New Summer Staple--Wrigley Raglan

Are you looking for a great raglan shirt pattern? Well look no further! The newly released Wrigley Raglan from Love Notions is your one stop shop that has the raglan covered.

 It comes in a huge range of sizes, has 3 different collar options (crew, split or hooded), has 3 different lengths (shirt, tunic or dress) and has plus sizes as separate sizes.  It really  does cover it all!

 I was part of the testing and believe me, this one is a great final product. Both of my daughters (I couldn't stop at just one) love their shirts. They say they fit super well and are super comfortable.  There are more of these in our future.  This pattern is also a great one for upcycling those old large t-shirts (some great examples in the pattern pictures). Clara wants one with the Cardinals logo on it to where to school on Card's Day...now to find a shirt at a thrift store.  

 The other nice thing is the feminine fit of the shirt.  This is a shirt for girls and the high/low hem is a nice feature to that. 

By adding some length to the shirt, I also made 2 night shirts for my night gown loving daughter.

Our dog Max kept insisting on being in the pictures.

So now we have a new Summer staple, with many more of these to come.

And another great thing is the pattern is on sale until Saturday June 13, so go check it out over at Wrigley Raglan by Love Notions

The pink stripes and polka dots was her choice. The navy is from a stash I inherited from somewhere and it is super soft, so was perfect for pjs.

If you want to see the other version I made, you can check it out over at Sew Cool with the Tween Scene.

A Great PJ Pattern

If you are looking for a new pajama pattern with lots of options...look no further. GYCT Designs has a new one, released today, that has now become my girl's favorite pajamas.

 It's for knits and it has lots of options. 2 different tops, short sleeve or long, color block or not and shorts or pants.  I'm telling you, this pattern has it covered for year round pjs!

 If you are interested, first you should check out the blog post over at GYCT because she is giving away 2 copies!

 But if you don't want to wait, it will be on sale until Wednesday too.

 So go check it out HERE or HERE.

It really is a great pattern and would be a perfect pattern to jump into sewing with knits.  

Introducing the Shortie Nightgown

When it comes to sleepwear, this would be my signature look...comfy, classy and vintage.
Here at our house, the girls kind of prefer nightgowns to sleep in, which are almost always made by me. It's always fun to mix it up and try new patterns and ideas though...you gotta do what you gotta do to keep things interesting.  This time around I went with a vintage/old fashioned look.

As for the pattern, well I'd like to introduce to you a new nightgown plus bloomers pattern by Chelsea over at GYCT. And she's got a lovely group gathered to show you just what you can do with the Shortie Nightgown and Bloomers pattern.

It is a great staple of a pajama pattern, with several options to mix it up...top and bottom, sleeveless or with sleeves.  It was a breeze to whip up, with easy to follow instructions. And best of all, Clara loves it and says it is super comfortable!

 Like I said, she's kind of a nightgown kind of a gal, so I went with the nightgown length option. I also had this vision of an old fashion, pure white nightgown with lovely details to make it special, so I went with my vision and made it out of Kona cotton in white.

 I really wanted to add the little pleats and pin tucking details to the top, so the only change I made to the pattern was to add 4 inches to the front piece by laying the middle side of the pattern 2 inches from the fold instead of right on the fold. This allowed me to add a total of 6 pleats and 14 pin tucks to the front. Then instead of gathering it to the yoke as instructed, I only gathered the little parts left on each side. The pleats and tucks act a little like the gathering, in that it kept the front piece nice and roomy for a much more comfortable sleep. I also added lace at the sleeve and bottom hems to give it that old fashioned look. Okay, I take that back, I did change one more thing...I added 3 more inches to the bottom hem for the off the charts tall gal of mine, plus she likes them long.

 We had a little fun with this 'photo shoot' where she wanted to pretend to sleep with her favorite stuffed friends...outside.

