Friday, August 08, 2014

Fly Girl : {Little Lizard King Pattern mods}


Finally getting the chance to sew a little more! But the time is short, and I'm still fairly tired when I'm at it, so I've been working on clothing for Mara. It's nice to have a specific pattern to follow sometimes.

I would love to sew up most of her tops for layering this fall and winter.


A couple weeks ago I came across a few online pattern companies with super cute little girl clothes. This first one is called Little Lizard King, and the adorable top is named Fly Girl. From a couple outfits I already had, I knew the flutter sleeves were cute on Mara. And this pattern is awesome for quilters! I have So. Much. fabric, but its all in smaller quilting amounts. This bodice top and sleeve take almost nothing, and the bottom part of the shirt is relatively narrow and only cut wof for the smaller sizes. See, I even used a bit of my hoarded oranges!


The only thing I wasn't fond of when making the top, was the huge amount of bulk inside the bodice - the top stitching was kind of a bear, trying to keep it nice and even. Since I'm not selling the tops, and nobody but Mara and I will see the inside finishes, I'll probably skip a couple folds next time. Although the finishes are super beautiful and professional looking, a simple serged edge will keep the fraying away and reduce some bulk.


My next try at the top was in all knits! The thing I have the most trouble with for knit is to get a nice collar or arm... and the way this pattern is constructed, neither of those things are included. Hurrah.

And. Well. BACON.

I made a few changes to go this with knit. The first being eliminating the back cut and snap. It seemed like there was plenty of room to get the top over her head, so I went for a single piece instead of two. Fit was perfect! I'm considering doing the same thing for a woven, but I do like how neatly the split and buttoned back lays and moves.


This little top is adorable. And in the knit, it makes for wonderful play wear.


Especailly hunting birds and bugs.  I changed up the pattern directions for the arm holes, as the woven calls for a small bit of bias that beautifully covers and turns.... lazy, I didn't want to make any knit bias tape.


You can see that the knit fabric under her arms also lays very nicely, and I think that is partly due to a cool trick I came across.

You use this clear elastic.  Pull out a piece and give it a good stretch, like youre blowing up a balloon.  Then, lay it under the folded seam.  Top stitch, going through the sandwiched elastic.  That elastic keeps your stitches smooth and beautiful, and the folded edge nice and stable.  A very cool trick!


The one other thing I changed was on the sleeves. If you can see at the top, the flutter sleeves are beautiful, with a contrast lining. Again, not worried about fraying, I went with only one layer of sleeve fabric. I turned down the top edge the needed amount for adding elastic to make a casing, and that's it. I considered doing a rolled edge finish, but I don't have thread that matches well enough. I think it was fine to skip.


So, that's it with the Fly Girl. I have plans on making one fore October with some of my hoarded Ghastly prints. I think it will be super cute.

And, totally rationalizing here, I figure I can hack up her dresses once she grows out of them to get back some of my quilting fabric. Ha!


Peeks at a couple more things I've finished. That cute little dress above is the Blue Ribbon Winner dress, also from Little Lizard King. That's a cool pattern that has info for doing either flutter, short or long sleeve knit tops, then a knit or woven middle sash, and a ruffled woven bottom. I love that they include a cut point for upcycling a store bought shirt. This is a knit top I got from Target - elminating once again my need to sew up a knit collar or arm. I'll have to takle that some day.


Finally, Strawberry Fields knit triple ruffle shorts/capri/pants pattern from FooFooThreads. They are sooooo cute! And the fit is amazing. There is a mod within the pattern for adjusting rise, which was perfect for covering little miss's fluffy cloth diaper bottom.

(Full on girl mom now - surrounded by fluffy, ruffly sewing and I turned on the Frozen iTunes station the other day. Super girly fun!)

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Mara's First Birthday

June 20, 2014

The Angel and her Bunting

We had the most wonderful day for Mara's first Birthday. It was simple and filled with beautiful things.

And because I think she's the cutest thing ever, I have a crazy number of photos to share :)

First Birthday Dress

Mara wore the Geranium dress I made for her birthday.

