Sidewalk Knits Showcase

Posted on February 17, 2017 by oliver's fancy

Long time, no see, huh? Wow…didn’t realize it had been quite that long until I went to write this post. I did have a baby shortly after my last posting and life has been a little crazy since then! I’m slowly getting back into sewing and hopefully will pop in here more often as I’ve missed sharing my things here! I really like the record this blog provides of my sewing adventures…and my kids. 🙂

Enough about me…on to the cuteness that is this fabric and these boys! Y’all know that I’m a big fan girl of Rae from Made by Rae and she’s got some awesome new fabric lines out. I love so much that she designs fabric lines that can be used for both boys and girls! Cool boy fabric is really hard to find. Rae and Cloud 9 fabrics were so kind to send me two yards of the art class print in green from her new knit line- Sidewalk– to play around with.

Y’all, you can make a lot from 2 yards of knit fabric! This stuff is 55″ wide and made from some really nice interlock. I tend to be more of a jersey knit girl because I find a lot of interlocks to be too stiff, but this Cloud 9 interlock is super soft and perfectly stretchy- but with the extra stability you get with the interlock substrate. Highly recommend!

I promised myself I wouldn’t sew matching outfits for all 3 boys but here I am, unable to resist the pull. They’re not strictly matching- everyone’s got a little something different going on, but all 3 boys are sporting something from this fabric.

Let’s start oldest to youngest, shall we? I made Oliver a safari raglan in the size 6. I used the coordinating solid Cloud 9 interlock in snow for the sleeves. Just a basic tee but I took the extra time and actually hemmed his up, so it looks nice and professional.

For Eliot, I really wanted to make some knit shorts and love the look of the mini hudsons so I started with that pattern as my base, cut it off at his knee, and hemmed them up instead of using cuffs. Since the pants pattern is made to have a baggier thigh and thinner calf, I smoothed out the curve of the leg piece as I was cutting it out to make it a little more straight legged, but I think it still needs a little more work to be perfect.

The pockets and waistband look so cute though so I’m still considering it a win. And he loves “comfy pants” so I know they’ll get a lot of wear. His shirt is just a flashback skinny tee in a size 4 with a chest pocket. The blue knit is an unknown sourced jersey knit from my stash.

And then we have Charlie- (um yeah, welcome to the blog Charlie!- I’ll try to do a legit introduction post sometime soon, but for now, here’s my adorable 3rd baby boy- Charlie Edmund. 🙂 ) Charlie’s outfit is from Brindille and Twig- a fairly new pattern company to me but I’m liking what I’ve sewn from them! His shirt is their new Ringer Tee (free pattern!) in a 3-6 months size. And his leggings are the drawstring leggings (also 3-6 months). Love both of these patterns and I see myself making a lot more of each of them.

I really enjoyed getting to sew again. I’ve missed it. Thanks to Cloud 9 and Rae for providing me with the fabric. I’m a huge fan and will totally be picking up some more to use for more fun boy sewing.

And if anyone has tips for getting decent pictures of 3 kids together, please pass them on! We had to settle for least worst when choosing pics for this post. It’s been too long since I took blog pics and my older two have forgotten how to act for the camera! Goobers. This last picture is kinda my fave though…so much personality coming through!

Birthday Raglan Tees

Posted on June 14, 2016 by oliver's fancy

birthday raglans (6 of 6)

I haven’t had a chance to show either of the boys’ birthday shirts yet so I thought I’d just take pictures of both at once to show you. I started this tradition of birthday number tees back for Oliver’s first birthday and although I’m almost always sewing them the night before, I have yet to miss a year!

birthday raglans (2 of 6)

This year I used the safari raglan pattern for both boys. In the past I have done more intricate designs (see last year’s superhero stormtrooper), but with all that’s going on this year, I needed something quick and easy.

birthday raglans (1 of 6)

I finally realized that there was a short sleeve option on the safari pattern (duh!) so I printed that off and used that to make the short sleeves. I can’t quite remember now, but I think they are wearing a size 3 and 5. And as you can see, they are completely unhemmed…birthday tees are meant to be fun and casual. Who needs a hem on that?

birthday raglans (3 of 6)

Both boys’ tees are made from Laguna jersey from the Imagine Gnats shop... I’m telling ya, it pays to keep a variety of colors in stock for last minute tee-making needs!

