Halloween 2015: the Justice League Costumes

Posted on October 23, 2015 by oliver's fancy

So I would like to point out that it’s friday, the week before Halloween, and I’m done with the boys’ costumes!! Woot for early finishes! Now part of that is because there’s a party this weekend they want to attend with their costumes but hey, I’ll take credit for this early finish however I can.

I started asking the boys about a month ago what they wanted to be for Halloween this year. At first I was kind of hoping for another star wars run, but that seemed almost cliche with the movie coming out in December. And they both wanted to be superheroes this year. There was a bit of argument over who got to be Batman, but Eliot won that when Oliver landed on Green Lantern as his persona. Which is kinda funny because I know nothing of Green Lantern. A few months ago, I picked up a superhero board book for the boys and it’s kind of a dictionary of each of the Justice League members and what they do…that was our first introduction to Green Lantern. Oliver decided he wanted to be him so that he could have the ring- whatever works, I guess.

You won’t see a ring in these pics because I actually forgot to have him put it on (oops) but after lots of searching for a ring, we found one at Aldi in the Halloween section- it lights up and everything. So perfect and he’s so pumped.

Both of the boys are wearing Flashback Tees. Oliver’s tee is a 4 and Eliot’s a 3. I used Laguna jersey in Onyx and Grass. Eliot’s was a super simple all-black outfit with a freezer paper stenciled logo. Oliver’s required a bit more thought. I did a lot of google searching Green Lantern costumes and they all had this side inset of black along with the angled black lower sleeve. The triangle shirt insets took me a little more brain power than I’d like to admit, and I’m not sure they were 100% succesful- they should have been a bit bigger. But Oliver loves it so that’s really all that matters. FYI I mixed glow in the dark paint into the mix for both logos so both shirts actually glow in the dark- pretty awesome. And that will be super fun on Halloween night.

The pants I’m super in love with. I used the Fancy Pants leggings pattern in a size 2 and 4. I just love how their little legs look in fitted leggings- especially Eliot’s leg rolls… all the heart eyes. Though FYI Eliot is wearing a cloth diaper in these pics so he’s got a little more bulk down there than you would see with a disposable. I don’t like to make costumes for just one night so I’m glad these ended up super comfy so that they can be pjs once Halloween is over. Or regular clothes too… you never really know how they will end up in rotation. As long as they’re worn, I don’t care!

The masks are made from two layers of felt cut out with a layer of craft fuse in between for durability. It’s my first mask-making experience so they’re not perfect, but the boys actually wanted to keep them on for most of the photo shoot so I consider that a win. Maybe they’ll actually be worn for trick or treating. Plus it just makes this outfit tie in so well with the Kid’s Clothes Week disguise theme. Eliot’s mask is a template that I got here. Oliver’s I just winged from some pics I found.

I totally cheated when I realized Eliot could just use Oliver’s Darth Vader cape from last year (blogged here) Score for not needing to make another cape!! I know this is a picture heavy post but I just couldn’t resist all of these shots… Sometimes I find them too cute. And this last one, yeah Oliver lay down and posed all by himself. I could not resist taking a picture as I died laughing.

Hope your Kid’s Clothes Week and Halloween sewing is going well! I am actually making costumes for both me and the husband this year so I’ve got to get busy on them now…Cannot wait to show them all to you! I’m so excited we have a Halloween party to attend this year so I can finally justify family costumes. We’re gonna be adorable. 😉 and cheesy.

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. 🙂

kcw spring 2015: stormtrooper birthday tee

Posted on April 26, 2015 by oliver's fancy

Oliver turned 4 today….sigh. On the one hand, it feels like I’ve been a mom forever, but on the other hand, it feels like just yesterday he was a teeny little baby. Four is just such a big kid age! And while I really am excited to get to enjoy all the fun that comes with the big kid stage, I’m mourning just a bit the loss of my little toddler. Okay, enough sentimentality, on to some crazy cute pictures of this kid. Can you tell Daddy was around to take pictures today? Yeah, maybe one day I’ll have his photog skills.

