Oliver & S Sunny Day Shorts and BONUS (belated) Halloween post :-)

I have been trying to think of a witty post title, but ... nothing. Anyway, my son required new sleep shorts and when Oliver & S released their new(ish) free Sunny Day Shorts pattern I was keen to try it out RIGHT AWAY. I printed and taped it the very same day it was released, picked the fabric, all set to go ... hmmm, now several months later, I have finally finished them. There are 2 of them, but they look almost identical really.

Since they are sleep pants I eliminated the side seams, by simply taping both pattern pieces together. Luckily I didn't bother cutting off the seam allowance, because, although according to the size chart he would be a size 10, I thought I make the 12 to give it a longer life and despite essentially adding an extra inch to each leg by not cutting off the seam allowance, it is far less roomy and in my opinion fits just right. Maybe I have truly acclimatised to Australia and now everything has to be baggy :-) I changed the second pair slightly in that I straightened out the inside leg seam so the I could do flat-felled seams without issue.

I think overall they fit wonderfully and I have the desire to make him a couple of 'daywear' ones with pockets, maybe for Christmas :-)


Bonus Blog Post :

I intended to post this refashion the day after Halloween, but it didn't happen, so I thought I might just tag it on here. Halloween is a big thing in our house. Next to Christmas and Birthdays, it is a definite countdown-worthy favourite.

4 weeks prior to H: 'Mummy, I am going to be a witch this Halloween' ... 'Alright dear'
2 weeks prior to H: 'I am going to be the awesomest witch ever' ... 'The awesomest, of course'
1 week prior to H: 'I'll be all in black, with a long dress and my hat and broom stick' ... 'Sure'

Sadly, although I remember every bit of these conversations, it didn't really penetrate until the day before Halloween that my pink and butterfly loving 5 year old needed a long black dress that wouldn't just materialise in her wardrobe. I was still debating whether to dash into Spotlight at 8pm when I suddenly remembered an old maternity dress that was a lovely black Jersey, but had stretched out in bust area and I couldn't wear it anymore.

In the morning of Halloween I cut out 2 simple bodice pieces from the back (the front wasn't really usable) and I just hoped that the stretch factor would hide any and all fitting issues. I used clear swimwear elastic to stabilise the shoulder seams as I have seen this done in RTW clothes and as that was readily available at my local spotlight, I have used it ever since I sewed with Jersey and so far the shoulder seams have stayed put ... Instead of finished the neckline and arms off with a band, I took a page out of Tilly and the Button's book and simply turned the edge over and finished it with a zigzag stitch ... my word, black is hard to photograph.

I then took what was left of the dress, gathered it to fit the bodice and attached it again with using the clear swimwear elastic as stabiliser.

The end result is pretty awesome actually. She loves it. She has worn it almost every day since I made it.

Anyway, speaking of Tilly, I am very tempted by her new Francoise Dress pattern, not sure whether it is actually the dress or whether it is simply that the dress on the front of the envelope is yellow and I SOOOOOOO want a yellow dress ...

sewing for children ??? yes please :-)

Every now and then I come across boggers who speak vehemently against sewing for children. It is usually from people without children, who occasionally or once have been asked or suggested or decided to sew for children of family and friends.

One of the frequent complaints seems to be 'ungratefulness' of the recipient (either child or parent thereof ), but I have to say both my children are over the moon when I sew something for them. They usually want to wear it RIGHT AWAY and tell everyone they meet that  'my mummy made it' with this wide smile. The joy I get from seeing the happiness in their little (or not so little in the case of my son) face is unmeasurable. True happiness :-)

Usually their items are simple and don't require much thought at all .... and their gratefulness is lasting. They are very reluctant to stop wearing something that I made for them. In fact, my son still wears his pyjamas I made 2 years ago, despite having seriously outgrown them. He even wanted to bring them to camp this year. In that spirit I used some of the jersey mountain to make him 2 pairs of jersey sleep shorts and one long pair.

The shorts only take about 50cms of fabric, so those 2 pieces of fabric were remnants from Spotlight at a dollar each.

The pattern itself is my self drafted shorts pattern for my son, very loose and roomy. Hopefully they'll last another 2 years :-)

The air plane jersey he picked out 2 years ago and I thought if I don't sew with it soon he'll be a teenager and just arch his eyebrow at the thought of air plane shorts/pants. Though I am only assuming this, having had no teenagers myself yet, it might well be that my kids will surprise me again.

