I’ve got a post up over on the imagine gnats blog showing off my latest union st tee hack. This time I made it both sleeveless and maternity! And used this adorable birch fabrics interlock for the tee.
Head over here to read all about it and see a few more baby bump shots. 🙂
Just popping in here because I realized I keep forgetting to share my Imagine Gnats posts with you. This week I blogged about this awesome Southport dress that I made with some Nani Iro double gauze from Rachael’s shop!
This floral is just so exquisite and I’m ridiculously happy to have a dress made out of it. Head on over to the blog to see more pictures and to read up on how I hacked the pattern to be maternity friendly.
Also I don’t think I ever shared my Colfax dress that with you either… Also made out of double gauze because it’s just the best. This was made right after I found out that I was pregnant and worked great as a first trimester dress since it’s very flowy and covered up that baby bump that appeared quite early the third time around! It’s a ways back on Rachael’s blog but you can go here to read all my thoughts on this pattern.
Yep, you read it correctly. Here I come again with another Linden. If you’ve followed me for any amount of time you might have seen this as a common theme. Once I find an easy pattern for either me or the boys, I tend to make several in a row while I’ve got the pattern pieces out and instructions fresh in my mind.
I bought several different Leah Duncan knits from Rachael’s shop back during a sale this summer (FYI for anyone reading in real time, she’s currently having another knits sale!!). I have always loved Leah Duncan’s fabric lines and was so excited when she came out with some knits too! One I used to make a short sleeve Union St. Tee that I love and get so many compliments on when I wear it…and I just realized that I never blogged it. Oops. Maybe I can get a few pics of it before it’s too cold. Because it really it so cute. Anyway, I have been saving this one for just the right project and after my cattitude Linden turned out so well, I thought I’d try it again.
I just so happened to have the perfect navy laguna knit in my stash to coordinate- justifying my stockpile immensely 😉 , and so I used that for the sleeves and neck binding. I made the size 6 per usual. I did make one mistake that kinda bums me out. I forgot to add the 1/2″ length to the bottom like I did with the previous version. So it still fits fine but that extra bit of length takes it to the perfection level. Oh well, next time I will remember! And I’ll just wear a tank top under this one so that it doesn’t bug me with pulling the hem down all the time.
That’s actually why I liked blogging. I mean I love the sewing community and friends I have made through it all that but I also love having a journal of sorts of my sewing journey. I’m bad about making notes on my patterns, so when I go to make something for the second or third time, I usually pull up my blog post where I wrote about it and read over my modifications and changes I thought the pattern needed. It’s been super helpful! I neglected to blog about quite a few things last winter and I’ve had to work really hard to remember the changes I made last year as I come back to the patterns again this fall.
And one more thing- photo props to the 4.5 year old. I had some time where we were hanging out outside with not much to do, so I bribed him to take a few pics so I could throw this post up. Not too bad for his age, I think! We will keep working on his skills. 🙂
So this is actually my third Linden. Yep, I have two others that I wear all the time but haven’t gotten around to blogging. Oops. I have wanted some of this Lizzy House cat fabric since I saw it released. It just looked like the perfect choice for a Linden. I mean, who doesn’t want a crazy cat lady sweatshirt? Funny part of this is that I have never actually owned a cat. But I always wanted to as a child so I guess this is my way of getting my cat fix.
The pattern is the wonderful Linden from Grainline Studios. I bought the paper pattern during her online Black Friday sale last year- FYI fabric and pattern sales are the only Black Friday shopping I do…cannot resist those deals and a chance to support independent shops. The paper pattern instructions came in this adorable little booklet that was quite fun to use. I’m hoping she runs another Black Friday sale this year because I want to buy some of her latest patterns. I’m so taking paper patterns over PDFs if I get that option right now. Burnt out on cutting and taping! 
Anywho, moving on. I made the size 6 with just a small modification of adding 1/2″ to the length of the body. My others were just a teeny bit shorter than I liked and that extra 1/2″ makes it perfect for me. I love how different the shirt fits in this lighter weight jersey. It has an awesome drape and is the perfect weight for cooler fall days that don’t need a jacket yet. It’s got the oversized-coziness of a sweatshirt with the lightweight recovery of a t-shirt. Kind of the best of both worlds. 
Fabric is from Imagine Gnats shop. She’s out of this print right now but does have a few other Lizzy knits here. I have some more yardage of the purple butterflies that I may used for another Linden… we shall see. Definitely recommend the quality of these knits. And I have to say, this is seriously the quickest sew! I think I cut and sewed it in less than an hour! Perfect instant gratification project. And no hems. Can I get a woot, woot for that?! I’ll leave you with my two little photo bombers who had to jump into the pictures because they’re just little picture hogs now. But cute ones, no? 
