo, of course. The solid green is from Hobby Lobby. It cannot compare at all to the Lillestoff frogs in quality, but it is the right color.

The pattern is from the 06/2010 issue of Ottobre. I have made it at least a half dozen times, and I will make it many more. I love the seaming. Such a nice flattering curve to the raglan seam! And I love the slim, modern fit. It's pretty much the holy grail of shirt patterns and I will cry when my kids outgrow the size range.

But before that happens, I'm going to make it a bunch more times.

Because this face, y'all.

Ottobre 06/2010-14 fleece pullover

A couple of years ago, I made some fleece pullovers for Mitch. He wears them all the time, and Logan expressed a desire for one of his own.

Fortunately, that request was easily granted, and my cool dude got his own cuddly pullover.

The pattern is Ottobre 06/2010-14, which is featured in the magazine on a toddler, made up in lots of coordinating prints. I thought it would be appropriate for a bigger kid in solids with just a bit of colorblocking. The black fabric is a super snuggley wool fleece that I scored a FabricMart about a year ago. The blue contrast is a soft interlock that I've used on several projects before.

My favorite element of this design is the neckline treatment. The collar and zipper area are all cut in one piece, so there are no annoying seams, and the zipper tapes are fully enclosed within the collar. It's a very neat finish and also very comfortable.

There are only a few other seams in the top, but I topstiched them all down so they would be non irritating. Topstitching helps control the loft of the fleece here as well and I think gives a more professional look.

I think this is absolutely awesome on him, but I'm not sure how much it is going to get worn. Logan doesn't generally like to layer his clothing, so we'll see. It was a fun make though, and I'm glad I discovered the pattern. I'll certainly use it again for the other kids.

Ottobre 06/2010-15 tee shirt

Several months ago, Logan started drawing pictures of a rocketship. They always look like this. Then Amanda unveiled this fabric. I'm not exaggerating when I say my jaw dropped when I saw it. It's Logan's rocketship!!

With the collision of the #sewbluefebruary Sewcialist theme and the Stashbusters Sewing for Others theme, it seemed the perfect time to pull out Rocketboy and make up a shirt.

The pattern is from the 06/2010 issue of Ottobre, and I've used it before here. Lillestoff fabric is a wee bit spendy, so I like to use it on a pattern that I know is a winner, and Logan wears his "fire shirt" all the time.

I used a nice beefy interlock from Chez Ami for the white contrast, and topstitched all the seams with a chainstitch. You can barely see the white stitching on the raglan seams, but the blue around the neckline shows up in the sleeve area.

While I had the white interlock out, I made a bunch of undies as well out of various scraps of "boy" printed jersey. This is the Kitschy Coo Boy Cut Brief. I love, love, love this underwear pattern. There are only two seams in the body and the bands are soft jersey - no elastic to bind and pinch! Logan has sensitive skin and some sensory issues so these undies are a godsend.

So Logan, do you like all your new clothes? Yeah? Give us a funny face!

I love this crazy kid.

Ottobre 06/2010-15 tee shirts

Nature's Fabrics strikes again. When I ordered the pink penguin interlock for Myra and Emma's nightgowns, I spotted this awesome flame like graphic print that I just had to get for the boys.

Now that Duncan has grown into a 98 in Ottobre, there are a ton of patterns that are in both boys' sizes. I love that!

This one is a raglan tee from the 06/2010 issue of Ottobre. Otto intends it as an undershirt, but I like the slim fit and I think the curved raglan seams are too cool to hide.

The flame print fabric is the star. It is really amazing quality - nice and beefy, but still stretchy. I would compare it favorably to the Lillestof that I've sewn. I wanted a nice quality solid black, but none of my stashed jersey was nice enough. I ended up using some Sofia double knit, which is really perfect. It pairs nicely with the jersey. The cuffs and neckband are ribbing from my stash.

To spice up the shirts a little more, I added a bit of topstitching to the raglan seams and topstitched the neckbands. I think it is a nice little touch that gives it a more professional look.

I really love the way the raglan seams follow the shoulder line. It gives the shirt a sleek, fitted look.