Don't get me wrong if you spend hours upon hours creating an appliqued, multi-layered princess dress or similar, a piece of art you have poured your heart into ... I actually found an Alabama Chanin Style dress for a toddler in the Oliver &S flickr stream once ... anyway, chances are you are going to be disappointed with the thanks that you get. It is very hard for kids (and adults who don't sew) to put in the appropriate gratitude for something like this since they don't know the effort involved, but these shorts/pants are nowhere near this level :-)

UFO#2 the Space Shorts

When I started these shorts in February I was so proud. I did both inseam pocket and back pocket and it was fiddly and hot and I persevered ... and then my son tried them on ... and ... and ... and ... they were TOO SMALL.

I was somewhat crushed, okay I nearly cried and my son, my beautiful baby boy, offered to go on a diet to lose some weight so I didn't have to change them. Since at that point he was positively underweight, I made some cake instead and put the shorts away to alter another time.

Well, the time has come ...

One of my issues was that I didn't actually know how to make them bigger in the best way. That was solved when Sewaholic released her Tofino Pants that have a panel on each side. It is hardly noticeable and I was able to keep the inseam pockets.

Each panel is about 4 inches across so in fact I added 8 inches to the original waist size. It wasn't that much too small in February, but he gained considerable weight on his last asthma drug and I wanted there to be room from growth.

Sadly that cheering is not for me, but rather the Ashes and a golden duck. I am not even quite sure what that is, with cricket not being my thing. My husband has tried to explain the various details on the game many times, but it just hasn't captured me at all. I have this theory that if you are not into sports then cricket may as well be an instruction manual written in Swahili for some doohickie that carpenters use. :-)

Quick update

been sewing for the kiddilies, but somehow never got around to actually posting anything. I took some quick pictures, obviously only after they've been worn to there are already stains on them, but if I didn't do it now, who knows when the next opportunity would have come along :-)

First of a pair of shorts as my son gained significant amounts of weight on his new asthma drug (6 kg in 4 months or 20% of his overall body weight), but now that he stopped, he is slowly losing it too. I had hoped it would translate into a growth spurt, but I am still waiting for it.

I have at least another 3 pairs to make, so be prepared to see some more soon.

Now for the little girl I had cut up these small pieces last year to make a little skirt, but never got around to actually sewing it. At first I was intimidated by the gathering, then I worried about proportions and finally I realised if I don't sew it now, she'll grow out of it before I get to it. The solid pink is her hip circumference times 1.5, then divided by 2 and then added seam allowances. The flowery tier is her hip circumference times 2, then divided by 2 and then added seam allowances. However, I don't think there is any need for precision tbh. An inch too much isn't going to ruin it, I think.

So 2 more pieces stash busted, but I really need to start on some of the bigger pieces in order to free some room :-)

First projects of the year

apparently children grow ... a mere 2 months after declaring both kids had enough clothes, my son discovered that he has outgrown not one, not two, but three pairs of shorts. Similarly my daughter now has far fewer skirts that fit then before Christmas. Lucky for me that ties in nicely with the Stashbusting Sewalong and the January topic of Itty Bits.

First I made a little gathered skirt for my baby girl. It was the first time when I sewed something where I thought 'Yes, this is really easy'. I feel I have turned a bit of a corner now I guess.

Secondly I got started on the shorts. I used the pattern I made myself and sized it up.

As my son remarked that they were a bit wide, I made the next pair smaller, except it was late and I made them too small. I could have cried. It was fabric my son picked out over a year ago and that was very special to him, and i don't have enough to start anew. I have put it to the side for now and look at it again on the weekend when I am less likely to burst into tears.

That is 2 pieces off the stash, so onwards and upwards. Both pieces have been there for a while, but they were meant to become skirts and shorts respectively.

On another note, I am trying to make one potholder a week in order to get rid of all the yarns ends that I have laying around. It is actually a square, but the picture is a bit weird.

 

 

A potholder a week makes the yarn stash all neat :-)

UFO #2 - the City Scape Shorts

I had it all cut out and ready to sew and then never really got going. The fabric is a quilting cotton he chose, so it was really easy to sew. However, in the end it was a struggle that I can't really explain other then I really didn't want to. It seems that I have so little time and so many things I want to do ... sigh ...

Despite all this, I am really proud of how neat they turned out on the inside.

This time I french-seamed the pockets like Megan did in her Apple Dress and it worked beautifully.