 This is a pattern that I will definitely be making again...easy to cut and assemble, probably an hour tops. I'm actually itching to try it in a knit.
So head on over and pick yourself up a great addition to your nightgown sewing repertoire.
Chelsea's also got a great give-a-way as well as a sale (use Shortie20 for 20% off this week) going on.
  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Christmas Crafting--Part 1

In case you were wondering what the whole clan looks like, here is our family picture from this year.

 Now on to half of the the Christmas crafting (I haven't gotten around to taking pictures of the other half:)

First up: Clara's Christmas Eve pajamas. I don't really do the whole holiday theme/color scheme because these are the pjs the wear all year round. I usually try and pick something that I think they will really like or a favorite color.  This year I found 3/4 of a yard of this adorably cute flannel in the remnant bin at JoAnn's. I snatched it up, planning on adding to it for a nightgown. I was just going to add white flannel where needed to make a full nightgown. I figured that way the cute fabric would really stand out...and I was trying to keep my purchases to a minimum.

But last minute I changed my plans and made pajama pants instead. The reason was that Sophia got these cool fabric markers and I kind of wanted to try them out. I just used a plain t-shirt for the top.

There wasn't quite enough fabric to get a full length of pants out of it, so I added the pink onto the bottom as well as the ric-rac for a little touch.

Don't mind the early Christmas morning 'I didn't brush' my hair look and focus on the cute fox I drew. The fabric markers were easy to use and so far have made it through one washing. I'd give them 2 thumbs up...we have lots of projects in mind for these.

And yes, she really really likes these pajamas.

 Every year I give my kids an ornament. Eventually when they go off and get married or move out on there own where they put up a Christmas tree, they'll get their box of ornaments. Some years they have some memory attached to them. If we take a family trip I usually try to find an ornament for that year then (score because the trips are usually in the summer and the ornaments are super cheap then). We have Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Promontory Point and Panama City beach represented. Some years I just grab the cute cheap ones from Target (we are partial to birds and some years they've had some good ones). Other years I make them.  That's what I ended up doing for this year...we didn't take any big trips and the store ones were kind of disappointing this year.

The girls got the little matryoshka dolls and the boys got the snowflake looking ones.

They are all made from wool felt and I kind of like how they turned out.

Keeping Busy

You know that little dream you have when your kids are finally all in school and you will have so much time to get to all of those projects you've been putting off for years?  Call me when you send your last to school and I'll fill you in with the reality...it hasn't happened yet for me.  My day seems to fly by and if I didn't have this blog I would wonder what I've accomplished.  At least here I document some of what I do so that I have a little record of my time spent.  I have been busy and am still sewing. Lately, most of my sewing has been documented over at Sew Cool for the Tween Scene, so go check out my latest review if you want to see some sewing for my kids.

 As for other projects, they were all put on hold for these that I volunteered myself for.  You see I firmly believe in serving others through your God given talents. I think sewing is one of my talents, so I do what I can with it.  This is a bunch of dance costumes that need to be altered (and these are the easy ones...there's a whole other batch that will require some thinking and time to fix). The 2 companies, a junior and a senior one, at my daughter's dance studio perform all year round at places like nursing homes and children's hospitals (one of the things I like about this place...they don't do a Christmas/Winter recital just so that they can focus on serving the community). Anyway, that means they need their costumes now, so I'm tightening straps and taking in some bodices.

 These are going to be super hero capes. My oldest, who is high school, will be headed to Grand Nationals with his marching band in a couple of weeks up in Indiana. Instead of wandering around the mall for hours in their down time between performing, the parents thought it would be a good idea to do something service oriented. They found this project called The Hero Project and plan on having a cape for each member of the band (160+) to give to one child in the hospital up there.  The capes come to me cut out and I just add the applique and sew the inside and outside together. Someone else is adding the velcro. Pretty easy on my part and just something little I can do in my own little way.

