Queenie Jeans

Many, many months ago, I discovered some pairs of designer jeans at Goodwill for only a few dollars a piece.  I bought them without trying them on and found them to be too tight when I got home. 

 After a few months and a fitness challenge and diet change I tried, I did actually get slim enough to fit into them, but then discovered that they weren't really the right shape for my body anyway, a typical problem I have when pant shopping.  I then put them in a pile in my sewing room of garments that I hope to eventually reuse for projects.  

Most of the garments in that pile don't actually get used, but I was inspired to use the Queenie pattern by Farbenmix to make my girl a new pair of jeans after she outgrew some.  

The denim color mixing was not planned, but it turned out that there wasn't enough space available on one pair of jeans to cut out all the pieces needed.  

She loves them!

I really enjoy the fit and shape of Euro patterns (like Farbenmix) and have some of my best looking sewing results with them.  You should try some if you haven't before.

Sewing for Disney

In my last post, I told you I got my hair cut a little shorter and colored it back to red.  Some variation of this is how I've been wearing it from then, which was in the fall of last year, until now.  

In between then and now, we went on another Disney vacation and, since I made all the clothes we packed for the girls the first time around, I felt I needed to make it a tradition.  Here is the sewing I completed for the trip this time.

For my older daughter and myself:

For myself and the little boy:

I did one of these for each girl.

One of my favorites was this "mine" shirt and we just had to get a picture in front of the seagulls outside the Nemo ride.

These skirts were fun and colorful and comfortable.  A win all around.

One of the few completely coordinated sets I made.  The fabric is "It's a Small World" theme.

Peter Pan shirts for me and the little boy.

Our Star Wars themed day at Hollywood Studios.

I included this one because there's another little me-made in here that I don't have another picture of.  It wasn't made for Disney, but its her favorite, so she brought it.  It's the fleece University of Georgia jacket my younger daughter is wearing.  I haven't made jackets for my kids before, but following Brindille and Twigs pattern made it pretty easy and the results were great.  

I stumbled onto the Sew The Year challenge over at Straight Stitch Designs and I think I might join once I'm done with all of these posts to get you back up to speed on my sewing projects.

I can go ahead and give away a couple of things that are up my sleeve.  I have lavender stretch denim on it's way in the mail with the hope of making some jeans from Mimi G's Simplicity pattern.  eep!
AAAaaaaand, I want to tackle swimwear again.  I tried it two summers ago and never ended up with a suit I loved.  I'm hoping this will be the summer I have success with swimwear.

I need lots of fingers crossed for both the jeans and the swim suit.

A Lot of Random Sewing and More...

Last Summer, I decided I would tackle swimsuits.  I made swim bottoms for my girls using an underwear pattern and I made rash guards using a free raglan shirt pattern.  I wasn't super-thrilled with the results, but the girls liked them and they didn't fall apart in the pool, so, good enough for starters. The only one wearing her Mommy-made suit in this picture is the one on the right.

Another scrap of Euro fabric leftover from a previous project was the perfect amount for this top using a dress pattern from LilyGiggle.  The curved band across the front and back are supposed to be interfaced, but I was lazy and skipped that step.  Well, it only got through about three washes before it was deformed, so I'm glad I happened to get a picture the first time she wore it.

Cute fishy shorts to match a RTW tank.

I am slowly starting to recognize that different weights and drapes of knits are more or less suitable for certain patterns.  It's taken me long enough, right?!  I've only been sewing for, like 5 years and I'm just now learning this.  So I used some bamboo cotton knit in grey with another soft, drapey, mystery knit scrap for the sleeves to make my new favorite v-neck raglan.  I didn't make it skin-tight, for once, and it's something I've been wearing just as much as any of my RTW tees, which has never really happened before now.

(no makeup, dark roots an only 1/4 of the garment showing... I'm telling you, my blogging photos ain't what they used to be.)

We go to Destin every summer.  Last summer, I made some things I really loved for my little dude and I still think they are some of my cutest makes for him.  

 

This superhero knit is so squishy and soft.  I'm so glad I have plenty more of this left in my stash. I think the print is definitely something that I can make a new item from each time he grows out of the last one, without fear of him disliking it.  Superheros are a classic.