Notice a theme with our family costumes this year? Yep we all got to be super heroes. 🙂 I was so happy we had a party to attend this year, and so I finally had an excuse to get us all in costume. The boys got to pick their characters first and then Ian and I picked from the rest of the Justice League options…with Ian as Superman and me as Wonder Woman. Now this was a family friendly party so no crazy costume for me… 😉 So I did a lot of research on how to keep the WW vibe without showing off a ton of skin. I don’t have any great pictures of the adult costumes from our party but here’s a few Instagram and iPhone pics for ya.
Ian’s shirt is the Oliver+S metro tee. I bought the metro tee bundle a while back but hadn’t gotten around to sewing it yet. So this was my first time making it, and I was very happy with the great fit. I used the size S and added about 1/2″ to the shirt and sleeve length. I printed off a superman template and then freezer paper stenciled the logo to the shirt. I had planned to make him a cape and some other costume additions but ran out of time and he was happier with just the t-shirt so I called it good there. 
My shirt is the Union St Tee from Hey June Handmade- size M in the v neck and long sleeve option. I raised the neckline about an inch and thinned out the neckline binding by 3/8″. This shirt has lots of freezer paper stenciling! I don’t know if that was the best way to go about it but it seemed the easiest so I went with it. Once I was done with it, I kinda wished I had just made a separate belt and then a little skirt to go with the outfit because I loved the tee with just the sparkly gold W and I think I would have gotten a lot more after-Halloween wear out of it that way…but live and learn. And these Union St Tees are pretty easy to make so I can always make another one with just the WW logo if I want to. Oh and both tees are made with Laguna Jersey knits- what else did you expect? lol.
I found these great socks on Amazon– with little capes on them and Primed them right to myself on Thursday night! Seriously, way too cute. I finished off my costume with a felt tiara (printable here). Oliver was really disappointed that I didn’t have the arm bands and the lasso but one only has so much time to invest in costumes and this was as much as I had time to get done. I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out and we had a lot of fun being a superhero family for the night. 
I just realized I never shared the evergreen jacket I made for my September contributor post over at Imagine Gnats. This purple french terry from Rachael is so amazingly awesome and my husband got some pretty great pictures of me on his bike so make sure to go check it out if you haven’t yet! I won’t typically wear it zipped up like this, but I kinda love this picture so I had to share it with you. 🙂 Purple lovers unite! 
Last month I got an email from Art Gallery Fabrics asking if I would like to sew up something as a part of their September celebration of National Sewing Month. Um, yeah, didn’t have to think twice about that one. The thing that took me forever was deciding what to sew and what fabrics to use! I’ve been dying to sew up some pajamas ever since Kelli at True Bias made these Lion pjs and after much thought I decided this would be the perfect chance to sew with some fun fabrics and make my pajamas.
The fabric I chose was Block Party from the Happy Home collection. I don’t normally sew clothes for me with quilting cotton but the Art Gallery fabrics are a lighter weight than normal quilting cotton and work out pretty perfectly for pajamas. I also enjoyed using a fun print that I wouldn’t normally get to use! Not having any little girls, I don’t get to use all the fun prints out there very often so this was a treat for me.
I used the Carolyn Pajama pattern– view C from Closet Case files. I’m usually a tank top and shorts pj person but I thought it would be nice to have some dressier pjs for when we have company or I just feel like wearing them all day. ;). Based on my measurements, I sewed up a size 8 and that’s pretty spot on. I like how it’s a comfy fit but not so boxy that it’s unflattering.
This pattern is labeled as intermediate and I would definitely concur with that label. I actually found these a bit more complicated than I had assumed they would be. Mostly due to the amount of piping involved. I used some piping cord and Art Gallery pure elements in snow to make my own piping. I have never tried the continuous bias tape method but Heather’s tutorial was great and my bias tape turned out awesome! It is time consuming though- not going to lie about that…took way more time than I really had available. I had to rush thru the sewing part to get these finished on time. I also want to say that I am lucky enough to have a piping foot for my machine and while I don’t use it often, in cases like this, I am so thankful for it! I really aids the sewing process.
There were a few times that I had to really use my brain to figure out the instructions. Nothing too horrible but I think a beginner sewist would struggle through the shirt construction. Once I got it all sewn up though, I’m super happy with how well the shirt fits and how comfy it is!
