Jun
04
2010It’s been a crazy couple of weeks! First, they (and I) had snotty noses. Then, the 3-day weekend brought an all day outing with family, some out and about on Sunday, and Monday fun included ice cream at a friends house and free Chick-fil-a Spicy sandwiches (yum yum).
Aeralind has learned to crawl and sit up on her own, (thus limiting keyboard time) Bronwyn has the most amazing and surprisingly quick “inch-worm” type crawl that I’ve ever seen (her upper body is sooo strong), I’ve been sewing a boys’ costume (random I know… but I had the free fabric and the pattern), and we managed to go on a walk yesterday evening before they crashed. Whew! I’ll be back to blogging more regularly now (hopefully) and I even have four or five things in my queue including my very first pattern with a tutorial. I’m super excited!
But for now here’s some sweet baby eye candy 🙂
Aeralind Grace (smiling deviously about crawling toward me and to attempt to eat the camera)
Bronwyn Hope (making her classic “I’m so excited I have to blow raspberries constantly” face!)
The white linen sunhats were made from a pattern lent to me by one of my followers: Sew4my3. I love them! Your box of patterns will be returning soonish, but after the last trip to the post office, it may be a little while longer 🙂 Thank so much.
May
07
2010
I can’t believe that my top made the top 60! There were 368 entrants to Rae’s Spring Top week and I just feel so honored to be included among all these fantastic tops! Here’s my entry 🙂
If you feel so led, click on the top link below and vote for me (or for your personal favorite).
Apr
30
2010So I have this old Gap top from oh… early college… maybe high school… I love it. It’s lightweight and it has a fun print and it goes with both my pink pants and my maroon pants. But there’s one problem… its predominately cream colored. Normally that’s not a problem. But for the duration of twin nursing… it’s a problem. (Seriously, can the designers of nursing bras make one bra that doesn’t have polka dots that will fit me?! I get it… they’re trying to make these functional bras hip and cool and what not. But what we really want is a seamless nude colored bra with maybe a touch of lace. Are you listening nursing bra companies that make bras in my size? )
So since this top was one of my spring and summer staples and I wasn’t in the mood to trace out a pattern from Ottobre like I had wanted (nor did I have the time during naps), I based my last Spring Top design off of this top.
It’s a simple 3 piece design. A front and a back and a waistband.
I love the wide neckline, the ruched waistband, and the split sleeves. But in the solid color rather than the cream and pale pink print of the original, the shirt looked pretty boring. So I added some hand-stitched daisies to give it a little more Anthropologie style.
Perfect 🙂
Apr
26
2010This top started off as Alabama Stitch T-Shirt Corset. I’d made one forever ago that included hand stitched reverse applique daisies.
While I loved the shape, it was a little low for me and a little too short on my extra long torso. So once I had resigned to the fact that I had once again made something that I wouldn’t wear due to fitting issues, I tore out all those hand stitched seams and used it to retrace the pattern (I had borrowed the original pattern/book from the library and no longer had a paper copy). I added two inches in the waist and raised the neckline.
Of course, somehow in the tearing and pattern making things got a little wonky: especially at the armhole (and a little bit at the hem). So I added sleeves to fix the crazy armhole gaposis. I actually used the short puff sleeves from Sense and Sensibility’s Elegant Lady’s Closet pattern. However, I decided I liked the fluttery effect of not gathering the bottom of the sleeve and applying binding.
Finally I added a little hand stitched fabric rose to the neckline for a touch of embellishment.
It’s still a little on the short side for me and the hemline is a tad odd, but the coolness of the fluttering sleeves and the cute rose still make this a top that won’t just hide in the back of my closet unworn.
Apr
19
2010Back when I was 4 months pregnant with Aeralind and Bronwyn, I sewed up Vogue 1027 in some Ruby Red Cotton Jersey. I cut my size in the bust and eased the bottom out to the next size up to add a little room for the babies’ belly. I wore it all the time!
No really, I promise I had a baby belly in these photos, the dress was just that flattering! I even wore it for our church picture directory photo 2 weeks before I delivered the girls. I almost wish I was pregnant again so that I could wear it. Almost…
There was very unfortunate problem with this pattern: it had way too much wearing ease for a garment made from a knit fabric and, therefore, had quite the case of gaposis at the bust. Fortunately, I had just enough of that wonderful red jersey leftover to make a spring top!
I used the bust portion of Vogue 1027 two sizes smaller than the back of the pattern suggests. Then, I used one of my Down East Basics Wonder Tees to draft the lower portion of the shirt.
It’s not as fun to twirl in, but it’s definitely more modest (especially since I tacked the crossover closed) and super comfy! I think I’ll be revisiting this pattern again in the future. 😉
