WIP Wednesday: A dress, a quilt, and some fabric piles for inspiration

Posted on April 2, 2014 by oliver's fancy

So the sickies hit our house this week and the kids and I have been down for the count. I’m going to apologize in advance that all my pictures are IG pics. Just the way life is sometimes. So many projects brewing in my mind, and so little time to get them done! I am *almost* finished with my second Bianca– this one is going to be my Easter dress! I just have a teensy bit left on it and hope to finish that and get some pics for you by this weekend. Here’s a sneak peek from my IG feed (@oliversfancy). I took the plunge and cut into my Nano Iro double gauze! And its gonna be awesome!

I am also hoping to finish the binding on Oliver’s quilt this week so I can finally cross that project off my list! Can’t wait to show you the finished product. Btw did you know that quilt and myself made it into our local paper? Yep, I am now famous. 🙂 A reporter came to check out our quilt guild at the March meeting and ended up using my picture for the front of the article. Pretty cool. I ran out and got the last copy of the paper at a gas station and think I shall frame it in my craft room. Hey, my first time in print has to be special, right? Here’s a link to the article if you want to read it.

my attempt at a picture of the actual newspaper article.

Don’t forget, next week is Kid’s Clothes Week! I’ve been making all kinds of plans in my head and am getting antsy to begin. My goal is to have all my patterns prepped and fabric cut out by Monday morning so I can spent next week sewing. Here’s my IG capture of my new knits purchase…got some pretties from Girl Charlee in preparation for KCW. I also took the plunge and bought Dana’s shorts pattern since it came highly recommended from my sources. And last, but not least, I bought some stretch thread after Rae recommended it so highly. I’ll be sure to let you know how these all work out for me.

As I was writing this post, it unintentionally morphed into a WIP post…funny how blog posts take on a life of their own, huh? So I’m linking up over with WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced for the first time today.

Spring 2014 KCW Plans

Posted on March 14, 2014 by oliver's fancy

Did I mention that I am a contributing blogger for this Spring’s KCW? Well I am, and I’m very excited to be there! Today I’m over on the blog talking about my plans for April’s challenge week. Yeah, I know April seems like forever away, but in reality, the next KCW is only a few weeks away! I discovered that I like the push to plan in advance this time because it takes me a while to think through what patterns I have and what clothes my kids need. Now I’ve done all the hard work of pre-planning and can just have fun sewing during the challenge week!

If you are interested to see my sewing list head over here to the KCW blog to check it out…plus you get to see this adorable picture of Oliver that I had forgotten about. Funny story behind this picture- I was searching google for a pattern picture of the raglan tee from Sewing for Boys and my own picture turned up in the search results. Why I guess I could use my own picture, couldn’t I? 🙂 FYI this picture is from Fall 2012’s Project Run and Play sewalong…you can read all about it here if you’re interested.

Kid’s Clothes Week Final Wrap-Up

Posted on February 3, 2014 by oliver's fancy

Days 5-6: I spent so much extra time finishing up the Bimaa hoodie on day 4 that I kinda burnt myself out, so I took a bit of a break for 2 days- figuring 3 hour’s work on one day = 1 hour of work on 3 different days.
Day 7: I wanted to finish strong this KCW so I managed to find an hour on Sunday and pulled together these Valentine’s Day shirts for the boys. I made some Valentine’s outfits for the shop a few weeks back and felt bad that the boys didn’t have their own versions. Love how these turned out, and I think they’ll be pretty cute in them. This was the perfect, quick and easy final project. Sorry I wasn’t able to get a picture of them wearing the shirts so an Instagram picture will have to suffice.

My final wrap-up thoughts:
I wanted this KCW to be about experimenting with different knit fabrics. Especially when buying online, you really have to know your knits or you will end up with the wrong type for your project. I have done some upcycling with knits in the past but not much with knits bought from the store. I really enjoyed this learning curve and am inspired to do more playing around with knits in the future. They are not nearly as scary as they are made out to be. 🙂 Plus they normally result in practical, comfortable clothing for the boys.
Some tips that I have discovered when sewing with knits:

Use your walking foot- so helpful!!
Lower your pressure foot pressure (keeps the fabric from getting all wavy while sewing).
Always use some sort of stretch/ballpoint needle.
If you want a good resource for knit helps, check out Rae’s Kniterviews– solid gold mine there!

