swingset skirts with sprinkles

Sewing for Lila has been a total crapshoot for awhile now. Remember the Beachy Boatneck I was so sure she was going to love? She’s worn it zero times, and has assured me that she never will. Apparently she does not like 3/4 sleeves, and the sequins were too scratchy when the shirt came off over her head. Luckily it’s big, so I’m hanging onto it in hopes that she may develop into a reasonable human being sometime in the near future.

But in the meantime I’m sticking with skirts, and from patterns she’s already tested and accepted. I made two Oliver + S Swingset skirts last fall, and she has worn them non-stop for the last eight months. In fact, I may become physically ill if I have to see her in either one of those skirts again. So out with the old, in with the new.

Even though I’d kinda like to burn those first two, I really do love the Swingset pattern. It has a nice full, swing-y shape, and I like the look of the skinny elastic rows at the waistband. And the lining makes it feel substantial. I’ve lined all four swingset skirts and my Roller Skate dress with Robert Kaufman Savannah batiste – it’s super soft and lightweight and makes perfect lining fabric.

This time I left out the drawstring – it’s a lovely addition, but the bow is forever coming untied on those first two skirts I made. And since there were no buttonholes, I threaded the elastic between the lining and the skirt exterior, same as the Roller Skate dress.

The fabric for the polka dot skirt is Dear Stella’s Sprinkles from the Piper collection. And skirt #2 is Essex yarn dyed linen in denim, which has recently surpassed Essex yarn-dyed linen in black as the fabric I want to use for everything. In fact I made this very skirt for the Handmade Kids Clothing Swap.

I added rows of running stitches along the bottom like Lila’s rainbow sprinkles skirt from two years ago, which is long outgrown (along with those red shoes, which have been replaced by pink). The colors don’t pop as much on this version of the skirt, but I think the denim will be a little more practical than the white, considering all the tire time her skirt hems see. Then again, the polka dot skirt is pretty much white (now with a black hem). Maybe a pair of shorts should be next on the list.

Here’s a little Mother’s Day flower for everyone….have a happy weekend!

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spring kcw :: roller skate dress

Much like the all-powerful Geranium dress, I could not resist making a Roller Skate dress.

Verdict is: yet another great Oliver + S pattern. Sooooo many possibilities with this one.

I chose the option with the neckline facing, but omitted the V after seeing Lucinda’s amazing version of the dress.

There are many things to love about this pattern, but one of my personal favorites is that I was able to cut a size 3 (with an inch of added length) out of 3/4 yards of fabric. I think the pattern calls for 1 yard, but I squeezed it in. There might be a little selvage hiding in the seam allowance, but that never hurt anyone.

Fabric :: Bloomsbury from Felicity Miller’s Charleston Farmhouse collection (which, incidentally, I think I cut upside down)

Pattern :: Oliver + S Roller Skate Dress

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spring kcw :: lazy days

I had a couple things cut out and ready to sew last night, but zero desire to start either one, so I made a tried and true Lazy Days Skirt. It’s one of the simplest, most satisfying things to sew, ever.

It’s nothing exciting, but I knew it would take me under 45 minutes, and I knew Lila would wear it. And both of those things came true!

Lila picked the fabric – it’s Michael Miller Bird Chat, left over from the curtains in her reading nook.

The weather has been insanely gorgeous here and I’m having major trouble motivating myself to sew. It might just be Lazy Days Skirts for the rest of the week…

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back on the swingset

Unfortunately, I didn’t get all my KCWC sewing done last week. Things got in the way. But had I been able to sew a little more, you would’ve seen a second Oliver + S Swingset skirt.

Not much new to report since I just made the same skirt last week. I still love the pattern. It’s full and twirly and fun to wear.

The fabric is an Anna Maria Horner Field Study print (Sundials in Glow), and I used the same ribbon as last time, but in coral. And the same lightweight cotton lining in white.

I stuck with the size 3T lengthened to a 4, which leaves plenty of room to grow.

And I was all ready to dress it up for fall with tights or leggings, but it was suddenly warm and sunny at photo shoot time, so we’re pretending it’s summer again.

I almost just wrote that Lila is on the fence about her new skirt. Not funny, I know. That’s why I didn’t.

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fall kcwc, day #1 :: a swingset skirt

I’ve made a lot of skirts in my day, but this was my first go at the Oliver + S Swingset skirt. I’m a fan.

In fact, you may or may not see another one of these later in the week. I warned you I was keeping it simple for this installment of KCWC.

This pattern was indeed very simple – just two pattern pieces, two rows of 1/4 inch elastic, and two buttonholes for the drawstring (you can make it yourself, or use ribbon, which I chose). It really wasn’t that much more work than a Lazy Days skirt, and while I love making those, it was fun to do something a little different.

It’s fully lined, which is a nice touch.

It gives the skirt a bit more fullness, I think.

And I was really thinking fall with the gray cord, maybe with tights and a sweater, but it’s been so warm here that we had to go with no sleeves and flip flops today. No complaints of course. It’ll start raining soon enough.