Both boys are really happy with their shirts, and I am pretty thrilled that they are still willing to wear matching clothes. I wonder how much longer I'll be able to get away with that?

Ottobre 06/2010-10 - the "Eleonor" dress

After some therapeutic snap pounding, Myra's dress is done.

I brought it out of the garage and Myra insisted on wearing it immediately.  I think it's pretty darn adorable on her.  It's perfect to coordinate with the boys.

The pattern is Ottobre 06/2010-10.  They call it the Eleonor dress.  Otto made their version with the bib in a solid and the body of the dress in a print.  I reversed it to better mesh with the boys' outfits. I made a size 98, which is just a touch too big, but I'd rather she have room to grow then have it be too small for Easter.

I cut the bib on the bias, which looks cute, but was very tricky to sew.  The pintucks came out straight only with the help of a large quantity of starch. The snaps made the front placket ripple just a tiny bit. The interfacing is on grain and that helped stabilize that area. I did get the attachment for pearl snaps for my snap setter, and it is great! No more cracked snaps!

Another detail shot. These are my first pintucks and I'm pretty darn proud of them! You can see in this picture that the inside neckline is finished with a strip of bias rather than enclosed in the collar or faced.  It's a very neat finish and looks RTW, IMHO. The only thing I disliked about the pattern was the finish for the sleeve slit.  Otto called for a narrow hem, but I did a continuous lap instead. I was already cutting a strip of bias for the neckline, so I just cut two and used the extra for the sleeve.  Much nicer! I'm also happy with my collar! I always forget to trim my undercollar piece and the seam tends to roll to the right side. Well, this time I made a separate pattern piece for the undercollar. It worked beautifully and all the seams roll to the inside.  I'm very happy with how this dress turned out. Next I'll be working on mine, but first I have a surprise to make.  I'll reveal all once it has been gifted!

Ottobre 06/2010-28 - the "Abbey Lane" shirt

The first (of seven!!) piece of my Easter sewing is ready!

This is Logan's man shirt.  The pattern is Ottobre 06/2010-28, which Ottobre calls the Abbey Lane shirt.  It is a basic menswear styled shirt, but without the full collar, giving it a mandarin style neckline. It was designed for a checked fabric, so all of the accent pieces, pockets, band, cuffs and yoke, are cut on the bias.  I love that this style included real sleeve plackets as opposed to a continuous lap style cuff.  The fabric is a yarn dyed gingham from fabric.com.

I LOVE a real menswear placket on a wee man shirt!  It just makes me happy.  Ottobre's instructions for putting in the placket are excellent.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the Kwik Sew instructions compare when I sew Mitch's shirt.  You may also notice that I used pearl snaps as the closure rather than buttons.  I had several motives for this.  The first was that this is our last few months in Texas, and I wanted my boys to have cowboy shirts!  Don't be too surprised if a more western style shirt with a front yoke appears soon...  I also recently got a new snap press from Sew Baby, and wanted to try it out.  It was great!  I usually end up taking out half of the snaps I put in.  They get misaligned or bent.  The only snap I had to pull out this time was  the one I installed backwards.  I love snaps on kids clothes, so I'm really excited to have a snap installing tool that really works!

The only other change I made from the pattern was to line the yoke.  I much prefer this finish, and I think it gives the shoulders of the shirt a firmer, more tailored look.  Next up will be Duncan's shirt.  I'm starting to feel pretty comfortable in the realm of man style shirts.  All the details that I used to think were fussy and difficult are starting to be fun.  I particularly love flipping the yoke and having all the seams just disappear inside.  It's like magic!

Stretch thread and another Ottobre 06/2010-13 jumpsuit

Since the first fleece jumpsuit/PJs have been so successful, I made Myra a second one, this time out of hot pink velour.   She loves them!

This time I shortened the collar 1 inch so that it wasn't in her face and I skipped the topstitching.  I also did a plain twin needle hem on the sleeves and leg openings.  Last time I gathered them with clear elastic, which is cute, but tends to ride up when she's sleeping.  I thought about adding some rhinestones (Happy Birthday, Elvis!), but she sleeps in it.