birthday raglans (4 of 6)

Oliver’s stencil turned out a little harder to read than I had anticipated…I started out with a black stencil but you couldn’t see that at all so I mixed white and black to reach a nice gray shade and repainted it. But on that dark gray tee, it ended up a little more subtle than I had planned. It does have kind of a nice echo effect with the black paint behind the gray though.

birthday raglans (5 of 6)

Eliot’s stencil is the result of me searching pinterest for 3rd birthday shirt ideas. I saw several variations of the three fingers tee and thought it was perfect for him as he loves to hold up his fingers and tell everyone how old he is. Unexpected side effect: I made the shirt green as that’s his favorite color and now he calls it his Yoda shirt because Yoda is green, therefore anything green belongs to Yoda. 🙂 Kids and their logic.

And that’s a wrap on birthday tees for another year! I don’t know how long they’ll want me to keep making these but I’m going to keep going as long as I can. 🙂

Thing 1 & Thing 2 Tanks…and a Thing 3

Posted on May 20, 2016 by oliver's fancy

things 1 and 2 tanks (7 of 9)

Soooo, there’s a reason my sewing has been sporadic lately. Which you may not have noticed but I have felt the lack of quite sorely. There’s another Crook baby coming late November 2016. Yay…and yikes. 🙂

things 1 and 2 tanks (2 of 9)

We are all very excited, and I am very excited to be exiting first trimester next week. Time to get some energy back around here! Obviously a new baby means some reveal sewing was in order! I have wanted to make the boys Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts forever and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do that…and throw a little thing 3 in the mix. 🙂

things 1 and 2 tanks (6 of 9)

I used the Twisted Tank pattern from Titchy Threads- non twisted version obviously. Love this pattern for perfect summer tanks! Eliot’s is a size 3 and Oliver’s is a 4 with a 1/2″ added in length and a little extra width as well (I didn’t have the 5 traced and couldn’t find my pattern pieces to trace it out so we improvised).

things 1 and 2 tanks (3 of 9)

I found a template online for the logos and did some freezer paper stenciling to make them. I haven’t perfected doing two different paint colors on a stencil yet, but these turned out pretty good overall. I had to remind myself no one will see all the little imperfections in the paint. things 1 and 2 tanks (1 of 9)

Tank fabric is Laguna knit in red (what else did you expect? 🙂 )from Rachael’s shop– currently on vacation but will re-open the end of the month.

The baby onesie is also freezer paper stenciled…onesie is courtesy of carters. Hehe, I don’t sew everything!

things 1 and 2 tanks (5 of 9)

Boys shorts are also handmade Sunny Day shorts from last summer…so glad they still fit because I just love how cute they are.

things 1 and 2 tanks (8 of 9)

And for inquiring minds, yes I will find out what it is! Who knows whether there will be girl sewing in my future or not… Oliver is convinced it’s a girl but we will be happy either way. I mean, I’ve got the boy sewing thing going for me already so I’m ok with another cute boy. 🙂 And if it is a girl, I’ll be needing all the girl sewing patterns you can throw my way! things 1 and 2 tanks (4 of 9)

Safari Raglan- Dinosaur Style

Posted on April 29, 2016 by oliver's fancy

dinosaur safari raglan (5 of 7)

Ok, so I may be overusing this safari raglan pattern but it’s just such a quick and easy sewing project that I can’t resist! I’ve been in the middle of a sewing slump- mainly because I have some projects I HAVE to get done for my sister’s upcoming wedding and have been putting them off… Yeah I’m so bad about finishing those kind of things. It’s the welt pockets, y’all. Gotta make a pair of welt pocket shorts and I’m just not feeling the love right now!

dinosaur safari raglan (4 of 7)

This past weekend, I wanted to push through the slump by sewing some thing completely for fun. I got this Lizzy House dinosaur knit from Rachael a few months ago- I think I bought the very last bit that she had in stock! I knew the boys would love this fabric but hadn’t decided exactly what to do with it yet.

dinosaur safari raglan (2 of 7)

A raglan tee seemed like the perfect way to show off this print. I paired the dinos with some laguna jersey in navy. (you know me and my laguna love. 😉 ) Like I mentioned, I used the safari raglan by titchy threads. I used the same mods as I did for the swamp rabbit raglans I made for the boys this winter- sewing up the size 2 but moving the center fold over 1/8″ to add a little width and adding 1/2″ in length to the bottom. One of these days, I’ll just go ahead and trace out the 3 and stop being lazy!

