A Linden with Cattitude

Posted on November 6, 2015 by oliver's fancy

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?

Basic but Practical: Union St. Tee in White

Posted on August 22, 2015 by oliver's fancy

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!

Southport Dress for Imagine Gnats

Posted on July 28, 2015 by oliver's fancy

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.

Imagine Gnats Sewing: Summer Shorts and Tanks

Posted on June 9, 2015 by oliver's fancy

I’m over on the Imagine Gnats blog today sharing my favorite summer outfit for the boys. I knew that I wouldn’t have a ton of time to complete this project after we got back from our trip, so I actually sewed this up before we left…That’s over a month early on a project!! For procrastinator me, that’s like crazy-talk. Here’s a sneak peek of Eliot’s outfit, but you’ll have to go to Rachael’s blog to see the pics I got of the boys together in their somewhat matching outfits (yes, I’m that mom 🙂 )

Anyway, it’s been so hard to sit on it for a month and not share it with you, but today is the day! Head on over here to see all the pictures and read about all the details of the outfits. Hope you love it as much as the boys and I do!