Parsley Pants Sneak Peek

Posted on April 11, 2013 by oliver's fancy

I am in the process of pattern testing an amazing pants pattern for Rae. I don’t want to share too much of this pattern yet before I’m done tweaking various things, but I wanted to enter this pair into this week’s Project Run and Play: It’s all in the details theme. I just think that these pants perfectly fit into that theme since they are full of fun, little details. Pants are made from a black pinstripe linen fabric that I have been saving for the perfect pants project.

Special pant details:

Piping added to pouch pockets- made from Aqua Kona cotton fabric
Pouch pockets have some special Lotta Jansdotter fabric (Bella line) as the lining
Pintucks down the front and back legs

I’ll be back early next week to show off more pictures and details of these pants as well as the other pairs I have made. (Two so far with another already in the works)

On the design wall… a toddler quilt

Posted on March 28, 2013 by oliver's fancy

I have so many projects right now that I really need to be working on, but some unforeseen pregnancy complications and sicknesses have left me without energy to do much at all the past few weeks. Thankfully I have found something to do which can be done in the short pockets of time and energy that I have- the beginning of Oliver’s toddler quilt for his big boy bed. Seeing as his 2nd birthday is in a month, and that’s when he is (hopefully) making the transition from his crib to a twin bed, it’s about time I got started on it. I searched good ‘ol Pinterest for some ideas and here is some of my inspiration.

Source: diaryofaquilter.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Source: projectnursery.com via Brooke on Pinterest

My original idea for the nursery was to do orange, green, blue and gray but it never really ended up that way. I’m using this second baby boy as inspiration to re-do the room a bit how I originally envisioned it. Maybe now it will finally get curtains! 🙂 The boys will be sharing a room once the new baby starts sleeping well so the toddler quilt needs to coordinate with the room. (You didn’t think I was going to give up my craft room for this baby did you? 🙂 )

I picked up a fat quarter pack of the Michael Miller Children at Play series a long time ago envisioning it as the perfect toddler quilt fabric. I am using those prints as my focal points for the blocks and building up coordinating solids and prints around them. I have four blocks out of my twelve finished and am really loving it so far. The nice thing is that I can just do a row or two of this as I have time so it works well for my small pockets of sewing time. The finished blocks will measure around 22 inches square.

Now that I am finally feeling better, I am hoping to finish up some other big projects in the works before getting back to this- mainly two big quilts I have to quilt and bind. I’m excited to try out the quilting on my new machine… just have to find time for the hubs to baste them for me, and I can get started. (Going to try out spray basting this time) I need to be disciplined and use this toddler quilt as incentive to get those other quilts done quickly so I can get back to this fun!

Celebrate the Boy: Raglan Tee

Posted on March 11, 2013 by oliver's fancy

I had so many other projects to get to last week that I didn’t get to do any more boy projects…Boo! But the celebration doesn’t end until tonight so this last project is coming in right on time.

Somehow, I blinked and all of Oliver’s tees are too short! Guess he had a growth spurt overnight. Thankfully, I have quite a few old tees of mine and the hubs set aside to reinvent as Little Man tees. I really wanted to get a couple made today but it took longer than I anticipated to make the first one since I had to trace a new pattern size. I made the Raw-Edged Raglan tee from Sewing for Boys. (Same as this previous tee.) This time I made the size 2/3. The shirt is a teensy bit big but that gives him some room to grow. I had some problems with the collar being too small last time I made this tee, and while this one fits fine, it turned out just a bit wonky. Not bad enough to make me redo it, but a little off. However for a knit-sewing novice, I am fairly proud of how well I did overall. 🙂

Fabric used: The Blue and White stripe is from one of my old tees and the yellow cuffs and collar are from one of Ian’s. I was inspired to add the yellow accents after I saw some of the cool color pops in the Flickr group. Hopefully, I pulled it off ok. Hubs isn’t too sold on it, but I like it. Plus doesn’t this look great with his new skinny pants? (thank you Old Navy clearance!) And check out the other cool color pop- his orange diaper…hey cloth CAN be cool. 🙂

Originally, I had a yellow cuff at the bottom of the shirt as well, but it made the shirt too long and baggy (t-shirt dress, anyone?). I cut off the border and took the sides of the shirt in about 1/4 inch each to make the tee more slim-fit while still giving some ease for growing room. It’s starting to warm up down here but the days still have a chill so these lightweight long sleeve tees are perfect for this weather! Hopefully I will have time to make a few more soon!

