A Second Library Dress

I had picked out some Kona colors for an upcoming project and chose to order them through Hawthorne Supply Co, and whenever I order fabric online, I always look through the sale pages as well. Especially this time, because I needed some new pajama pants and prefer to make pajama pants out of less expensive fabric...I found some good ones, and I found a print that I thought my second daughter would really love. It has horses on it, and she's a bit obsessed with horses. She takes horse lessons and just loves them. Wants to have some when she's older. So, I thought she'd like a dress out of this fabric, but I asked her first, because I have made clothes for them without checking and sometimes they don't get worn. I didn't want to invest my time and money in a project if she wasn't going to like it. Luckily she did, and I thought it would be cute in the Library dress pattern by Oliver and S. She was a tad hesitant because she wanted a maxi length dress, but I just don't see a quilting cotton working well in a longer style like that, and I didn't have any patterns that were longline that. I went with the Library dress, and found a scrap big enough for the waistband in my drawer that she also approved, and got to work. 

I opted to leave off the collar because the print feels busy, and I'm glad I did. It made it go a bit faster but it also gives it a cleaner look. I added 5" to the bottom and probably should have added more. But she'll grow out of it, unfortunately, before that becomes a real issue, even though she wishes it were a tad longer. I made a 12, she's just almost 11 years old, and by measurements it should be a good fit, but it's a tad snug across her shoulders. Not uncomfortably so, yet, but she is growing. I'm also glad that lining up the print worked pretty well. I got it well centered for the front skirt and the bodice worked out as a happy accident. I was careful to make sure it was straight, but otherwise, the way it lined up looks good by chance. No picture of the back, but I had just enough buttons in my jar that worked well. The top button is actually different, it's about the same size, and about the same color, close enough you wouldn't notice if you didn't know to look. And I think they work well. 

She loves it, and I'm so glad. I hope she feels loved--so often when I make things, everyone gets one/something. But this time around she's the only one that got a dress, and she didn't even have to ask for it. 

Summer Sewing

I've been busy sewing for summer for my girls, and I'm not done yet! First up, I made a couple of t-shirts, one each for my older two girls, from leftover performance fabric I had bought for myself. One was an athletic material and the other was a merino wool. The performance fabric is a tad heavier than I'd like, and may be better suited to leggings, but I like the top, just not sure it's as perfect for the hot weather as the lightweight merino one is. 

Next, I made 3 pairs of Sunny Day shorts by Oliver and S for pajama bottoms for my girls. I let them pick quilting cotton from my stash I was okay with letting go of, and one of their choices surprised me, but they all turned out great. I wanted to make them pajama shorts because for our upcoming trip, we're aiming to pack super light because there won't be a lot of room in our rental car for a lot of luggage. So, shorts are preferable to traditional pj pants. 

Most recently, I finished a stack of 15 t-shirts. My oldest got two made from the Isidro pattern by Itch to Stitch with just a couple of modifications, the rest of the t-shirts are School Bus T-shirts by Oliver and S, and my second daughter got 4, one twin got 4, and the other got 5. I assembly line sewed them to an extent, doing them in groupings based on size and thread color. It took almost 3 weeks and I'm so glad to be done. It was a lot of serging! They seem mostly happy with them...hopefully they'll wear them! I like to sew them t-shirts because they're all so tall that it's hard to find them shirts that are long enough. And, bonus, most of the fabric I used for this stack was purchased at Black Friday from Girl Charlee and so they averaged $3-4/yard. Super cheap! 

I had to measure...6-1/2 inches tall! That's a lot of t-shirts!

Next, I need to pick up my fabric from Raspberry Creek and make some rash guard sets. Wish me luck...

Fira Top

I think it's pretty common to work on clearing things out during the first part of the year. One of the things I decided to work on was clearing out some old linen scraps I have from other projects. I love the linen from fabrics-store.com, but they only sell in full yard cuts, which means that I often have a lot left over, but not quite enough to do a lot with. And, I've also been thinking how nice it would be to use cloth napkins at the dinner table. Jeff's aunt uses them and just has a drawer full of eclectic cloth napkins, and a friend we stayed with in New England last fall also had a drawer full. They were so much nicer than our traditional paper towels, and I figured they'd be a great way to use some of this fabric that is crammed on my shelves.

But, I didn't want to use it for napkins if there was enough to use for something else, AND there were a couple linen items I wanted to make before the summer, so those items shot up the priority list so I could make them first and use any leftovers for napkins. 

First was my Fiore Skirt. I was short even, and had to use some scraps in a slightly different color. But I love how it turned out, and it cleared a piece from my shelf. 

Next up was the Fira Top, a pattern by Liesl and Co. I love that it's casual with interesting details. The cover photo is a top in linen, and it looks perfect. And I thought a linen top might just be the thing for our upcoming summer trip.

I made a muslin first to check the bust since it comes in different cup sizes but I am not at all comfortable measuring my high bust. I tried, again, and I think I'm an A/B cup in most patterns which really surprises me because so often shirts (RTW, mostly, but even some handmade) pull at my bust. What was annoying was that I sewed very quickly and not carefully because I thought I was just checking the bust, so the darts looked HORRIBLE in the muslin and I couldn't tell if it was the stiff cheap muslin fabric, or if it was the careless way I sewed the darts, or if it was the actual dart and I needed to adjust it. I asked a friend, and we decided to leave the dart placement, but shorten them by about an inch. I decided to just go for it since otherwise it fit, and hope for the best, which is not generally a wise strategy, but it worked out this time!

I really love how it fits and I think the color and fabric are great. Because of the nifty assembly, the yoke is double layered, which means it's a bit heavier than the rest of the top and I'm worried that might get a bit hot. Additionally, the neckline facing is lined with interfacing, and I always have problems with interfacing (maybe I should move away from SF101?) after the wash and find it ALWAYS needs pressing. So, we'll see how this one does. If it has to be pressed after washing, it probably will not make it on the trip, since I can't guarantee an iron will be available, and that's disappointing because I think otherwise it's a lovely top. Aside from pulling the dart back an inch, I didn't need to make any other fit adjustments. It's nice and long for me, which is unexpected since I'm so tall, and the neckline didn't plunge too low, which often bothers me on shirts. I find I get cold if the neckline scoops too low. The instructions were great, like all Liesl and Co patterns.

And, I had enough leftover fabric to make one napkin. Slow and steady! 

Library Dress

I've been working on making all my girls dresses. Once you make one for one, if she loves it, all the rest of them want one, too. It a good problem, I suppose. As long as they actually like them. They all have been growing anyway, and have needed new dresses. 

Right around the time I was dealing with loads of requests, Oliver and S had their annual summer sale, where patterns were half off. I love to stock up when they have good sales, so I asked the girls for their opinions on patterns, and two of them jumped at this library dress, which I just think is the cutest. I love the collar, the contrasting waist band, everything. It's been on my wishlist for a few years, but I wasn't sure if they would go for it. Luckily they did, and I bought it, along with the Terrace dress pattern and the simple shorts pattern, since I didn't have one and it's such a basic. 

ANYWAY, once my large format printings had arrived (PDF Plotting is fantastic; fast and very affordable), I got to making it. I let my daughter pick fabric from my closet, from a selection I was willing to use, and she picked the pretty blue linen and this adorable plaid. I believe it's a Kaffe Fassett plaid, but I'm not sure since I've had it for several years and, as a woven, it doesn't have info on the selvage. The linen came from Fabrics-store.com. I thought it was a perfect pairing and I absolutely love how it turned out. 

I also managed to find enough buttons leftover from something else, or rather, something that must not have gotten made, since I had so many, and I love the contrast. They're actually really obnoxiously cheap buttons from Joanns and I'm glad to be rid of them; I used some on a different project for my girls and one of the buttons on that project broke in half. And they don't have rounded edges, they just generally feel cheap. (Lesson learned: don't buy cheap buttons from Joanns, they'll definitely feel cheap!) However, they were perfect for this project.

This dress is currently my make that I'm most proud of. I just love how it turned out! 

Terrace Dress

I've been sewing a lot more clothing lately. Loads of quilts, still, of course. Maybe I'm sewing more than is good for me, haha. I've been doing a lot of apparel though, for me and for my girls. We're all tall, so it can be difficult to find clothing that fits. It seems especially hard for tall, thin little girls. Dresses and tops are just not made for tall girls and it seems to make such a big difference when you're small. 

My twelve year old is starting to wear more women's clothing, but of course, it doesn't fit a tween's body correctly, either. Finding patterns for tween bodies is tricky, too, apparently! It's been rough. I made her this dress recently, and figured since it's meant to be belted and to be flowy, maybe the fit would work better. 

I used the Terrace dress pattern from Liesl and Co, and I found a picture on Instagram of the pattern sewn up in some Rifle Paper rayon that I already had. I asked if she would like that exact dress and she said yes! Of course, with my girls now, I have to drill them. Will you wear it? Do you really want it? Too often, I make them clothes and then they decide they don't actually like it and it breaks my heart. Of course it hurts my self esteem a bit that they don't like what I made, but I'm also disgruntled that I spent 5-10 hours sewing, and used fabric ranging in price from $30-75 depending on how expensive and how many yards I needed. It's discouraging.

And truthfully, the same thing STILL happened. 

I had her try it on before I hemmed it, and she said right then that she didn't actually like it. 

Grr. 

Apparently, she didn't love that the neckline was fairly wide and open. But it needed to be because it doesn't have any button closures or zippers, so it has to fit over the head. I tried explaining this, and she was still very torn. 

I finished it anyway, and hung it up in her room, and she put it on on Sunday, but complained, once again. She ended up changing into a dress I had just purchased for her, and I was so disappointed. Then she changed back. I try really hard to not emotionally manipulate them, and I tried to not act disappointed, but I'm sure she knew. Sigh.

But, I think she came around to the dress after she'd worn it for a bit. I think it's super cute, and the rayon is soft and flowy, and I'm sure it's comfy. Hopefully she'll like it enough to continue wearing it. And if not...at least this pattern is a relatively quick sew.