Summer Sewing, Grainline Studios Edition

Posted on May 30, 2014 by oliver's fancy

I have seen several other bloggers (Sew Caroline, for one) do a little collage of sorts to detail their seasonal sewing plans and thought I would follow suit. I have been slowly collecting apparel fabrics and patterns to beef up my handmade wardrobe the last few months and have actually have purchased all of the fabric/patterns that I show you. Meaning there should be nothing keeping me from actually making this clothing; except for that little thing called time and the two little people wanting some attention at my house 🙂 . It’s all about balance, folks…always a work in progress. I’m hoping that actually posting these collage ideas online will keep me a little better organized and motivate me to actually get them done! Kind of an online to-do list of sorts. Here’s the first one…note: the top is not necessarily meant to be worn with the shorts.

Maritime Shorts Pattern by Grainline Studios, Fabric: It’s a Plus Canvas in Gray- purchased at Pink Castle Fabrics but sold out now, Robert Kaufman Interweave Chambray in Sorbet– purchased at Fabric.com

Tiny Pocket Tank Pattern by Grainline Studios, Fabric: Geos in Deep Marina purchased at Pink Castle Fabrics

Hmm, this unintentionally turned into a Grainline studios sewing list. I highly recommend her patterns for those who are looking for good women’s patterns. Also, I enjoy expanding my indie pattern designers list and would love to get some more ideas! Do you have a summer sewing list? Care to share?

DIY Dining Room makeover plus bridal shower fun

Posted on May 27, 2014 by oliver's fancy

So my sewing has been a little scarse (read nonexistent) the past few weeks since I finished my Vintage May outfit. And I am so excited to show you the reason why! To preface- my brother just recently got engaged and it worked out for him to come home for a week in May and introduce us to his fiancée. Three weeks before they were to come visit, my mom realized this would be the perfect occasion to throw a bridal shower…at my house. Yeah, so I am not the world’s best housekeeper (who has time with two toddlers and sewing? 🙂 ) and my house was in no condition to host a bridal shower, but we decided to use this opportunity to get our bums in gear and finish up a few house projects languishing on our to-do list:

paint the dining room white and redecorate it,
give the entire house a good purging- specifically our den/junk room and back porch,
finish up some landscaping and, of course,
spring cleaning

a view of the green dining room- also before we painted the china cabinet so you get a sense of how much better it looks now!

Well it was a crazy few weeks especially since part of it was spent at the beach but it’s done and I got all the important things finished! Whew…now I just wanna sleep for weeks..and show of my house while it’s still clean. LOL.

It feels so good to have a freshly cleaned house that is empty of a TON of useless clutter. I took several car loads to Goodwill and several more to the trash! So much that we were just holding on to for no reason. We are trying to live a more minimalistic life and it is so rewarding and freeing to move toward that goal. Also my dining room is now a soothing white instead of its previous bright green. I am definitely in a “paint all the things white” mood right now. I love the calming influence that white paint has on things.

So let’s talk about the dining room projects a bit. I recovered the dining room chairs in this awesome Lotta Jansdotter Canvas print from her Glimma line (I got mine from Pink Castle Fabrics and they don’t carry it anymore but I found some on etsy here) that I’ve had sitting around for several months for this very purpose. Easiest DIY project ever: 1. unscrew the chair cushions from the chair 2. pull the new fabric over the cushion tightly and staple in place 3. screw cushion back on chair and enjoy! Make sure you pull the fabric tightly or it will wrinkle as the chairs get used.

Blue cart is the Ikea Raskog that so many other peeps have. It’s currently housing our cloth napkin stash and some pretty dishes. I’m still waiting on my light gray curtains for the windows but I have some family members making an ikea trip soon so they are going to pick them up for me. The 2 landscape wall prints are by Emily Jeffords (who happens to be local to us right now!) and I highly recommend them for their high quality! The prints actually look like originals. I love how peaceful her work is also. Please forgive the wonky look of the large one- we just got the frame for it and need to go get a new mat for it since the current one is not the correct size- which is why I don’t have a close-up of it.

Here’s some fun pictures from the bridal shower. The bride-to-be loves burlap, mason jars and roses so we took those things into account when decorating. My sister in law made the awesome bunting for the mantel by freezer paper stenciling onto drop cloth.

Hope y’all enjoyed a little trip around my newly-redecorated house. I always like to see other’s house projects and so I thought I would share a bit with you. Plus I needed an excuse to show off all our hard work! 🙂

Why I sew

Posted on May 19, 2014 by oliver's fancy

I”m over on the Kid’s Clothes Week blog today talking about why I sew and sharing some details on my sewing journey. Here’s a sneak peek of what I say…click on over for the full post…

“Why would I make that when I can go to Target and buy it for$10?” “That’s nice for you, but I don’t have time to sew.”
“How do you find time to make all those things?” “That’s a lot of work. Not really worth it in my opinion.”