I mentioned two posts ago that I was loving my pink hair but that maintaining it was costly and time consuming.  I had already decided before I even bleached it and colored it pink that I would only keep it a few months and then chop it off.  Here it is after the chop!  

I told my stylist she could do whatever she wanted with it and I felt SO not myself after this.  Like I was pretending to be that girl that can rock a pink crazy pixie cut...

but I was feeling mostly like a clown.

I ended up dying it back to red and also getting my stylist to trim it a little shorter, but I did learn to love wearing it swooped up.

I'll show you that next time.

Playing Catch-Up Again

Last time I wrote, I left you with a grainy picture of me in my newly finished Easter Dress.  Here is a slightly better photo.

And one from Easter lunch at my grandparent-in-laws' country club.

I'm not sure what caught my attention and made me look away from the camera, but something must have.  I hemmed that dress to be floor length even when wearing my platform 6" heels and I really need to hem it again and make it shorter so that I can wear it with flats.  Otherwise, it will continue to live in my closet where it has stayed since last Easter.

I'm going to take a few blog posts to chronicle more of the sewing that I've been doing, but I don't see myself being able to do anything like what I used to do.  I used to set up the tripod with the nice camera, take 25 photos, upload them, edit them and then write a detailed post about the pattern.  HA! No way I can do that anymore with my little boy running around getting into everything.  So, iPhone action shots, probably unedited, are what you should expect for a while.

Here are a couple of shots from the mall playground of a cute little Mario-themed set I made.

He's looking over his shoulder at sister and imagining all the high places he will try to leap off of when we get home.

Action shots are par for the course for this guy who hardly stops moving.

This is another set I made with a little bit of precious euro jersey I had and some cheapo stripes.

The tuxedo stripe on the pants was only to fix a mistake in cutting the pants too small, but I really like the effect.

And, for today, I'll leave you with another not-very-good-photo of a dress that I copied as best I could from one of my favorite ready to wear dresses.  I saw this fabric at JoAnns and reeeeeally wanted something made from it.  I guess I thought hacking my own made-up pattern out of it was a better idea than using a pattern I already had.  It worked out mostly ok.  It's a little tight in the thigh/hip area and I have to walk with a bit smaller stride than normal.  I'll probably add a slit in the side for wear this summer.  Maybe I can come back to this one after my alteration and get some better photos, but I'm not promising anything.

Until next time.... 

Trying To Catch Up (Life is Good)

 I have been sewing, just not blogging.  I haven't been sewing nearly as much as I used to be able to, but if I do get time to sew AND take some photos, I definitely don't seem to have the time to blog about my process, fabrics, pattern and such.  I'm sad that I can't do what I used to, but this little boy has made everything more challenging... and more wonderful.

This is the Tie Dye Diva Janie and Jack pattern.  It's an adorable little pattern with a lined bodice and instructions for a snap crotch, which I decided to forgo.  I added a bow tie to try to make it more boyish.  He's just so pretty, it's not totally clear that he's a boy to all his public admirers.

 For our obligatory family beach photo in Destin, I sewed my shirt using the Grainline Tee pattern and I made the girls dresses from three different rayon prints I found at Hancock Fabrics (RIP) and used a combo of the Rabbit Rabbit Hummingbird dress bodice and the skirt from Annabelle by Violette Field Threads.

This is the OZ romper from Ellidactyl.  I made 2, but my snap process is not going well.  I can get them in, but then they keep getting pulled out in use.  I've stayed away from snaps for a while since I made this.

This is the most involved thing I've made for me since my boy was born.  It's my Easter dress.  I chose this beautiful rayon print from JoAnn's and used a Cynthia Rowley pattern from Simplicity (1801).

Oh, and I colored my hair pink, which was super fun, but too expensive to keep up for very long.

I'll try to do another catch-up post soon.

What's up?

First, this happened.

 So I bought the Megan Nielson maternity tee shirt pattern and made three or four.

Then, this happened. (This is our new house.)

Then, this happened...and we had a blast, but I was a little out of my mind to do Disney while very pregnant.

 I made the girls something to wear for every day we were there.

Here I am, nine months pregnant, with the newly painted nursery wall as a backdrop.

And then...

he happened. 

:)

and I got to sew my first coordinating outfits for my girls and my boy.

And thats what I've been up to.