on tour with the franklin dress

There are so many kids’ clothing patterns out there. I mean so, so, so many. I get dizzy just thinking about it, so I usually just stick with the ones I know and trust – Oliver + S, Made by Rae, Make it Perfect. There are other good ones, of course, but I get nervous – sewing is such a huge time commitment, and I have no extra hours or patience for things to go wrong. So I tend not to stray. But when Erin of Brooklyn Pattern Company contacted me and asked if I’d like to try her first pattern, the Franklin Dress, I have to say I was intrigued. She has a 15 year background as a patternmaker for Broadway, ballet, theater, and circus, so while she’s new to kids’ clothes, she’s certainly been around the pattern making block a few times. I decided the Franklin Dress was worth a shot, and I joined the tour.

I’m glad I did! The result is a sweet and simple dress with some really nice little details, like a pleated, button-up yoke, gathered sleeves, and side seam pockets. Sizes range from 6 months to 8 years. Lila fell into the size 4 range, but I chickened out and made a 5 – I think either size would’ve been fine.

I totally had my heart set on making this dress in baby wale corduroy, but I checked two local stores, and the color options were abysmal. I gave up and chose a Kaufman chambray shirting, this one I think. The shirting is soft and lightweight, and has a kind of sheen to it. I used the reverse for the bodice facings and pockets.

The trim at the hem is one of Anna Maria Horner’s new designs for Renaissance Ribbons – they have an amazing selection of ribbons by some really great designers, and I’m always looking for an excuse to use one.

Before I added the buttons or the ribbon, Lila was skeptical. Here I was thinking the chambray highlighted the pleats so nicely, and the best she could say was, “Hmmmm. It’s really…..this color.” Which I guess it totally was. Kind of dark, kind of plain. But hopefully the shiny pink buttons and the trim jazzed it up a little. A zinnia probably couldn’t hurt, either.

About sewing the pattern – my experience was really good overall. The dress came together without any hitches. Taping the PDF together was a breeze, and all the pattern pieces fit together just right. There were dots and notches, hallelujah! It was polished and professional, and I think the design and the fit are spot on.

I’d say there were a couple spots in the directions that were a little sparse, and a few places where an extra illustration would’ve been helpful. I made a few inferences, and they happened to work out just fine, but I could see where that could cause frustration. From Tara’s post it sounds like Erin is very receptive to filling in those gaps, which is so great.

And one thing the pattern didn’t say (but I would suggest) is to add interfacing beneath the buttonholes. My machine makes much prettier buttonholes with interfacing, and luckily I remembered to add a strip between the bodice and facing before turning the bodice right side out. And I’ll admit that I longed for buttonhole placement markings on the pattern pieces – I’m not a big fan of measuring and drawing them in myself because chances are I won’t place them correctly and I’ll have to rip out a buttonhole. Or two buttonholes, as the case may be.

BUT, like I said, everything came together quite nicely, and I love the end result. If you’re a fan, there’s a Rafflecopter giveaway on Erin’s blog for a chance to win a copy of the Franklin Dress pattern. I’m really excited to see what Brooklyn Pattern Co. has in store for us next!

 

 

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doing my best not to bore you with more swingset skirts, fall edition

Well these were supposed to be for fall, but fall just keeps on not coming. It’s been in the 80s, hence the flip flops and sleevelessness in this post. Not quite how I envisioned these skirts being worn, but I can hardly complain – the weather is beautiful, and it can’t possibly last much longer.

By now it’s probably pretty obvious that I love the Oliver + S Swingset skirt pattern. Last week I retired some of the first ones I made (two years ago to the day for that last one, and a sunny day at that!) – those size 3s still fit in the waist, but the length has become completely indecent. It’s been time for a new crop of size 5 Swingsets for awhile now, and when Cotton + Steel came out, I knew there were a few good skirt prints in the mix. And then Tara made these two skirts with their brilliant chambray waistbands, which gave me the idea to modify the Swingset pattern.

It’s easy to do, and the modification I made applies to all sizes of the skirt, since the waistband’s finished width (1.25 inches) doesn’t vary between sizes. So I’ll give you my numbers just in case there’s any interest. Just create a new waistband pattern piece (it’ll be 2.25 inches wide after you add a 1/2 inch seam allowance at both the top and bottom), then shorten the skirt pattern piece at the top by 1.75 inches (1.25 inches for the waistband, plus a 1/2 inch seam allowance). The lines are on a curve, so you can use a ruler to draw a series of dots your given distance away from the curve, then cut on the dots.

Then sew your two new pieces together and follow the normal directions to finish constructing the skirt. Pinning and sewing on a curve like that is a little tricky (hence all those pins), but mine fit back together just fine, no clipping necessary.