The details:

Pattern: Oliver + S Swingset Skirt, size 3 lengthened to 4 (the length on this pattern is at the waistband rather than the hem, so I had to tweak the buttonholes a bit to get them in the right place…and I didn’t quite get them in the right place)

Fabric: charcoal gray 21-wale corduroy from Joann’s, with a light-weight white cotton lining (batiste maybe?)

Ribbon: Anna Maria Horner’s Lime/Cream Spinning Wheels

And I leave you with these two, who just can’t keep their hands off each other…

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back-to-school dress (for real this time)

So last year around this time I made Lila an honorary back-to-school dress and lamented the fact that she didn’t have anywhere to wear it. But she started preschool yesterday, so this is the real deal. Her very first first-day-of-school dress, an Oliver + S Jump Rope dress.

I made this version of the dress last June – I loved it on Lila and hated watching her grow out of it! The smaller-sized pattern only goes up to 3T, and it’s a slim fit, so this was my chance to make another.

It feels a bit blasphemous to pick favorites when it comes to Oliver + S patterns, but I think this one might be it for me.

There are so many great details and I love the professional-looking end results. I have pored through the Oliver + S flickr pool and the Jumprope Sewalong pool studying the dresses made from this pattern, and my favorites are the simplest ones – small prints, subtle dots and stripes, and almost solids – those seem to highlight the dress’s details and are always the one that stand out to me.

This polka dot fabric (Lucy’s Crabshack by Moda) was Jump Rope-worthy to me, and the candy-colored dots on the navy/grayish background seemed like the right combination of summer and fall to be a good back-to-school dress.

Lila is not much for dresses, and I doubt I’ll convince her to wear this one more than a few times. But she wore it on her first day of school, so I’m satisfied. The dress got lots of compliments at school, and no one asked if I made it, which always make me feel like I’ve done at least a decent job.

This is definitely one of the more labor intensive Oliver + S patterns (second only to the School Days coat in my experience), but absolutely worth the effort, and the stellar directions will walk you through every step. The pattern is out of print but available as a digital download. I will most definitely be investing in the larger sized pattern for this one. Like it or not, Lila, there will be many versions of this dress in your future.

Thanks so much for everyone’s well wishes for Lila’s first day of school. She was beaming from ear to ear when I picked her up, and has agreed to go back next week (as long as I drop her off and don’t stay, she says!) which is all I could ask for. When I dropped her off yesterday I didn’t even make it down the front steps of the school before I started crying, but it didn’t last long. Plus, I’m pregnant, so it hardly even counts.

And here she is with her new lunch bag, which was ridiculously fun to pack.

I really wanted her to be surprised when she opened it, but she begged for a peek before we left for school, and in the end I’m glad I didn’t miss out on seeing her face when she looked inside, because it was awfully sweet. Everything but the fruit came home uneaten, but all she ever eats is fruit so it was no big shock. And I had no trouble finishing the remainder when she got home.

And last, here are the couple photos I took with my phone when I dropped her off yesterday.

Already hard at work within the first three minutes of arrival:

A nice sunny reading corner:

And check out this display of preschool intimacy!

That’s her BFF, Norman. They didn’t just meet that morning, I promise…

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oliver + s puppet show/playdate dress for vintage may (now with some sleeve-swapping tips)

Today I’m reposting my Oliver + S Playdate/Puppet Show hybrid dress from Kristin and Jess‘ lovely Vintage May series, and I’ve added some instructions for switching out the sleeves.

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Hello fine readers! I’m so pleased and honored to be at Skirt as Top today, celebrating Vintage May along with all these lovely guest bloggers! If you’ve ever visited my blog, you know that I have a bit of a love affair with Oliver + S patterns. In case you’re not familiar with Oliver + S, there are several reasons why they’re among my favorite patterns. First of all, each one is like a mini sewing lesson, full of tips and tricks for future use. The styles are always clean and classic, the fit is spot-on, the directions never let you down, and even the packaging is adorable (and vintage-looking!).

Have I sold you yet? Anyway, I think I’ve tried eleven of them so far, and have used many of those eleven over and over again. So when Kristin asked me to be a part of Vintage May, I immediately began brainstorming my Oliver + S options. Several of the patterns have a vintage or retro look to them, and I ended up combining two of my favorites into one dress, adding a few vintage elements along the way.

My starting point was the Playdate Dress (it’s out of print, but recently became available as a digital pattern) – there’s something about that yoke that gives it a definite retro feel.

And I borrowed the cuffed sleeves from the Puppet Show Dress (also out of print, but available to download as a pdf), which is another great vintage-looking pattern.

Swapping the Puppet Show sleeve for the Playdate sleeve was really simple, since the shapes were so similar. I used the size 3 sleeve from both patterns to create a hybrid sleeve. Just lay the Puppet Show sleeve on top of the Playdate sleeve pattern, and use the armhole curve of the Playdate but the length and width of the Puppet Show sleeve. Keeping the Puppet Show width (the line across the bottom of the sleeve) is important so that you can use the existing cuff pattern piece.