It's really hard to accurately photograph hot pink velour...
Mom reminded me, in my post asking about serger thread, about the importance of wooly nylon thread in your upper looper for serging stretch or particularly fray-prone fabrics.  For those who may not be aware, wooly nylon is a thread composed of multiple, unplied threads of nylon.  It is very strong and stretchy.  As the name suggests, it has a wooly texture, as the unplied threads don't "stick together" the way that a plied thread does.  Since it stretches, it is great for knitted and stretch fabrics and adds additional elasticity to your serged seam.  I also love it for a twin needle hem.  Wound loosely on the bobbin (by hand or slowly on your bobbin winder) it adds a significant amount of elasticity.  It is also great for fabrics that are prone to fraying as the unplied filaments of thread sort of spread out.

You can see the difference here.  (It's easier to see if you click on it to blow it up.)  The seam to the right is the upper looper side with the stretch thread (this one is actually Maxi-Lock Stretch, stay tuned for more on that) and you can see that the coverage that the thread gives is very good.  To the left is the lower looper, which is threaded with regular Maxi-Lock.
Wooly nylon has been around a long time.  I can remember Mom talking about it when she taught me to sew, which was a few years ago.  I recently heard, on ~E Made This, about Maxi-Lock Stretch thread.  Since I like to match colors as exactly as possible, I thought I'd give it a try for this project.  Since both threads are Maxi-Lock (color Swiss Beauty if you were wondering), the color match is exact.  But is it as good as wooly nylon??   Inquiring minds want to know!
For me, one of the most important qualities of wooly nylon is the stretch, so that was what I was really interested in.  To compare, I did this very non-scientific test.  I took a 4 inch piece of Maxi-Lock stretch and one of wooly nylon, and stretched them to see which went farther.

And wow!  No contest!!  The wooly nylon (the bottom, blue thread) stretched a full inch farther!  The Maxi-Lock (on top, pink) only managed to stretch 1/8 of an inch.  So, for me I will definitely be sticking with wooly nylon for my stretch projects.  The Maxi-Lock did provide excellent coverage in the serged seam, so it is still a good option if you are working with a fraying fabric and you can get an exact color match to your Maxi-Lock, so there are some benefits.  If you are looking to purchase some wooly nylon, I have purchased mine at Thread Art.  They have the lowest price I've found ($2.99 a spool!), and fairly quick shipping.  You can also find it at Atlanta Thread and Supply and Sew True.

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 06/2010-13

Myra is not a peaceful sleeper.  Now that it is starting to get really cold at night, her habit of kicking off her covers is problematic.  She gets chilly and wakes up, which means the rest of us do as well.  I thought I'd try making her a coverall that would keep her warm and that she couldn't kick off.

Doesn't she look cozy?  I'm not sure that she is in love with that high collar.  Perhaps for the next version we'll just use a ribbed band, or at least narrow that collar.

The pattern is Ottobre 06/2010-13, which is a jumpsuit that they style on a boy, made out of velour.  Despite the piecing and zip, it actually sewed up very quickly and easily, and as is typical for Ottobre, the instructions were great!  My only deviations were to add elastic ruffles at wrist and ankles.  I was going for a slightly more girlie look, as well as hoping a little elastic would help keep the arms and legs from riding up.  I also elected to stitch in the ditch for the collar, rather than handstitching the undercollar down.

I'm VERY happy with the zipper insertion!  I managed to match all three seams and the topstitching across the zipper on the first try!  Woo-hoo!  The fabric is a fleece from Hancock that I got on Black Friday.  At 1.99 a yard, I couldn't pass it up!!  Myra chose the color, of course...

The only surprise I had while sewing this up was with the sizing.  The last Otto item I made for her was a size 86, and fits her beautifully.  I did want a little extra room in this, in case we wanted to layer it over her jammies, so I made a 92, which as you can see, fits her very well with nothing on underneath.  I'm glad I didn't sew an 86!!  I've noticed this trend with the more recent issues of the magazine.  The 2004 issues that I have seem to run a little larger than the more recent issues. Something for me to remember...

ETA: It totally worked!!  She not only slept completely through the night without a peep, she slept in an extra half hour this morning!!!  We need more fleece.