My one beef with this pattern is the shorts’ inseam. My cuff fits kinda funky- it rides up on the inseam and hangs lower on the outseam. And not in a cute way- it looks a little awkward. I even checked the pattern pieces to make sure I hadn’t sewn them backwards but I did sew them correctly. I must have made some sort of mistake though because I’ve searched other bloggers who made these shorts and none have mentioned this problem. I’m also really sensistive when it comes to seams touching my skin and I feel like the inseam is a little bulky and bothers me. I’ve had this problem when I’ve made the maritime shorts in a heavier fabric so it must just be me. The fit across the bum and hips is pretty perfect though so next time I make them, I think I just need to grade more of the seam allowance out of the inseam and stitch it down to keep it from bothering me. I’m trying to decide if I need to lengthen the crotch just a bit too. I will also raise the waistband just a teeny bit as I like my shorts to sit just a bit higher on my waist- after two babies, I’m not such a fan of low riders. lol.
But considering I didn’t make a muslin, this is a pretty successful finish. Just a few tweaks to make next time and I’ll have perfectly fitting pajamas. And these will still get plenty of wear. In fact, I’m still wearing them today. 🙂 Who wants to change into real clothes when you have cute pajamas?
Disclaimer: Art Gallery Fabrics provided the fabric for this post as part of their September AGF Sewing Month but I purchased the pattern and all opinions are, as always, my own. 🙂
I’ve made a few tiny pocket tanks (this chambray+art gallery one from last year is one of my faves) and wanted to make another one for this summer. I picked up this cotton+steel double gauze for a steal at pink castle fabrics (looks like they’re sold out of this one now, sorry) when they were running a 40% off apparel fabrics sale earlier this year. I knew this would be the perfect fabric for a summer tank as it breathes so nicely!
I made the tank (pattern- tiny pocket tank) in a size 8 but angled the back pattern piece over the fold about 1/2″ at the top- gradually angled down to nothing mid-way down the back- because I remembered that I’ve had shoulder gaping with this pattern in the past. I ended up taking out too much width as it’s a bit tight across my shoulders, but still wearable- especially after I Â wore it a few times and stretched out the double gauze a bit.
Another mod I always make to this pattern is to raise the neckline by about 1.5″ so that I don’t have to wear a tank under it. Otherwise, it ends up too low for me. I didn’t do a super good job hemming it as you can see in some of these pics, it flips up pretty badly. But if I give it a good ironing, it will stay down better. Ha, who am I kidding that I’m ever going to iron this, though? 😉
I actually made this tank at the beginning of the summer and just now got around to taking pics of it. I do so love how cool and breezy it is. I’m never 100% sure that these types of flowy shirts are flattering on me because I feel like the billowing around the waist makes me look bigger than I am, but I still like to wear them because they are so comfy. I did end up taking the sides in about 3/8″ starting right below the bust to the hem to take a bit of the width off. Basically I have an 8 in the top and grade it down to between a 4/6 in the hips. 
I just can’t get enough of all the cotton+steel lines and I love that they are producing fabrics in so many different substrates. Makes it so fun to try more and more garment sewing.
Quick weekend post to show you one of the simplest articles of clothing I have made to date and yet one of the ones I am the most proud of- a white tee shirt! I don’t know about y’all but I have a really hard time finding tees that I like. I have needed a basic white tee for ages and finally just decided to make myself one. And so this doesn’t go the way of many of my other handmades that never get photographed and blogged, I had my husband snap some quick pics on my iPhone while we were downtown this morning. 
The pattern I used is the Union St. Tee from Hey June. I made the v-neck version of the tee in a size M and it fits perfectly. The v-neck takes some time to construct if you want to do it properly but the end result is very professional. I don’t think anyone can tell it’s not store-bought. Also it feels like a check off the sewing techniques list to learn how to make a proper v-neck binding. Now that  I know the pattern fits me well, I have plans to make several more in some fun fabrics!
The fabric is Robert Kaufman Laguna jersey knit in white/pdf from Imagine Gnats. You can find the fabric here. I have sung the praises of this laguna jersey before and I say it again, I love to keep this on hand for basic knit needs. The fabric is a great weight and has really good recovery. Also one of the best things about this pattern is it can be made with just 1 yard of fabric- making this tee very economical! I doubt I could find a nice white tee for less than $10 at the store.
FYI notice, I’m wearing my double gauze shorts (blogged here). So happy to finally have a basic tee to wear with the shorts when I don’t feel like being all dressy with my fancy shirt that matches them. I was pretty pumped to be out in a completely handmade outfit today! Woot, woot! 
I’m over at Imagine Gnats today with this awesome Southport dress….Head over here to see more pics and read all about my new-found love of rayon challis- after overcoming a complete fear of it. Yep, I’m still a scaredy cat sometimes when it comes to sewing with new substrates. And I wouldn’t normally choose a print quite this bright and bold but I’m actually loving it in this dress.
oliversfancy 