Christmas Crafts: Lucia's Backpack

I've been wanting to make Lucia a backpack for a long time.  Christmas was the perfect occasion.

The fabric, Ukulele by Heather Ross, is perfect, both for the bag and for Lucia.  One of her favorite things is playing the guitar with her dad.  So awhile back he bought her a real, nice ukulele.  I thought it was a little much for a two year old, but she has not only learned how to strum, she has also learned respect for the instrument (most of the time) and tune it (haha).

Back to the bag.  The pattern is the toddler backpack by Made by Rae using the backpack instructions from the Oliver + S Little Things to Sew book.   I bought the pattern before she added the lining instructions, so with the new pattern that should be all you need.

This was definitely the most rewarding sewing I've done recently.  The look on her face when she opened the gift was priceless.  And the first words out of her mouth... "my fabric"... even more priceless.

Christmas Crafts: Lucia's Dress

Do you ever see a sewing pattern and a piece of fabric that you think just HAVE to go together?  This was one of those times for me.  I can't remember which I saw first but once I had the idea in my head I just had to do it and I knew it would make the nicest Christmas dress.  But I was also having one of those times when I couldn't spend any extra money on sewing.  So, back in October when Oliver + S was having their 50% off paper patterns sale I bought this one.  And then on Small Business Saturday I ordered the fabric from Purl Soho, it was all coming together.

The fabric is "Green Peaceful Cooing" a Nani Iro double guaze from Summer 2012.  I need to do a whole post on my love for Nani Iro fabrics by Naomi Ito--these fabrics never stay in my stash long.  I love this one in particular, the border print and the color worked perfectly for what I wanted.  The print reminds me just a bit of popcorn--another Christmas tradition.  And guess what, I just read that emerald is the Pantone color of 2013, so maybe she can wear this dress beyond the holidays.

The pattern is the Oliver + S Fairy Tale Dress.  I wondered if the pattern was really worth purchasing because I was sure that there was something similar in my stash or in an Ottobre magazine somewhere. But I should have know that like all of their other patterns, Oliver + S makes it special.  As others have commented, this dress is quite intricate and involved.  I love the little details, like the self-facings on view B.

I made a size 4 for Lucia and decided to leave off the waist darts because in many ways Lucia still has a toddler's belly (which I love).  Liesl has a nice blog post on how to modify the bodice to accommodate this but I noticed that the smallest sizes don't have the darts so I fit the bodice muslin without them and it was perfect.  I didn't end up adding extra fabric to the skirt either, so it is a little less full than the original.

I think the most time consuming thing about the pattern is all of the hand sewing.  But that actually ended up creating one of the best memories for me.  I got to sit on the couch and sew it while Lucia sat next to me sewing some lacing cards.  She also "made" me a Christmas dress several times using a dishtowel.  And then she went around church on Christmas Eve and told everyone that I had made her dress.  The best part of all of this is that she is learning that such things are made by people and that if she wants to do that someday she can.

Anyway, the only thing I really regret in making this dress is that I wasn't careful enough with the collar to make sure the undercollar didn't stick out and that made the left collar flip up.  It was an easy fix when I noticed it, but it was too late at night to care.  (That's when you know you should go to bed.)  I tacked it down in the end and it is better after it was washed, so in the end it wasn't too bad, but lesson learned...

I definitely have plans to make this pattern again.  In fact, I have the perfect fabric in my stash to make one for Elena's first birthday--this time with the petal sleeves.

Christmas crafts: Elena's Dress

I had every intention of blogging my Christmas crafts as I completed things, before Christmas.  But here we are and I'm just starting.  At least it is still Christmas season, right?

I actually had Elena's Christmas dress finished, all but the last bit of hand sewing, done before December 1.  

The pattern is the Oliver + S Bubble Dress.  It's the second time I make a dress from this pattern, the first was for Elena's baptism.  The skirt looks so long that when I made the first one for her I actually cut off about five inches.  Then when I put it on her, five minutes before (or maybe after) I was supposed to leave the house you could see her diaper out the bottom.  I almost did it again this time, but resisted the urge, and in the end it was perfect.

The fabric came from Superbuzzy a long time ago.  I think it's a Tefle from Kokka.  The buttons are really lovely too, although it is hard to tell from the picture.  They belonged to an aunt of a friend of mine who used to have a sewing business.

Here's a little sneak peak at Lucia's dress, that post is coming up next.

Open for Business

That's right.  I did it.  Margee Slim now has a Etsy shop: mslimdesigns.etsy.com.

I've wanted to do this forever.  I'm starting small, with just one product on offer: french press covers.  I'm so excited to get it off the ground.

If you use a french press (and if you drink coffee, you should), you need this.  I designed this cozy over 5 years ago out of a need to keep my coffee hot.  Inspired by the traditional tea cozy, I designed it with an opening at the top so it can sit on the french press even while the coffee is brewing--who want's their coffee to get cold while it brews?

Over the past 5 years I have made many more for friends and tweaked the pattern a little bit at a time until I got it just right.  Each cover is one-of-a-kind.  I start with a genuine coffee sack and cut it down to it's most interesting parts--usually focusing on the company's printing.

