Birthday Gift

A family friend of ours had a birthday last Friday and I was blessed to be able to be down in Missouri the day after.  I sewed him McCalls 2736 - size Medium.

My daughter knitted him some slippers and I sewed him this shirt. Hope you get many years of wear out of it Bill!!!

Mother's Day Gift

Mother's Day is over and done with now so I can share what I made for my Mom.

The pattern called for very narrow binding. I did the first one that way and I didn't like it. So the second one I made a tiny bit wider. It worked a bit better.

I hope she gets lots of use out of them!

P.S. Pardon my stained ironing board. Maybe I should look at recovering that. When I get time, right? That's funny.... when I get time.... Hahahahahaha

Navy T-shirt

I have been sewing Kwik Sew patterns for over 20 years. I could put their t-shirts together in my sleep.  Wouldn't ya know Ottobre has just a bit different method for binding the neck and sleeves.  I like this other method (I think) but it'll take more practice - hopefully not another 20 years!

This is another Summer 3/2012 - #24 T-shirt, size 122.  This time in navy.

Not sure yet about the V neck.  I'm going to try a regular crew neck out of Summer 3/2013 next.  It will have binding similar to Kwik Sew, it looks like :-) and now sleeve binding.  Gotta get a couple more T's for the boys done quick like.  Spring will be here soon, still hoping.
I've been doing a bit of other sewing too but I can't show you until after Mother's Day.  I also need to work on a birthday gift for a friend.  My list gets longer rather than shorter - what's up with that?? My Ottobre list keeps extending too! Such fun and up-to-date styles!! Now if my back would cooperate and let me sew, I'd be in good shape.

My New Baby

Look what hubby bought me this weekend! I've wanted one for a long time but didn't want to buy one that needed refurbishing or work. We found this one after my sister-in-law found it on Craig's List and told me about it. I'm happy and now I just have to learn to use it :-)

The head is in perfect condition and the guy did a wonderful job refinishing the cabinet!!

Blue & Black Checked Shirt

 Littlest Man was SO excited to actually pick out his own fabric on-line so when my fabric order arrived this week his shirt was the first project undertaken.

I used Ottobre 3/2012 #19, size 110 with no alterations. Fabric: Prepster Stretch Yarn Dyed Shirting Plaid Turquoise/Black. 98% cotton, 2 % Lycra from Fabric.com

At first I was just going to do it as a plain shirt but as I began cutting it out I thought "oh, what the heck he deserves something different and unique". Ugh! Stupid thought!

The binding on the bottom was a pain in the rump. Actually the binding went on fine but the directions said not to add seam allowance to the bottom up to the side vents. The directions didn't make sense regarding how that was supposed to meet up with the seam allowance that was added to the side seams. So... I made it up as I went along.....

The sleeves are not how they should be even though they turned out looking alright. Those directions were a bit whacked out too.

I told him this wasn't a mug shot but.....

It turned out OK and wearable, but I will not repeat this pattern (as written) again. I'll use the pattern itself but will make it how I want to make it and not follow their directions. It fits well and the sizing is wonderful. I was so pleased with the pants patterns and directions... I hope this was just a fluke as far as their shirt patterns and directions go.

Oh and don't worry - he's up for a haircut tomorrow!! So he won't look like such a wild man after that LOL

Black leggings

Have I mentioned that I just LOVE being able to spend a bit of time in the sewing room rather than heading to a store to fulfill our clothing needs?? I love that many projects are so simple that I can finish them quicker than getting in my car and driving to the store!!

Little Miss wanted to wear a shirt that she had worn to her brother's wedding. It was a bit too fancy to wear with jeans so she requested some leggings.

A few minutes later I had her try these on.....

Ottobre 1/2013 #37 size 140, no adjustments made. She requested I leave the pockets off. I actually like that they turned out a bit baggy rather than tight leggings. She can wear them as leggings or as knit pants with shorter tops.

Once again the Ottobre's fit my kids wonderfully! LOVE it!

Done (for now) with pants for Little Big Guy

First a picture of WHY I have been sewing pants lately....

He's blowing out the patches and he is ready for a flood should there be one!