Have you heard any of these? I get these questions from people quite regularly as a matter of fact. I have a few sewing friends in town, but not many. Many of my friends and acquaintances appreciate the sewing I do, but from afar. They just don’t quite “get” me. Ya know what I mean? That’s what I love about this online community. There are so many like-minded people who totally understand my fabric hoarding tendencies, crazy urge to sew last-minute gifts and messy house because I’ve spent all week sewing kid’s clothes.

Go here to read the rest of it…

Vintage May

Posted on May 15, 2014 by oliver's fancy

I have followed along with Kristin and Jess’s Vintage May series since its inception so I was so pumped when Kristin emailed me and asked if I wanted to be a participant this year. Um, yeah! I had so many ideas floating around my head that I had a hard time pinning down just what I wanted. Then I stumbled across this pinterest picture and knew I had found my lightbulb moment- a 1950s inspired rockabilly outfit. The fact that it would involve several patterns I wanted to try- Bonus!

Without further ado, here is Oliver in his 1950’s outfit: cuffed straight-leg jeans, white tee, and a plaid button down. I de-saturated the pictures a bit to give them a vintage feel. Not sure I was totally successful but I’m kinda digging the effect. He totally owned this photoshoot too- might be because we actually let him drink the photo prop. (please no judging- good pics were a must!) For any fact sticklers, I’m well aware that hubby’s bike is actually a 1975 cafe racer but it’s still vintage so it counts in my mind even if it’s not the exact era we were going for. Vintage May Redo (8 of 10)

My imaginary back story is that Oliver has brought his new motorcycle down to the local hang-out spot and is waiting for his friends to arrive so they can admire his new ride and take it for a spin. Meantime, he’s enjoying a refreshing RC Cola and chilling (like a villian- 😉 )

Now for a little run-down of the patterns I used for O’s outfit:

Pants: Small Fry Skinny Jeans size 2T with 3T+ length. I knew that I wanted to copy Kristin’s idea of the big cuffs so I added several inches to the length. I bought some dark denim at Joann’s then had a moment’s freak-out when I got home because the pattern calls for stretch denim and mine did not have any stretch. I could have sized up to a 3T but I had already cut out the 2T pattern pieces and time was of the essence so I decided to just go for it. Glad I did because these fit great! Actually the waist is even a bit big now that O is potty trained because the 2T allows extra room for diaper bums. Vintage May Redo (10 of 10)

Like all the other reviews of these pants- they are definitely not a quick sew. But they’re not that hard either- her directions are excellent and walk you through each step so beautifully! The only really difficult section was the belt-loops. All those layers of denim almost didn’t fit under my machine foot. And soo much to sew thru! I was afraid I was going to break my machine. One broken needle later and we made it…whew! Note- I switched from a jeans needle to a top-stitching needle and that made a huge difference. When I finished these my husband commented that they looked like designer jeans and he wanted a pair- high five to me! (But I’m not planning on making him a pair anytime soon in case you were wondering 🙂 )

Button-down: Oliver+S Sketchbook Shirt. I have been wanting to make this for O before he grows out of the size range that I bought it in! I went on a search for just the right plaid and found this great madras fabric at Hancock. Apparently I have been missing out because Hancock has a great selection of apparel fabrics. I am definitely going to be making a trip back there soon! This shirt reminded my of my grandfathers- one of which passed away when I was a pre-teen so it was a happy nostalgic time making this for Oliver. I hadn’t really thought of the fact that I was making something from their (my grandfather’s) generation until I was in the middle of this shirt construction but I’m so glad it worked out that way. Feels like a bit of a nod to my grandpa to have my son wearing something that he would have worn in his day.

I used the 2T size because I had traced it back in the fall and never used it. Oliver really fits in the 3T size now but when I compared the sizes, it looked like I just needed to add some length to make it work. I added two inches to the length of the arms hem so that I could retro it up a bit and roll up the sleeves and also added an inch to the bottom hem. The neck is a bit small but I’m not planning on buttoning the collar so that’s no big deal. A very professional finish with this pattern- like all O+S patterns.

T-shirt- I knew O needed a white tee to complete his outfit but wanted to add a little bit of fun to it so I added this motorcycle transfer (image found via google). I had been given some iron-on transfer paper a while back but actually didn’t pay attention to it until I was cleaning out my sewing room a few weeks ago and found it. Why have I not been using this? It’s so easy! And Oliver loves the motorcycle tee! I think it will become a summer fave. Pattern is the flashback skinny tee made in a 3T size with extra length added to arm and shirt hems. I wanted to be able to roll the sleeves up to add to the vintage feel of the shirt.

