What next?

I am trying to decide what to sew next. I want to make this Ottobre dress from the 1/07 issue. It is a very cute dress! Looks soft and comfortable, like Hanna Andersson dresses. There is even a leggings pattern in the same issue! I plan to make them capris length for spring.

And here are the fabrics I have to chose from. Which should I do? These are all cotton knits from Chez Ami, with lycra/cotton knits for the leggings.

First choice: Red floral dress with multi dot leggings. I have turquoise for binding on dress.

Pink floral for dress with orange dot for leggings. I have blue for binding on dress.

Brown and pink floral with pink dot for leggings. I have pink for binding on dress.

Which would you chose?

Rosalind Tee, part two

Rosalind is pretty much done! I just need to sew the buttons around the neckline but it is otherwise done. I am pleased with how it turned out. My daughter loves it. I think the neckline is too wide but it is still pretty good for a beginning seamstress. This picture shows the tee worn over a camisole. You can see the camisole poking out of the neckline of the tee.

But I think the sleeves turned out great. I could not figure out how to use elastic thread on my machine. I tried many stitch variations on practice material and I could never get it to look right. So, in the end, I used elastic and it looks fine Perfect!

The buttons will be sewn on soon and I will get a final picture. One thing at a time! It is hard to sew with a 2 year old and a 6 year old, neither of whom nap, at home.

In other news, since my original SWAP plan was to sew pull on denim pants to go with this top, and that failed miserably, my new plan is to sew a tiered flouncy, twirly skirt. My sewing coop is in the process of placing an order for some Michael Miller fabric. Here are the swatches I will use to make a long, twirly skirt to wear with this top.

These are all from Michael Miller's lovely Big E group.

Rosalind Tee, part one

This week, I am beginning my SWAP outfits. SWAP = sewing with a purpose. See a few posts down for more info.

Last night, I started sewing the Rosalind Tee from Ottobre 3/2009. This lovely fabric is from Chez Ami and it is so thick and soft that my daughter immediately commmented on it when she tried it on. As you can see, the top is starting to take shape nicely and fits her well. It still needs sleeves and button trim, but it looks great so far and I am proud of myself!

Sewing this top has been a fun adventure because I have never sewn with knits before. I have sewn for 30 years but I have stuck mostly with simple things like curtains or basic skirts. I take a sewing class once a week where we work on our own projects but an instructor is available for help as needed. Last night, I learned a couple of new stitches! I don't know why I thought that knits were hard to sew with. They are actually easier because there is so little unraveling! Even though I don't have a coverstitch machine, my sewing instructor taught me to use the twin needle to make the binding on the neckline. My first attempt, luckily sew on a practice piece of material, was not so great. It was lumpy. But I kept trying until it looked neat and then moved on to the top. As you can see, it is not perfect, but it is good enough. It lies flat on the body and will look better when the buttons are sewn on to distract from the slightly uneven stitching. This was a fun stitch to learn. I will be using it often now.

I also learned how to use different zig zag stitches to sew the rest of the garment together. Here is a picture of the inside seam closeup. This looks very nice from the outside and I am pleased with this stitch.

All in all, this is a nice garment to make. I still need to sew the sleeves and button trim on but that will be done as soon as I figure out the best way to do them. The problem with sewing from a pattern translated from Finnish to English is there are sometimes directions that are unclear! So, I am waiting for advice on how to make the ruffled edge of the sleeve and then I can finish this thing up!

SWAP - Sewing With A Purpose

On the wonderful Ottobre English Sewing Group, I learned about making a plan for sewing called SWAP - Sewing With A Purpose. They did it as a formal project last year, with everyone making a specific group of items for themselves. But I am doing it for myself to make a plan for sewing for my children. I have spent the better part of the last month working on this project. So, that is why I have not blogged in a while. I have been busy looking at patterns and ordering material!

I was able to take advantage of two wonderful fabric sales, one

at Chez Ami and the other at Treasure Bay on Etsy. My stash runneth over with lovely fabrics but I still could not look at it and figure out what to make or where to start. I knew I wanted to sew from my Ottobre magazines but I was not sure where to start. And, I want to create a min

i wardrobe for my two girls, ages 2 and 6, so I needed to make a plan to keep myself organized. So, here it is!

First up. my oldest daughter is charmed by this top from the cover of Ottobre Summer 2009 (issue 3). It is called the Rosalind T-shirt. I decided to make it from this lovely Chez Ami turquoise interlock. I have enough material to make a top for each girl and I found lovely turquoise and green buttons to use.

Next up, I am going to make my first grader a pair of pull on stretch denim capris. I found some nice Sew Crazy stretch denim at Joann Fabrics. I am going to take the Ottobre 6/09 Neat Beat pants pattern and shorten it to mid-calf. The denim is a mid-blue color so it will look cute with spring tops. This looks like a nice pattern. These pants are pull on with a nice flat front and an elastic back waist.

To match the pants above, I want to make a pattern from the new Ottobre, spring 2010. It has not arrived at my house yet so I do not know what it is called but here is a picture of the top from the Ottobre website. And here is the Chez Ami fabric I am going to use, the peony multi daisy print jersey.

After than, I want to make some faux Hanna Andersson play dresses for my soon-to-be 3 year old daughter. I have to prints from Chez Ami to use.

And I found a cropped leggings pattern in new, soon-to-arrive Spring Ottobre 2010 that will look adorable under these dresses. Here are the cotton lycra Chez Ami fabrics I plan to use. Aren't they adorable! And the turquoise top from above will go nicely with the red dot leggings, too!

At this point, it will hopefully be close to summer and I plan to make each girl this lovely Ottobre Sleeveless dress with frills from the 3/2006 edition.

I have such lovely fabrics to use, I am beside myself with glee. Treasure Bay fabrics, on Etsy, had a great sale last fall and I was able to snag all these lovely items.

For my oldest daughter, this lovely coral, turquoise and yellow collection with turquoise ribbon. I still need to find one more fabric!

For my youngest, this collection of pink and turquoise and pink ribbon.