Neat Beat Pants

After making these very detailed pants for Sara, I felt like doing something basic (and quick). Enter: Neat Beat Pants from Ottobre 6-2009-17. What in the world does "Neat Beat" mean?

They have a flat front yoke and elastic in the back. The pattern is meant for slim sizes, so I didn't alter it at all, although they are still a little baggy.

The denim is super duper stretchy denim from fabric.com. I bought this for jeans for myself, but it's so stretchy I realized it could only be appropriate for denim leggings. My wardrobe simply doesn't have a place for denim leggings right now, so that yardage will turn into little girls' trousers.

I made these jeans-style with double gold topstitching. Neither of my machines (coverstitch or regular sewing machine) liked this stretchy stuff. It was tricky business to stitch semi-straight lines while also trying to prevent a knotted nest of threads from forming.

Is it is purple or pink?

I can't decide what color this purplish pink interlock is, but it's one of the (too many) knits I picked up at the Chez Ami warehouse sale this summer. It's nice and warm for this sweater-style tee-shirt.

The pattern (Ottobre 5-2007-5) indicates that this is a fitted top but, as you can see, it isn't terribly fitted even with a tank underneath.

If I make this again I'll lengthen the sleeves so I can make wider sleeves hems to match the shirt hem.

Also featured are the slightly rumpled Burda cuffed trousers.

I did a slight forward shoulder alteration here. I'm still playing with this alteration, but what I did this time works nicer than the last method I used. This time I slashed from the neckline to the armscye and spread in back and overlapped the same amount in front. This moves the shoulder seam forward and widens the upper back just slightly, while removing some of the extra fabric in front of the armhole. This is smoother, I think, than just widening the back and moving the seam forward. Maybe I'll draw up a diagram in the future when I'm satisfied with how the alteration works for me.

The shirt in action with the smallest member of our family. She loves to sing along when I play.

Tiku boatneck

I'm so tired of seeing this green striped shirt, I just had to make Peter another shirt. Today, I went through his closet and discovered that, lo and behold, he does have more than just that one shirt! I asked him, "You have plenty of nice shirts! Why aren't you wearing these other ones, too?" Answer, "They're not as nice as the ones you make." (Thanks, honey, but I'm still tired of lime green...)

This is the Tiku Boatneck Tee pattern from Ottobre 1-2009-20. As I was stitching this up I was thinking I didn't like the neckline - the construction (per the instructions) seemed odd and I couldn't get the neckband pieces to line up perfectly. The instructions have you attach the front neckband to the shirt, then attach the back neckband to the front band at the sides, and then stitch the back band to the back.

But now that it's finished I'm happy with how it turned out, especially with the contrast stitching, and I like the interesting shape of the neckline.

Side vents.

Also featured: Cargo pants which, incidentally, are very uncomfortable to sit in with those snaps in the back. Thus all the squirming in church on Sunday.

Bell-Bottom Cords

The next installment in Sara's winter wardrobe is a pair of brown corduroy pants - called "Pumpkin pants" in Ottobre 4-2006-22. They turned out a little long and I couldn't hem them much shorter because I'd already done the applique. But she will no doubt grow into them soon.

The patch pockets each have 5 pintucks in them and, let me tell you, my finished pockets don't look quite like the pattern intended. Mine turned out narrower at the bottom, so they look a little silly with the big pocket flaps.

Otherwise, the fit is really good, after I took out about two inches from the sides up to the waist.

The applique design is from LollyChops.

You can't get any more basic than this

The basic white tee is an essential wardrobe piece, especially for going under pinafore jumpers and tunics. I used the Ottobre Design creative workshop #301 tee-shirt pattern in the slim fit version, which is fitted enough that I don't have to slim it down for Sara.

Also featured are the "Audrey capri pants". (And new socks from Target, of course).

Cuffed Trousers

After numerous trials on kids' pants - progressing from pajama pants, to elastic waist pants, to trousers with zippers - I have finally made a pair for myself. As I was cutting out and sewing these up, I had pretty low expectations for the outcome, since I've had such trouble fitting shoulders. But, to my surprise, they fit pretty well straight off the pattern and are extremely comfortable.

The pattern is from Burda 4-2009-118. These are pretty basic pants with so-called "witty" patch pockets on the front. I didn't realize how often I used those regular side pockets until I didn't have any. Ah well. I ended up lopping off a total of six inches from the leg length. Ha! That would have made me, what, over 6 feet tall!

After wearing them for several days, I think I may redo the cuffs to make the trousers a tad longer.

Another Spotted Cape

Grace is modeling the fleece cape I made for her cousin's birthday. It's nearly identical to the one I made Sara earlier this year, except this one has blue pom pom fringe and blue organza ribbon.



The pattern is Ottobre 6-2008-22A and very simple to make. I used my coverstitch to attach the pom pom fringe and didn't finish the edge beyond that.

I like the pointy hood.

Princess Dress

Our family went to the Renaissance Festival on the 31st and Sara was the only one without a costume, so I needed to "whip up" this princess dress. I modified a basic dress pattern (ottobre 4-2006-10) and embellished it just a bit. The boys wore their knights' tunics and Grace wore her droopy-winged fairy dress.

Not wanting to go shopping with so many other things on my plate, I dug through my stash and found some scraps of fancy fabrics and hoped they would go well together. The outer skirt is net and the underskirt seems like a metallic satin. Sadly, after a full days' use, the metallic fabric couldn't hold its own and was ripping apart - not just at the seams but even in the middle of the pieces! Metallic satin and elephant rides don't go together, I guess. (I got to ride the elephant too! Fortunately my clothes stayed intact.) I'll have to replace that skirt with some regular satin.

The bodice seems a little wide, even though I thought I'd slimmed the pattern down two sizes. I'll have to check before I sew it up in a regular dress for this winter.