The birthday shirt is a tradition around here. And like all good traditions, it’s always made the night before the birth day itself. 😉 In the past, I’ve done mostly traditional number shirts. You can see my previous ones here (three, two, one), but this year I wanted to do something different. Something that would mesh into his every day wardrobe a little easier. So I consulted Oliver, of course. He picked out this navy and red striped knit from my stash for the fabric. (bought on a recent trip to Charleston where I stopped in at Five-Eigths Seams and raided their knit stash. Unknown substrate info except it’s a lightweight jersey knit that feels like mostly cotton with maybe a little bit of spandex).

I searched the internets for birthday number tee ideas until I came up with several options for O to choose from. He, of course, wanted all the options so we decided to combine the superhero shirt with the stormtrooper. I used a free stormtrooper printable (found here) and added Superman’s logo to the chest along with the 4. It might not be super obvious that it is a Superman logo, but Oliver gets a kick out it so that’s what counts.

The stormtrooper is freezer paper stenciled onto the shirt. Cutting out all those pieces was a bit tedious but I really like the end result. Note on freezer paper stenciling: less is more. I put my paint on a little too thick and the stencil didn’t come off very neatly, so I had to go back with a small brush and touch up a bunch of spots. Ended up being fixable but wouldn’t have been an issue if I had used thinner layers to begin with.

Pattern is the flashback tee in a modified size 4. I wanted it to be a little looser fit so I added about 1/4″ to the width on both sides when I was cutting it out. I wasn’t thinking and cut off some of the bottom hem to even out the stripes and ended up cutting off too much and making it too short. So I used the same rib knit that I bound the neckline and armholes with and made a binding for the bottom hem. It’s not my fave hem but at least it’s not too short! I must admit to being pretty happy with how well the stripes matched up on the sides and the sleeves!

The entire shirt was sewn with my serger so it was a pretty quick sew- made up for the time-consuming stencil. And that wraps up a pretty successful Kid’s Clothes Week. I don’t always get to whole heartedly participate anymore, but I really enjoyed getting into my sewing groove this week and cranking out a bunch of stuff. I’ve got a few more things to show you next week after I put the finishing touches on them.

kcw spring 2015: rhino jammies

Posted on April 23, 2015 by oliver's fancy

I’m back with another pair of pjs for Oliver. This pair is basically the exact same at the previous pair except for different fabric and the rhino addition. I bought this jersey knit from Imagine Gnats at the same time I bought the deer fabric. She has a great selection of stripes, and I had Oliver look through and decide which stripes were his favorite. I would not have picked the red and grey for him but he loves it.

Again, flashback skinny tee in a 4T for the top. Coordinating grey ribbing for the neck and sleeve bands. I have yet to hem this version either. My husband just asked me why I never hem the knit tees….ummm, because I’m lazy? lol.

I wanted to have some fun with the “wild things” theme for kid’s clothes week so Oliver and I brainstormed different animals until we decided upon a rhino for his shirt. I decided to keep the rhino understated so I just freezer paper stenciled the outline in black fabric paint. I can always go back and fill in the outline if I decide it needs more substance. What do you think? Is it good as-is?

Pants are the fancy pants leggings, yet again. 4t. I used 1.25″ elastic in the waistband this time, and it fit perfectly and gives the waistband some nice structure. For added fun, I rotated the stripes in the bum panel.

Oliver’s first comment when trying these pjs on was “these are so cozy”. Score! I think the extra cozy factor is due to the rayon in the jersey. I normally just use cotton/spandex blend jersey but went out on a limb to try the rayon blend this time. It’s a little more slippery to sew with and quite drapey, but once sewn together I was pretty happy with it.

In case you haven’t noticed, we are going super simple on the photo shoots this week. KCW is all about sewing, and that means less time for shoots, so hope the less-than-stellar photography doesn’t bother anyone. Plus, photo shoot with pjs need to involve comfy couches and doggie pillows, right?