Your hybrid sleeve (the one laying on top of the Puppet Show sleeve below) will look very similar to the original Puppet Show sleeve – the armhole curve dips just slightly below to mimic the Playdate sleeve’s curve.

Cut your sleeves on the fold, and transfer the Playdate notch and the Puppet Show gathering dot. There are a couple ways to attach the sleeves, but I chose to follow the Playdate directions – the sleeves are attached before side seams are sewn since you’ll also be constructing side seam pockets. If you go that route, refer to the Puppet Show directions to complete the cuffs after you’ve attached the sleeves and sewn your side seams.

And that’s it! Back to the rest of the post….

The fabric also has a vintage feel – the print reminded me a bit of a vintage sheet, or a William Morris floral, or a Liberty print (and is probably as close to a real Liberty as I’m ever going to get!). It’s a soft and breezy cotton lawn called Spring, from Robert Kaufman’s London Calling 2 collection. And the colors definitely evoke spring! This is Vintage May after all, not Vintage November…

There’s pink and white mini gingham in the side-seam pockets and in the hem facing. I love a pattern that allows for hidden surprises like that.

And to throw a little more vintage into the mix, I added mini pompom trim under the yoke. Because pompoms make things look vintage, right?

Now this was a bit trickier than adding the flat piping that the pattern calls for, since the pompom trim has barely any seam allowance. So I’ll attempt to show you how I did it.

First, I sewed a line of basting stitches 1/2 inch from the raw edge of the neckline, which gave me a line to follow when I placed the trim. Then I matched the trim (where the poms meet the wee bit of seam allowance) to that line, pinned, and basted it in place along the line using my zipper foot – that way you’re not sewing over the poms. There should be 1/2 inch between the raw edge of the neckline and your line of basting stitches that attach the trim.

That second basting line becomes the guideline for placing your yoke. Do you think I used enough pins? The tricky part was stitching the yoke in place AND catching the pompom trim underneath – I had to sew very close to the edge of the yoke in order to catch it. The zipper foot comes in handy here, too.

In retrospect, it might make sense to actually sew the trim to the neckline rather than just basting. That way, even if you miss a spot as you’re top stitching the yoke in place, the trim is securely anchored under there. Or better yet, maybe there’s pompom trim available out there with a more generous seam allowance?

Thanks so much for having me, Kristin! I’m looking forward to the rest of Vintage May, week two!

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reversible bucket hat, now with pompoms

Last year’s Oliver + S bucket hat is officially too small. Time for a new one:

The pattern comes from Liesl Gibson’s book, Little Things to Sew, but is also available for free download on the Oliver + S website. And while I do own the book, I printed the pattern from the website so I wouldn’t have to trace the size I needed. Much easier.

After seeing some great versions of the hat with a widened brim (this one by Jessica of A Little Gray being the first), I decided to give it a try, and I widened mine by one inch.

Jessica will tell you how to do it right here. I also used her no hand-stitching technique in putting it all together. She’s a master of the bucket hat, this woman!

The pattern calls for interfacing on one side of the brim, but I interfaced all the pieces of the linen side to give the hat a little more overall structure.

I used Essex Linen in Natural and a Kate Spain Fandango print (left over from a little skirt I made last year), and added mini pompom trim around the brim. After making this dress, I’ve been looking for an excuse to use those little pompoms again. Also, the Playdate dress she’s wearing seems to have morphed from a dress into a shirt, and barely made it over her head (that’s what 14 months does, I guess), but somehow I tricked her into wearing it today. I have a feeling this might be the last time.

And yes, the photo shoot is now over….

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shorts on the line!

I’m guest posting today for the Shorts on the Line series with some unprecedented boy sewing! Click on over to imagine gnats for a review of the Oliver + S Sketchbook shorts pattern and a little coin pocket tutorial. And check out the past week’s worth of shorts inspirational while you’re there!

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(not quite) shorts season

June is notoriously cool and rainy around here, but we’re dreaming of shorts season, hoping we get to break them out at least by August. We’re preparing early.

These are the Oliver + S Puppet Show shorts in Robert Kaufman Carolina chambray (in black) and, randomly, the same Moda pin dots I used to make the Puppet Show dress for Christmas. With red top stitching. And a buckin’ bronco tattoo.

The Puppet Show pattern is available to download as a pdf, along with all the other retired Oliver + S patterns.

I love the gathering on the pockets and at the legs…such cute little details. I wish I’d had this pattern earlier, because I think they’re the perfect shorts for chubby little baby legs. But for now, these skinny little almost-preschooler legs will have to do.

And while we’re on the topic of shorts, have you heard about the Shorts on the Line series coming up in July? It’s a three week sewalong with prizes, so start sewing shorts and enter them into the Flickr group! I’ll be guest posting at imagine gnats on the 8th, so stay tuned. Until then, hope everyone is enjoying some actual shorts weather where you are!

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