Back in the Country: Backwoods Barbie

I actually made this outfit some time ago, but I never took pictures of it. It suits though that I waited until I was living more in the country to post it, since it's kind of a country girl look.

I started with some jeans shorts, using the pattern I used for the jeans in this post. I planned for these shorts to be worn by a doll with a Liv body, so I used my smallest version of the pattern, but neglected to account for the decreased stretch in this denim, so it doesn't fit Liv! Fortunately, the posable older style flat foot Barbie body has quite slim hips, so these fit Teresa very well.

To turn the jeans into cut-offs, I just cut the pattern piece short, and placed the hem line on the cut edge of the denim, which had already frayed just from handling.

The top is also from Simplicity 4702, with some slight alterations. The pattern instructs you to make a casing for the sleeves, but I just stitched on the elastic and turned it under. I used clear elastic to minimize bulk.

The neckline is supposed to be finished with a facing, with a bit of lace trim sandwiched in between the neckline and the facing. I skipped the lace altogether, and gathering the neckline into a facing seemed like an exercise in futility at this scale, so I just applied elastic in the neckline, just like the sleeves.

I added some elastic shirring under the bust for some shaping, and trimmed the empire line with polka dotted ribbon and a satin rosette.

I made a halfhearted effort to match the gingham at the side seams. It came close, so I'll take it. My walking foot doesn't like these teeny seam allowances, so I need to pin more. You can see the teeny rivets I included on the shorts. Teeny rivets (actually 2mm hotfix studs) make me happy.

She also got functional back pockets on her shorts. Her top closes in back with velcro. The gingham matches well back there!

Butterick 3475 shorts

It's feast or famine around here for Duncan! After months of no newly sewn clothes for him, I made not one, but two items in June.

He's shocked! Or maybe he stepped on something yucky. Hard to tell with Dunc.

You can probably tell from the U-haul in the background that these were a pre-Tennessee make. In fact, these were the very last thing I sewed before I packed up my machines.

As we were getting things together to make the 4 day drive across country, I realized that Duncan was a bit short on well, shorts. He had just destroyed a pair I made for Logan, (this pair, in fact) so I decided to remake them using the same pattern, slightly modified.

And so, here is Butterick 3475, Duncan style. The brown shorts were a good fit on Duncan, so I used the already traced size 2 for my 3 and 1/2 year old child. The pockets come in one size for all of the sizes in the envelope, and they are huge on the 2, so I slimmed and shortened them to bring them more into proportion to the shorts.

Years of sewing Ottobre patterns has made me finicky with details, so I also shaped the pocket corners in a more pleasing way and offset them on the side seam so that the bulk of the pocket was toward the front. It's easier for Duncan to reach that way.

The shorts have a loose, easy fit through the body, which is perfect for running, jumping, climbing and overall havoc-wreaking.

The fabric is a nice, sturdy twill left over from these overalls. I topstitched in a darker shade of green so that the stitching would pop, but not restrict the shorts to wearing with certain colors. I think the green is a nice neutral that will go with all of his "boy" tees. Doesn't it look awesome with this Kitschy Coo tee that was handed down from Logan?

Duncan likes them.

Ottobre "Bert" shorts: take 2

This guy. He's so awesome. But man, is it hard to make clothes for him!!

I think we have a winner this time, though. These are the "Bert" shorts from the 03/2009 issue of Ottobre. I made them for him last year, and he won't even try them on. Silly me, made them in a woven. Logan only wears knit shorts.

Since the pattern is drafted for wovens, and has plenty of ease, I went ahead and used last year's size. They're drafted quite long, so I left the length alone. I did omit the faux fly, since it seemed odd in a knit short, but I love the other details, so all the pockets and yokes got to stay. Logan loves pockets.

The main feature of these shorts is the deep back yoke, which I decided to highlight in a contrast fabric. Logan loves his Rocketboy tee, so I used some leftovers from it to make the back yoke and pockets. The main fabric is a 10oz. interlock from Chez Ami. Beefy, but still nice and soft.

The biggest challenge for these shorts were the back pockets. I wanted to coverstitch them on for a professional look, but all those points... I did manage to pivot a few of them - tricky with two needles - but some of them I had to tie off. I'm pleased with the end result though, and Logan does like them.

On the boy, the yoke hits just at the bottom of his bum, and right where the front pocket inserts the seam. I find it a quite pleasing juxtaposition, and the seam intersection right there is nice and smooth, without much bulk. Very easy to sew.

