Archive by Author

Chevron Circle Skirts

So a couple weeks ago the Project Run & Play challenge of the week was to use a chevron pattern somehow in your design. I got my pictures all ready and went to write my post and…my blog was down. Boo! Christian did get it up running later that night, but the opportunity to write had passed. And now I finally have a minute to post what should have been posted a couple weeks ago…

I had a plan to make cute outfits for the girls to wear for Easter egg hunting, but my original plan was to do something really simple. Like purchased tshirt and simple elastic waist skirt simple. But when I saw the list of challenges for this PR&P season I thought egg hunting would be a good opportunity to incorporate the chevrons.

Riley Blake has a line of chevron patterned fabric and I just loved the colors of one of the patterns. It was perfect and spring-timey.

However, once I chose the fabric I was at a loss as to what to do with it. I didn’t want big, busy, chevron-y skirts, but I had a hard time thinking up something else. My friend Anna suggested doing something with a box pleat with the chevron inset. I love circle skirts for the girls and I thought having the little pleat would be a fun addition.

My other dilemma was deciding what to applique on their shirts…I didn’t want a bunny or an egg or anything that would limit the outfits’ use to only Easter time, but I couldn’t think of anything great until I stumbled upon the idea of a hot air balloon. Christian solidified this by sending me this awesome picture…

So, here are their sweet outfits.

A few details…

The skirts are actually only a 3/4 circle…they have a nice twirl and bounce to them, but they lie a little straighter while being worn.
The box pleat inset is 1/4 of the circle so that is why they twirl so nicely…the inset makes the skirt have a full circle hem.
I love using bias tape hem facing on circle skirts (SO much easier to hem this way) and the chevrons cut on the bias have awesome visual interest.
I used a wide elastic waistband and just stitched the top of the skirt to the bottom of the waistband.
The skirts were actually pretty simple to make…once I conquered the math! You should have seen me…geometry was not my favorite in school and that has not changed. Luckily I found this circle skirt calculator from The Snugbug that is SO helpful.

I just love how they turned out. I wish I had some better pictures of them wearing them. We got several cute pictures of them egg hunting, playing, etc., but not many great ones of the actual outfits. So, here is a sampling of “action” shots of them running and twirling and enjoying the (finally) beautiful spring weather.

And now I am off to relax after a busy weekend. We had Dinah’s superhero birthday party on Saturday. It was “incredible” and I can’t wait to share about the event later this week!

Iris Dress

Project Run & Play is back! This time around is only four weeks and I have vowed to work ahead a little bit…just so things don’t get out of control and I miss out on entering my submissions.

Week one is: Inspired by Art—Choose an artist, art movement, or artwork and create a children’s look inspired by your choice.

When I read the themes I knew I immediately wanted to do something based on the Impressionists…they are generally my favorites. I was feeling particularly drawn to Van Gogh’s work. (Probably because I just recently watched the “Vincent and the Doctor” episode of Doctor Who…there is just something moving about the way Vincent describes how he sees the world at the end of the episode. I know, I know…nerd alert.) Irises are one of my favorite flowers and I have always loved his interpretation of their beauty.

Source: vangoghgallery.com viaHarmony on Pinterest

So, with that awesome image in mind I set out looking for fabric and a dress shape that would evoke the fluidity of his strokes and the shapes of the irises. A normal “smooth” fabric just wouldn’t work for the feel I wanted and I eventually thought of using gauze. It is a semi-sheer, wrinkly fabric with a ton of body and movement and I knew it would be perfect. And then in the process of searching for something else altogether I ran across this pattern.

Source: butterick.mccall.com viaHarmony on Pinterest

I love the circle skirt on it and the way the tiers can look like petals. Perfect!

I altered the pattern in a couple ways…first, I decided not to mess with doing a zipper. I thought it would be too fiddly with this slippery fabric. And then because the fabric is so light I felt it would be too heavy. I just added a loop of elastic cord and a single yellow button at the top to be the closure. This created a cute little peek-a-boo at the back.

