Ottobre sewalong Funny Faces Dress Done

Are you participating in the Ottobre Sewalong at sewalong over at SewMcCool?  I finished my Funny Faces dress and here it is!  I thin it turned out great!

The top is made from Fresh Produce Floral Circles jersey knit.  It has a slight bit of stretch to it so I cut the binding bits a tad longer than recommended. I knew they would need the extra length since they don't have much stretch to them. Had I not cut them longer, they would not have pulled nicely and they would have created a wavy neckline. 

 

I made view B, with a woven cotton skirt.  The skirting is Jennifer Paganelli Lucky Girl Maggie in green.  The colors go so nicely together!  

See how nice the neckline looks!  I am quite proud of this one!

 This pattern has sleeves that are slightly bell shaped. They come to a gentle gather and cuff and have binding to cover the gathering.  It creates a lovely fullness.  I think it turned out quite nicely.

The pattern was simple to follow and cut out and I enjoyed putting it together. As usual, I highly recommend Ottobre patterns for the advanced beginner seamstress on up.  They are a tad too complicated, lacking in complete directions, for a beginner.  

Ottobre summer woman sewing

I have not been universally excited for an issue of Ottobre woman (2/2014) the way I am for this one! I just looked at the preview and I am excited about every single thing in this issue! 

Look!  I love this summer dress and shrug! I have some Jennifer Paganelli fabric coming that will be perfect for this dress! I am not sure what the shrug will take but I will figure it out.

These dresses are to die for lovely!  Again, I am thinking Jennifer Paganelli.

 

I have a 30th high school reunion to go to this summer and I think I found some dress possibilities!!

Waiting eagerly for my Beauty Queen fabric and Ottobre to arrive.....

 

Ottobre Sewalong - pattern tracing and cutting

Do you know how to trace Ottobre patterns?  Today, I am guest blogger at my friend Deanna's blog, SewMcCool, talking about how to trace Ottobre patterns! 

I got my sewalong dress all cut out today.  Remember, we are using #25 from the current Ottobre, issue 1/2014.  Next week, Deanna will show YOU how to lay out your pattern pieces and cut. Here's what mine looks like, for now.

I think it is going to be very pretty!!!

Ottobre sew-along - reading an ottobre pattern

Today, Deanna at Sewmccool blog is talking about how to read an Ottobre pattern magazine.  Be sure to check it out and join us for the Ottobre pattern sewalong!


We are going to be sewing number 25,  funny faces, from the most recent Ottobre, 1/2014.

I have already picked out my fabric and plan to sew view B.  I got this luscious knit from Banberry Place fabrics a while ago and I think it will look beautiful as the top with Jennifer Paganelli's Lucky Girl Maggie in green as the skirt.

On Thursday, I will be the guest at Sewmccool, talking about tracing!  Hope to see you there!

 

Sew McCool Ottobre/Euro SewAlong!

You may already know how much I love Ottobre sewing pattern magazines!  For example, you may remember the layette I made a couple of years ago, from Ottobre patterns. Click here to check that out. In the past year, however, I have let my love for Ottobre take a back seat to pattern testing for friends.  Today, I am happy to announce I am helping to host an Ottobre SewAlong, starting next week!   Hosted by Deanna, of the SewMcCool blog, I will be showing you how to trace your patterns and what types of materials you can use for tracing.  Deanna will show you to choose fabrics and sew it up.

But, first, a bit of info.


Ottobre is a pattern magazine from Finland, published in many different languages. There are women's pattern magazines and children's.  Each children's magazine comes with about 30 patterns, in various sizes, from baby size to tween.  The women's magazines have less than that but still a good selection.  I have subscribed to Ottobre for about four years now and I have always been pleased with the patterns.  The great thing about Ottobre is that for about $15-22, depending on exchange rate and where you purchase, you get a large selection of patterns in different sizes. How do they do that? They don't give you pattern pieces to cut out.  They give you a pattern map!  And this is what I will be sharing with you, next Thursday, February 13th.  I will share the pattern map and how to trace and cut out the patterns. 