 

I have done this pattern before (and moaned and griped about the instructions to anyone I could find) and I wonder whether that previously negative experience had tempered my enthusiasm with this project. I tried to address some of the issues I had with the last version. I set the pockets higher, because last time he couldn't actually get into the pockets, because they started where his fingers ended - his own fault if you ask me for wearing his shorts so low that they barely cover his bottom, but apparently I am old and don't know anything about fashion ... kids these days :-)

However, looking at it now, there is too much fabric in the front and maybe lowering the waistline would improve that issue. Alternatively, I still have my self-drafted pattern which fitted him really well, but is now getting a little small. I could attempt to size that one up instead. Well, he now has enough pants, so I'll look at the issue when he outgrows all the ones he has.

Two down, six more to go, next UFO here we come :-)

summer sewin' - happens so fast

why yes, I do have the soundtrack of Grease running through my head, what gave it away :-)

The first month of spring is drawing to an end, so the summer sewing has began. First my (not so little anymore) baby boy requested an elephant for himself.

I had originally bought some really soft green and blue seersucker from Spotlight for some shorts for him, but Mr Giggles (the great guru of all things style related she says whilst rolling her eyes dramatically) thought it looked 'a bit girly' oh really ... hmmm let me count the ways ... anyway the topic was moot since my son requested his elephant to be made from this.

I managed to squeeeeeenze out a pair of sleep shorts using the pattern I made myself when I first started sewing, but lengthened it a bit and make an elephant from it. It's 'so cute' as my daughter puts it, whilst my son starts a drawn out explanation why it can't possibly be 'cute'.

I even added a back pocket to them. Obviously I didn't think about it until I had already sewn the inside seam, but nevertheless it worked out. Next time I'll attach it before :-)

The ears are from the left over brown flannel from his Jedi bath robe and it is really cuddly. It has graced his bed ever since it had one eye attached - I only managed to sew on one eye before getting distracted, so there where a couple of days when the heffalump was half-blind, but still very much loved.

PS.: Mr Giggles has acknowledged that he might have been a bit hasty declaring the fabric 'girly' :-)

Spring is in the air

In preparation for the (inevitable) return of the heat - I'd rather not call it spring, because having a month of semi hot weather before it turn hot 'n humid really doesn't qualify as it's own season - I have asked the son whether he needed anything and he apparently needed some red shorts (for Rugby training - Go Reds).

When I pick up the Ice Cream Social dress pattern I felt guilty about buying such an expensive pattern for the daughter, so in the interest of sibling equality I also bought Beach Bum Hoodie and Board Shorts by Patterns by Figgy's.

I wish I could recommend them as enthusiastically as I did with Oliver + S. The pattern itself was okay, but the instruction left a bit to be desired to be honest. They reminded me of a photo tutorial without the photos, and I found it irritating that there wasn't a separate layout for the shorts instead it was for the shirt and the shorts together. Why is that irritating I hear you ask, well, because I looked straight for the shorts bit in the instructions and was then confused why the layout wasn't there and why there was no mention of the seam allowances. I did find them eventually in the hoodie section.

Another niggly bit was there was a long description about how to finish the seams for a sensitive child and after reading it I thought they sounded like flat-felled seams, but at no point did it say that and I would have preferred they had said that and then went on to describe it in detail. And don't get me started on the pockets. In short I ended up not using the instructions at all. Instead I used some Simplicity shorts instructions and my own. I think they turned out well.

He likes them and wants another pair, maybe a little shorter though. He also likes his shorts (and pants) to sit on his hips, but I think these are meant to be worn higher and thus have a lot of room in the crotch area, so next time I should probably take 5 cm or so off from the top if that works with the pockets that is. This is how it looks with the shorts properly pulled up (complete with dirt stains from the rugby training).

I do like him in red, it suits him and he is easily picked out in a group :-)

Boy Shorts or Stripes Aplenty

It's a bit late but last week I worked on some shorts for my (not-so little anymore) son. It is a self-drafted pattern made with the help of a pair of exiting shorts and Dana's wonderful tutorial over at Dana Made It. The white and beige stripey ones were a trial version and I had just had enough fabric (so matching stripes or anything like that possible). Still, my son was very excited and whilst I wanted to give them to charity, he was visibly shocked by that idea :-)

For the final version I straightened out the pattern a little and made the legs slightly narrower, but overall it was perfect as it was. Now my little daughter wants some too :-)