Quick summer projects

Ah, summer..It's been a very nice summer so far! 
                                We've been getting tons of use out of our pool.  

I haven't been able to sew very much with the heat. 

 Maybe moving my sewing area into the attic wasn't such a good idea!!

Anyway here are a few of the projects I have managed to do!

A Robot sun hat for Travis.

He wears this every day, which is great since this fella sure doesn't need any more freckles.

The pattern is Sunny Day Hat by Tie Dye Diva

Pretending to be a lifeguard and "saving" his brother.

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The other short and easy project I made for Travis were these recycled T-Shirt boxers:

These boxers are so soft, and work well for summer pajamas too!

Pattern for these is the Undercover Bottoms Boxer Briefs.

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Earlier in the spring, I bought all 3 Alabama Chanin books, including the latest, Alabama Studio Sewing + Design, and wow, what eye-candy those books are.  I want to make so many things from those books.  Because I don't need a machine for these projects (or be locked in a sweltering hot room), I made a few things from the book, I'll show you those next!

April Vacation week (formerly known as Kids Clothes Week Challenge)

It's already over, but I did participate in Elsie Marley's Kids Clothes Week Challenge again.  I didn't have as much time as in the past because my kids were ALL HOME for that week.  The schools should know not to schedule April vacation during a sew-along.  Geez.

So with my one hour a day in my sewing studio, here is what I made:

Patterns used: Charlie Tee and Sailboat Pants

These pants are so cute I want to make them in every color.

I also worked on a skirt for Maura, which, as of now, has been devoured by her room.  Will it ever be seen again so I can photograph her in it?  Time will tell.

Valentine's Day Outfit

Three posts in one week!  I'm on a roll.  

OK, I confess, I went ahead and ordered some really great knit fabric from this Ebay store.  I can never find any good knits at my local JoAnn's and though you can find great stripe/printed knits online, the price and shipping make me feel quite guilty.  So I looked for a store where I could buy multiple yards and combine shipping.  It worked out great, and I will buy again from them in the future using the same strategy to combine the shipping.  That was how I got the fabric for Travis' Stripey PJ's.

Here's an outfit I made for a friend who recently adopted a daughter.

The patterns are both from Too Sweets Patterns.  This is the Chic Chic Dress.  The colors made me think of Valentine's Day so I added the "chocolate" heart applique.  Super easy.  I  know this will be a go-to pattern for little girl gifts!

Here is the cardigan.  Pattern found here.  I really love it!  

I added a hidden heart on the lining where a tag would go.

I'm still not done sewing up baby gifts.

My husband's best friend and his wife are expecting their first baby next month.  

I'm in the planning stages for that one.

I also just heard about the Sewing For Boys Sew Along and I'd like to get in on that if time allows.

Have a great weekend!

Mr. Stripey Pajamas

When Travis was a little baby I dressed him in stripes so often he gained the nickname "Mr. Stripey".  

The very last time I sewed anything for him to wear was back in October when I was told by him he didn't want me to make him any "shirts" anymore.  Since then his attitude in general has improved and we noted just the other day, not wanting to jinx the situation, that he's been much more agreeable for the last month or so.  Let's hope it keeps up!

So I made him these striped pajamas.  He likes them so much he doesn't want to take them off!  That's a good sign.

This pattern can be found in Stitch Magazine, which I bought as a back issue. 

 I downloaded the additional add-on of larger sizes (up to 5T) from Fishsticks Designs Blog.  It was a very quick and easy pattern to work with, I highly recommend it!

Snuggling with his brother early in the morning before school.

Prepare for trouble...

The Team Rocket Motto:

Prepare for trouble...
...And make it double

To protect the world from devistation...
...to unite all peoples within our nation.

To Denonunce the evils of truth and love...
...To extend our reach to the stars above.
Jessie...
...James
Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light...
...surrender now or prepare to fight.

MEEEEEEEEEEOWTH THATS RIGHT!



I think he may really be working for Team Rocket, or at least he wants to.
All of my kids love Pokemon, so no surprise he does too. I decided he needed a villain sweatshirt, and as villains go, Team Rocket is pretty funny and harmless.



So this sweatshirt was made using the All The Rage Raglans pattern. I guess it wasn't stretchy enough fabric (sweatshirt fleece from JoAnn), so it was too tight to fit comfortably over his head. I got creative with the zipper, and I love the look, but guess what, it's still too tight! He put it on for the pictures, but this one isn't going to fit. Too bad!



I mean, check out this awesome pokeball on the back. His 14 year old sister is so jealous, she wants one too. She is going as Jessie for Halloween (I guess I should get started).

Like I said in my earlier post, Travis is getting tough to sew for. Being very fiery and seriously strong-willed, he's been rejecting the clothes I make recently. I know he's trying to get me going, so I'm staying cool. I can focus on other projects for awhile. Besides, getting photos of him in the clothes is exhausting!!



So, next on the list:
Baby shower gifts, Jessie costume for Maura, and skirt for me! That's the short list.
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I'll leave you with a photo of all 4 kids I took a few days ago, it's rare to get a decent group photo of them all, so I'll take it!

Summer Reading Program - handmade prizes

Each summer our library has such a fun Summer Reading Program for our kids.  They plan tons of free events for families and kids like field trips, concerts, and craft activities.  The kids set a reading goal and try to reach it by the end of the program.  At the end there is a huge picnic where each family brings a dish to share and the kids all get a prize.  I try to donate some prizes each year because I know it must be costly for our little town library to have a prize for every child who participates. 