Hope your kcw sewing is going well. I’m loving all the “wild things” I’ve seen so far and am excited we still have 3 more days to go. Next up on my list are some more pjs- but this time summer versions with tank tops and woven shorts…so I am switching things up just a bit. 😉 Can’t wait to show you the fun fabric the boys picked out for these!

kcw spring 2015: hello bear pajamas

Posted on April 21, 2015 by oliver's fancy

So far I am on a roll this kcw! Eliot has been taking good naps and Oliver is actually spending an hour all by himself for his quiet time! Whew. I have no idea how long this will last so I’m taking full advantage of the sewing time while I can!

Today’s project was one of several pairs of pjs I have planned for Oliver. These pjs are made with some Art Gallery Knit (Hello Bear by Bonnie Christine) that I picked up during Imagine Gnat’s spring break sale. I had Oliver go through the shop’s knit selection and pick out a few prints that he would like for pjs- again, part of my plan to make sure my handmades get worn! I was able to squeeze of these garments from one yard of fabric- love sewing with wide knits. Even with the bit extra priciness of AGF knits, this comes out as a pretty thrifty outfit.

Tee pattern is the good ol’ Flashback Skinny Tee from Made by Rae. I made a 4T and it fits pretty perfectly. I just realized only have one more size till I size out of my pattern. Going to have to get the larger sizes one soon. Hard to believe my little baby is getting that big. Wah! Oh also, I was going to hem this but I used my serger for the entire construction and was too lazy to change my sewing machine needles and thread for hemming so we’re sticking with the un-hemmed look for now. It’s in, right?

Bottoms are the fancy pants leggings from Laura at Titchy Threads. I thought about trying to find another legging pattern for the bottoms since I didn’t necessarily need the bum panel for these pants, but I already own this pattern and had the 4t size traced and ready to go so I just went with them. Even without using contrast fabric, I do think that bum panel is pretty cute. My ribbing is pretty thin and doesn’t have great recovery so I inserted some 1″ wide elastic in the waistband to help the pants stay up.

Oliver requested taking pictures with his daddy’s new Star Wars lego mini fighters. The boys and I picked them out for daddy’s birthday last week and we are all enjoying them. The mini AT-AT is so stinking cute, I might steal it for myself.

Anyway, these pjs might be a bit of the easy way to fit into the wild things theme for this week, but hey, Oliver picked the fabric himself so can’t blame me. I’m hoping to have some fun with fabric paint and wild things on another pair of pjs later this week. Fingers crossed for continued good sewing time!

Striped Star Wars Tanks

Posted on July 24, 2014 by oliver's fancy

It’s Kids Clothes Week this week and since I knew that I was going to be out of town the beginning of the week, I made up a few outfits in advance. Actually these tanks were supposed to be the boys’ 4th of July outfits but I ran out of time to finish them so they ended up wearing them without the graphics. Which now that I’ve finished, I think I liked them better without the graphics. Win some, lose some.

These tanks are a hack of the Flashback Skinny Tee. Fabric is a cotton/spandex knit from Girl Charlee. Eliot’s is an 18M with 1.5″ length added and Oliver’s is a 3T with 1″ length added. I used Tara’s tutorial as a basis for how to make the tank out of the tee pattern but ended up changing it up even more. Continue reading →

Vintage May

Posted on May 15, 2014 by oliver's fancy

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. Vintage May Redo (8 of 10)

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. Vintage May Redo (10 of 10)

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.

spring kcw wrap-up

Posted on April 15, 2014 by oliver's fancy

I’m back for my final wrap-up for spring 2014 Kids Clothes Week. I made a little collage to show off my total clothing counts. Click on the collage to go to a list of all my kcw blog posts.

I really enjoyed the push to make as much of Oliver’s spring wardrobe as possible within a week. I was actually sad to not get more sewing time because I kept getting more tee and short variation ideas.
My main takeaway from this week was how much easier and quicker my serger made things. Don’t know why I waited so long to learn to use it. I even re-threaded it twice! (pats self on back). I also think it took my sewing to the next level and made my clothes look more store-bought. And lest you think I’m a sewing machine (see what I did there? 😉 ) by Monday afternoon, my kcw adrenaline rush had worn off and I collapsed on the couch during the boys’ naptime! I have got quite a busy sewing/blogging schedule the next month though so I am glad to have gotten my energy back today and gotten back into things! I’ll be back on Friday with something fun to share.

spring kcw: the mini accountants

Posted on April 11, 2014 by oliver's fancy

Well today I had my first sewing casualty- cut off the end of my finger with the rotary cutter. Not cool. 😦 Thankfully I already had these shirts finished before that happened so I did manage to get my hour in today. Sure hope it heals quickly because it seriously cuts into my sewing mojo. It is also surprisingly hard to type with a bandaged index finger.

