Frankenpattern and Simplicity 2290 PJs

When I showed Logan the Mater interlock that I made his and Duncan's tee shirts out of, he was really excited about it. He's been a little lukewarm about Cars lately, so I was glad he was so pleased. He told me that he wanted a short sleeve shirt (check!) and jammies (uh oh.). I only had a yard of the interlock, and he actually prefers flannel PJs, so I put "Mater flannel" in the back of my mind and went on my merry way. Last week, I hit Joann for the yellow ribbing for Duncan's tee, and Logan found his flannel.

Yeah, I'm a sucker for that kid. He asks me for so little. Anyway, the patterns are the same ones I used to make his Thomas the Train PJs, which are his favorite.

I used some bright yellow buttons from the stash and stitched the buttonholes in yellow thread, just for fun. All of the other topstitching was done in dark blue.

When I showed them to him, he declared them "cool". Erg, when did my baby start saying, "cool"?? At least he still loves Mater jammies!

Stash

Lately, I've been trying to keep better track of my fabric Ins and Outs. I created a spreadsheet to record fabric purchased and fabric sewn up, and it really has been helping me keep my fabric buying in better control. Like Carolyn, I don't feel particularly guilty about my fabric buying habits - it's cheaper than therapy, right? But, I do have limited space, and I do want to make sure that my collection is full of fabrics that I love, not just purchases I made because they were a "great deal".

The wall 'o fabric

This morning I started tracing Vogue 1050, which I have been planning to make for some time. When I bought the pattern (at least 3 years ago), I also bought some navy and teal peachskin to make it up. I often purchase fabric for one project and then end up using it for something else, but this time I actually am using the fabric purchased for these pants to make them. As I started to put them into my spreadsheet, my cursor hovered over the "stash" box. Is this stash fabric? I've had it at least three years. But I bought it specifically to make these pants, and here I am, actually using them for the purpose intended. I usually define stash fabric as something I bought without a specific pattern or use in mind, ie just for the stash, but this fabric has been with me a while. When does it cease to be dedicated and become stash? What do you think? Is it stash or not?

Ottobre 03/2011-6, again

It seems like I often say I'm going to make a pattern again, and then get distracted by something else, but this time, I actually did make something twice!

I just love the first version of this sleeveless tee I made for Duncan, and he needed a top to match his new shorts.

This time I made the top out of a Chez Ami rib knit. The ribbing for the binding is from Joann, and my coverstitch machine did NOT want to play nice with it. In the end, it is on. That's about all I can say about it. I put a little patch at center back to coordinate with the monkey patch on his shorts. These little patches are so fun! I found them with the cloth diaper notions at Joann. They came in a pack of nine patches, so you'll see them again.

ETA: (5/7): I finally got some pictures of the outfit on the baby.

I couldn't be more thrilled with how well the colors matched! Mitch keeps calling these his storebought shorts. :) As if!

In other news, I sewed up the first muslin for the wedding dress this week, so hopefully we'll get to do our first fitting today. Woo-hoo!

Ottobre 03/2008-7

Up until now, I haven't needed to do much Duncan sewing. Logan left a ton of hand me downs, and Duncan has been pretty well dressed. But, since their birthdays are offset by a season, we have no warm weather clothes in his current size. Even all of his pants are lined or fleece. The kid needs shorts.

So I made him Ottobre 03/2008-7, the "Aqua" shorts. I made them a size too large, since I wanted them to last him a while.

The pattern is an elastic waist short with front and back patch pockets, and a yoke both front and back. Fun times with topstitching!

I added a little patch to one of the back pockets. Duncan is definitely a little monkey!

Here is a side detail shot so you can see the pockets, yokes and topstitching. I didn't have any yellow heavyweight thread on hand, so I used the triple stitch to give it some density and make it pop. I didn't use my twin needle this time - just sewed it freehand. Sometimes I'm crazy like that.

From the back, I actually really like the way they fit, despite being a size too big. There is plenty of diaper room. You have to love that cloth diaper friendly European drafting. The fabric is a printed canvas from Mom's stash. The selvage says that it comes from Joann, but I haven't seen anything this cute and boy friendly there lately!

One more cute baby picture, just for good measure. It's so nice to have such a cooperative model for a change!

Monthly Roundup: April 2012 and KCWC

April was kind of a random month, but I did get a lot done.

I sewed:
1) Simplicity 2614 blouse for me
2) New Look 6587 dress for me
3) My Image Winter 2010/11 M1003 cardigan for me
4) Simple Apron for charity
5) Kickin' Back Sweats for Logan
6) Gertie's Modern Crinoline for me
7) McQueen knockoff skirt for me
8) Burda 7189 dress for me
9) Ottobre 03/2008-29 tee for Logan
10) Ottobre 03/2011-6 tee for Duncan
11) Ottobre 03/2006-12 shorts for Duncan
12) Ottobre 03/2009-23 shorts for Logan
13) Simplicity 2377 dress for Myra

That is a total of 13 items, 17 1/8 yards, with 10 5/8 yards from stash. I may have done a bit of shopping this month. Some of it was wedding dress related, so it will get sewn soon. The ugly total - 39 1/2 yards. Ouch! The next couple of months will need to be wedding dress only shopping.

I did a lot of goal related sewing this month as well. I finally sewed my LBD!! Thank you, Lori and Lynne for the motivation with the Wardrobe Basics SAL! I really think that some of my best and most versatile garments sewn to date have come from the SAL sewing. In fact, I am wearing two of the pieces as I type. I also sewed one of my SISC garments - Simplicity 2614. I have 6 more projects on my SISC list, so I'm going to get cracking on the spring/summer ones. I think Vogue 1050 is next up.

I also finally participated in the KCWC at elsie marley. I've been wanting to do this for the last few years, and this time I just decided to do it, despite a ton of other things going on, both in and out of the sewing room. My sweet hubby was unbelievably supportive. He always is, but this was above and beyond. I didn't even tell him about the challenge. He read about it here on the blog, and all week kept sending me off to the sewing room to sew. I would have never managed the hour per day without his help, but I ended up sewing 10 hours and 35 minutes over the course of the week. Thank you, honey!! I finished up the projects that I originally planned, which was one outfit per child, two knit tees, two pair of twill cargo shorts and a plisse dress. It was really fun to sew along. There were some truly spectacular projects sewn. Be sure to check out the Flickr group.

For May, I definitely have Spring fever! I'm planning some more warm weather gear for the kids, particularly Duncan, as the poor boy has no summer clothes. I've also been seriously crushing on the brightly colored maxi skirts I've been seeing on Pinterest and around blogland.

I'm thinking I need a pink one. Lace and stripes are haunting my brain as well.

I particularly like the stripes with a contrast yoke. Maybe not neon yellow, but I like the idea.

And I definitely need some gingham in my life. Like, now. I really like the scale of this one. Not huge but not teeny. Erg. Maybe I need some fabric after all...

And of course, my big project over the next couple of months will be a fabulous wedding dress! I'll keep you posted as that evolves. I'm still collecting fabrics and notions at this point. Anyone have a favorite place for bridal notions?