By the way, the wagon was a gift from a friend and he absolutely loves it! I had a hard time getting any shots in focus because he was pushing it (running at high speed) all over the yard. He thought it was funny to chase after me and “get” me with his wagon…Glad for some sun and a chance to work off some energy outdoors!

Shoppes on Trade

Posted on March 5, 2013 by oliver's fancy

This weekend was the big day and we moved into our booth on Saturday morning! Now to wait and see what happens. 🙂 I wanted to share some pictures of the booth with you. The onesies, hoops, washcloths, and basket are mine…everything else is my friend, Christa, from Brio Trio. Don’t you just love her animal softies? I love how well our styles mesh together.

As you can see, we have the use of the entire cupboard space plus a little wall space on either side of the unit- which works great for my hoops! We are still working on filling up the space a little more and adding some fun decorations. Hopefully, this space will look even better over the next few weeks, but I am happy to have made a start. If you are local and get a chance, there are some really cool new artists in this building now! I had so much fun browsing the other spaces after setting up ours. In fact, I already have some jewelry and scarves on my want list. 🙂

On a side note, check out the new banner!! I am so happy to have my new logo finished and ready to go! My good friend, Mary, came up with the original design and I commissioned another good friend and graphic designer to complete the project. I am sooo happy with how it all looks! I have already ordered my new mini-Moo business cards and cannot wait for them to come in the mail…making me feel so official and professional 🙂

Diaper Caddy Take 2

Posted on March 2, 2013 by oliver's fancy

In my wrap up post a few weeks back, I briefly mentioned that I made a divided basket using Anna from Noodlehead’s new pattern. I liked the main idea but wasn’t super happy with my results so I wanted to try a few more out to see if I could tweak some things and end up with a better result- hopefully to offer for sale in my new booth (Squee!)

Set up for the new space was this morning, and I stayed up way too late last night finishing this basket and accessories for it so that I would have it ready for today. So glad I did though because I love this! Aren’t the owls just adorable?!

Changes from last time:

Did not pre-wash fabric
Only used one layer of interfacing- Craft Fuse 808 instead of SF 101 and Fusible Fleece

Only a few changes, but they made a huge difference. You see, I am not super comfortable using interfacing because I don’t have much experience with it, and the type where you have to wet the rag, press until dry, and then continually re-wet rag and repeat the process to adhere all interfacing to fabric is somewhat tedious in my book! Doing it for two layers of interfacing took me way too long. Then last time, I was too impatient to let the fabric dry after this process and sewed it together while wet- stretching out my outer fabric to be bigger than the lining. In contrast, the craft fuse 808 just needs a quick iron-on to adhere to your fabric…soo much faster and easier! I am also quite happy with the stability it gave to my basket. Not pre-washing the fabric kept it stiffer as well. FYI the outer fabric is duck cloth and the inner fabric is Kona cotton.

I love this pattern even more the second time around. Anna does a great job with making her instructions clear and easy to understand. My problems the first time were all user-error not pattern error. 🙂

I wanted to make this diaper caddy part of a gift set so that someone can buy it for a baby gift and not need anything else to complete it, so I also whipped up some handmade burp cloths for the inside. I matched up some terry cloth with cute cotton prints from my stash. The burp cloths ended up around 8×13 in size… I love this result and made up a few bundles of burp and wash cloths to sell separately in the shop as well. This is a great project to do assembly line style! Not pictured is the newborn diapers and wipes I picked up on my way to the shop this morning to complete the caddy. I already have boy fabric picked out to make more of these and can’t wait to get on it! Hopefully others like these as much as I do! Oh and for those of you non-locals, I will be updating the etsy shop with some baskets and burp/wash cloth sets very shortly!

