Did you ever do that dumb thing in school when you were given practically an entire semester to write a paper, but you wait until the last night to sew it? I mean write it? Then when you sit down to write it, you end up having all sorts of problems with saving the file, printing and your sewing machine . . . I mean computer?
Working as hard as I do on my calligraphy and graphic design business, I really need to get better at "defending my time", as Chris calls it. He's right. I need to do the hard things first. And I need to get them done early. That, or I'll just sleep when I'm dead.
I was asked to participate in a back-to-school sewing tour for
Pattern Anthology. I don't normally accept these things, but since Penelope is heading off to her first year of Kindergarten and our fabric and notions would be provided, I accepted.
These patterns are meant to be blank slates for boys or girls open for interpretation and mixing. It's been fun to see the other looks roll out thus far and see how much they vary one from another. Some ladies went all out fancy pants for their kids.
I kept things simple with these patterns, omitting zippers and pockets where ever I could get away with. Penelope is terribly rough on her clothes. I don't want to spend a load of time creating something fancy just to see her rip out a knee just days or even minutes after. Simple it was.
The Recess Raglan was easy. 30 minutes from printing the PDF to a finished garment. I didn't finish the hem or the sleeves because I liked how the bodice fabric rolled nicely, and I didn't want to spend more time on the shirt than completely necessary.
Penelope was really excited to pick out the fabrics. I found both at
Girl Charlee; the tribal print was just about sold out, I got the last half yard. I just barely squeaked out the shirt and the pant details. I wish I knew the manufacturer's info on that print. I want some for me.
The BBC Vest was sort of easy. I assumed a 5/8 inch seam allowance (it was 3/8) and ended up making more work for myself with the collar construction. It all worked out though, and I think this vest works adorably for girls or boys. I omitted the peplum cut because I knew this would be the most versatile. I used an amazing chambray from
Michael Levine and an un-dyed, lightweight organic cotton voile from
Organic Cotton Plus.
Penelope has a little orange hippo button that I've misplaced recently. She wants it on the lapel and I'm happy to oblige. Next time, I want to make the front armscye come in a bit more.
The W Pants were easier than I thought, but I overcomplicated in spots. I wanted to use the stripe bandage knit from Girl Charlee, but it's a bit see-through. Hating to see penelope's day-glo underwear on display, I lined the pants with more of that white cotton voile. So worth it.
The sizing is big, so I took in the legs and the crotch seam about 1 1/2 inch or so. Next time I'll size down to a 4T. The instructions for the fly zip are very clear, but I was too tired. Faux zip it was. I spent a little extra time top-stitching each major seam.
Coats & Clark has me converted to using topstitch thread. It looks so much more professional.
I have about 3/4 of a yard left of the chambray from
Michael Levine, I may have to make a real zip version of these pants for Penelope.
The Study Hall Jacket was a beast. I started it late, just about broke my sewing machine with the elastic and top-stitching thread. But it's cute. Like little bumblebee cute.
I would reduce the recommended elastic length, it just didn't gather as much in the back as I would like. I'm not un-picking and fixing, though. I also didn't really get the lining assembly instructions so I ended up sewing the lining in by hand. Fit is true to size, borderline short in the arms (but I think Miss Penelope has mommy's ape-like arms). I knew this piece would take me forever, so I made it gender-neutral. A good hand-me-down for Felix.
Penelope sure loves it. I've never worked with a separating zip before, but they're so much easier to install than regular zippers. The jacket doesn't match the rest of her outfit, but I figured if I was going to spend the time to create a full-on jacket for Penelope, I wouldn't worry about matching it up to just one outfit. The yellow twill is from
Organic Cotton Plus, the rib knit from
Girl Charlee and the zipper from
Coats & Clark.
Overall, these patterns are a great way to get a solid block for basic kid's clothes in your library. Thumbs up! You can view/purchase the
entire collection here.
My pain points? I dislike assembling PDF patterns and each pattern has different seam allowances. Still, sewing this collection was a good challenge for me to get my butt in gear before school starts.