My husband recently starting working for a really cool group called The Iron Yard as their bookkeeper/accountant guru. This is a casual/somewhat hipster environment so everyone wears tshirts and jeans. Ian was able to get some extra-large shirts, and he thought it would be fun if I made shirts for the boys from them. I immediately thought how perfect would this be for our mini-me kcw theme- especially if I could get some photos taken of the boys “working” in daddy’s new space. kcw spring 2014= fb tees

I used the trusty Flashback Skinny Tee for the tees. Oliver’s is a 4T and Eliot’s is 18 months. I lengthened E’s by an inch but otherwise they are as-is. Btw did you forget I had another son? I know he’s gotten sadly neglected this week but as the curse of the younger brother, he has so many clothes while O had none. Enter one shirt made for the little brother= mother guilt assuaged for now. Also please ignore E’s blotchy face. My sensitive skinned child is having a reaction to the pollen flying around outside.

Whew, I’m exhausted now. Photoshoots with two kids- not so easy as those with just one! Still two more days of kcw left to go and I’ve got two shirts for sure to show you and I’m hoping for another pair of shorts! We will see. Don’t give up over the weekend- find that hour somewhere!

KCW Spring 2014 Day 1: A Mini-Me- The husband version

Posted on April 7, 2014 by oliver's fancy

Ok y’all I am getting really pumped about this Spring’s KCW because I am having so much fun coming up with ideas for O’s summer wardrobe. Today I tried out Dana’s shorts pattern and give it two thumbs up. Seriously, it makes short-making a breeze. I love a good basic pattern with multiple variations where you can make quite a few pairs and they will all look different. Also I am using my serger on clothing for the first time this week, and it has changed my life! Why did I wait so long to learn how to use it? The first thing I did when husband came home was show him the inside of O’s shorts because they look so stinking profesh! I must say he was suitably impressed- or pretended to be at least to make me happy. 😉For the shorts, I used an orange seersucker from Joann. I made Oliver a 3T (without measuring him- living dangerously, I know) and ended up cutting off about 1/2″ off the bottom. Other than that, they fit perfectly. This pair is made with a flat front and lined patch pockets cut on the bias. They really are the cutest shorts. My husband wasn’t so hot on the fabric when I brought it home, but he gave the completed shorts two thumbs up. I’m just pumped you can’t tell they are handmade. These were so easy to make that I may never buy another pair of kid shorts again! It’s gonna be #makealltheshorts. KCW Spring 2014

KCW Spring 2014 In keeping with our mini-me theme, the shirt is an old t-shirt of Ian’s that had gotten too small for him after many washings. Mini-me in my case will most likely equal mini-husband (that’s ok, right?). I sized up my trusty Flashback Tee pattern into a 4T because this fabric does not have much stretch in it. It definitely gives him some room to grow, but that’s good since I want this to fit all summer. However if I use some stretchier knit for his next shirt, I think I will go back down to the 3T. In addition to using my serger to finish off the seams, I also took Rae’s advice and bought some stretch thread for the hems. It was very easy to use, and I love the look of the straight stitch on the neckline instead of the stretch stitch that I’ve used before. KCW Spring 2014

I really wanted to get some pics of Ian and Oliver together with their coordinating converse tennies and graphic tees to cement the mini-me theme, but, alas, tax season is finishing strong over here, and I doubt he’ll have time to get in on any photo shoots. 😦 I’ve got a few more mini-me items up my sleeve though so I’m hoping for at least one group shot of all my boys before the week is out! KCW Spring 2014 How about you? How has your week begun? Any completed projects to show or still tracing patterns and cutting out fabric? Can’t wait to finish up this post and go peruse the KCW site and IG pool!