Scarf-Collar Top

After oodles and oodles of kids' sewing, it was time for a little variety. Besides, my own closet needs some attention, since I've been wearing out some of my handmade things. Others have gone into the initially-accepted-but-finally rejected pile.

Someone just bumped her head.

I've been itching to make a few more Jalie's tops, which are more interesting than tees, but just as comfortable. This one's Jalie 2921, the scarf-collar top. I really like the clever construction. I won't try to describe it to you, but at one point, the entire shirt is rolled up like a sausage inside the scarf! It makes for a neat finish.

The scarf can be tied in several different ways. I did it this way because it's the one I figured out first. I think it looks rather elegant on the pattern photo, but on my version I'm a little nervous that it looks, well, weird. Opinions?

Strangely, this lavender interlock is the same exact fabric I used for my last Jalie top (the hooded tunic). Hmmm...I thought I was going for variety.

Do you want to see a wadder? Happily, it's my first hands-down wadder of the year, although the My Image dress may qualify as a failure since the bulging zipper hunchback shape has prevented me from wearing it in public. I don't know if it's possible to fix that sort of thing.

These sad shorts didn't even make it to the finished stage. They're from an old Burda magazine pattern - 2002, I think. The shorts call for "outdoor" fabric, whatever that is. You can see my choice of leftover heavy denim was not so great. Not only are they weirdly puffy, Sara thought they were ridiculously uncomfortable. I couldn't justify foisting these on a secondhand store, so they went to the bin for scraps. I'm sure the shorts would have been nice in a drapy "outdoor" fabric.

Yet another border print and 6 pairs of pants

Do you keep track of your sewing projects? I keep mine in a spreadsheet for the year, and noticed that in the last 6 weeks, I've stitched 25 Ottobre garments in a row! That's all kid sewing, mind you. I enjoyed making myself a Jalie top this weekend, which I show you soon.

This brown one has been worn and washed multiple times, now. It's a raglan sleeve and the sleeves (front and back) are gathered to the raglan seam. Very cute, but a little lost in the print.

Interestingly, the neckline is faced but the top edges are left raw. So there's a double layer raw edge, which is coverstitched close to the edge. I almost ignored the instructions and 'did it my own way', but reconsidered. Why not try something new?  It doesn't look any worse for all those washes.

Pattern is Frenchie Stripes T-shirt (Ottobre 1-2011-30). It's 3/4 sleeved, but I shortened the sleeves.

I gave Sara free choice from my personal fabric stores, and she chose my favorite border print knit, gah!

The striped shirt is Daisy T-shirt (Ottobre 1-2008-39). With these two shirts, I overcame my temporary hatred of clear elastic and have now sworn to use it anytime I ever have to gather something. It's so easy to get perfectly gathered fabric - at least compared to the traditional method

After the shirts, I went crazy and made 6 pairs of my favorite Ottobre pants, the Neat Beat Pants (6-2009-17). The girls got 3 matching pairs - denim, khaki, and navy twill.

But this time I added back pockets and I really love how they look now.

I've made so many of these, Grace will *only* wear pants with front yokes and elastic in the back. They must be really comfortable.


The navy twill pairs . . .

The lightweight khaki stretch twill pairs . . .

This is just one of the 'model' shots she  insisted I take.  

And the denim pairs . . .

Rose Dress in Border Print

I made this for a wedding we went to at the end of June. See what blogging mojolessness will do to you? I had liked the pattern ever saw it on the cover of the 1-2008 issue of Ottobre (see below), but was feeling a little meh about it after making it up.

That's partly because I was rushing to finish it up the night before (no time to go shopping for the perfect ribbon color), but also because I would have liked the waist to be gathered a little slimmer. Plus I had to make a quick half slip (I think some of you call this a petticoat?) mere minutes before hopping in the car after discovering that the batiste was really that sheer.

But all in all, I like how it turned out, especially with the fun border print. I have several border prints, and never stumble on just the right pattern for them. So I just dove in and used this print without thinking about it too much.

The front and back bodices are both gathered with the waist ribbon and the neck binding pinning the centered gathers in place. 

Not being a dress-wearing gal, Sara has worn this a grand total of twice. Younger sisters will no doubt appreciate it more.

Sources:

Rose Dress (Ottobre 1-2008-20) - upgraded up size

Border print batiste (Fabricland in Thundar Bay, Ontario - a wearable memento from our vacation last year)

Frodo Goes to Camp

I lost my blogging mojo a bit while stitching up duplicates of kids' basics. "Look! I made a t-shirt! Hey! Some elastic waist shorts!!!"

But, camp sewing is over. (Summer's almost over. Where'd it go?)

When Peter returned from camp he was exuberant. Somebody had a rip-roaring time! It took him about four days to stop bouncing around. Adding to his exuberance was the fact that his Frodo costume WON the costume contest! I couldn't believe it, especially since I didn't even know it was a contest. I thought it was just a fun dress-up day.

The camp he went to was Camp Oasis, a camp just for kids with Crohn's and ulcerative colitis. I was really impressed with how well-run it was. Can you imagine the logistics of running camp for 100 kids with varying health needs and complicated medicine regimens? At each meal, they called up each of the cabins one by one, for the kids to take their meds which were sorted sequentially in little bags. Besides having a bunch of nurses and doctors on the staff, it was a normal camp with swimming, crafts, ropes course, rock wall, campfires, canoeing, etc.

Other than the costume, I stitched up a few pj shorts and a spare blue t-shirt for him to pack for camp.

The shorts ("Green Check Boxer Shorts" a la Ottobre 6-2011-37) have a faux fly decorated with buttons. The buttons are meant to be working, but on a faux fly, why bother? I shortened them a little. They're quite baggy even after I slimmed them a bit.

The t-shirt is "Monster Car T-shirt" (Ottobre 3-2011-24) which has a nice slim fit.

Look here for the Frodo costume post.

I love the outhouse print on these!

This is a "what was I thinking" fabric, but it's kind of fun. Those are all different kinds of spurs.