Shop booth set up went quite well this morning and we are headed back after Little Man wakes up from his afternoon nap to show the family my new space and take some pictures for the blog. 🙂 Now to keep myself from running down there every other day to see if I’ve sold anything. 😉

Celebrate the Boy 2013: Update #1

Posted on February 27, 2013 by oliver's fancy

In the midst of all the crazy activity going on over here getting ready to move in to my shop booth on Saturday, I decided to take a little break yesterday to do some sewing for my boys. It is Celebrate the Boy week after all, and I needed a creative break.

First off, a super quick and easy project- some fabric belts. Oliver has been given quite a few pair of pants and most of them fall right off his skinny little waist- even wearing his cloth diapers! Looks like I have a tall and skinny kid…. just like his daddy. 🙂 I have been meaning to try this pattern for a while and just never got around to it. The belt pattern is the Hold ‘Em Up Belt from Sewing for Boys. I modified it a bit to make the belts 3/4″ wide instead of 1″ since 1″ is too big for his pant loops. I used some old D-rings I had saved from some discarded purses of mine. The blue one is my favorite. I just love the pop of color it gives. Fabric is from a Pink Castle order back when she had her moving sale: (FYI if you need a good online shop, I highly recommend Pink Castle Fabrics!) Metro Circles in Turquoise and Sketch in Coffee. Don’t know why I didn’t make these sooner- they came together so quickly and work really well on his pants. I used some Craft Fuse 808 as interfacing to make them a bit stiffer and they turned out a perfect weight.

Next up, we have my first handmades for little brother- some Quick Change Trousers. Pattern is from Anna Maria Horner’s book Handmade Beginnings. I made a few of these for Oliver and really enjoyed the pattern so I decided little bro needed his own pair. Size is 0-3 months. On Oliver, these tended to run big so not sure how soon the pants will fit the little man, but I can’t wait to try them out….Oh only about 14 more weeks till we get to meet this little fella! 🙂 I love the fabrics together on these pants. I used more of my Pink Castle order- the Metro Circles in Gray and some of the Summersville Alphabetty In Seafoam print I’ve been hoarding. Kona cotton blue is the coordinating reverse fabric. I love these metro circles and wish I had bought more! That’s all my extra fun I can have for now- back to shop sewing. Hopefully the move goes well this week and I can tackle some fun boy projects next week. Glad Celebrate the Boy is 2 weeks long!

Celebrate the Boy 2013!!

Posted on February 22, 2013 by oliver's fancy

I am soooo excited that Dana and Rae are doing another celebrate the boy series this year! This is their third time doing this series, and each time it gets better and better. Having boy number 2 on the way in our household makes this extra pertinent for me. I love sewing for Oliver, but I do get discouraged looking at all the cute girl patterns and knowing I can’t use them. This series is coming at a great time for me to get motivated to make baby boy #2 some cool stuff. Check out how cool Elliot and Owen are- definitely sporting cool handmades! I get such a kick out of Elliot’s facial expressions… what a cute kid!

The series begins on Monday and will run for 2 weeks. They have a great Flickr pool going as well as an Instagram hashtag (#celebratetheBOY) for all you IG junkies (myself included in that list:) ). Next week is a busy week for me, but I’m definitely gonna squeeze in some time for boy-related sewing! Hope you will all follow along with everyone and join in the fun! Cannot wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Oliver’s Fancy…coming to a shop near you!

Posted on February 20, 2013 by oliver's fancy

I hinted last weekend on Instagram that I would be making a big announcement this week and here it goes! This may not be that big to you, but it is a big step for me. I have been given the opportunity to share a booth rental space at a shop in town! For you locals, it is the Shoppes on Trade Street in downtown Greer. This is a very exciting opportunity because the shop recently came under new management, and they are restructuring to include 14 new artisans in various fields- sewing, crafting, jewelry. They are really working to bring in a more modern vibe to the store. I will be sharing my space with Brio Trio. (Check out her super cute fox and wolf softies!) We open our booth the first weekend of March.