We’re using the latest Ottobre, 1/2014.  It’s Number 25: Funny Faces. If you have the magazine, you can see it on pages 13-14. The instructions are on page 31. You can buy it in the States from Wooly Thread!


Next Tuesday, Feb. 11, Deanna, of SewMcCool, will talk about the sizing conversions from European sizes (shown in the magazine) to U.S. sizes, as well as conversions for how much fabric to purchase. (For a head’s up – this pattern is suitable for a size 2T to 10.)

On Thursday, Feb. 13, I will teach you how to trace your pattern and what types of supplies to use for tracing.

On the remaining Tuesdays in February and the beginning of March, Deanna’ll show you how to sew up this cute, cute dress.


Please join us! Follow Deanna and I on bloglovin, so you don't miss any posts.

P.S. – If you haven’t sewn with knits before, please check out Deanna's free, downloadable tutorials.

Tie Dye Diva Long Sleeve Top

 Jen at Tie Dye Diva has done it again! Another great pattern!  

Check out the Long Sleeve Top Pattern for Girls. 

(click above to go to pattern)

 I love her patterns and feel very fortunate to be her friend and be part of her process, albeit simply as a pattern tester.  This adorable top top pattern for girls can be made with a Peter Pan collar, squared-off 'split collar', no-collar square neckline or no-collar round neckline. It has so many style!  And, there is no buttonhole needed. It has a button-and-loop back closure.  The yoke is lined. So well designed!! As usual. 

I chose to test this pattern out in Robert Kaufman fine wale Cool Cords. I have a thing for this fabric group and have amassed a small collection!  First up, the Peter Pan collar. This was a great pattern to test and I had a lot of fun with it.  As usual with TDD patterns, it was well written, with clear instructions and great pattern pieces. 

 The back has two loops for button closures. My daughter chose these teacup buttons.

  

The collar lies perfectly!  I like the spacing between the back pieces, as you can see below.  It looks very clean and neat. The way the pattern is written, the back yoke lies perfect! Doesn't it look nice!!

I also made it in a square neck style, again in Cool Cords. I made this one a tad large so it will be something my daughter can wear longer.  This one has a matching skirt made from an Ottobre pattern, from issue 6/2009.

 

Great Pattern Jen!!!

PS:  Don't forget the fabric giveaway!!

New Pajamas and a new stitch trick

A few days ago, I noticed my oldest daughter's belly sticking out from pajamas obviously no longer long enough to cover it.  She has grown! Again!  So, time for some new pajamas.  I have wanted to make a pair from Ottobre 6/2009 for a while now and decided this weekend was the time.  I chose to use Michael Miller (Patty Young) cotton knits from my stash.  If you are a fabricaholic, you may recall that this first group of knits from Michael Miller and Patty Young are very soft but suffered horrible shrinkage.  Thus, I washed them about five times each, on warm, with warm dry, and made loose jammies.  If they shrink more, they will still fit or if she grows there is room to grow.  Win-win.

For binding, I used Robert Kaufman Laguna lycra knit from fabric.com. This lycra is a tad thin but works great for this purpose since you double it by folding.  I think it turned out pretty cute. She loves them, so that is what really matters. I made two pairs, but the other set, in lime green, did not photo very well with the yellow background of our family room!  Ottobre 6/2009 has three pajama patterns in it, if you are interested.  It has a long sleeve pajama set (which I used), a sleeveless short nightgown, and a long sleeve long nightgown.  A good issue.

 My daughter does not like tight waistbands nor anything rough against her body, so I made a mock yoga waistband, with elastic, instead of following Otto's directions for a simple waistband made from only elastic.  This is much softer.

Now, the other thing I did with this pattern is explore using my Janome MC5200 machine to sew overedge stitching.  If you do not have a coverstitch machine, this is one way you can get the look of coverstitching with knit fabrics.  This is the overedge stitch foot, foot C for Janome.  I do not know if this foot will work on other machines so you should look into this for your particular machine.  Overedge stitching weaves the thread back and forth on two little prongs (you can see one below next to the clear brush) and sews a binding, of sorts, down the edge of the seam. But,  I figured out that you can also use this foot to create a mock coverstitch.  Here is a tutorial on the classic use of this foot.