dinosaur safari raglan (6 of 7)

I wanted these to be short sleeved and I didn’t have the short sleeve option for the pattern printed out, so I just eyed it and chopped the sleeve off around where I thought it should be. They turned out more elbow length than short sleeve, but I kinda love the elbow length so I think I’m going to leave them as-is.

dinosaur safari raglan (3 of 7)

I had planned to hem the sleeves and bottom hem but decided I was too lazy and just left them to roll up. They look so cute all rolled up naturally so I’m calling it a design feature.

Oh and those shorts are some I made for Oliver waaayyy long time ago. They’re a little short for Eliot now and I love seeing his little knobby toddler knees hanging out of them. No way am I letting that hem out and getting rid of that cuteness.

dinosaur safari raglan (1 of 7)

I did make a tee for Oliver too. I was going to make his a little different than Eliot’s but he liked Eliot’s so much that we just did an exact copy. Hey, he asked for it! Gotta encourage the matching while it lasts. 😉

12917784_1719345668339948_556771109_n Oliver didn’t end up in the pictures because he’s not feeling well today but here the IG picture from the other day so you can see his. FYI he requested to take the picture in front of the quilt ladder because “it would look all colorful.” Love getting his input now. It’s so cute.

Swamp Rabbit Raglans

Posted on February 2, 2016 by oliver's fancy

swamp rabbit raglans (3 of 5)

A few weeks ago we took the boys to our little downtown outdoor ice skating rink that opens every holiday season. It just so happened to be the night that the local hockey team had some players there to skate with the crowd and the boys charmed the manager into giving them some hockey tees. Of course the only size the guy had with him were men’s Larges but he thought the boys might like the tees anyway… Lucky for them, this mama knows how to sew. 😉

swamp rabbit raglans (1 of 5)

I used the safari raglan pattern and centered the pattern pieces over the graphic print. I was a little worried that the print would be too big to fit on Eliot’s shirt but thank goodness, it fit just perfectly! I’ve sewed this pattern so many times, I didn’t even need to look at the instructions while I was making the shirts- just used the pattern pieces and whipped them up. I do so love a quick and easy project like this!

swamp rabbit raglans (2 of 5)

I used some laguna jersey in my stash to accent the tees- navy for Eliot and brown for Oliver. The tees are sizes 2&4 with a few mods…I moved over the center fold about 1/8″ to give a little more width and also added 1/2″ to the shirt hem and 1/4″ to the sleeve hems. I wanted these to be big enough to wear next year too but not too overly big right now. I think they turned out just about right. Oliver’s sleeves are a teeny bit short but I’m just going to add a cuff to them and they will be fine…especially easy to do since i was super lazy and didn’t hem the sleeves or shirt hem. 🙂

swamp rabbit raglans (4 of 5) The boys were so super excited to wear their new shirts and have worn them several times since I finished them last week. I love being able to give them little custom things like this…part of what makes sewing so fun. And we may have never been to a hockey game, but the boys can represent our local team with pride now in their new shirts. 😉 Also Oliver is going through a difficult photography stage- ugh. He’s really in love with his shirt but did not want to smile for the camera…goober. Oh well. Guess I’ll have to work on my photo bribery skills for next time!

swamp rabbit raglans (5 of 5)

A Very Cotton+Steel Christmas

Posted on December 7, 2015 by oliver's fancy

I saw someone on Instagram several months ago post a picture of the new cotton+steel Tinsel Christmas collection and I knew that had to be our Christmas pjs this year. I’m trying to make yearly handmade Christmas Eve pjs a thing. I’ve been pretty good at getting the boys’ pjs made the past few years but not so good at adult versions. This is the year I’m going to do it all! 😉 So far, so good since I have the boys pjs completely finished and it’s not even mid-December. Who is this person I’m becoming? Never fear my Christmas sewing list is a mile long and I’ll be sewing well into the wee hours of Christmas eve to finish it all!

