This KCW has been all about making gifts for babies. I thought it would be super quick and I could crank em out. Not so. As I’ve gotten better at sewing, I’ve gotten slower. Seems counterintuitive, I know. Yes, I can sew faster, but now when I make things I want to make them better not faster. That means slowing down and ironing a hem before I sew it–pinning it even! [just as an aside: I listened to a podcast where the interviewee, Soyna Phillip, said the same thing. It’s a good one, go listen! ] (more…)

I started sewing clothes for my kids 6 years ago. These pants are actually the first thing I ever made! Part of me is very proud at how far I’ve come. That up there is a by god homemade swimsuit! But then another part of me is disappointed with my sloth-like pace.

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Mr. Muscles up there is pretty psyched about his new outfit, and honestly so am I. One super soft hoodie and one pair of crazy town pants and kcw outfit #2 is done and dusted.

First let’s talk about the pants:

PATTERN: Jacob pants pattern by Zonen 09. Obviously I love me some crazy town super flares. This pattern is just fun to make. I made a faux fly again (like yesterday) with piped patch pockets. I omitted the back pockets, because I was starting to go blind staring at this fabric.

FABRIC: the fabric is home dec-y stuff from JoAnn’s. I think it’s made by HGTV.  It had some sort of coating on it, because it was meant for outdoor use, but that seemed to have come out in the wash. Unfortunately, it faded a ton in the washer too. But I think I can safely say this print still pops.

SEWING: The sewing went super smoothly. Patterns are just twice as fast the second time around.

now for the hoodie:

PATTERN: flashback skinny tee by Rae. I made one size up (a 7 for my 6 year old) and it’s perfect. I added a hood, using Rae’s tutorial. I finished the edging around the hood and neckline in a different way and it’s eh. Okay, but just eh. Do it the way Rae wants you too. It’s a little fiddly, but looks better. I left the end of the sleeves raw, then rolled them up and tacked them with a few stitches. It’s a little half assed, but I like how it looks. I’ve noticed a few of the shirts I’ve bought lately do this. Hey they’re lazy like me!

FABRIC: oh this fabric is a dream. It’s a thin, but still cozy, sweatshirt material. It’s a beautiful dark teal color and a little loopy on the wrong side, heathered on the right. Ack! I love it. I think I got it from lowpricefabric.com, but I can’t find anything similar there now. I wish I could because I’d like to make myself something out of it.

SEWING: the sewing went well. Attaching the hood was easier than I thought, but finishing it was a lot harder. I’m not happy with how the placket turned out. Next time I think I’ll make a bias tape tube (circle?) the length of the opening and sew continuously around the placket + the hood. Would that work? I’m not great with plackets. But! But! I did sew those buttons that are on the placket with my sewing machine. WooHoo!

Outfit #2 is done, I might just be able to eek out #3.

Have you ever finished a Christmas present in May? I suppose that’s what happens when you start the largest and most complicated crochet project you’ve ever attempted in November.

Yes, this is a christmas present for my mother (and birthday present and now mother’s day present). Yes, she has seen it, unfinished and unblocked. Yes, that is kind of mean: “Here is this thing I’m making you that’s half done and kind of crappy looking! Aren’t you excited? No, you can’t have it! And I have no idea when I’ll be done! Merry Christmas!”

Oh well. It is actually done done now. I finished the crocheting in February I think, then I had a little project fatigue. I did not want to see it or touch it or do anything else with it. Has that ever happened to you?

I was super nervous about blocking the shawl, because blocking could make or break this project. This project I had devoted a crazy amount of hours to already.  Finally, I borrowed some blocking wires from a friend (thanks, Debbie!), bought 200 pins, cleared off the guest bed, and blocked that sucker. It turned out nicely, seeing I had no idea what I was doing! The before and after blocking pictures are pretty striking. Block your work, people!

You can find the link to the pattern on Ravelry. Sorry there isn’t any information about the yarn I used. I will try to hunt it down, because I’ve completely forgotten what it was called. It was a lovely lace weight, mohair blend just slightly variegated. It was the absolute perfect yarn for this project. I guess I’ll just have to go back to the yarn store to see if they still stock it.

Maybe this would be a good time to start working on her present for this christmas…

Today I am over at You & Mie for her series on Japanese Sewing Books. The series walks you through all the steps you need to know  from Japanese pattern books. They can be a bit intimidating, but they also can be a lot of fun. My post is all about finding your pattern and tracing it. Sounds easy, but there are some tricks you need to know. Hop on over to Cherie’s lovely blog for my post, and all the guest posts this week!

In honor of Japanese Sewing Books week, I sewed up this sundress from my favorite Japanese sewing book, Happy Homemade Vol. 2. Well, to be honest, I dug up this dress that I sewed most of last spring, then hemmed it and added buttons (in honor of Japanese Sewing Books week). Why I sew 90% of something and then abandon it is beyond me.

But anyway, it’s done and (still) fits! I’m going to do a form style report on this one, because 3 days into spring break and the children have run me ragged already. My brain is not functioning at full capcity.

the fabric: oh, the fabric is lovely. It is 100% cotton shirting I got from the good fabric store in my neighborhood. They have a lot of beautiful fabrics, but mostly in ugly prints. This tiny blue stripe was perfect, though. It’s a good weight too, just right for when (if?) summer comes. I went with polka dot buttons because it’s stripes + polka dots up in here, all the time.

the pattern: the pattern is from Happy Homemade Vol. 2. I sew from this book a lot; I talk about it a lot too.  I think it’s a great 1st Japanese sewing book. I’d love to do some sort of sew-along thing-a-bob with the patterns in the book. Anyone up for it? Maybe after KCW? Anyway, the pattern. The pattern was pretty simple, because, well the dress is pretty simple. I do remember the armholes being super fussy and weird.

the sewing: There was a little swearing, but there alway is, isn’t there? The fabric was dreamy. The striped bias tape turned out really nice, as did the bias cut bodice piece. I’d say not bad for a dress half done, abandoned, and (because it’s almost Easter, I’m just going to go for it and say…) resurrected. Ha!