About oliver's fancy

I am wife to a patient husband named Ian and stay-at-home mom to a busy little boy named Oliver. When not running around after him, I enjoy dabbling in all sorts of craftiness. I am a self-proclaimed fabric-aholic and proud of it! I have started this blog to document my journey of bettering my sewing/ crafting skills and show off occasional pictures of my little man and superb culinary creations:).

Sleeveless V-Neck Archer Variation

Posted on July 20, 2015 by oliver's fancy

So this is probably the most I’ve ever hacked a pattern for one garment! This shirt kind of evolved along the way to end up where it did, but I enjoyed the process. It took me several weeks to finish because I didn’t hurry through any of the decisions but it was nice to not have a deadline and really take my time to get something just perfect.

I started out with the Archer button-down, size 6. I knew I wanted a sleeveless shirt for summer so I used Jen’s tutorial here to take out some width from the shoulders- I think I ended up taking about 1.5″ off each shoulder and then a 3/8″ wedge from the back piece at the yoke seam line. I did have to take a little more off the sides due to armhole gaping so next time I would probably increase my wedge to 5/8″.

At first I thought I wanted to do the v-neck mandarin collar variation of the shirt so I followed Andrea’s tutorial here for that. Super duper easy to do if you follow her instructions! I love how easy the plackets were to draft! Unfortunately, once I was finished with this part of the shirt, I decided that I didn’t like the mandarin collar. Because you take some width out of the collar, it ends up being really close around your neck and with this summer we are having, I knew I would never wear it because it was sooo hot!

I did an after-the-fact hack and used Jen’s v-neck alder variation as an example to help guide me. Basically I seam-ripped the collar stand, cut 3/4″ off the shirt back neckline, and then angled it down in the front to make a V- this cut out most of the v-neck that I had created with the placket so I kind of did this work twice, but oh well. It was a learning experience. Once I had the angle right on the shirt, I used bias binding to finish off the neck seam. I held my breath a bit during this part because I was so afraid that i wouldn’t be happy with the collar-less result but I am so happy to report that I love it! It’s so perfect for a summer top- so light and airy along the neck.

I made a few more little tweaks to the shirt along the way just for fun. Instead of pleating the back, I gathered it between the pleat lines. The pockets were giving me some fits at the very end. I was going to leave them off completely, but my husband thought the shirt needed small pockets so I tried them out. Two pockets just wasn’t doing it for me- looked a little too symmetrical if you know what I mean? After polling the IG world, I took the majority’s advice and just did one pocket which I altered it into a v-shaped bottom to mirror the neckline. I’ve still wavered about leaving that one on, but I think I like it. Adds a little contrast to the front. One final tweak I made to the pattern was to try out a split hem at the side seams. That was a really easy tweak, and while it’s not super noticeable it’s still a fun added feature.

I bias bound the armholes to finish them off. Like I mentioned above, I had just a bit of armhole gaping once I was all done so I took the side seam in another 1/4″ at the armholes and angled that down to nothing to fix that problem. This fabric is one of the three fabrics I bought in London- such self control I showed there!! It doesn’t have any information on it but it feels like a light-weight shirting. I had plans to use it for the boys but it was just calling out to be made into this shirt and I’m glad I gave in to its siren call. 😉 I really love how this turned out and I think it will get a ton of wear during the rest of this HOT summer. Also, it’s another entry on my #GrainlineBingo card. ;). Yep, thanks to my friend, Kristin, that’s totally a thing now. hehe.

The Nani Iro Sew-off Challenge

Posted on July 10, 2015 by oliver's fancy

I am so lucky to get to be one of the bloggers who contribute to Imagine Gnats. Several months ago some fellow contributors and I challenged each other to a sew-off of one of the Nani Iro fabrics Rachael was ordering. The idea was too fun to pass up so the contest was on! Ajaire and April are my competitors so be sure to head over to their blogs today and judge for yourself who, indeed, sewed it better. 🙂

The contest: Rachael sent each of us 1.5 yards of the fabric (Nani Iro- En Garden double gauze– the green is on order but she’s got the pink color way in stock) and we could do whatever we wanted with it. No rules! I just sat and admired the yummy fabric for a week before I cut into it. It really is so exquisite!

