Tuesday, June 28, 2011

10 little hangers, drying on the line

Just a quick picture tonight. I've finished a bunch of popover sundresses, a couple more tea party sundresses (I remade the red topped one) and I've been experimenting making a ruffled halter like the Oliver+S one for girls. They do not have this pattern available for dolls so I've been making one of my own. It's coming along, the fit is good. I will post more pictures later once everything is dry and pressed. I wash everything I make because there is usually washable marker colors here and there on everything. I don't use a dressmaker's pencil or chalk. I like my kids' Crayola markers because I know they will always wash out and I can choose the right color so it's always visible.
I just wanted to share this picture of these little hangers on my clothesline tonight. Some are for friends, teacher gifts, birthday etc. The rest are for my dolls.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Another popover doll dress

This is such a cute, quick pattern. I'm leading a sewalong on a doll forum so more people can make this lovely Oliver+S dolly dress. I made up my example dress last evening and took lots of photos. I won't bore you with all those pictures, but I will share a few of my favorites.

This is the finished dress. Hannah is the doll I bought in NYC in April, she is a #37. Her green eyes and ginger hair are just right with these colors.


I wanted to try flat felling a tiny seam allowance and the side seams of this dress were just right for testing it out. It was a bit fiddly but it worked well. Not necessarily practical for all the time, but still nice to know it can be done. The fold in the fabric at the foot is 1/8" wide. Vintage machines were made for this kind of work.

I like being able to see where I am going when I sew something close to the edge. See the bias strip around the underarm here? I can get very close to the edge and keep it consistent because I can see. Vintage machines were made for this. If you're not sold on these by now I don't know what else to say. It's a very different but super enjoyable way to sew. I can't go back to my computerized kenmore for sewing. Winding bobbins and making 1 step automatic buttonholes sure, but not for stuff like this.

I'll be making a few more doll dresses soon. I think they will be nice end of year gifts for school friends, and a few of my dolls could use some summer wear. I'd love to see some popover dresses made by my readers.
Thanks for reading and have a lovely weekend!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

A vest for my boy and a popover sundress for dolls.

My son had a field trip to the zoo today. He requested an explorer vest like his little brother's for the occasion. I made it yesterday and washed it last night. Unfortunately it was raining today so the zoo trip was cancelled and they went to a movie instead. He wore his vest anyway, you never know when a pterosaur might be spotted up in the sky. His is a size large. I bound the armholes in teh same plaid as the smaller one but the inside is light blue plaid from another upcycled shirt. The buttons are mismatched, but close enough, vintage. I made the bellows option again, I think those really make this a good vest for an older child. My son is 7.5.



I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the doll tea party sundress the other day. This shows the tiny french seams of the 1/4" allowance and the red detail inside the hem. This is understitched and it was supposed to be blindstitched in place by hand but I was impatient so I just used a straight stitch. 


This is the Oliver+S popover sundress for dolls. It's a free pattern available to all. I'd love to see any you make, friends. Post your blog or link to pictures here in the comments. I made 3 of these today from remnants of the Koi fish ice cream dress I made a while back. I think it might be handy to have a coordinating doll dress if the whoever gets the dress also has a doll. My son's little friends at school are at the age where they are getting AG dolls for their birthdays. So, we are ready for the next party. It's nice to have a gift ready to go. This dress is for Davina, my #4. It's her turn to get some new dresses. It's raining here today so she's got her wellies on.


Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

This, that and the other things..

I have a few things to show you today. First up is a shirt I made my husband for father's day. I made it secretly in the afternoons while the boys were both at school. He had no idea this was coming lol. I had originally bought the fabric to make board shorts for the kids. It was on the ironing board and my husband inspected it one day, he loved how the inside felt. He said "A shirt made of this would be soooo nice!"  So, be careful what you wish for, it might come true.
Behold, the Hawaiian shirt. The kraken and pirate ships are icing on the cake.

The shirt is Kwik-sew 2935. I'll make him a hat in the same green as the inside back yoke soon. It fits him well, he wore it to the fair on father's day. He got to hold a nice gun at the military venue, the soldiers there got a kick out of his shirt.



Our oldest son has a matching hat. I made this with the pattern in the O+S Little things book. I used 1/4" instead of 1/2" seams to give it an extra inch of circumference.

I'm glad this is a pretend cow to milk, notice he's got all 4 in two hands. What a guy!

I've been wanting to make this tea party sundress for 18" dolls since I got the O+S book. I wasn't sure which doll to make it for. With the recent news of American Girl #4's retirement I knew it should be for her. Mine is named Davina. I used French seams in all of the skirt seams but something happened in the bodice. I think I mixed up the right and wrong sides and the yokes didn't match up exactly because they weren't cut perfectly.  It's a bit tight so I think i'll make another later this week. If I use a print it will be easier to keep track. I think this pattern would work well with fat quarters.

Thanks for looking!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Little Red Riding Hood

My youngest boy is invited to his classmate's birthday party on Sunday. She is turning 5. I don't often get to sew for girls so I like it when I get to sew a party gift. I'm going to miss this little hood, it's so cute and it was fun to make. I took a lot of pictures. The pattern is from Little things to sew. This is the medium size, she's a teeny little thing at 40". My boy is almost 45" and it fits him fairly well so she should get a couple of years out of this. It took a little negotiating to get him to model it. Turns out he's good at holding a pose :)


The outer is twill, the inner is quilting cotton. The button is vintage.




As always, Oliver+S design and instructions are fabulous. I've never felt let down when making one of their projects.
These little slits in the seams for the hands to pass through are simple, but genius. I topstitched all around the perimeter of the cape. The pattern didn't ask for this, but I like topstitching.



The lone blue vintage button was perfect for this cape. We also got her a copy of Little Red Riding Hood and a little basket to put it all in. Happy birthday Hazel!

Thanks for looking!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Explorer vest

This is another pattern from little things to sew. My little guy is in a contrary mood today so no modeled pictures. I made the pocket bellows option. My vintage machine handled them very well. At the tops of the pockets the bellows get folded over themselves. I lost track of how many layers are there but I think it's around 15 layers of cotton ripstop twill. Aunt Millie went through them like butta'.
The plaid fabrics are upcycled old men's shirts. The yellow buttons are vintage.



This is one of the pocket bellows. I would not have attempted this with a modern sewing machine. I couldn't get this precise topstitching or handle the layers with my kenmore. Not in a million years.

Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Sun hat.

Yesterday I bought this book of little things to sew. It is full of sweet projects that are useful and fun to make. I started out with a bucket hat for my 5 year old. I made him a size large and it fits well. My 7 year old has a head the same size as mine so I'll have to adjust the pattern to make him one that fits. I'll make myself one too, everyone needs a hat.
It's a reversible hat, he loves it!
The interior is some leftovers from the koi fish ice cream dress.

 The outside matches some pants I made him a while ago.

He will not model it for pictures, I tried.
Coming soon, Little Red Riding Hood for a friend's birthday. Also, maybe a doll dress. The book I mentioned above has a sun dress pattern for 18" dolls in it.
Thanks for looking!