Top 12 of 2012

So I am still without a sewing machine and I only have one of my leg warmers done, that leaves me without much to post.  Instead I thought I'd do a little recap of 2012.  It was fun to look back and see all that I had made.  Here are the favorites.  The girls picked their top 3 and the rest I added.

May I present the TOP 12 of 2012

(click on the picture to get taken to the post)

#1

Sophia's #1 pick

Jane Austen inspired 'Sprigged Muslin'--made for Project Run and Play Season 4

#2

Clara's #1 pick

This was my take on a circle skirt again from Project Run and Play season 4.

This is one of those pieces of clothing that makes me smile when she wears it.  The vintage hankies were from my Grandmother. 

#3

Sophia's #2 pick

This was my 60's inspired dress made for Sophia's Rock & Roll Read-a-thon.

It was fun to try and recreate something so iconic.

#4

Clara's #2 pick

Baby Petunia was a present for Clara's 4th birthday.

#5

Sophia's #3 pick

Another outfit from Project Run and Play season 4, it was made from fabric brought back from Africa by my husband

#6

Clara's #3 pick

She picked her Christmas outfit, especially her wool coat with the muff, but I'll say the wool coats for both count.

#7

Yet another outfit from Project Run and Play season 4, my take on sportswear, which then I used for my first guest post and tutorial.

#8

This was the first time I really mass produced anything.  I made 30 of these hoods for the high school marching band, which my son is a member of.  They went on to have an amazing season, winning state, regional, and doing really well in national's.

#9

This was a non sewing/non crafting creation, but a creation none the less, our garden.  Here's a comical tomato that we picked.

#10

    Another outfit that just makes me smile when I see it worn.  I love how these pjs turned out!

#11

This outfit was for Heidi's Knock It Off series. Since this was a personal request to participate and not something I volunteered to do, I felt very flattered to be asked.  I was in very talented company, so you should check out what everyone else did for the series.

#12

Finally, the entire 5th season for Project Run and Play

Clicking on the picture will take you to my recap of the season, which then links to each individual post about each outfit.

Playing along with this season was a lot of fun and I learned a lot.  Each week I taught myself something new and I really felt that I grew as a seamstress.  I felt I also grew as a photographer, challenging myself to learn more about taking pictures. I also got to do another tutorial over at Project Run and Play, based on the skirt from the Holiday week.

My favorite was the signature look that I made for Sophia--corduroy pants, fitted button up shirt with lots of detail in greens and yellows and a scarf...I really wanted this outfit in my size!  I think that outfit and Clara's wool coat tie for my favorite things made in 2012.

Christmas Pajamas Finally Done

We do Christmas pjs at our house, but we don't do "Christmas" pjs as in they have to be Christmas-y.  The kids just get new ones on Christmas Eve.

This year Sophia wanted pants and a shirt.  Here's what I came up with:

 The flannel came from JoAnn's.  The pattern I used was Simplicity 3669 and made them drawstring pants.  I was able to get both pieces out of 2 yards of fabric.  Not sure if I'll be able to do that much longer.

 I added the yellow for a little contrast and pop of color.

Clara just wanted a simple nightgown.  She likes cats, so I picked up this flannel at JoAnn's for her pajamas.  For hers I used Simplicity 5695 and modified it a little to make it more comfy.

Christmas PJs

Here are the girls in their Christmas pjs. I had picked up the knit fabric with the summer clearance fabric at Hobby Lobby, thinking it would make Christmas pajamas. It's bright and cheerful and not really Christmas-y, but it made great pjs. For Sophia's I used one of the latest from the Oliver & S line. Again, I loved their very detailed patterns/instructions and again, I realized their patterns run a little small. For Clara, I used my go to dress/pjs pattern and then made up some pants/bloomers because she said she really wanted pants too. This year the boys got store bought ones. We don't live close to a Joanne's to get a good price on the good flannel and really at their size, it's cheaper to buy them (especially on the after Thanksgiving day sale).