I took a long while debating on my project. A top or dress were the first things that came to mind but I wanted to do something different for this challenge. So I landed upon shorts. I mean, double gauze shorts, what could be better, right? I didn’t want these to end up looking like pajama shorts though, so I needed a legitimate shorts pattern. I have made two pairs of Grainline Studio’s Maritime Shorts in the past but neither one has fit quite right. Third time’s the charm though so it just seemed fitting to end up with that pattern. Not to mention I’m a Grainline junkie 🙂 .

My last pair were a 6, and while they fit, they cut into my waist too much for comfort. I have a very wide waist compared to the rest of my body so it makes buying pants/shorts difficult unless they have a stretchy waistband. This time I cut out the 8 in the waist and graded it down to a 2 in the legs. I also added 1.5″ to the length as the pattern is just a little short for my comfort level. You will notice that I added a button instead of the hook and loop closure. As much as I dislike buttonholes, I dislike hook closures more, so a buttonhole it was!

I used the sew along on Jen’s blog to help me through the zipper fly, but everything else was fairly simple since I’ve made quite a few pairs of shorts (for the boys) recently. The pocket and waistband facings are artisan cotton (in this beautiful purple!- also from Rachael’s shop). Double gauze is kind of delicate, and I thought using the artisan cotton would give the waistband more structure and help it keep its shape. I so wish I had a picture of the inside of the shorts because they are so pretty with all the purple but alas I forgot to take one!

I modified the pockets a bit because I thought the shorts needed a more delicate pocket to go with this fabric. I cut off the sides and bottom of the original pattern piece by .5″ and chopped of the top angled portion so it just went straight across. Then I folded the top under twice, top-stitched, and continued with the pocket as normal.

nano iro shorts final (7 of 7) I adore these shorts! I wore them all day yesterday and they feel like a dream. The fabric is so soft and comfortable but also breathable for these hot summer days. Just a little note- we realized after taking the pics that there was some dust on the lens creating a weird echo effect on some of the pics and making them look fuzzy. Editing helped some but it’s not perfect. And no time for another shoot before the deadline so here ya go. 🙂 Just keeping it real, folks. Thanks so much to Rachael for sponsoring us in this little contest. It was loads of fun!

Snail Sketchbook Shirt Take 2

Posted on July 5, 2015 by oliver's fancy

I’m back with another Lotus Pond shirt for you today. Previous one blogged here. This time it’s the multicolored snails (still available here). Funny story- I had a yard of each of the snail fabrics and asked the boys which one they wanted for their shirts. Eliot immediately grabbed the yellow snails and Oliver grabbed this version. Whew! No fighting for once. So nice when it works out that way- it doesn’t always in case you wondered. 😉

I wanted the boys’ shirts to be a little different from each other, so for Oliver’s version, I accented the snails with this artisan cotton in green-blue from imagine gnats store (it’s similar in weight to shot cotton or chambray). I used the accent fabric on the button band, the collar, and the yoke. This artisan cotton is the perfect contrast to the snails as it has both blue and green threads in it.

Oliver is wearing a size 4 of the sketchbook shirt and has plenty of room in the waist for his skinny little body. I think if I made him a long-sleeve version, I would slim the sides down a bit for a more slim-cut version, but I like this boxier look for a short-sleeve shirt. We were struggling with our photo shoot so I had idea to give him one of our old cameras we have and he had so much fun “taking pictures” of everything. Which led to an interesting discussion of film versus digital cameras as he couldn’t understand why he couldn’t see his pictures on my laptop. FYI his shorts are the sunny day shorts I blogged here. These are his favorite shorts to wear since he found out they match with everything! The drawstring got lost along the way because he kept playing with it and pulled it out so that part is a bit of wasted effort. Such is life, I guess.And now I’ve got to move on to another sewing project that’s easier on the eyes. I’ve about gone cross-eyed taking and editing pictures of these snails! At this point, my eyes are so fuzzy I can’t tell which pictures are in focus and which ones aren’t so I’ll apologize for any weirdness you see. I’m moving on to some selfish sewing now and will have something pretty fun to share with you on Friday- if I can finish up the sewing for it that is!!