I realized a few days ago the deadline is the first week of August!

Here are a few of my handmade prizes this year:

pattern is Little Lizard King Crayon Roll

Monster softie - my own design

Pattern Gingercake's On The Go Organizer

and my favorite this year:

Owly McPillowpants!

made from a pattern from the book Small Stash Sewing.  This guy is totally worth buying the book.  He is HUGE which you can't tell by looking at the picture.  He's about the size of a standard size bed pillow.

He's going to make a great reading buddy!

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Trying to finish your summer sewing to-do list?

Link up here with me!

KCWC - Day 5 - Skivs

Here is what else I made for Kids Clothes Week Challenge...

Skivvys.  Or, as my dad would say, Skivs.

These are mostly made from scraps.  I used the undercover boxer pattern from Fish Sticks Designs and also their FREE tank pattern from the Fishsticks Blog.

I made both versions in the pattern.  First the "regular" boxers with the fly.  He kept putting his hand it and telling me it was a pocket.  Next I decided to make the training pants version which makes more sense for him anyway.  They're nice and soft! 

Pardon the gloomy photos, we haven't seen the sun in New Hampshire in about a week I think!

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In other news, I just learned of a new sewing challenge I want to be part of!  This is just what I had in mind.  I have a bunch of skirt and dress projects ready to go!  Check it out!

I also have a dress planned for my daughter's 8th grade graduation and the fabric from Superbuzzy finally arrived today.  I hope it gets done in time!

spring KCWC - little Lebowski bowling shirt

Here's a project that's been in my mind for quite awhile, that I made for Travis this week. 
It's time again for the Kid's Clothing Week Challenge.

A sweet bowling shirt!

Here's the back:

I had to get a little Big Lebowski reference on this shirt, it goes without saying

...The Dude Abides.

The pattern I used is the Scientific Seamstress Bowling Shirt.  It's a great pattern to have, very detailed and specific, with plenty of photos/diagrams.  This shirt took probably around 2 1/2 hours total to sew.  I'm very impressed with my new machine's ability to make perfect buttonholes.  This was the first try!

The graphics on the back were made using my Silhouette Machine.  Then I just ironed everything on.  I also have a name patch I made for the front that I forgot to attach until now!  I don't want to sound like an advertiser for the Silhouette, but I never cease to be amazed at how fun it is.  I think the best part is that since I have a $10 monthly subscription to the online store I get to download 25 designs per month and they come out with new designs every single day. 

So that's all I've gotten done so far this week for the KCWC sewing about an hour a day.  I'm okay with that since that was a bit more complex than my usual kid's clothing projects.  For the next project, I'm going super simple with a shirt for my 9 year old boy.

this week's projects

Last week I was busy whipping up a (another) PBF Tee For Two.  Man those are easy and fun to do!  This was the first long sleeved version I've done.  I got this great soft jersey from Fashion Fabrics Club.

I also made this much-needed Sun Hat for my little red head.  I was able to make that from scraps!

Maura made these eggs for Easter, I had to include these guys!  Love the zombie egg.

And last but not least, I made this dress for a soon-to-be birthday girl in our family.

This pattern is the Perfect Little Party Dress from Heidi and Finn.  They are offering a Buy 2 get 1 free so I took that as an excuse for some girly sewing.  I already own all their boy patterns!

I've been shopping for patterns like crazy.  I just picked up the Monique Dress and the Juliet Tunic from Pink Chalk Fabrics.  I love that they always have free shipping on their paper patterns. 

I'm also working on a summer skirt for myself.  I hope to have pictures soon!

Urban Hoodie for spring

I finally got around to making a new Urban Hoodie for Travis to replace this one I made in the fall that is now too small.

I really love stripes, can you tell? 

This time I made passable buttonholes (and didn't cheat by using vel-cro). 

 

pattern: Heidi and Finn

fabric:  outside knit stripe from Annie's Second Hand Chic on Etsy (similar one here)

inside ivory interlock knit from JoAnn

leprechaun outfit with reverse applique tutorial

Just had to make our mischevious little resident leprechaun a new outfit for St. Patrick's day.

The shirt is another Tee for Two, a pattern that I've gotten quite a bit of use out of lately!  My other versions are here.  I love making basic knit t-shirts, so easy and fast! Then I can embellish them too. For this shirt I made shamrock reverse appliques and then used my Silhouette (iron on heat transfer) to make the words. Bonus: these fabrics were both from the old shirt pile.

I added the reverse appliques like this:

trace the design onto the knit (t-shirt) fabric

pin contrasting knit fabric scrap to the underside of your design.  Be sure it covers the whole traced design with room to spare.

Sew on your drawn shape on the right side of the shirt.

Now trim about 1/8" on the inside of your stitching.  This is the fun part!

A super simple way to embellish a shirt!  This also washes very well since t-shirt fabric will roll slightly on the edges in the wash but won't fray.

I've also used reverse applique to highlight a design on the shirt:

And last but not least, I made these pants following Dana's flat front kid pants tutorial .

I added some pockets on the front and back.  He actually LIKES these pants. 






Instant Leprechaun!

**Update:  I'm so excited and honored that Shelly and Karen of Pattern's by Figgy's posted my mini-tutorial on their website, and they added a downloadable shamrock template so you can make your own!

Linking up here: