Blogging with a friend

I've been wondering how to write this post and not sure what to say because it kinda feels like "good-bye" to this blog.  I have begun a new adventure with a dear sewing buddy who lives in the Midwest (where I moved from over a year ago).  We were friends and sewing buddies IRL but now we have to catch up on the phone.  We both love to sew and were interested in blogging together to keep in touch and to share blogging responsibilities.  Because we both have small children we don't feel we can blog enough separately but together, well two sewing brains are bound to be better than one and to also be able to blog more consistently.  So all this to say I will be blogging more consistently at i sew you sew.  I hope any of you following me here will come over and visit us.  We are having a great time navigating this adventure together, especially because it is always more fun to sew with other sewists that "get" you.  I will try to post here from time to time, especially for the Grandparents and family that follow me.  So I guess instead of "good-bye" this is "see you in a while, but see me more often elsewhere!"

Made by Rae Ruby tops

 I've been making a lot of Made by Rae patterns lately.  Mostly because they are patterns that I have had to do very little tweaking to get a good fit.  These days I have precious little time to fuss and fuss and fuss over a muslin.  Case in point I've tried to get a muslin for the Colette Peony to fit me correctly and after tracing off two sizes and making two muslins I balled it up and threw it on a shelf.  Here enters the beauty of this pattern, the Ruby top.  I did not make a muslin and the fit in the shoulders is wonderful and spot on.  The pattern is pretty forgiving in fit so it would be ideal for a beginner.

I wasn't sure about the sleeves.  My first version was the floral one and the sleeves hovered at that awkward space above my wrists but since they were shirred I just push them up.  This version I shortened the sleeves by 1 1/2 inches.  No other changes were made!

 The polka dot fabric is some thrifted rayon.  The purple hounds tooth is from a thrifted sheet. The floral version is made with rayon from Denver fabrics and eyelet from my stash.  

 We still have Christmas decorations up here, meehhhh why not leave them up?  January needs a little cheer!  And for the Grandparents here's a shot of the kiddos on Christmas eve on Santa watch!  We love the Olivia Christmas book and we always say, "5 p.m. no Santa, but no rain."

Pierrot Tunics

 Baby in her new tunic tapping the window pane to get the dog to come to the door!

 I've been working on some tops to layer over the girls clothes on cold days and I used the Pierrot tunic pattern from Made by Rae.  Its a very straight forward and simple pattern but I think it makes a cute tunic that looks free spirited.  I made the baby's from flannel as an experiment and it turned out pretty well.  The pattern is for lighter weight fabrics than flannel but I still think it turned out pretty good.

Big girl's is made of linen/cotton chambray.  Admittedly it looked pretty much like a plain old sack with out the kitty pocket which was her suggestion for making it look better.  She really didn't like it at first and now she is sort of ok with it.  You win some you lose some, hoping I can coax her into wearing it some time for more than ten minutes.    

Handmade Christmas

I have been cranking out the handmade Christmas gifts once again this year (and I think every year that I won't do so much and I do anyway).  This is the Annabelle jacket from Peekaboo Patterns.  Its for the 17 month old.  I always try to make my girls at least one handmade garment for Christmas.    

Details on the pattern:  She's slim through the torso so I made a size 12 month with lengthened sleeves.  I just eyeballed how much extra sleeve I thought she'd need and it was perfect.  I like this pattern pretty well but I goofed the ruffle using the piece that was intended for a tie belt instead of the ruffle piece.  I actually think it turned out better than the ruffle piece would've because it made the ruffle more full.  A couple of small gripes about the pattern are that there are no button placement guides and the bottom portion doesn't overlap as well as I'd hoped it would.  Those details are for anyone who hopes to make it!  Also it is made in a plum baby cord from Hancocks and some flannel I've had in my stash for a while.  

Over all I think it came out pretty adorable, reminds me of Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club.  Its great for church when you need something a little dressier than a play coat.  For some reason these days this girl does not like a coat and shoes put on and she wrestles with me endlessly.  You can imagine I'm sure, you get one arm in and then they bronco kick and out it comes, you get one shoe on then they claw at the floor and screech and scramble out of reach.  Whew, counts as a work out in my book!

Modified Briar tee, Victoria Blazer, and Flashback tees

I've been sewing this summer (just not posting on the blog) and here are some of the results.  I've really wanted to do some variations of the Megan Nielsen Briar tee and here's one I finally conquered.

   It is made from a somewhat sheer knit from Denver fabrics.  I can't say that I highly recommend Denver fabrics and lets just leave it at that.  But the top has a ruffle made from a circle skirt tutorial from Burda.  I tried a ruffle for the first crack at this top and it was awful.  So I cut it off and tried again with this ruffle.  Much better.  Its basically a bias cut peplum.  The skirt is me made too from an out of print McCalls 6290.  A very basic a-line from a thrifted bottom weight twill.  Now for the Victoria Blazer.  The blazer is basically a wearable muslin since it turned out pretty good, a little big so I'll go down a size next time but still very wearable.

You can't tell from these pictures but the mosquitoes are eating my legs alive.  I even sprayed before I went out and I think I had six bites from about 15 minutes of being outside.  They are ridiculously terrible in our backyard.  We fogged one day and they only stayed away for thirty minutes.  Ugghh, definitely summer in the south- you take the good with the bad!  Here's one more shot of the blazer for those of you that might want to make it.  I know I always appreciate multiple views of something I might want to make.

And finally a Mother/Daughters sewing project.

These were all made from a me made maternity skirt with really nice rayon knit from Joann's.  Since I had to squeak out three shirts from the skirt I didn't do the hi-low hem on my tee and didn't bother matching the stripes on the kids tees.  The Flashback tee is a great kids pattern, a little tight for my taste but that is easily fixed with some added seam allowance.  It is easy to whip up and easy to make out of repurposed tees of your own.  Hopefully I can get back soon with some pictures of new dressed for the girls!  Until then, happy sewing.

Overdressed

Its been quiet on this blog which means we've been busy with the summer.  I've been sewing but documenting it has just fallen down the line of things I want to do lately.  I recently finished reading Overdressed and it was a good, informative look at our attitudes toward clothing in the U.S.  Its good for self reflection and good for the sewist since it helps you think critically about the things you purchase and whom they might influence/effect.  The next book I hope to read is Where am I Wearing? , another book addressing the question of where our clothing comes from and what the global cost of clothing truly is.  Just trying to live responsively in my small corner of the world!

New top and skirt and I love them!

We've had a pretty epic bout of illnesses here, hence the silence on this blog.  Big girl was sick first then little baby had croup followed by a nasty virus with a really high temp and now this week big girl is sick again.  AJ  has some virus but is feeling much better this morning.  Crossing my fingers that baby and I don't catch it!  Whew. Even so I catch a minute here and there to sew for my sanity and have completed two new patterns that I've been really happy with.

This is the Briar tee from Megan Nielsen.  It is a great sewing pattern for first time knit sewist (like me).  This top is actually a repurposed maternity skirt I made when pregnant with baby G.  I added leather patches at the shoulder and have just loved the top.  It has a high low hem which is great to cover the back of your pants as you bend to help little ones.  I have made two other Briars one which is pictured with the Cascade skirt from Megan Nielsen.

I struggled to get a good picture of this skirt and these were the two best shots.  It is kinda awkward to take pictures of yourself for these posts.  I love this skirt because of the flowy nature of it and how feminine it feels.  It is made from rayon challis.  The Briar tee in this picture is made from some poly/cotton jersey from Hancocks and it was very affordable.  I was skeptical about the quality but it has held up well.  

And finally for the Grandparents here are a few shots of the kiddos.

AJ with Micah in the rain!

AJ made this crown of jewels and I cut it out and taped it together for her.  She wore it to church on Sunday with a dress I made her.  She has developed specific opinions about her handmade clothes these days so needless to say my tastes in children's clothes have been shelved for the time being.

This dress is the appropriate colors and design for her aesthetic, pink and floral!  You gotta go with what works, right!?

And finally some quiet sister time looking out the window, but no illusions here it lasted probably all of two minutes!  Kiddos on the go!