I then decide if it will be pieced with a cotton print or left on it's own.  Behind the top layer is a layer of muslin to keep the batting from poking through, then a layer of cotton batting and then a layer of Insul-brite.  I then machine quilt those four layers in some interesting and complementary pattern.

Finally, I choose a complementary lining fabric and sew that in so all of the seams are enclosed.  You can see the lining fabric along the bottom as it also binds the base of the cover.

In the shop now are the first 7 covers available:

Four feature the coffee sack they are made from.

The other three include more intricate features.  

Red and White:

African print hexagons (hand sewn):

Appliqued poppy:

HUGE thanks go to Libby again for designing my etsy header.  We're working on labels next.   And thank you to Katie for letting me use her photo for my profile picture and the butterfly inspiration.

And, because I just can't help but include a photo session outtake shot.  Here's Lucia when she got tired of not being the center of attention.

New Banner and a PSA

Do you love my new banner?  (Google Reader users, hop on over to the blog to check it out.)  My awesome sister, Libby, designed it for me and I'm so excited about it!  Thanks Libby!  You really should do graphic arts for a living.

On another note, I have an important PSA (public sewing announcement, haha) to share with you.   Do you know about Small Business Saturday?   Essentially you get $25 free from American Express if you make a $25 or greater purchase from a participating small business.  I found out about it last year and got two free patterns from Oliver + S.  They are doing it again this year, so if you want some of their patterns this is the weekend to order them.  But it made me wonder if there were any other online sewing shops participating, so I contacted Superbuzzy and Purl Soho (there's a certain fabric I've had my eye on for awhile).

Superbuzzy can't offer the $25 rebate but is offering 15% off your entire order that day.   According to an email I received from Purl they are participating. *

Finally, never a missed opportunity to do a little sewing.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

*Check out this link for more information on how to participate, you have to sign up with American Express first.  Also, I'm just passing on the information I received, so please don't blame me if it's wrong!)

Argyle Anyone?

My sister, Libby, and I send boxes of baby/kids clothes back and forth across the country.  I think this is to save money, but I’m not really sure it does.  Either way, it’s fun to see our girls wearing the same clothes.  I love how even with the same clothes on they are each unique.

In one of the last boxes she sent there was an argyle baby sling.  Since she and I are fans of the Moby I figured she must have bought this one for the fabric (she loves argyle) or maybe it was a gift, I don’t know.  But since it wasn’t being used I asked her if I could cut into it and use it for an outfit for Elena.

I love it!  She has gotten so many complements on the outfit too. 

The pattern is design 4 in Ottobre 6/2009. And it essentially cost me $0 and 2 hours to make.

The fabric is cotton with a tiny bit of nylon for minimal stretch.  It fits just right and is a little hard to get on and off.  But I’m glad I made it when I did because I don’t think I had enough fabric for a larger size.

The only change I made to the pattern was to add a ¼ inch seam allowance on the sleeves and armhole.  I planned to use sew binding to the inside to finish these edges instead of binding these edges with visible binding like the pattern indicated.  But I couldn’t find any fabric in my stash that I thought matched (even though it wouldn’t show) and I was getting tired/lazy, so I just serged the edges, folded them over once and top-stitched them down.

These one-piece coveralls are our favorite things to dress her in at this age, so I definitely plan to make her more, in the next size of course.  The next one will probably be in jegging fabric, something with a little more stretch will make diaper changes easier since it doesn't have snaps.

I have to say, I’m pretty pleased with how I matched the pattern.

Stay tuned, I have a big reveal this weekend!

We're rollin'

I've been making this recipe of cinnamon rolls for a couple years now.  I searched all over the internet to find a good overnight recipe and I LOVE this one by Pink of Perfection.

For two years I've been making them at Christmastime for the daycare teachers and last year I started making them for the annual charity bake sale at work.  The only problem is that they must be individually wrapped and since I bake them that morning it can be a pain.

So this year I decided to search around for a good way to bake them already wrapped, or at least a start.  I came across these pannetone wrappers and used those for the bake sale.  I thought they worked out well.  After they baked I put them each in a plastic bag from Michael's and closed them with a twist-tie. But this weekend I decided to do a true test and compare baking them in the pannetone wrapper versus a mini tart wrapper (left over from a Panera souffle).  Ta da:

The mini tart wrapper (left) wins.   The cinnamon roll in the pannetone paper was fun the way in grew up but it didn't really maintain the center and all of the filling spilled up to the top and out.  The other one kept everything contained in the paper and even left a little yummy leftovers at the bottom if you dare lick it off (cheese paper anyone?).  Now I'm off to find the best deal for mini tart papers online.  Or I'll just go buy a bunch of souffle's.

One more note:  I usually follow the recipe to a T except I only make about half the glaze, it's too much for my family.  But the ones in the picture were actually made with whole wheat flour.  Use the 2 1/4 cups whole wheat in the initial mix and then add all-purpose flour for the remaining.  I bought white whole wheat for my next batch.  I'll be sure to report back.