Check out each interpretation of the collection as it's unveiled:
girl. Inspired.,
Shwin & Shwin,
Sew a Straight Line,
elsie marley,
Melly Sews,
Happy Together,
see kate sew,
Elegance & Elephants,
I Still Love You,
kojo designs, Petit a Petit and Family,
The Train to Crazy,
Delia Creates and
Craftiness is Not Optional
All fabric and notions provided by companies mentioned above. Enter code PA10 for 10% off your order at Michael Levine and PATANTHO for 10% off your order at Girl Charlee.
When I first started sewing the skirt, the opinion was for the long skirt with a slit. Since then, the opinion has changed. No matter. I'm not second-guessing my decision for this skirt. It works beautifully as a wrap maxi.
I've mentioned this before, but my beef with wrap skirts is coverage. We live on a pretty drafty mountain and I hate showing off my underwear to family and friends. I do like how easy these skirts are to draft, sew and wear.
With this skirt, I drafted something slightly different. Most wrap skirt patterns (that I've seen from the big pattern manufacturers) are rectangles with darts. This doesn't create a whole lot of room at the bottom for flowiness or for covering lady bits when the wind picks up. Instead, I drafted up a partial circle skirt (just shy of a third of a circle) for both sides, the front flap being only 2-3 inches shy of the side seam rather than a whopping 6-8 inches. That makes all the difference in the world.
The skirt walks really well and doesn't show off really any skin above the tops of my shins. I say that's perfect for the upcoming fall and winter months.
The fabric used here is a soft, breathable rayon challis. I love this kind of fabric. It's fairly easy to work with, breathable and drapes really nicely. I can't seem to find this print anywhere, but I now have a pinterest board dedicated completely to rayon challis. Check it out. You'll love it.
Outfit details:
I bought this button up in the boy's section at DI for $3 or so. It fit great in the body but not in the arms. I simply grabbed my serger and quickly zipped up the sides of the arms for a more tailored look. Pre-serger, that improvement would have taken about 30 minutes because of pinking or finishing the exposed fabric edges. This time it took me 5 minutes. I felt like I cheated it was that easy.
Have you ever made a wrap skirt before? It was one of the first garment sewing projects I ever did. I think I was 12 or 13.
Megan explains the origin of this prayer:
"When Chris and I were married we really didn’t have a lot, and we were stressed about it. So we sat down (and I mean like the day after our wedding) and prayed this together. And I feel like it’s really been a theme for us since then- we’re always looked after, but we’re never tempted by having too much."
I feel like we can all relate to that, right?
This was penned with the hunt 101, sumi ink, fw gold and greengrocer's kraft paper.
Not two hours after I arrived home from my trip, I caught Penelope red-handed with scissors and my bird fabric.
"But mom! I wanted to make a pocket square!"
I unfolded the yardage to discover Penelope had cut a giant hole in the middle of all of it.
There went my plans to make me a skirt. Squashed.
She knew the yardage needed to be a circle skirt, the pocket square bit was just a rouse. I couldn't see myself making anything else out of the fabric now.
I followed Dana's instructions for a 
She loves this little skirt, but promptly exchanged it for pants for her first day of school. No matter. She at least got dressed up for pictures this morning.
I can't believe she's in kindergarten already! My little doll has grown up so fast. I've been ready for her to start kindergarten for the last 2 years it seems. Bidding her farewell on the bus today seemed so strange, though! It was just nuts to see my little girl go off to school on her own.
She's certainly ready for autonomy.
Just after Chris left for Phoenix with the kiddos, I set off to do some much-wanted home improvements. I planned to paint the entire basement (didn't quite happen) and paint the front door a new cheery color. Our previously blue door was alright, but fading. And not really my color. I wanted to do something different. Orange!
I wanted a pumpkin spice color (like in our master bedroom). But I ran into a few problems.
Behr Ultra: 1, Kwal Ambassador: 0
Halloween came a little early around our house.
This quote is heading to a client for a friend's birthday. What a sweet sentiment.
I kind of went crazy with embellishments here. I used FW gold, Dr. PH Martin's pen white, hand-mixed gouache for the purple and blue details, an Esterbrook 357 nib and GreenGrocer's kraft paper.