It also made the skirt be two true circles which was perfect for spinning!

So, one thing I forgot to count on after I had painstakingly ironed and hemmed both skirt tiers is that this gauze fabric would fall out differently on the bias. And now my circle skirt is rather asymmetrical. I mean, it works for the feel of petals of an iris, but just something to keep in mind for the future.

Dinah did love her new dress…which is great, because she is quickly growing out of everything and I lost my main provider of hand-me-downs last year. So, she will be getting the majority of the new clothes this time around since Esther has a TON of dresses that I just pulled out of storage.

And I had to share this picture. Whenever we say, “Smile, Dinah!” she does this.

No one knows why. Weirdo.

And one final story about this dress…it is probably my most beautiful dress on the inside. I used french seams on the skirt and I actually took the time to hand stitch the bodice lining down. It was a lot of work, but I was really happy with how it turned out. And then Esther broke into the sewing room and got a hold of a Sharpie and thought that Dinah’s dress needed some decoration. Ack! There was a huge black mark along the back shoulder of her dress. Christian broke out the Carbona and scrubbed and scrubbed and now you can barely tell it was there! Whew!

Party for our Willy, Nilly, Silly Ole Bear

Since Esther was only a few days old she has had the nickname of “Esther-Bear.” She was a VERY vocal little baby and was always making growling noises. I don’t know if that’s the reason, but she has always loved Winnie-the-Pooh. As young as 18 months old she would “sing” the little Winnie-the-Pooh song. So, I’ve known for a long time that we would do a Pooh theme for her Second Birthday.

Now, many of you know that Esther’s birthday is actually in December…so, why did we have her party in February? Well, the week her party was originally scheduled for in December all three of us girls got nasty colds that developed into upper respiratory infections. Sadly, the day before her party I just had to cancel. I meant to reschedule for sometime in January, but there seemed to be a lot going on in January and it got pushed back to February.

Okay, first for some party details:

This was our party space…we went to one of the smaller parks in the city so there was just the one pavilion with three tables. But that was perfect for our little party.

I made a little pennant banner for our Esther-Bear. I finally invested in some paper crafting tools, like a corner rounder and a scalloped punch. Making decorations for this party was a breeze with those.

And this was our food table…we served strawberry lemonade (which is one of our birthday party traditions) along with…

Veggies from Rabbit’s Garden and…

Silly Ole Bears (aka Gummy Bears) and…

Hunny Combs and…

some Tigger Tails.

These were really easy to make and you can find a bajillion tutorials online. Basically I got those Wilton orange candy melts, melted them and dipped my pretzel rods in. I let those cool and then I melted chocolate and drizzled that over the orange. I will say this…I totally used the wrong kind of chocolate. I mean, it was tasty, but it didn’t really set up hard like the orange did. We had to keep them frozen/cold right up until the last minute because the chocolate got really sticky. I just used some chocolate chips we had on hand, but apparently that was not the right kind of stuff to use. I suppose I need to use some sort of candy making chocolate. It didn’t really matter…they were a BIG hit. Adults and children alike gobbled them up. So, I declare them a success.

And of course there were cupcakes!

I will say that making these was my best baking endeavor ever. I didn’t really do anything from scratch, but there were still really yummy. I took two different batters (a butter yellow mix and a lemon cake mix) and blended them together. The result was a tasty, moist cake with a slight lemon flavor. For the icing we doctored up the canned butter cream icing with about a half a cup of creamed honey (we found ours at Trader Joe’s) and a quarter cup of cream cheese (just to cut the sweetness some). These cupcakes were SOOO good. They were light and sweet, but not too sweet. Just perfect.

Some other things that contributed to their success: 1) I actually measured out 1/4 cup for each cupcake, so they were nice and uniform. 2) I purchased appropriate tips for piping. 3) I researched some methods of frosting cupcakes so I could get the look I wanted. 4) I purchased the super cute bees from a confectioner on Etsy. They were perfect and added just the right touch.