Yay! A win! These are going to see a lot of playtime. Just no more pictures, Mom!

Prefontaine shorts and a little sneak peek

I know it's been a little bit quiet around here lately. I've actually been doing quite a bit of sewing, just mostly of the super secret, pattern testing variety. But it's Kids Clothes Week, and I had to share this outfit with you.

I had high expectations of cuteness, but it turned out even better than I imagined!!

It started with the adorable Prefontaine Shorts by Made by Moxie. I received these as a part of the second Perfect Pattern Parcel. You'll hear all about my "official" PPP make tomorrow, but I just HAD to sew up these shorts, too! Consider it a Pattern Parcel preview.

The fabrics I chose are a kind of eclectic mix, at least for me. I'm not very good at print mixing, but the hive mind collective of IG, Twitter and Facebook opined that this was a match made in heaven, and I think so too.

The plaid, which makes up the body of the shorts and the accent on the top, is a lightweight cotton/linen blend from IKEA. It wrinkles like crazy, but it is super breezy and comfortable. The floral print that forms the body of the top and the binding on the shorts is a vintage cotton which was given to me by the lovely and generous Carrie. I've been hoarding it for the perfect project, and this was definitely it.

So, the pattern. So cute! All the details are here - complete down to the stitched down, bound pockets. My hubby (who has an interest in the runners and their history) recognized the style immediately, and even opined that Pre would probably have liked them in plaid.

Up close, you can see that the pocket is bound, as are the side seams and hems, in a contrast binding. The pattern is suitable for either knits or wovens, and the pattern includes great instructions for upcycling an old tee shirt for use as binding material. Genius! The pocket bag is a single piece, topstitched to the fronts. Very streamlined, and nice not to have a flappy pocket bag in there.

These shorts are so quick and easy to assemble. They're great for a quick summer staple. I'm definitely going to be sewing these up for all 3 of my kids. And as an extra bonus, you can get this pattern RIGHT NOW on top of the 5 fabulous patterns in the Perfect Pattern Parcel! If you chose to spend more than $24 for your Parcel, you'll get the Prefontaine Shorts pattern totally free!!

OK, but I'm kind of being a tease with this top. This is a tester version of the soon to be released Shandiin Top by LouBee Clothing. Sarah is still hard at work perfecting it for you. It's absolutely adorable, and I think you're going to love it. I definitely do.

I just love a look with back interest, and this top has it in spades. That cut out with the contrast panel?? I die. I'll let you in on all the details once she is officially released. You'll get to see the 4 (and counting) that I've already made.

So, Prefontaine + Shandiin = Cuteness overload. And that is Myra's summer wardrobe sorted.

Ottobre 03/2011-20 short shorts

My Myra is a dress girl. She tolerates skirts, but in her heart, she knows she belongs in a dress. But she's also a bit of a tomboy on the playground, and she hasn't quite learned the trick of sitting like a lady...

And I don't know anyone who can climb monkey bars like a lady! So I made her a couple of pair of short shorts, to cover her unmentionables while she plays on the playground and sits criss-cross applesauce.

I have a ton of little knit remnants and these little shorts only take a teeny bit - about 3/8 of a yard if you are buying yardage. I had several pieces that matched dresses I had made for her, and picked out a couple of solids in colors that went with her wardrobe. This was a great stashbusting project for leftover knits!

As an aside, it was REALLY hard to get good shots of the shorts with her Skater Dresses. Those skirts are really well designed! No wardrobe malfunctions. I had to stage all the shots. Anyway, all of the fabrics I used are cotton, cotton-lycra, rayon-lycra or poly-lycra knits, and all the shorts have an elastic waistband and are hemmed with the coverstitch (although I could have saved myself some threading and used this method to hem them).

The pattern I used is for a basic legging with only one pattern piece. I cut them off to give them a finished inseam of about 2 inches, which is shorter than her shortest skirt, but still covers the topic. They are a quick sew, which is nice. I probably spend more time changing thread on all the machines than I did actually sewing these up. Darn my inability to serge with mismatched thread! It's like my Kryptonite.

These have now been worn (different pairs of course) for the last three days. They work well, are comfortable, and Myra likes them. She has fun mixing and matching them to her dresses. Works for me.

Today's tip

Since I coverstitched all the hems, I thought I'd show you the method that I use to keep the coverstitching from unravelling. I had a lot of trouble with this when I first started using my coverstitch machine, especially on children's clothing that gets a lot of wear and stretching. So, this method evolved for when I'm coverstitching in the round.