There are some really hot moms of 4+ kids in my neighborhood. I really don't know how they do it. Maybe there's an apprentice-ship that I could apply for?
One of my neighbors came over the other week to help me shoot some DIYs. We made this little leather tag bracelet and a wood and leather bracelet (tutorial to come next week). They were quick and fun. I'd say both were perfect for a range of skill levels. You could have one of these finished in about 15-20 minutes. Let's get started, shall we?
Insert rivets and set into place.
Add jump rings and chain. For quick on-and-off, measure the leather and chain around the largest part of your hand. cut it to size. If you plan to add a clasp, measure the chain to the widest part of your wrist.
You can choose to keep your leather plain or decorate it with watercolor (for non-treated leathers) or fabric paint (for any other leather). If you use watercolor, set the pigment with a little bit of olive oil (I've heard baby oil works, too).
Voila! Add charms for more adorable-ness.
This tutorial/freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without my consent. Altering the file NOT ALLOWED. If you would like to use this tutorial for commercial purposes, please 
It's been fun to make and buy school clothes for her. I haven't been very adventurous in the buying department, sticking to Walmart and Target for the essentials. It's not like it matters. Yet.
I found these cute sneakers for $5, but they had white laces in them. White laces get dingy and Penelope's not quite ready to tie her own shoes yet. So I replaced the laces with some fancy-pants elastic. I just threaded the holes and sewed the two ends together. Boom. Done. She's ready to slip these on and off at a moment's notice. You can do it too! Try out a 
or a 
Tuesday, we needed to get out of the house. With Chris and I working from home, we find ourselves needing to get out of the house to avoid spontaneous combustion.
Penelope had been whining to drive to Phoenix all day (Chris and the kids just left this morning). She gets really grating after whining the same thing for 8 hours. So I took her to the thrift store for a little "shopping spree". I love that she still thinks the thrift store is cool.
We bought a zillion books a few clothes for Penelope and me, some kick-trash leather creative recreation hi-tops for Felix and this basket. The basket is not much to look at, but I'm in love with the size and the angular shape.
This really was a reminder that I still love going thrift shopping. I would like to make the effort to go more than twice a year.
I always have a hard time writing clever cards - so I thought a little prompt on the front would be great. I know how to make good lists. I ended up giving one of the rejects to Chris. The list prompt worked like a charm.
And who doesn't want a little calligraphy on the front of the envelope?
I did make a mistake when I sewed it. I sewed it sans slit, thinking the gathers would make the opening at the bottom big enough. Not so!
Since lining it with chiffon, I was effectively wearing an oven on my lower-half. This issue was a simple fix, but it did require unpicking a serged seam (not fun). I figured out an easy and relatively painless way to unpick a serged hem. It took no time at all once I figured this out.
Turn the seam wrong side out, and orient yourself with the top side (the side that looks like above) and unpick the two (or one if you've got a 3-thread surged seam) horizontal threads just about every fourth or fifth stitch. Once you've done that on the desired seam, pull at the loops and your seam comes apart flawlessly.
The slit makes a huge difference in comfort and functionality.
Outfit details:
I love the way this skirt moves when I walk. So flowy!
Because of the simple construction and the elastic waistband, I can hike it all the way up for a bandeau midi-dress. Just add a sweater and belt and I'm good to go.
The new slit goes a little too high when I wear it as a bandeau, but that's nothing a little slip wouldn't fix.
I'm still so obsessed with this print and the feel of the fabric. I know this maxi skirt will serve me well in the upcoming fall and winter months.
I love a good pizza with a nice thin crust and a tasty variety of fixins on top. After happening upon Camille Styles's 
I'm addicted to soda water. It's just about the only way I get my daily water in. Add a few chopped fruits for a little bit of sweet and a lot of vitamins. We make our own soda water with the 
we've had for over a year. We love it so much, we burn through 2 chargers a day. Maybe more. I want to DIY a soda water fountain next to our faucet. I know we'd use it.
I dressed up my little mason jar with a little calligraphy bling. I lettered, cut and slapped this little decal on in no time. And of course, while we're on the topic of vinyl (like that segue?), 