I feel like I picked two of the most obvious Cotton + Steel prints – there are many more subtle but just as awesome choices in this huge collection, but I like skirts in bold prints like these. Plus what girl doesn’t want a skirt covered in horses. Anyway, LiMa Sews is carrying all five collections if anyone is in the market for some Cotton + Steel.

The Arrows (from Melody Miller’s Mustang collection) skirt is lined with Kaufman’s Cambridge lawn (left over from this dress)

and the Mustangs (from the same collection) are lined with an aqua Cotton Couture. I prefer the lawn as a lining, but Cotton Couture is the next best thing – it has a nice smooth texture and lighter feel than a lot of other solids. The chambray is by Andover, in Navy.

So…my love for the Swingset skirt continues. The pattern only goes up to size 5, but I’ll be lengthening these babies for years to come.

And finally, here’s Oscar, tromping around in his Sketchbook shorts and his new boots. It’s crazy how happy a pair of rubber boots can make an almost two year old. He’s super proud of that Hello Kitty tattoo, btw.

 

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rainbow hide-and-seek

Lila graduated from preschool yesterday.

It seemed like a pretty big deal, so I made her a new dress.

It’s her second Oliver + S Hide-and-Seek dress – we’re both really fond of the first one, which has been in heavy rotation since March. This is very much that same dress – chambray, size 4 (this time I added a 1/2 inch in length), short sleeves, no notch – it all seemed to work last time, so I didn’t want to risk it by making too many changes.

The fun thing about this pattern, though, (besides the genius welt pockets) is that you can do something special with yoke, which is framed so nicely by the side panels and skirt. The yoke on this dress was pieced from a striped shot cotton (Kaffe Fassett’s Broad Stripe in Bliss), which I purchased at Bolt a few months ago with this very dress in mind. Rather than cutting the front yoke piece on the fold, I cut two pieces on the bias (with an added 1/4 inch seam allowance on either side) and pieced them together to form the V.

Now, I’m no quilter, and while I suppose point matching isn’t rocket science, I did manage to butcher my entire 1/2 yard trying to get those stripes to line up just right. My first attempts were laughably off, and even when I got the pieces cut out correctly, they didn’t especially want to match up – shot cotton has some stretch even on the grain, so it wasn’t terribly cooperative on the bias. But I tried, tried again, and it all came together well enough in the end.

And happily I was able to use the few remaining scraps to eke out some striped pockets.

I used the same Andover chambray as the last dress, this time in Denim. There’s so much to love about this fabric – the weight, the drape, the texture – it’s great for clothing and I pretty much want to use it to sew all the things. Luckily it comes in so many great colors that maybe nobody would notice if I did? The thought has crossed my mind.

So that’s it. Lila’s career as a preschooler is officially over. We went from this, her first day of preschool two years ago:

To this, her very last day:

She had such a happy year at school, and is so ready for Kindergarten, whether I’m ready for it or not. And no graduation is complete without a cheesy senior portrait to commemorate it all. It would’ve been better had she been peeking out from behind the tree (or maybe side lying with a tuba), but this one will have to do…

 

 

 

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emmeline apron

More birds! More clouds! More chambray!

Yep, all my favorites, in one reversible Emmeline Apron from Sew Liberated. The pattern is an oldie but goodie. I was drawn to the apron right away when Kristin posted her version (vintage skirt as top post alert!) – and now, almost three years later, it made its way on to my project list. I made mine for my sister, too, but my neighbor was kind enough to model for me and keep me out of the photos, which was very much appreciated. I owe you some baked goods, neighbor!

The pattern has some nice, feminine features – a gathered bodice, a skirt with darts, and nice long ties that you can wear in the front or back. And reversible is always a plus in my book – especially for something that’s bound to get pretty dirty.

This was an easy sew – maybe a little time consuming since you’re essentially making two aprons, and there is a good amount of bias cutting for the straps, but it was fun to put together. I skipped hand-sewing the bias binding for the straps, but if you want it to look extra neat and tidy, you should take the time to do it by hand. The only tricky part for me was positioning the ties between the two skirt pieces – they need to be placed just so to extend out straight and just below the waistband piece, and it took me a bit of trial and error to get there. Luckily that spot is pretty hidden once the apron is tied on, so if it doesn’t line up exactly, no one will be the wiser.

The print is Fly by Night from Bonnie Christine’s Sweet as Honey line from Art Gallery Fabrics. There are a few prints in this line that really tempted me – I especially love the little deer. But I ended up with the birds (as I often do), and paired them with another Andover chambray (Espresso this time). The bands and ties are a yellow crosshatch (Bluebird Park Linen Texture in Sunrise). You need quite a bit (1.75 yards) of the contrast fabric to accommodate those long ties, but you’ll have a lot of it left over.