As you can imagine, that means I have been a busy little bee cranking out lots of new onesies and hoops for my space. It’s a lot to do in a short amount of time, but I am feeling pretty confident with what I’ve gotten done so far. I’m hoping to get finished with all the things that I have on my list so I can branch out and try some new items…we shall see how that goes. Anywho, I have committed to try this out for 3 months at least. Here’s hoping to a great, new venture! I am a bit nervous about this, because I have done some re-evaluating of my prices and such and have made the leap to adjust my items how they really should be priced. Part of me is worried that means that no one will buy anything, but one of the things I learned at the Maker’s Summit was not to undervalue myself because I am crippling my future options.

I thought I would share some pictures of some things I have been working on so far…really loving it! Spoiler alert… I am now branching out to include some girly items. I also updated the etsy shop for any of you who like what you see, but live out of town. Whew! I didn’t realize how long it had been since I did a proper update on etsy…it majorly needed it!

Another fun thing is that my logo has been completed (yay)! I am working on a new blog and etsy header, but I was able to go ahead and order my custom stamp so that I can stamp my logo on my onesies and hoops. Feels so good to be official. Now to go make some money to reimburse all my supply costs!

KCWC fall 2012 Final Update

Posted on October 15, 2012 by oliver's fancy

I thought I would give a final update as to my results for KCWC. As normally happens, my list morphed during the week, and my end results are not quite the same as my to-do list, but in this case I am very happy with the amount of work I was able to accomplish.

The before list:

Charlie tunic
Green cords
4 Raglan Tees
Appliqued onesies- hopefully 10

Actual Accomplishments:

Charlie Tunic
Green Cords
Grey Cords
2 Raglan Tees- one with hand embroidery
1 Raglan Cardigan
6 Appliqued onesies- still need final machine stitching.

Whew! That was a crazy week! I will be taking a break from that kind of crazy sewing and will be getting caught up with all my other things piling up. First thing to do is to clean my mess of a sewing room. Then the rest of this week will be spent working on items for the craft fair- only 3 weeks away! Be sure to check out the flickr group to see all the amazing things everyone else produced this week!

I will leave you with a picture of Oliver in church nursery yesterday wearing his mama-made clothes as proof that the Charlie tunic now has buttons. 🙂 Oh and can just say how nice it is to have a community who understand the need to make things. I got some comments this weekend about making Oliver’s clothes… “I’ve never met a mom who makes her kid’s clothes” and “how long will you keep making him wear things you make?”. These comments made me feel like I was a bit of a freak for enjoying the art of constructing clothing, and then I remembered Karen’s beautiful post and all the wonderful peeps participating in KCWC and I know that I am not alone! So glad to have a community to back me up!

KCWC Fall 2012 Day 5

Posted on October 12, 2012 by oliver's fancy

Today’s update isn’t anything grand and glorious.I used up so much energy the beginning of the week that, honestly, I was kinda burnt out to sew today. But then I read Meg’s encouragement to push through and I saw that we made it to her front page (yay :)) so I pushed through and worked on some craft fair projects today- still counts as kid’s clothes even if it’s not for mine, right? I was able to get 6 onesies appliqued today. I still have to sew around the appliques but the hard work of cutting them out and fusing to the onesies is finished . Yay for some of my to-do list out of the way! Especially since I only have 3 weeks till my first show! I used some Christmas fabric that I picked up last weekend in preparation for this week as the bow tie appliques. My thoughts are that these will make great outfits for little boys’ special Christmas events.

We are headed out of town this afternoon for our church retreat, so I won’t be able to participate tomorrow. But I want to participate on Sunday and get all these onesies sewn up. I’ll be back Sunday night or Monday morning with my final update and KCWC wrap up.