Here is what my stitching looks like from the outside.

This is what the stitches looks like from the inside.

And here is what it looks like during the process.

And here is the what, why, and how.   I sew two pieces of fabric together using a straight stitch. Then, instead of serging, I switch to the overedge stitch foot and stitch the flap of fabric down from the inside.  The straight seam is my right hand guide, so it lines up with the right side of the overedge foot.  So, the overedge foot sews down the flap of fabric that my serger would have serged. Make sense?  Doing the arm side seams was a struggle, but I did it. I did not even try the leg side seams.  The rest of the garment's seams are overedge stitched so it looks a bit like a pair of Hanna Andersson long johns now!  

I am pretty proud of myself.  This foot came standard with my Janome sewing machine. Until I get a coverstitch machine, this is a pretty neat trick!

Dizzy me and Sienna

I am doing some catchup blogging! I had a bad case of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (aka I was dizzy) for a few months and was not able to do much of anything. I am now finally on the mend, after some great physical therapy and a round of prednisone.  I am lucky to have an awesome otolaryngologist (ENT).  

Here is one project I completed before that happened. This is Lilblueboo Sienna pattern made with the most lovely Lillestoff fabric imported from Europe by a sweet friend who runs the Burlap Button Shop on Etsy.  She has been tempting me SOOO much with these Euro cotton knits and the ribbons and patterns!  Too die for! 

So, I made this:

 I modified the pattern a tiny bit to make a SUPER twirly skirt.  This is a nice pattern. She does the binding for the neck slightly different than other patterns I own and it lays flat much more nicely.  It comes with nice directions that are fairly easy to follow and a lot of variations.  I highly recommend this pattern.

The leggings were a winging it project, using an Ottobre leggings pattern. I am not sure which one because I have so many Ottobre leggings pattern!  I used the rolled edge setting on the serger to attach a bit of fabric as a cuff of sorts.  Voila!  My kindergartner loves them!  This fabric is soft and stretchy and washed up great. It is pricey, but worth it.

PS If you ever have BPPV, read this and find a good physical therapist! 

New Patterns!

I love buying new patterns and reading them and looking at them and thinking about them. LOL I don't sew from them as much as I do all the former activities!  But, I am planning for fall school clothes, so these will get used.

First of all, I decided to try some Mamu Designs patterns. I bought Nike and Arabella from Dotsnstripes on Etsy.   I chose the Arabella and Nike patterns.   They both arrived from the UK quite quickly! Faster than my fabric.com order!  (laughing)  I was so pleased to see each one has 20+ design options in just one pattern, plus numerous sizes! Considering the cost, that makes it worthwhile.

Nike looks to be a very useful pattern from which one can make numerous skirts, tops, and dresses. I love that the pattern can work with woven fabrics or knits and there are short sleeve, long sleeve, and no sleeve options, plus long and short skirts.  Very useful!

Arabella made me swoon!  The choices! Long and short ruffly dresses and tops.  28 variations. Plus, and wait for it........ doll patterns!  What could be better.  And, again, each design can be made with knits or wovens.

Mamu Designs are made in Germany but each pattern comes with English directions as well as a pattern map for tracing whatever size pattern you need.

Next up, new Ottobre! I love Ottobre. Such a wonderful resource.  If you have never bought one, here is some information about them. Ottobre is a pattern magazine designed in Finland. You can order a subscription from them directly and pay via payal.  You get a free issue when you do. They make four children's magazines a year and two women's collections. Each magazine comes with many patterns.  The current Fall 2012 children's issue has 40 patterns in it, for boys and girls, babies up to tweens, each one in a variety of sizes.  So, for about $15 an issue, you get a lot! You cannot sell the items you make from them (long story) but you can make a great deal of clothing for your children and grandchildren. Since they are ahead of the fashion styles in Europe, compared to us in the USA, I still sew from older Ottobres. In fact, my favorite year is 2006!

Here are some details.  This is the new issue:

You get a nice thick magazine with glossy pictures in inside, full of multiple photos for each pattern.  There are 5-10 patterns each for babies, girls, and boys, and tweens.