Here’s my collage of finishes from this past week: clockwise-beginning with top left: Valentine’s Tees, Flashback Tee and Fancy Pants Leggings, Bimaa 2, and Bimaa 1

Go check out the Flickr group and KCW website to see all the other goodness that was made last week. There’s some pretty amazing things in there. Looks like the Bimaa was the project of choice this time around. I think it’s always fun to see which pattern is going to be the popular one during the week. And that’s a wrap until spring. What were your thoughts this KCW? Did you get to all your projects on your list? Next up on my agenda: serger and knitting classes. I’ll be sure to keep you informed of my progress in each 🙂

KCW Day 4- Bimaa hoodie take 2

Posted on January 30, 2014 by oliver's fancy

Well you knew I couldn’t just stop at one once I’d been hooked onto the Bimaa train, didn’t you? Here’s another one for Oliver made from some cotton jersey I got from the Fabric Fairy (using a gift card I got from a Sew, Mama, Sew contest).

Since this jersey was similar in stretchiness (or lack thereof) to the triangle fabric from Bimaa 1, I sewed up a 4T this time and I love the fit throughout the body. The hood is a wee bit big- we think he kinda looks like a jedi knight with it pulled up. It doesn’t bother O at all though- in fact, he cried when I tried to take his hood off for a few pictures. If When I make another one, I will probably still make the 4T size but do a 3T in the hood. The hood lining fabric is from an old knit dress of mine that was in the upcycle bin.

O was up from his nap when I was putting the finishing touches to his hoodie, and it was so cute because he kept asking if I were done, so he could put it on and go play in the snow. 🙂 He’s getting the hang of this blogger child thing…and the fact that photoshoots normally come with some sort of bribery. Lol. Ok, you northerners don’t laugh at our pitiful amount of snow on the ground. He doesn’t know any better!

Once again, major photo props to the husband. So glad I have him around to get good pictures for me. 🙂

KCW Day 3: Flashback Tee and Fancy Pants Leggings

Posted on January 29, 2014 by oliver's fancy

nope, pants aren’t hemmed yet…had to get the photoshoot in while the getting was good!

Lest little brother feel neglected, I made Day 3 of Kid’s Clothes Week all about him. This little guy is growing at a faster rate than his older brother, and, as a result, all of his hand-me-down winter pajamas are a bit snug. Why buy more when you can make them? Especially when you have such great fabric sitting around.

E’s top is the trusty Flashback Tee in size 12-18 months. (yes he’s 7 months old, why do you ask? 😉 ) and bottoms are the Fancy Pants Leggings- also in size 12-18 months. This was my first time sewing this leggings pattern, and I can see myself coming back to it quite often to make pj pants and shorts for the boys. I would say this pattern would be great for a beginner because the designer really holds your hand throughout the entire construction process. The only changes I would make next time would be to make the rise higher in the back because it was way too low on E’s big cloth-diapered bum.

And now that I’ve made 3 garments from the same fabric, I think it’s time to move on to something else. I have in mind another Bimaa for O from some cool red/blue stripes I’ve been saving. 4 more days left in this challenge so still lots of opportunities to sew! Make sure you head over to the Flickr pool to see all the fun clothes everyone has been making. Also check out the #kidsclothesweek hashtag on Instagram for even more action shots.

KCW Days 1&2: Bimaa Hoodie

Posted on January 28, 2014 by oliver's fancy

For my first Kid’s Clothes Week challenge, I give you the Bimaa hoodie. I have two things to say about it…

I’m going to learn to use my serger- STAT
Can there be anything more adorable than a 2 year old in a hoodie? I think not.

But seriously, I absolutely love this pattern and I cannot wait to make many more of them! My only sadness is that I don’t know how to use my serger yet (beginning Craftsy serger class next week!) because that would make this hoodie ridiculously fast to put together. As it is, it’s still a fairly quick and easy pattern. I used my walking foot and a jersey needle for the entire thing and didn’t have any problems with the construction.

The main fabric is a clearance jersey blend knit ($3/yard!!) from Girl Charlee. It isn’t a 4 way stretch like the pattern recommends and as a result, it’s a bit snug on him even though I sized up to the 3T but I kinda like that it shows off a bit of the toddler belly. He loves it and didn’t take it off all afternoon so it’s a win all around. If I use another similar knit, I will size up to the 4T so he will get more wear out of it.

To make this even more perfect, we got snow this afternoon! Y’all it rarely snows here so this is a special occurance. My hubby took O outside to play in the snow, and I coerced him to snap a few pictures of O in his Bimaa before we put his jacket on. Poor little fellow lasted about 2 minutes before he was begging for gloves so I don’t have a good full body shot but thankfully the husband is a master photographer and managed to take these adorable (IMO) pictures in that short period of time.