I used Joel Dewberry voile, and it was beautiful.

Story

We were trying to get some pictures of her with the balloons and big number One, but she just wanted to read stories. She loves books. (shhh, don't tell her the birthday crown is on. It took just a couple distractions and she wore it around for a long time!)

Classic Mara face

Classic Mara face, so glad we caught it.

It shows up whenever an interesting sound pops up in her world.

Max!

Then we heard Grandma and Popa pull into the driveway, so we ran to the front door. Grandma had put a fun collection of things in an open fabric basket for Mara's gift, and a little stuffed puppy was peaking out. Mara is crazy about animals right now, especially birds and dogs. She saw that puppy through the front window and had to grab it as soon as it was within reach.

Crazy Girl Ride

Another classic Mara face - she's a little bit of a wild child, and loves crazy fun.

Kenton gave her a birthday ride, until he was pooped. She wasn't done riding, but I don't think anybody would last long enough for her.

Beautiful Play Silk

With just my mom and dad over - and gifts sent from Aunt Laura and Uncle Chris - Mara had a fun time enjoying each new treasure as she opened them.

Becket and I dyed 8 squares and one long silk scarf. The Dharma acid dye is fabulous. Such saturated colors!

playsilks

And Mara loved them.

Silly Silk!

With my little bit of Waldrof theme going, Mara also got her first Bamboletta doll.

She is just as beautiful and amazingly crafted as I imagined. I would love to get back to the Vancouver area and visit them some day.  They just started having a day long retreat where they supply you with doll parts and you get to chat and sew.  How fun would that be?!

Ruby - Bamboletta Baby

Aunt Laura, a lover of music, sent a wonderful collection of toddler instruments. The sound of each is wonderful, and the tone on these notes is just beautiful. Mara was so pround of her music.

Music!

My mom found the most perfect dog book! Real dog photos, in a child's interactive story book.

At this point, Mara had wandered back over to her balloons, and ended up with them between her legs. She just happily continued on with the balloons trailing all around her.

Dog Book!

She LOVES dogs.

I L.O.V.E. Dogs!

Really.

Love

Birthday Girl

Mara was also pretty happy being sung to - as opposed to Becket, poor little guy cried anytime people looked at him for more than a couple seconds.

See - Good!

Hey, have you seen this cake stuff before?

Cake - Yum!

Because I think it's really good.

We all had such a fun time watching Mara enjoy her special day. The group shot even went well! Not the best frame of Mara, but we all look good, and she has just a few photos already.

family

Mara got to end her day being crazy with Becket, and walking through puddles in her new flip flops. Some of her favorite things to do.

Being One is Wonderful.

puddle

.




Thursday, June 05, 2014

Geranium Dress for my Little One

Hello world!

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It has been a busy year with three boys and now this little girl. Lacrosse championships have been won for the high school guys. (I need to figure out how to post from my ipad, along with photos. Since I LIVE on my ipad.)

lax cup

I've done a decent amount of sewing, but all of it baby or clothing items. Most recently, I made a tester Geranium dress, by Made By Rae. I plan on making it for her first birthday, but wanted to try out the fit before using my Joel Dewberry voile. So, I found this lovely cotton lawn, way marked down - only $4 for the yard. The boys say she looks like a picnic blanket. Ha! But I love it.

Perfect fit!

I finished it up during a rare nap, and did a happy dance when I put it on her. The fit is amazing. I made the 12-18 month size, hoping it would fit for the summer. I did cap sleeves on top, and the gathered skirt - without pockets - for the bottom.

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I L.O.V.E. my KAM snaps. They were put in place of making button holes. I think they work well for the little ones, especially since she's in a car seat half her days! Brothers have lots of activities.

(Side note - she's been walking since 10 months   o.O   things are crazy around here)

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That neck line cut out is so sweet. And I was super impressed with how well it turned and lies. My only addition was that blue trim. Oh, and made the top half on the bias to take advantage of the pretty gingham pattern.

I've made a few of Rae's patterns, and they are always wonderful. But I am super in love with this Geranium dress. So excited I have a little girl to sew for!