Anywho, back to the pjs. I picked up the fabric at Fabricworm a month or so ago using a gift card I’d been saving and got my favorite prints out of the line. I knew the boys had to have this snow globe fabric. I mean, it’s just too cool that several of the places they’ve been in the last year and a half (Paris, San Fransisco…) are pictured in the globes! They got to decide which color they each wanted and thankfully there was no fighting over that! Though they were complete goobers during the photo shoot and so ended up getting their heads cut out of half of the pictures because they were just ridiculous faces.

Here’s the specs on their outfits:

Eliot:

Pants: Parsley Pants. Size 4. (sized up because of cloth diaper bulk.) Quilting cotton. No mods except cuffing up the hem for length.
Shirt: Safari Raglan. Size 2. Laguna Jersey in Onyx for sleeves. Thermal Waffle Knit for main body. Both from Imagine Gnats. The reindeer head is a freezer paper stencil.

Oliver:

Pants: Parsley Pants. Size 5. Flannel. Mods- widened the waistband from 1.5″ to 1.75″ to accommodate the 1.5″ wide elastic I had in stock.
Shirt: Old Navy (Oliver had this shirt in his closet and since it matched his pjs perfectly, it didn’t make sense to make him another one. Plus I used up the rest of my waffle knit on Eliot’s tee) . Added the reindeer freezer paper stencil in silver glitter paint.

The stencil didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned but overall I think their Christmas pjs are really cute. And they’re happy so that’s really what matters. Now the hard part is to keep them put away until Christmas Eve! And of course get busy sewing mine and the hubby’s pair. But, I almost forgot, if you check out my latest Imagine Gnat’s post, you’ll see I already have my shirt finished and it uses the same waffle knit that Eliot’s has!

Hawthorn+Rowan Sweatshirt Hack

Posted on November 30, 2015 by oliver's fancy

hawthorn-rowan hack (3 of 6)

I bought the Hawthorn pattern a long time ago and have been wanting to try it out for so long, but kept putting it off. Bigger projects like this take a while for me to get psyched up for because the time commitment is more than just a simple t-shirt. I was finally motivated to get to it when I realized Oliver didn’t have any simple zip-down hoodies for this fall.

hawthorn-rowan hack (1 of 6) The Hawthorn comes with two options- a full zip or half zip sweatshirt with a collar. I really wanted to make a hoodie so I figured I would see if the hood from the Rowan tee fit the Hawthorn neckline- spoiler alert: it does!

hawthorn-rowan hack (4 of 6)

I thought I’d give a basic recap for any of you who are interested in replicating this hack yourselves:

Constructed both pieces separately- size 4 for both.
Made the hood exactly as instructed except for the final step where you sew the front corners together.
For the jacket, I left out all the steps concerning the collar construction.
I did attach the front facing pieces to the zipper and just moved them down to start at the top neckline of the jacket since there was no collar for them to attach to.
Then I just sewed the hood to the jacket matching up the front and back middle points of each. I did end up seam ripping the front facing at the very top so that I could sandwich the hood between the main jacket and facing piece when sewing them together.
Finally I used the same twill tape from the rim of the hood to cover up the jacket/hood neckline seam- making it look very professional!

hawthorn-rowan hack (5 of 6) And presto- everything lined up perfectly and the jacket turned out so nice! Happy, happy dance!! I am so, so pumped at how awesome this looks. You know I’m a huge fan of Laura’s patterns anyway so I had high hopes that this hack would work out, but it turned out even better than I had anticipated!

hawthorn-rowan hack (2 of 6)

It did take me two weeks to finish this jacket because I was having some major brain lapses while sewing and would have to put it down and come back later. I’m just not used to sewing more complicated patterns with all the multiple facings pieces and such. But every time I would come back after a break, whatever I was struggling with would finally make sense and I’d move forward a bit. Next time I go to make this, I think it will come together super quickly since I’ve got the instructions all figured out now.

hawthorn-rowan hack (6 of 6)

My fabric is this yummy french terry from Imagine Gnats shop. I used the wrong side for the pockets and inner hood. She’s out of this color but here it is in a lighter gray colorway. I’ve slowly been buying up more and more of her french terry fabrics. It’s just so perfect for cozy fall and winter garment sewing. Oliver and I perused her website to pick out exactly which french terry he wanted for this jacket. He didn’t seem super impressed when the fabric came in the mail, but once I sewed it up and he tried it on, he loved it and is always grabbing his “cozy jacket” now when we head outside.