Hope you enjoyed your trip back to the 1950s. I know I did! Make sure to check out all the other great Vintage May stuff happening on Jess and Kristin’s blogs over the next few weeks.

Sugar Pop Top V 2.0

Posted on May 5, 2014 by oliver's fancy

I wanted to get one more top in before Selfish Sewing Week and Spring Top Sewalong were over. Technically Selfish Sewing week is over now, but since I finished this on Saturday, I’m still counting it! If you follow my IG account- @oliversfancy, last week I asked for advice on which fabric to use for my SPT version 2.0 and then realized I had forgotten about the Art Gallery fabric I bought specifically for this purpose. So, for my IG peeps thanks for all your input and I will come back to those fabrics at some point soon, but, first, here is my AGF version of the Sugar Pop Top.

Art Gallery quilting cottons are a higher quality than normal quilting cotton and therefore are a really nice weight for garments. I love how lightweight and breezy this top turned out. But yet, it’s got enough substance that I don’t need to wear a tank under it. Perfect for the summer heat! Also can we talk about how cute this fabric is? I just love it! I picked it up at a quilting store in Asheville, but you can find some online at the Fat Quarter Shop here.

For this version, I added about 1.5 to the hem. I made the size L again but took in the sides 1/4″. I may try the size M next time and see how that works for me because I have plenty of room in this top. I also lowered the bust darts 1/2″. I wasn’t super scientific in my dart-lowering and one dart ended up being a teensy bit lower than the other one but other than that, they turned out really well.

The Sugar Pop Top is a new pattern from Sew Caroline and is available for purchase here. It’s on my must-sew list for cute, spring and summer tops. You can check out my previous SPT here. What is on your must-sew top list? Any new patterns I need to know about? I’m always on the look-out for great patterns!

A Negroni for Easter: plus more family pics than you ever wanted to see…

Posted on May 2, 2014 by oliver's fancy

Update: We had family pictures taken this week and got them back much sooner than I anticipated so I got permission from our photographer (check them out here!) to use these pictures for the blog post. Why not take advantage of having a professional shoot the shirt, right? So deleted the pictures that I took and put in these. Enjoy some great pics…and I might have thrown in a few extra just because they turned out so good! 🙂 Which is a miracle considering the antics that Oliver was pulling during the shoot.One of my goals for Easter this year was to have each of the 4 of us in something handmade. I’m not sure why I had this in my head, but I just thought it would be something special. I already had my Easter dress made several weeks ago, and I cheated a bit with Eliot because he fit into Oliver’s handmade vest from his first Easter. I knew I would be making the Hosh pants for Oliver, so that just left Ian as the final one who needed something.

I had promised him another dress shirt after I made his first Negroni button down for our anniversary last year. He really wanted a version with a button placket and traditional collar. I picked up this navy and white pinstripe shirting at Joann. It is such a nice weight for the shirt! c2014jacphotography-crook009

The shirt construction was fairly easy because I had done it before. Pattern is the Negroni available here. Thankfully the size M fits Ian perfectly so I didn’t need to do any pattern alterations. I followed this tutorial for the button placket. The only change I made is that I interfaced the button plackets. c2014jacphotography-crook024

I continued along in the tutorial to attach the yoke to the shirt body and draft the collar and collar stand. Unfortunately my brain stopped working during the “burrito” part of the yoke attaching and I had to seam rip and reattach like 3 times…grrr…grumbledy, grumbledy, blerg. Once I finally got that down, the rest of the shirt was super easy.

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I used another of Ian’s shirts as a template to draft the collar and was v. proud of myself when it worked perfectly. Still cannot believe my luck on that one! Might be in danger of getting a big head. 😉

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I cut the pockets on the bias to add a little interest. FYI my walking foot was a life-saver here to keep the bias-cut fabric from stretching out of control during construction! Contrast facings are a joel dewberry plaid that Ian picked out. I love the little pop that they add to the shirt.

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All in all, it was a very successful sewing experience and I already have requests for several more shirts! Got quite a bit to get done before that happens though so don’t hold your breath to see any more anytime soon. I am pretty happy with myself that I finished a project for Ian on time! I am so bad about his projects that I tend to get them done months after I said I would. I may or may not have been completing the buttons on this shirt at 11:00 Saturday night, but hey, I made my deadline! 🙂 And below are a few more pictures for any who wish to view…feel free to not scroll down if you’re sick of us already!