First of all, you want to be sure that your needle threads are to the back of your work. I didn't take a pic of this step (sorry!) but basically, when you start your hem, stitch nearly to the end, then stop and pull the beginning needle threads to the back with a pin, then coverstitch the rest of the way around, overlapping the beginning stitching by about an inch.

Pull your work off the machine using this method (from Debbie's blog) that pulls the threads all to the back. From the front, it should look like the above picture. Pretty, eh?

From the back though, you should have a bunch of thread tails. I have six - two needle threads and one looper from the beginning and end of the stitching. I separate them into two bunches and tie them in a secure square knot.

Here's the little knot. I trim the thread tails, leaving a bit so that if the knot slips a little it's no biggie. Next is the critical step.

Get some fray preventer and drop a little bead right on the knot to really secure it. I like to smoosh it in with the tip of my iron to flatten the knot.

Since I've started using this method, I haven't had a single hem unravel. It may be overkill, but it doesn't take very long, and it is nice and secure. It may also work for a twin needle hem, though I've not tried it myself.

SwimAlong 2013: Board Shorts

I know the SwimAlong has officially ended, but summer hasn't! I'm sure I'm not the only one still sewing swimwear, so we'll just all keep going!

Poor Logan was wearing swim trunks at least 2 sizes too small. And while Duncan has two pair of hand-me-down trunks that fit him OK, they aren't great. So I decided to sew up matching board shorts for my boys, while they'll still let me dress them alike.

The boys are in two different size groupings (Logan is a 116 and Duncan wear a 92), so I couldn't use the same pattern. Instead, I just chose two basic elastic waist shorts patterns and styled them the same way. I eliminated all pockets and separate waistbands, and for Duncan's added a strip of fabric at the side seam to match the one on Logan's.

Logan's shorts are from the 03/2012 issue of Ottobre, model # 10. I've made them for him before, twice in fact, and he wears them regularly. Although these are drafted for a knit fabric, I knew they had sufficient ease to work in a woven. I did omit the pockets and added a casing for the waist, rather than a separate knit waistband.

Logan's shorts also got a swimshorts style lining. This was so easy to add! I used Kitschy Coo's Boy Cut Brief pattern, since it only has side seams. The fabric I used is an athletic mesh, like you might see in lightweight running jerseys. I elasticated the leg openings with swim elastic, just like a regular swimsuit, and stitched the waistline to the top edge so that it was caught in the casing stitching. Logan says it is comfortable and that these are his favorite shorts. Yay!

For Duncan, I used the 03/2006 issue of Ottobre. There is a series of shorts in that issue from the same block, one of which (#10) has a separate hem band. I used that version, omitting the hem band and hemming at the seam level, to make a shorter pant. As you can see, these are plenty long, so I'm glad I shortened them! Again, I omitted the pockets and added the side seam band. Since Duncan is still wearing swim diapers, I didn't include a lining, so these were even easier to sew.

I noticed that the boys' RTW trunks have tons of topstitching, so I jazzed these up a little with topstitching down the side stripe, as well as a double line of stitching at the hem, which I echoed at the waistband. This had the added benefit of taming the somewhat unruly microfiber poly fabric I used.

Both shorts are made of polyester microfiber "board shorts" fabric from RockyWoods.com. (The link takes you right to the board shorts page.) This fabric is exactly like the fabric you see in RTW shorts and I was very pleased with it overall, but it wasn't the easiest to sew. 

There are a few things that can help make  it easier. The first is to make sure you use a sharp, fine point needle. I used a Microtex needle in a 70/10 size. This has a very fine point, which is perfect for punching through this densely woven fabric, without puckering or causing pulls.

The other important tip I have is to be sure you press very well. Do test first to get the optimal heat setting on your iron. This is polyester and you can melt it. Use the highest heat you can without damaging the fabric, and use steam. Be sure to press each seam both flat and open or to one side. You also want to be very diligent about finishing your seams. This stuff is very ravelly, and it will be subjected to a lot of stress. You don't need a serger (although that is a quick and easy option if you have it), just finish the edges with a 3-step zigzag or use french seams.

Despite the vagaries of the fabric, these whipped up quickly and the boys both like them. I know they'll both get a ton of use. If you're thinking about dipping your toe in the swimwear sewing pool, board shorts are an easy and fun place to start!