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.

Spooktacular Dr. Seuss Raglan Tees

Posted on October 16, 2015 by oliver's fancy

So I’m on a total raglan kick right now…mostly because I’ve got the pattern out on my cutting table so it’s super convenient to just grab it and cut! I picked up a yard of this Dr. Seuss Halloween fabric on while tagging along on my husband’s business trip to Charleston this week. I like to stop by Five Eighth’s Seams if I get a chance because they always have some good eye-candy. I didn’t even know there was a Dr. Seuss Halloween line but I just could not pass this fabric up. I’m not normally a huge Halloween decor person but seriously, Horton and the Grinch dressed up…I just couldn’t resist. And since I still have most of the yardage left, I think I might make a quilt with the rest of it. That way we have something that we can pull out every fall to celebrate the new season.

But Oliver really wanted a shirt made from the fabric too so we did the quick and easy appliqué option. I seriously googled for shirt ideas for way too long this afternoon- making this decision way harder than it needed to be. I felt like a simple appliqué was too expected and not very exciting but when I thought about adding the raglan option to the tee, that made it a little more interesting. And just reading this, y’all are thinking “wow she way overthinks things…” yeah it’s true. I just can’t help it and it drives my husband crazy. and probably all the friends I text for decision advice. lol.

These shirts were both made with Laguna Jersey. The black is from the imagine gnats shop and the orange is scraps from this shirt (wow, how long ago was that?!). I was going to change up the colors for Oliver’s tee but he insisted on matching exactly with his brother so there you have it…two twinsies.

Oliver’s is a 4 and Eliot’s is a size 2. Pattern is the Safari Raglan once again…I added a 1/4″ of length to Oliver’s to help it fit my lanky boy a little longer. Neither shirt is hemmed because I’m lazy like that. I did secure all my serger seams so the shirts won’t start unravelling..ahem. Because that has happened on occasion when I’m extra lazy.

I know that it might have been silly to make them shirts when Halloween is so close so they’re only going to wear them a few times before the season is over but I’m glad I made them. I think it’s fun to have something a little special just because… it’s one of the reasons I am glad I sew. And now I can get a little glee out of seeing them in their little twinsies outfits. Yep, little boys sure are cute. Even when they aren’t huge fans of making nice faces for your camera. 😉

Swamp Rabbit Raglan Tee

Posted on October 9, 2015 by oliver's fancy

I have been so busy the last month with various assignments that I haven’t had any time for just-for-fun sewing. Don’t get me wrong- I’ve enjoyed all the things I signed up for but sometimes you want to do something just because. I finally had time this week to have some fun. I picked a quick and easy project- a raglan tee for Oliver. I love how easy it is to make kid tees…seriously it took us longer to pick out the fabric than it did to sew. Oliver is really into arts and crafts right now and he was actually a big help in the process. He helped me tape together the pattern, picked out the fabrics, chattered to me while I was sewing, and then painted the stencil on. It was fun to have him along for the ride.

I used the safari raglan pattern from Titchy Threads. I have long needed a good raglan pattern and Laura has filled the void. I’m a huge fan of her patterns. The fit and construction are always spot on. I sewed Oliver a size 4 and it fits perfectly now. If I want him to have room to grow, I might sew him a 5 but I’m pleased with how good this looks on him now.

We have this trail in our town called the Swamp Rabbit Trail and it’s a 13+ (wikipedia says 28.6 miles round trip) mile walking/biking trail that follows the bed of a former railroad nicknamed after the swamp rabbit. It’s a huge local attraction that now has shops and cafes along the sides of it. We are big fans and I run on it several times a week as well as bike with the boys at least once per week. Oliver is so familiar with it that he can tell you where the different attractions are along the route. So when I wanted to incorporate something local into this tee, I thought what better than to use our favorite trail?

I drew the pennant stencil and letters on freezer paper- after some trial and error with the letter sizing and then had fun (lol) cutting out all those tiny letters. I don’t have any gray fabric paint so I mixed white and black together until Oliver and I were satisfied with the shade and Oliver painted it on for me.

I think we are both pretty happy with how it turned out, and I am hoping it gets lots of wear this fall! The fabric is my favorite tee go-to: laguna jersey in royal and white/pdf from the Imagine Gnats shop.