Lotus Pond Sketchbook Shirt

Posted on June 29, 2015 by oliver's fancy

I’ve got one last Kid’s Clothes Week make to share with you- bringing my total makes this week to 4 pairs of shorts, 1 tank top, and 1 button down shirt. I had one more button down shirt that I was hoping to get to this week, but that was pretty ambitious so I’m not bummed to have skipped it for now . I’m just happy with how much sewing I was able to squeeze in this week!

This is an Oliver+S Sketchbook shirt (guess I was on a roll with that pattern) in a size 2T for Eliot. Timing wise this worked out well for me because I made Oliver a sketchbook shirt in 2T last spring for Vintage May (blogged here) and so all the pattern pieces were traced out already. Woot! This shirt is about as complicated as the shorts are easy so it was a huge bonus to have the pieces traced- about 7 or 8 of them in total, I think.

I’m not normally a short sleeve button down person but I think it’s pretty cute on little boys. Plus I’m so not motivated to do all the sleeve placket/cuff work of a long sleeve for a shirt that will be grown out of within a year’s time! I’m not a completely crazy sewing mom. lol. Even with the short sleeves, I had a time of it with those sleeves! I don’t normally struggle with sleeve easing, but I ended up with quite a few puckers this time. In the efforts of not being a perfectionist and also not having any more time to mess with it, I left most of them alone and hope no one will be looking closely enough at his shirt to notice them.

Snail fabric is from Rae’s Lotus Pond line for Cloud9. (not sure where I bought this but I found some at Fabric.com) I’ve been saving this fabric for this very shirt ever since I saw Jessica’s version…a long time ago! Side note- we miss your blog and Film Petit very much, Jess (not that she’s reading this but I think Kristin is so I’m speaking to you too 😉 )!!

I was just going to make the shirt straight snails, but as I was cutting it out I had the idea to add some chambray for a bit of contrast. The chambray used is double cloth and quite a nice weight (cannot for the life of me find a link to the exact fabric-sorry)! I wavered back and forth on exactly what pieces to make contrasting and ended up going with the collar, yoke and pockets in the chambray. I posted a picture of my progress on Instagram and was blown away by how much love this little shirt got. Thanks to all my IG friends for bolstering my confidence because I had a moment of self doubt as to whether the final project was actually any good or not. Love my supportive IG community!!

The 2t size ended up fitting Eliot fairly generously- leaving plenty of room to grow, but I’m happy with that because now it will hopefully last him a while before he grows out of it. Two year olds are a bit of a booger to photograph- hence the animal cracker bribes you see in this pictures. Whatever works, amiright? Anything is better than crying pictures. And that wraps up my summer 2015 kid’s clothes week! I didn’t stick too closely to the travel theme but I kinda feel each of my items could loosely work in that framework…I mean, snails are always traveling around to get places, right? 😉

kcw summer 2015: superhero shorts

Posted on June 26, 2015 by oliver's fancy

I’m back with another pair of sketchbook shorts to share with you. I know, I’m totally a broken record sometimes, but when you find a good pattern, you gotta squeeze the life out of it. I have been seeing superhero shorts around the internets for the last few weeks (check out these from Jane and then Tara’s got a great pair unblogged but you can find them on her instagram- @girllikethesea) and just knew the boys would love a pair for themselves. I took them to our local Joann and let them pick out the fabric they wanted and then I got to work.
I used the same mods as the last version- blogged here. To recap: Oliver’s wearing a 3T and Eliot a 2T- with about an inch cut off his length.
When I finished the shorts, Oliver decided he HAD to have a matching shirt. I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant until I realized he wanted something similar to the superhero pajamas I made him a while back. Because I’m a super nice mom 😉 , I decided to humor his request. We decided upon a white tank with a superhero pocket- he was very specific about the need for the pocket. The white (PDF to be specific) is more Kaufman laguna jersey. It’s the only color I have left actually so I’ve got to stock up on some more! I had this red ribbing that coordinated nicely with the superhero fabric so I used that to bind the arm and neck holes. I used the Titchy Threads Twisted Tank again for the tank top. Can’t say enough good things about how awesome that tank pattern is. Very highly recommend it. And I still have yet to try the twisted version but it’s on my to-do list!
Eliot did not get a tank because I ran out of time…and that’s totally unfair, I know, but being the less verbal child does have its drawbacks… His tee is an old up-cycle I made for Oliver way back during a long time ago Kid’s Clothes Week.
My next KCW project is not shorts- imagine that 😉 but the week’s end is coming so quickly I’m afraid I won’t get to it! I’m going to start plugging away at it during nap time today though so we will see how much I can get done!
Oh and I totally forgot about Rachael’s Shorts on the Line sew along going on, but head on over to Kollabora to view all the awesome shorts being made and link up your own if you have some. Quite serendipitous that I just happened to be in a shorts mood during all that! Don’t forget the Kid’s Clothes Week project pool either!

