I have knocked off another item off my selfish sewing wish list. Woot for me! I tell ya, putting this list on the internet was a great way to keep me motivated to finish it! Plus I’m on a huge selfish sewing kick right now and want to just keep sewing, just keep sewing (said in my best Dori impression).
True to my word, I totally copied Kristin’s idea for a chambray blouse.
In my previous summer sewing post, I alluded to the fact that I had finished one of the items on my first wish list and here I am to share it with you. I am pretty pumped about this tank because it was one of those ideas that I had in my head and it actually turned out as well as I had pictured! I have seen a couple of color-blocked tanks and tank dresses around the inter webs (Sew Caroline has a version here) and really wanted to make a version of my own. I made one of these tanks last year, (blogged here) had some trouble getting it fitted correctly since I had just recently birthed a baby and my body was a bit out of proportion. V. happy to report I re-measured myself for this tank, was able to go down several sizes this time, and ended up with a much better fit! Yay for body normalcy finally returning.
Pattern: Tiny Pocket Tank by Grainline Studios, size 8.
A Saturday post this week because blog things got moved around a bit, and I have more to share next week. Yesterday was Eliot’s first birthday. Cannot believe my little baby is already one year old! Time really does fly. This little boy has such a sweet laid-back personality and is a loving, happy little boy. I just wanna hold him all day and slow him down! He’s walking along everything right now and even taking 3-4 steps at a time. Going to be walking all by himself before we know it!
With Eliot being the second child, he really doesn’t need any new clothes/toys and sometimes I get mom guilt that all he wears/plays with are hand-me-downs. I know, it’s silly but I like him to have a few new things all to his own, so I decided to make him a birthday outfit to celebrate his happy day. I think these birthday outfits are becoming a tradition of mine. (Oliver’s second and third birthday outfits blogged here and here.)
Shorts are Dana’s Kid Shorts pattern. They are the basic elastic waist version, size 18 month with front bias-trimmed pockets. I love the little extra pop the bias tape gives the pockets. FYI if you cloth diaper, you may wanna size up on these shorts. Eliot can wear 12 or 18 month in shorts but the 18 month just fits over his fluffy bum. Fabric is a Michael Miller bicycles print that I picked up several years ago at fabric.com and it looks like they still have it in stock here.
Tee is a basic store-bought shirt, and I added the ONE appliqué onto it. Note: I find that this age is the hardest stage to take pictures of- constant crawling about, walking along everything, getting into everything. You just have to snap as they move and hope for some good shots. I am up for any ideas on how to get good photoshoots with a young toddler! Forgot how easy it’s gotten now that Oliver is older and like photoshoots, errr- bribes. 🙂
We just had a simple little family party last night with my siblings, parents, and some homemade chocolate cupcakes. Just enough partying to make mom feel like it was a real birthday but nothing overwhelming. A fun night for my sweet little baby boy.
Here’s part two of my summer sewing wish list. I had this all typed up and uploaded on Tuesday but my laptop crashed and deleted all my edits. Boo. 😦 Finally getting a chance to sit down and re-do it. In the meantime, I’ve managed to finish one of my items on my previous wish list! Woot. Will get pictures taken this weekend and have a post for you next week about it. If you follow my instagram (@oliversfancy) you got a sneak peek of it already and I hope are as excited about it as I am. 🙂
Archer Button Down by Grainline Studios, swiss dot fabric found at Hancock. Note: I don’t actually own this fabric yet, but I saw it on a recent trip to Hancocks and couldn’t come up with a reason to buy it but after I saw Kristin’s Archer I knew I needed to copy hers. I’m thinking a sleeveless version for summer would work really well.
Weekend Getaway Blouse by Leisl + Co., Robert Kaufman Chambray in Slate- purchased at Westwood Acres but no longer in stock. Again with the Kristin fan-club, I’m totally knocking off her version here…except for the pregnant part…no babies here for a long while!
Everyday Skirt by Leisl + Co., Robert Kaufman Chambray Union Woven Dot purchased at Pink Chalk Fabrics.
Well that should keep me busy for a while, huh? Gotta get these knocked out especially since I may or may not have already ordered some more fabric specifically for garment-sewing. I think I may have a problem…
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?
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:
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! 🙂
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…
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.
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. 
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.
If you’ve been following along here for any length of time, you know that I can’t resist a good sew-along. But sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all the different ones going at any given time. Enter Meg from Elsie Marley and her brilliant idea: Sew-Along Central.
She is curating a list of all current and upcoming sew-alongs and will send out an email list once a month to keep us all updated on the happenings in the sewing/blogging world. I’ve already signed up for the newsletter and thought it was such a great idea that I wanted to pass the info along to you. Go here to get all the details and sign up for the newsletter yourself.
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!
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