I’m kind of enjoying the thought that this won’t be outgrown in a few months like almost everything else I make. Perhaps more sewing for grown-ups is in order…

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birthday dress, take two :: hide-and-seek

Okay, Lila and I have collectively changed our minds. This is her birthday dress:

She’s actually come around to her Garden Party dress and has agreed to wear it with a sweater, but she declared a strong dislike for its sleevelessness early on. I knew she wasn’t a fan of what she calls “half-quarter sleeves”, but I had no idea that a lack of sleeves would cause such heartache. Luckily, a Hide-and-Seek dress, complete with proper sleeves, was already in the works.

I really enjoyed this pattern. For me, the Garden Party dress was the easiest to love at face value, but I could tell the Hide-and-Seek had great potential and I was excited to play with it.

The dress has a contrast yoke with a gathered skirt, which together attach to side panels that run the length of the dress (or tunic, which is another option). You can choose short sleeves (shown here) or cuffed three-quarter sleeves. These sleeves were amazingly easy to set-in – hardly any easing necessary. I think it’s the first time in my entire sleeve-setting career that I didn’t have to bust out the seam ripper even once. It was glorious.

One of my favorite features of the dress are the side seam welt pockets. I love how they look, and they were surprisingly simple to construct.

Like Liesl suggests, the yoke gives you a great opportunity to highlight a special fabric. I used a Japanese print from a line called Muddy Works by Tomotake for Kokka – it’s called Large Orbs and the color is an interesting mix of purple and gray. I found it locally, but all three colors of this print are available here. It only takes a half yard of fabric to accommodate the length of the yoke pieces, and you’ll have most of that half yard left over, so it’s not such a big deal to splurge on something special.

The mustard chambray is from Andover Fabrics. I’ve mentioned before that I’m always on the lookout for great chambrays – they are such versatile garment fabrics and have been a favorite of mine since I started sewing. Just about everything looks great made from chambray, and the available selection seems to have expanded quite a bit. LiMa Sews recently stocked the entire line of Andover chambrays – 18 different colors. I’ve seen them all in person and can attest to their loveliness. They have a nice weight to them, not too flimsy, but still plenty soft. It’s really good stuff.

I know solid yellow probably isn’t the most practical choice for a little girls’ dress, but I loved the shade. Nice for almost-spring.

And yes, this pattern was designed with a notch at the neckline, but what can I say – I think I’ve omitted the notch in almost every pattern that’s had one. It’s lovely with the notch, but you can easily leave it out – just a matter of preference.

I sewed this dress in a size 4 – Lila is at the end of the height and weight range for a 4, but this one has a more relaxed fit, so I think sizing down was the way to go. I added an inch to the length as a precaution, but it ended up too long, so I took it back up an inch after hemming.

Sorry about all the photos. The light was nice last night and I took too many. Plus, she only has six more days to be four years old.

Again, thanks to Liesl for providing this pattern, it was a pleasure to review!

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more class picnics

I’m really digging on the Oliver + S Class Picnic shorts right now. That pair I made for KCW was not rejected (hooray!!), and they are so cute on her, if I do say so myself. I love the confetti facings but I’m also a little sad they aren’t more plain, because adding a contrast print really cut down on what they’ll go with. Neutral would have been much more practical. But that was easy enough to solve with another pair.

I used some red chambray I found in the remnant bin at Bolt last fall. It’s not really a go-with-everything color, but the shorts are all one color, which does make them a little more wearable. It’s kind of a reddish-pinkish shade – strawberry, if you will.

Speaking of which, once I had the red chambray chosen, it almost killed me not to use the Briar Rose strawberries as the contrast fabric. Of course it would have completely defeated the purpose of making shorts that would go with everything (or anything), but still, I had to exercise MAJOR self-restraint to keep them neutral. The strawberries would’ve been really fun. Luckily – and this is one mark of a great pattern for me – the waistband has a facing piece, so you can sneak in a surprise contrast fabric on the inside.

So now they’re at least slightly fun.

But really, I’m glad I made them all one color, because they go with both of the shirts I made last week.

Again, I interfaced the main front waistband piece in addition to the facing piece for added structure. The chambray is really lightweight so that helps the waistband stand up.

I love the design of these shorts, from the retro wrap-around look to the faux fly. And while they’re a bit of work, they aren’t difficult at all, and the pattern is as clear and detailed as you’ve come to expect from Oliver + S. It’s funny, I bought this pattern for the blouse and really had no interest in the shorts, but now it’s the shorts I’m crazy about. That’s the power of the Oliver + S flickr pool…

P.S. Llama Fabrics provided me with the Briar Rose strawberries, and they’re still in stock, along with many of the other prints, if you’re looking!

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