So... I made one more pair of pants for my growing weed! He has 3 now so that should last through the summer. So I'm officially done sewing pants for him until at least the fall. These are the Ottobre view 24 from summer 2012 again - size 122 with no changes. I bought 3 and 4 inch zippers on line so that was kind of neat. Then I also ordered some 1/2 inch snaps in a copper and silver color. I'm not happy with this waistband but they're wearable so we'll just go with them for this time.

I am planning to make a couple of t-shirts and then I need to make some summer clothes for Little Miss. And then hopefully I'll be dropping some pounds soon so I can make some legging to go with my tunic. sigh

I probably should make me some pot holders though, since I didn't win them from Mama Pea! LOL So many needs..... sew little time........

Ottobre T-shirt

A black T-shirt for Big Little Guy.  Just trying this one out with some scrap fabric. I ordered some nice single knit jersey to make some summer T's for him. In the mean time while I wait for the fabric to arrive, I thought I'd play around with the binding methods from Ottobre.

This is from Summer 3/2012 - #24 - size 122. I lengthened it by 2 inches but then hemmed it up 1 1/2 inches and it is plenty long. I can't get over how well these Ottobre patterns fit my skinny kids!

The neck hole turned out a tiny bit big but I'm not sure why. I'm thinking of cutting the binding a tad bit shorter next time.

The directions called for the binding to be cut 4cm wide. Next time I'll try 5cm. It was a bit narrow to have enough on the right side and still catch the wrong side in the top stitching.

I look forward to trying some contrasting binding, fun prints with solid binding, and..... lots more ideas. Kids can never have enough T-shirts can they?

Not quite a wadder.....

Kwik Sew 3632 - size XL with hefty seams.

It turned out great - IF(when?) I was about 30 pounds lighter :-(  I'm excited about this top but will have to wait until I loose weight to wear it!

 My hope it to make up a pair of legging to wear with it too - but I'll wait for a few weeks and see if some spring gardening helps loose a few pounds....

Ottobre 1-13

One more Ottobre pair of pants.  The best yet! They turned out great - fit great - and he loves them!

Same Ottobre pattern from Jan 13 - size 122 lengthened 2 inches and then 1 was cut off before hemming.

I am loving Ottobre!

Zipper Woes

This is a heart wrenching story so get a Kleenex LOL

Remember that last pair of Ottobre pants that I made for Big Little Guy? Yeah, well we decided that they were a titch to tight for him so I whacked off the legs a smidgen, opened the waistband to snug them up just a tiny bit and passed 'em on down to Littlest Man. They fit him perfect!

Pants number 1 on Littlest Man

 So onto the tear jerker..... of course I began another pair of pants for Big Little Guy because he SO desperately needs them. I swear if I sit and watched him I could see him growing! The pants came together beautifully once again in two afternoons and I was on top of the world with Ottobre patterns. I got them hemmed up, waist adjusted, snap put on - all that was left was the back buttons. I asked him to try them on and as he took them off... are you ready for this?.... he got the zipper STUCK on the thread where I had shortened it!!!!!!!!! Aack! Oh my! Oldest Daughter and I worked at that zipper for over an hour. I have to confess part of that time I was in tears. It was the icing on a rather difficult day to begin with. That zipper was not going to budge!!!

Pants number two on Big Little Guy

The worst part was that I felt bad because I was frustrated and yelled at him. He was so sad. The next worst part was that I realized that I had screwed up by buying a 7 inch zipper instead of a 7 cm zipper like it called for. If I had gotten the right one I would never have had to shorten this one! This centimeter thing rather than 40 some years of inches is hard to relearn!!!!!!!

I interrupted their legos for a photo shoot!

Ok wipe your eyes and blow your nose. Because the story has a happy ending! After I told hubby my sob story he took a look at the pants. He got out his leatherman tool and had it fixed in less than 2 minutes! Can you believe it? He so frustrates me sometimes. Things always take me two and three times longer and harder than they do for him. I'm so glad I have my man!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We'll see how long the knees last when Legos are involved :-(

Pair number 2 was size 122 not lengthened at all. I should have lengthened them by an inch or so considering how FAST he's growing! Only change on this one was that I left off the button loops again. They don't wear belts anyway!