New Age (shirts)

I'd mostly managed to forget about it, but digging out these pictures from a few weeks ago reminds me that, yes, we had snow into May.

The boys finally got some new age shirts - their birthdays are in the fall and early spring....better late than never?

In half a year, I'll be putting the number 13 on a shirt. It's funny how fast 13 years have flown. Even funnier is the realization that in 6 years, I'll have four teenagers!

This boys' shirt pattern is an excellent knit scrap buster. It is "Beat T-shirt" (Ottobre 3-2010-35).

And the snow melted......

Although the girls' shirts have different pattern numbers, they are clearly the same shirt in different size ranges. Both have envelope necks and a very slim fit in the waist/hip. They keep pulling on the shirts, so I think the slim fit with the looser bodice must feel strange.

The girls' shirts are "Happy Animals T-shirt" (Ottobre 3-2011-12) and "Anchor T-shirt" (Ottobre 3-2011-37).

Fleece Sport Jacket

My favorite fabric store is a sort of warehouse: concrete floors and exposed ductwork, with bolts and rolls piled on tables and in bins. But that's fine with me, since "fabric" is "beauty" in my mind. Part of the fleece section has 6 ft. rolls standing on end. It's kind of fun to lug your roll up to the fabric counter like a construction worker. Well, my boys think it's fun to carry, while I'm afraid they'll knock someone over with a roll of fleece.

When I spotted this double-sided fleece on a 6 ft. roll, I knew it was going to be Jalie 2679. The fabric is pretty neat, but it ends up having a huge downside: it's so tightly woven it's like inflexible felt. It won't breathe and doesn't stretch.

While I like my results, I'll probably want to make the jacket again in a better-chosen fabric.

If I remember correctly, I chose one size above my measurements (good thing, considering the fabric doesn't stretch). I did this because Jalie always runs slim-fitting in my experience.

The jacket lends itself to a variety of color-blocking options. The zippered side pockets sit just a little higher than usual because of the bottom hem-band.

In my opinion, Jalie's illustrated instructions are the best in the business (or maybe they just randomly think like I do - brilliant!). They are numbered step-by-step and keyed to the illustrations. Also, I really like that they have you stitch guidelines in preparation for trickier steps - in this case the zippered pockets.

My zippered pockets were a comedy of errors this time around. After installing the zips, I lost the zipper pull off the end of one and couldn't get it back on again for the life of me. So, I put in two NEW zippers (not having any more to match the remaining good one). One of them was backwards. So I ripped it off and put it on backwards again. Haha. Time to go to bed.

Anyway, it's a great classic pattern which I'll be able to use for years to come - including for my girls.

Stripy Tunic and Flannel Stashbusting

I think this is one of my favorite Ottobre makes in a while. In an effort to help Sara branch out from wearing a black turtleneck and jeans every single day (she has more than one black turtleneck), I made her a tunic and leggings last week. So now I've made her another tunic, this one more to her liking because it has black.

The skirt is pleated in both the back and front, and Sara was pleased to find there are inseam pockets. Very cozy!

It was kind of interesting to do the v-neck with a fairly wide piece of ribbing. It works the same as with narrower binding, but it's, uh, wider, haha.

The black and gray stripe is a soft jersey from Girl Charlee.

And in an effort to get rid of some of the 1 yard pieces of flannel clogging my cupboard, I cranked out some winter jammies. You can't make much with 1 yard of 44" inch fabric, unless you're a serious crafter (I'm not, apparently.) Yeah, I made only 4 sets. The fifth kid didn't complain, so it's all good.

Above, they're pretending to be tired.

Then, I told them to "make a muscle". I think Alex misheard me and thought I said, "Do yoga."

Patterns used:
Stripy Lines Tunic (Ottobre 6-2011-27)
and
various Ottobre pajama pants and tops

A Paisley Tunic and the Number IX

I was thinking "summer" when I traced this tunic pattern. Spring will be here officially in a few days, you know.

But after more thought, I made a coordinating long-sleeve shirt, so Sara'd be able to wear it now. We did get a blizzard last night, after all.

The rib-knit fabric isn't ideal for this pattern - something drapy-er would be better considering all the gathering, but I wanted to use the fabric and it worked better than I expected.

Both the neckline and hem have casing-enclosed elastic, and the skirt is gathered to the empire bodice with clear elastic. You can see the hem is lower in back than in front.

Sara's at the very beginning of this size range (I made size 140 and she's 135 cm tall), so the tunic is probably meant to be a little shorter.

I managed to get the denim leggings out of just barely a yard of really lightweight stretch denim. Phew! A while back, I made myself denim leggings out of the same piece of fabric, so I knew it'd work well for the purpose. She was skeptical, but I think she'll grow to like them.

And the obligatory age shirt - I have a few more to catch up on. The neckline looks rough - but the raw finish is intended. I wrote about when I made the shirt previously.

Playing with camera perspective (this was Sara's idea - she's an eternal goofball under her quiet demeanor).

The patterns:
Flower Fields Tunic (Ottobre 1-2010-34)
Sorja Slim Fit T-shirt (Ottobre 1-2009-34)
Denim leggings (Ottobre 1-2009-32).

Frenchie Stripes T-shirt (Ottobre 1-2011-30) with a freezer paper stencil embellishment.

Mini Wardrobe: Casual Edition

I didn't realize this group of garments was like a mini-wardrobe until I was loading the pictures onto blogger. I was making comfortable basics (yet again), and - lo and behold - they coordinate!

The 3 tops are all from previously used patterns, but the pants are two versions of a new pants pattern.

Outfit 1:

• Striped v-neck from Jalie 3132. 
• 5-pocket mocha-colored corduroy jeans from Ottobre Woman 5-2007-10. 

Outfit 2 (below):

• A self-drafted baseball tee.
• 5-pocket jeans from Ottobre Woman 5-2007-10

The jeans are from the same pattern as the cords and, as it would happen, fit completely differently. The corduroy is lightweight and stretches more and more throughout the day; the denim has some stretch and really good recovery.

I've been on the search for the perfect jeans, and after wearing these like crazy, I think I've found them. They're a classic 5-pocket jean with a back yoke. The pattern gives you two "leg flare" options. I chose the more flared option, which seems almost straight to me. I would say the waist is somewhere between a high-rise and a mid-rise.

Anyway, I need to make another pair, since I'm starting to get nervous these perfect jeans will wear out!

Outfit 3:

• Lydia t-shirt - a download from Burdastyle
• Those jeans again

Unitards

I think I can say my girls have the most unique leotards in their gymnastics club. And at $2-3 per suit, no doubt the least expensive.

All the girls wanted new leotards and spent an afternoon draping my nylon/lycra fabrics around the sewing room. But, this time it's just the one with no older sister (and thus no handmedowns) who gets the new suits.

The black and white checks are not so dizzying in real life. I can't decide whether I like the check or the floral better.

This is a great suit and pretty quick to sew up, but I forgot that last time I made the pattern, we found the legs were too snug - not dreadfully tight, but a little uncomfortable, despite the thinness of the wearer. That may be personal preference since my other girls didn't mind so much. Hopefully, though, I remember to adjust that next time.

This is Jalie 3138. It gives guidelines for general size by age and height, plus the usual bust/waist/height measurements. But the really good thing is that they give an additional measurement for torso length, making it easy for me to accommodate for a longer torso here without doing a muslin first.

Tiramisu

Well, the name of this dress pattern is making me hungry! I have ham and bean soup cooking on the stove, which is more appropriate for our -13 windchill (-25 C), but still not quite the same. I think my nose is red in the photo, since this area of the house is drafty, and I'm not appropriately dressed even for the indoor temperature.

It's become clear to me, upon looking at other versions of this dress, not to mention the pattern envelope, that I cut all the pieces wrong as the stripes are going a "different" direction. I did recut the waistband and binding pieces so the stretch would be correct, but left the main dress pieces. Not really being a perfectionist, I think it looks fine.

The Tiramisu Dress is, of course, from Cake Patterns. I was really intrigued to try out Steph's novel approach to pattern sizing. You select different sizes for the individual pattern pieces according to your bodice, bust (cup), waist, and hip sizes, and when you sew them together, they are supposed to match up.

Would it work? By golly it did. The pieces matched up and I didn't have to do any sort of grading. In fact, I didn't muslin or adjust anything (except the stripe arrangement of course).

I chose a thinnish jersey from Girl Charlee. The air here is sooooo dry right now that the fabric is clinging to itself and the pockets are a crumpled mess when my hands aren't in them. A sturdier jersey would  no doubt mean nicer pockets, but I think this one'll improve in the summer humidity.

So, I'm not liking how the static-y pockets are sitting in this version, BUT some features I do like are:
1. the unique midriff band (as opposed to a waist band)
2. amazingly, there is no gaping from that wrap bodice
3. the high comfort factor which doesn't yield any frump

Also, the instruction sheet is just what I like:
1. it's all on one smallish page (not too big to sit on my table)
2. the order-of-construction steps are clear to see at a glance - If I wanted more details, I could look further, but what I really want is the basic steps to keep me on track.

My husband, who I can assure you does not read sewing blogs, thought it looked "vintage" and "straight from the 1940's".