The other little cupcakes were a surprise from my mom. She knew the theme and made those super-cute little cupcakes. Basically they are little bears in a bathtub. They were very yummy and had the surprise of ha Rolo candy hidden in the center. Thanks, Mom!

For the favor bags, I just got regular red paper bags and I glued this image to the outside.

At the dollar store I found Winnie-the-Pooh puzzles for the older kids and little Winnie-the-Pooh stamp sets for the little ones. Each kid also got a couple lollipops, a bag of Teddy Grahams and a little bee magnet. Of course, I neglected to get pictures of the magnets, but you can see a couple extras decorating the food table in the pictures above.

It actually ended up being a perfect day for a party. We decided to have her party at a park and I am not sure I will ever go back to house parties again. Even with transporting everything there and back, it was just so much easier! We had wonderful weather (although a bit windy) and the kids had a great time playing on the playground and exploring the “Hundred Acre Wood.”

*Note…I feel kind of weird posting pictures of other people’s kids…so, you just get to see mostly mine. But don’t worry…she did have friends there!

Waiting not-so-patiently for her party to begin.

Sliding!

Whee!

Swinging with her little cousin

Just a girl and her bear.

Dinah and her Granny off to explore.

Getting ready to sing to our Bear.

Digging into her cupcake

Post-cupcake frosting face

Dinah “helping” her sister open presents

Happy (late) birthday, little Bear!

Thanks to everyone who was able to come! We had a great time!

Gift Giving: Baby Quilts

Last year three of my very good friends from college had babies. Since I began sewing I have tried to make a quilt for each new baby added to our group. So, I had a busy quilting year!

The fun part of making baby quilts for my friends is hunting down the perfect fabric for them. I like to use pre-cut charm packs (5 inch squares) for my quilts. They are an inexpensive way to get a sampling of designer fabrics. It is perfect for me because the fabrics are already coordinating and they are already cut into quilt sized squares. I also usually make sure the quilt is small enough that I only need purchase one yard of backing fabric and then I choose one of the prints in the charm pack.

I have used quilt patterns/tutorials before…notably the Charm Squares Baby Quilt from Oh, Fransson! But recently I have just been browsing the internet for quilt looks that I like and designing my own. That process is more time consuming, but worth it.

Alright, I don’t pretend to be a great quilter. I have gotten better with each quilt and I have learned a few tricks that make my life easier. Also, I get really bored with quilting…so I don’t do anything bigger than these baby quilts.

Okay, so here are the quilts I made last year…

First up is Waverly’s…

It is made with a random charm pack of Amy Butler fabrics. Waverly’s mom has a taste for bold colors and prints so I knew Amy Butler would be a great choice for her little girl.

I always hand embroidery the baby’s name (if known) onto the quilt. It is part of what makes each quilt unique and something special for each baby.

Up next is Ella Katherine’s…

Ella Katherine already has a big brother and their mom was planning on a shared room. She picked out the Fly A Kite line from Riley Blake for me to make some Pennant Banners with their names for their room. I just loved this sweet fabric so much that I went ahead and used it for her quilt too.

One of the tricks I’ve picked up is a cheater binding method. I use this tutorial from Made by Rae and it has revolutionalized quilting for me. Typically, the part of quilting I hate the most is the binding part, but this cheater method looks great and I get perfect corners every time with no fighting.

Because I did a square quilt I needed to piece the back. In order to “hide” the seam I chose to add a little surprise of a few blocks on the back of the quilt too.

And finally, Emily’s…

For Emily’s quilt I used Willow also by Riley Blake (I have found I am just really drawn to Riley Blake fabrics, especially for these quilts…Dinah’s and my nephew’s will both be made with Riley Blake fabrics.)