kcw summer 2015: sketchbook shorts

Posted on June 24, 2015 by oliver's fancy

A quick little photoshoot today to show you my first kid’s clothes week makes- two pairs of sketchbook shorts. I’ve had this oliver+s pattern for several years and I’ve made the shirt a few times (blogged here) but I never really gave the shorts a second glance until I saw these two versions from gail and tara…I mean, how could I not try this out after this cuteness?? Another item worth mentioning is that the more I sew, the more I enjoy using oliver+s patterns. They are just such an enjoyable experience all the way around- so well written and you end up with such a professional-looking garment. These shorts in particular are such a quick and easy sew that I highly recommend them.

I picked up this chambray anchor fabric at five-eighths seams back in January when I tagged along on my husband’s business trip to Charleston…sigh… I could use another one of those business trips now! Anywho I’ve been saving this for the right project and these shorts were definitely the right choice. anchor shorts (5 of 6)

One comment I would have on this pattern is it seems to run pretty long. Which is kind of funny because I thought the shirt version ran a little short. Oliver is pretty tall but skinny so I made him the 3T even though he’s typically a 4- and even then I deepened the hem a bit to have them hit where I wanted them to. Eliot is wearing a 2T and I cut about an inch off the bottom of his and also sewed a deep hem. Eliot wears cloth diapers so I sometimes have problems with shorts being too tight in the bum area but these turned out pretty good for him. Not a ton of extra room but they aren’t too small either.

Oh and in case you were wondering there’s some Dr. Seuss fabric hiding in those pocket linings- this little trick is making all my recent handmades get worn a ton! And Eliot has been asking for some “grinch pockets” so I’m happy he got himself some finally. 🙂I’ve got the sewing bug for this Kid’s Clothes Week so I’m excited to see what I can pull off- fingers crossed for happy naps and quiet times this week!

Imagine Gnats Sewing: Summer Shorts and Tanks

Posted on June 9, 2015 by oliver's fancy

I’m over on the Imagine Gnats blog today sharing my favorite summer outfit for the boys. I knew that I wouldn’t have a ton of time to complete this project after we got back from our trip, so I actually sewed this up before we left…That’s over a month early on a project!! For procrastinator me, that’s like crazy-talk. Here’s a sneak peek of Eliot’s outfit, but you’ll have to go to Rachael’s blog to see the pics I got of the boys together in their somewhat matching outfits (yes, I’m that mom 🙂 )

Anyway, it’s been so hard to sit on it for a month and not share it with you, but today is the day! Head on over here to see all the pictures and read about all the details of the outfits. Hope you love it as much as the boys and I do!

A Tank Top for a Two-Year-Old

Posted on June 6, 2015 by oliver's fancy

Well we are back from our epic adventure (check out #CrooksEuropeanHoliday on IG) and just in time for Eliot to turn two. We were all having a bit of a rough re-entry this week between some digestion issues and general travel fatigue and I felt bad that Eliot’s birthday was going to pass without much notice. Thankfully, I got some energy back just in time to make him his birthday tee!

I used the Titchy Threads Twisted Tank pattern (except in the non-twisted version) in a size 2T for this tank. The fabric is some Girl Charlee knit that I’ve had in my stash for a while. It’s super thin and not the best quality but it works for an easy summer tank top. I free-handed the TWO onto the tank with some fabric paint. At first, I felt bad that it wasn’t a more imaginative stencil but now that it’s done, I think it’s pretty cute.

I’ve made some other tanks for the boys where I just hacked an exciting t-shirt pattern and I have to say this is so much easier! It’s so nice to have all the arm and neck hole pieces sized for you and not have to do any math or finagling about how much neck to scoop out. I only made the non-twisted version of the tank this time but I’m looking forward to trying the twisted version sometime soon.

I made the shirt during Eliot’s nap time and when he woke up, he kept saying “my shirt, Ah-ver (Oliver), my shirt.” Poor kid isn’t used to being the recipient of the handmades. Curse of the second child. Anyway, he was so happy to have his own shirt and had to try it on right away.

We had a very laid back birthday today but it was full of all the things that a two-year-old could want- touch a truck at the downtown market, a visit to the train set at the toy store, ice cream at chick-fil-a…and his own bicycle! So excited to try out a balance bike and see if it lives up to its hype.

two twisted tank (1 of 7) Happy Birthday to my sweet little boy. Can’t believe you’re two already. The past two years with you have been so much fun and I’m so excited to see what this year holds!

Packing for Europe…capsule wardrobes for the whole family

Posted on May 8, 2015 by oliver's fancy

Wanna know what I’ve been doing all week? Prepping and planning for a 3.5 week trip to Europe!! Woot! We jet out tonight and are so very excited. The main purpose is to visit some of my husband’s family but we are also doing a little family vacation in the process…We are going to visit England, Wales, Luxembourg, Germany, France, and maybe Switzerland and Belgium. It is sure to be crazy times with 2 small boys and my husband working along the way, but we love adventure and can’t wait to embark on this one.

https://instagram.com/p/2BkM-LyuaF/?taken-by=oliversfancy As we are traveling with small boys and their respective car seats, we are trying to be as minimalistic as possible on the packing front. I posted the above picture on Instagram and Facebook last week and got some comments and questions on our packing methods so I thought I’d write up a quick blog post with all the details. I know, this has absolutely nothing to do with sewing, but hey it’s my blog, right? 🙂 And actually I use this as a journal of sorts so if I write it all down here, I can remember it for next time. So I may just be talking to myself here, but I’m cool with that. Nothing out of the ordinary for me. 😉

First off, after much research, I decided upon this bag (no affiliate links here, just lots of amazon linkage since I’m a prime addict). It was a good price, had great reviews, and can be worn as a backpack but opens up like a suitcase- perfect for keeping things organized while traveling! I also bought a set of medium packing cubes and assorted slim packing cubes. My first experience with packing cubes and I’m loving the organization they provide.

Since I think my wardrobe is the main interest, here’s the bullet list of my bag and its contents. Again, please feel free to not read this! The key to my travel capsule wardrobe is: 4-5 tops + 2-3 bottoms + 1 sweater- all mix and matchable among each other so quite a few different outfits can be made from a few articles of clothing. And different layers of clothing to account for all possible temps!

Medium Packing cube (for me) (13.75×9.75″) shown above: hand for perspective

Shower flip flops
Pj pants, running leggings and running tee
Dress (my easter washi)
Scarf, grey cardigan
4 tank tops (for layering)
Short sleeved dressy sweatshirt, casual short sleeve tee
2 button down shirts (brown archer and white gap one)
Mint ginger jeans

Slim cube (medium size 10x5x2.75″): seen below as the long skinny one

undergarments (1 bra, sports bra, 5 undies)
bathing suit (just in case), 1 pair shorts
socks (4 pair)

Medium Packing cube (for Eliot)

Tees (2 short sleeve, 1 long)
Bottoms (2 jeans, 1 shorts, 1 bathing suit)
1 sweater, 1 button down shirt
1 pair pjs
5 pair socks, 1 pair shoes

Miscellaneous

Sperrys, 2 pairs jeans, small travel fan
Orla Kiely Makeup bag- (contains non-liquid makeup and feminine products)
Small packing cube (6.5×5)- toiletries: toothbrushes x4, qtips, razors, powder laundry soap (we will do laundry every 3-4 days), deodorant x2
Top pocket contains my small zippered jewelry pouch
Inside zip top contains raincoats x3 ( for me and the boys) and gold sandals