How I don’t really have a plan for KCW

Posted on January 26, 2014 by oliver's fancy

So yes, as I mentioned before, Kid’s Clothes Week is this coming week- Monday through Sunday. I have every intention of participating in this challenge; however, I have a slight confession to make- I don’t have my project list finished or my work prepped and ready to go. I’ve decided to take it a bit more stream of consciousness this year and see where the week takes me. It’ll be fun, right? (says the girl who lives by her lists!)

But really, I get so inspired from the Flickr group every challenge season that I want to give myself a little more freedom this week to come up with more ideas as the week progresses. I know that I want to make a Bimaa hoodie for Oliver and perhaps one for Eliot too. I’ve got that pattern printed and taped but still need to trace out my correct sizes. I’ve got a pretty stack of washed and folded knits calling my name (purchased from the Fabric Fairy with some giveaway winnings). And I am excited to see what I can accomplish this week! What about you? Are you a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of sewer or do you prefer to have your lists all made out and everything prepped the week in advance? Whatever happens, it’s sure to be a fun week and I look forward to seeing everyone’s accomplishments throughout the week!

Kid’s Clothes Week Winter 2014

Posted on January 21, 2014 by oliver's fancy

Just popping in to remind everyone about KCW coming up next week! I am pretty excited about this coming week because I have some kid sewing projects I am really looking forward to and need this push to get started on them! I’ll be back later in the week to share my list with you…have to finish it first. I hope that many of you will join in with me. The goal is to sew one hour a day for 7 days. Doable for anyone, right? I just love the community that KCW brings and how I get inspired with everyone’s creativity. For more info check out the KCW blog. And this week is giveaway week so you may want to check out some of the cool things they are giving away this week over on the blog as well!

Handmade Christmas Wrap-up

Posted on January 6, 2014 by oliver's fancy

Well I meant to get a few more things blogged over Christmas break but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men…. I am embracing the clean slate of a new year and hoping to settle into a good routine of sewing/blogging/home and family management and check in here more regularly than I have of late. Now that the little man is 7 months old, I am losing my excuse for not getting things done!

Here’s a few pics of the remainder of my handmade Christmas decor…including cute baby, of course. 🙂 Next up are a few of my handmade Christmas gifts- yes they actually happened this year- along with a semi-fail that I am sure you will be interested to see. 😉

of course E had to have one of my reindeer onesies…sold quite a few of these over the Christmas season- aren’t they just so cute?!

Some stockings I made for us a few years back using the rag quilting method…I made an extra that didn’t quite turn out as planned and guess it worked out because E got a stocking too this year. Maybe next year, he’ll get one that coordinates better with the other three.

A few of the monogrammed ornaments that were so popular in my shop this year. So popular in fact that I sold the ones I made for the boys!

Dapper Dan Bow Ties

Posted on November 14, 2013 by oliver's fancy

My husband’s sister got married this past weekend and had asked if Oliver would be a ring bearer for her wedding. With great trepidation we agreed to try to see if we could coerce him into it. 🙂 Originally I was going to try to make him a tweed jacket to wear but happened to find the perfect jacket on sale at Old Navy and decided to go with that option. However my sister-in-law asked if I would make bow ties for both Oliver and the other little ring bearer. Of course I left this to do until the day we were leaving to travel to the wedding so, thankfully, it’s a quick and easy project. I used this tutorial from Delia Creates as a starting point. Instead of doing elastic in the back, I sewed velcro onto the bow tie so that we could leave them tied and remove using the velcro. Who wants to have to tie those things over and over again?!

Funny story, as I’m sitting there the night before the wedding using Delia’s picture tutorial to attempt to tie the bow tie correctly, I try to see if any of the 5 or so guys in the room could tie it for me. Nope, they were all clueless, so it was left to the woman to figure it out. 😉

I liked little E’s bow tie even better than Oliver’s but unfortunately his hand blocked half of the bow tie in the one shot I got of him.

My one advice is to make the tie part extra long because I made the other little boy’s too short and had to add some extra fabric to it at the last minute. Thankfully that part of the bow tie is hidden under the collar so you can’t see my wonky fix.

I really wanted to get some cute pics of the boys wearing their bowties and spiffy outfits (really everyone stopped us to tell us how cute they were) but the wedding took place during nap time and it was all we could do to get the boys to walk down the aisle. No picture taking for them! So you are stuck with a few fuzzy iphone pics and an Instagram shot. Oh well, now I have a cute bowtie for Oliver to wear for special occasions and maybe I’ll get some good pictures another time. Fingers crossed we’ll get use out of this outfits for our Christmas card photo shoot! Are we crazy to even try to good pictures with an infant and 2 year old? 🙂