I really loved how muted and sweet these colors are and I have been digging gray with yellow and pink lately. As Mugatu would say, “Gray is so hot right now.” (Also, ignore that random, giant blade of grass in the following picture…I don’t know how that guy snuck in there…but he will not be tamed!

I do have more quilts out there…older ones (pre-blog) that don’t have very good pictures. I will try to dig out the photos and see if I can clean them up and make them more presentable. Those older quilts/blankets are cute, but you will definitely see how I’ve gotten better over time. I’ll share those soon.

But next time I will be telling you all about Esther’s birthday party we had over the weekend. It was so fun and I can’t wait to ~~show off~~ share all the details!

Signature Style = Sleep-deprived

So, for the four of you who pay attention (hi, Mom!) you will notice that I did not have an entry for Project Run & Play last week. The problem with sewing on deadlines while you are pregnant and already have two small children is that life frequently gets in the way. Earlier this week both girls started getting congested due to allergies, which of course developed into coughs. This means they do not sleep very well. Poor Esther was up every couple hours on Wednesday night (my usual big sewing night). Our week has been crazy-crazy so no one has gotten naps since Monday. Nap-free days and late nights resulted in an elevated heart rate for me on Thursday. So, I went to bed at a romantic 7:30 pm on Valentine’s night and slept (on my left side) for 12 hours straight! I am feeling better now, though I can really tell when I have over done it at times. I’m definitely feeling older for this pregnancy than my others.

So, here were my grand signature style plans: Up until just before the week of the challenge I was planning on making corduroy pants and cute tops from the Oliver+S After-School pattern. I was also going to finally make them their coats that I had wanted to make way back last fall. And then the weather changed to sunny and warm and I just couldn’t bring myself to make fleece coats for the girls in February. In Florida. It was already almost 80 degrees. I started thinking of spring and sundresses and strawberries and I changed everything at the last minute.

I got fun springtime colors of the “linen-look” fabric from Joann, found some cute accent fabric and decided to make Geranium dresses. I got a great start on them, but then the first paragraph of this post happened. And then the weather changed. Again. The past couple of days have been the coldest of the entire winter! So, they have remained unfinished…for now. I’ve decided that I just love this pattern and the way the dresses are turning out, so I am going to make them the girls’ Easter dresses this year. That means you’ll have to wait to see them in their entirety, but I’ll give you a sneak peak here. (Sorry about the phone pics!)

This one is Esther’s…don’t let the bad phone picture fool you…this is an awesome turquoise-y blue that looks so good on her. Christian picked out the accent fabric…isn’t it the best?? I got as much extra as I could so I could make a top or skirt or something else out of it because it just so cute!

And then this one is Dinah’s…I let her choose between this hot pink and a purple. No surprise she chose the pink. Christian actually picked out Dinah’s accent fabric too. The pinks look like they were designed to be paired…they match so perfectly.

Baby Miriam (have I mentioned we are having a girl??) might get the purple one later this summer…Rae’s pattern goes down to even the tiniest sizes, so I don’t think I can resist!

I had a great time sewing along with Project Run & Play again and I am looking forward to the new season coming up. I do have to change how I budget my time though. Basically, I HAVE to make myself sew at least a week ahead of time. While this seems obvious to those who are better time managers, finishing projects without a looming deadline has always been hard for me. (Ask my costume design teachers in college!) So, that is my goal and challenge for the next sew-along…to finish my look by the weekend before the actual challenge begins. Hopefully I can stick to this!

Now, I am going to take a short break from sewing children’s clothing and switch gears to sewing baby quilts. Can you believe that I have made around 10 quilts and not one of those has been for my own children? I haven’t even made my nephew’s yet! So, that is what they are all getting in their Easter baskets this year…their baby quilts. Dinah’s is only four years too late! Poor, deprived children! I will show those off later next month when they are finished, but in the meantime in my next post I will show off a few of the ones I have made previously.

sew in harmony

☰ Navigation