I am also bringing a regular size backpack as my personal item (shown below) and that bag has:

our liquid toiletries in 1 quart bag, essential oils roller balls in another, and 1 final quart bag of ez squeeze applesauce for snacking.
2 small medicine bottles with adult/child ibuprofen, vitamins and supplements
small first aid kit
ipad, phone, headphones and chargers
Several quart bags of trip snacks: trail mix, granola bars, pull n peel licorice (my personal travel snack 🙂 )
Umbrella, a few small children’s books, and my water bottle

Oliver’s backpack (an 18L from REI-shown at top) has 2 small metal lunch boxes (shown below)- used as toy boxes for the boys, more snack baggies, water bottle x2, pjs x2 for the plane, child’s headphones x2, stuffed dog x2, and a few diapers and wipes for Eliot.

My husband’s backpack (Kelty Redwing 50L) has everything else:

Oliver’s packing cube: exactly the same size and contents as Eliot’s.
His clothes (2 ss tees, 2 ls tees, jeans, shorts, button down, raincoat, sweatshirt)
Slim Packing cube (long 14×5)- for his boxers and socks
umbrella, hair dryer, chargers and European adaptors, small travel fan, mesh bags for laundry, Ergo, Flip Flops, enough diapers and wipes for a few days (vacuum packed)

And if you made it that far, you deserve a medal! Hope that info helps any of you contemplating a trip with kids. In case you weren’t counting that brings our luggage count to 3 carry-on backpacks and 1 small backpack as personal item….no checked bags except for the car seats! Oh and an umbrella stroller we will check at the gate.

I have been heavily influenced by Tsh at the Art of Simple and The Art of Simple Travel, Un-Fancy, the Budget-minded traveler podcast, and Entre Family Travels. They all have great posts on capsule wardrobes and minimalist packing that I have found very helpful throughout my planning. Wish us luck and find me on IG for updates along the way! (@oliversfancy).

Superhero Summer Pjs

Posted on April 29, 2015 by oliver's fancy

This is my little add-on to the end of Kid’s Clothes Week. I actually finished the shorts during the week but didn’t get the tanks done until after the week was up. A while back on a rare visit to our local big box fabric store, Oliver saw some superhero fabric and asked to get some. So I told him that I would let him come back and pick some out. When I realized he only had one pair of summer pjs, I thought that would be the perfect time for him to go get his fabric. He decided on the Batman and Star Wars fabric. While we were in there, Eliot fell in love with the “ninja” fabric and so I decided to get him some too. Even though he has plenty of pjs, I hate for him to miss out on all the fun. Plus these ended up costing me $3.50 per shorts so for once, sewing was actually the frugal option. 🙂

I used Dana’s Kid Shorts Made pattern for the bottoms. Eliot’s shorts are 2T and Oliver’s are 4. Oliver’s fit pretty perfectly with enough room to grow over the summer. And Eliot’s fit great with the disposables he wears to bed but are a little snug with the cloth diapers that he wears during the day. Since he’ll be wearing these to bed, that’s not a big deal, but it’s something to keep in mind if I make him any for day wear.

The tops are the Flashback Skinny Tees. I looked up the tanks I made for the boys last summer (blogged here) and used the same mods. To sum it up- I cut 3/4″ off the arm holes and deepened the neckline in the front and back a bit. I cut the neck and armhole binding 1.5″ wide instead of 2″ like the pattern recommends. Oliver’s is a 4 with a little length and width added to make sure it fits through the summer. Eliot’s is a 2 with just a little extra length.

All three of the tanks are made from Robert Kaufman’s Laguna jersey. I love having this on stock for last minute tees. The orange is from fabric.com and the blues are from Imagine Gnats. I had some fabric scraps left from the shorts and appliquéd them to the tanks for a little fun addition.

Once I was finished with these tanks, I realized that I actually own the Titchy Threads twisted tank pattern so I am looking forward to trying that one out later this summer on some other projects I have in mind and comparing that version with my FBST hacked version. But with this, I’m done with pjs for now! The boys should be set through the end of the summer. On to non-nightime related projects.

Oh and this crazy photoshoot…yeah, still working on getting pictures of the boys together that are even remotely decent…so just embrace the wild, crazy, and little bit fuzziness about it. Just know they really love these pajamas. K, thanks. 🙂