This is a diagram of each pattern included in this issue. Each one shows the size ranges for each pattern.  They are Euro sizes, but you can easily learn how to measure. Flip your measuring tape over to centimeters!

This is the scary part - the pattern map!  You get 2-4 of these, double-sided.  They have outlines of each pattern, multiple sizes. You trace the size you need. Each pattern has a different color so you can find it easily. It takes a bit of practice but once you get the hang of it, it is very easy. I use Swedish Tracing Paper to trace mine, which you can find on Amazon or Ebay.  

 Here is an up-close of a pocket.   You see how it shows each size, just like a standard pattern. You just trace it and cut it out. Very easy.

So, now to wait for my fabric to get here and figure out what to make with it. Stay tuned!

Happy Home Craftalong!

I am honored to take part in the Happy Home Craftalong, hosted by Jenny of Sew Pretty Dresses.  This should be great! I ordered the lovely new Jennifer Paganelli Book from Amazon.  It arrived a few days ago and my girls and I have been ogling it ever since. We cannot decide what to do first!  But, we will, in time to post next week, June 21st. 

Here is the blogroll:

June 11 Jenny Fish www.sewprettydresses.blogspot.com

June 12 Cathy Caprio Peckiconis http://sewingstoryproject.blogspot.com/

June 13 Judy Buchanan  www.hickity-pickity.blogspot.com/

 June 14 Guest on Sew Pretty Dresses: Shannon Branscom Winters www.sewprettydresses.blogspot.com

June 15 Leah Kinghorn  http://makinglifewonderful.blogspot.com
June 16 Monique Reynolds  sewfunbymonique.blogspot.com/

June 17 Melissa Peda  100billionstars.com/

June 18 Jamie Harned http://theinsecurequilter.blogspot.com/

June 19 Stephanie Messer Danko www.tabbodesign.blogspot.com/

June 20 Kristi Pernell Elston  burlapbutton.blogspot.com

June 21 Kathy Hennessey  http://handmadedresshaven.blogspot.com/

June 22 Courtney Watford Davis www.sweeterthancupcakes.blogspot.com/

June 23  Guest on Sew Pretty Dresses: Jade Nocella Jenny Fish   www.sewprettydresses.blogspot.com


June 24 Sally Keller http://sallysangelworks.typepad.com

June 25 Tour Wrap Up www.sewprettydresses.blogspot.com

First up, however, my baby turns 5 tomorrow and we have been having a lot of mommyandme fun since she finished up preschool two weeks ago.  *SOB*  My baby is growing up!

 Here she is at 30 minutes old

 Six months old

 Two years old, mama's first attempt at sewing an Ottobre pattern!

Five years old, mama's own pattern!

Happy Five Years, Eliza!!

 

Two weeks? What has Kathy been up to?

I can't believe I have not blogged in two weeks! My oldest daughter has been sick and I guess I just got distracted. She was exhausted almost every day for two weeks, to the point where I had her tested for mono.  Luckily, it came back negative.  I guess she just had a mystery virus. She is now better.  

But, I still found time to do some sewing.   I got very excited about the new Ottobre magazine and made this outfit for my youngest.  It is a tee with attached skirt and shorts.

Then, I made this love top for a customer.  This is almost all Robyn Pandolph Flirt fabric, which I love.  The last of my stash, sadly, but a pretty way to use it.

  

I do not make a lot of remakes of other people's designs, but the same customer asked for this and I was able to get the fabrics, so here it is.

 And with the leftovers, I made her soon-to-born baby this version!  The shorts are an Ottobre pattern that I tossed in for free from fabric snippets.

This weekend, I cut out the pieces for my quilt project! I am doing the Patchwork Prism Quiltalong with Sweet Diesel.  Here are some samples of what I cut today.

Here are some blues:

 And here are some pinks:

And it is all organized in files, waiting to be sewn.   I sew for myself and the family only on weekends, so next weekend I will begin this project!  During the week, I sew for others and have some pretty dresses to work on this week.

What to do with all the scraps?

I woke up this morning to a lovely Mother's Day Card, made by my two girls. If you are a mom, I hope you had a happy day!