His & hers

In the "his" department, a fancy shirt for Jonah. I hope to reserve it for trips to synagogue, as lately we've made an unfortunate habit of showing up in grass-stained pants and snack-smeared tees. I love cotton seersucker plaids for summertime, and figured that a simple shirt would facilitate matching the plaids (almost true, as you can see here!). Last week there was a $1.99 pattern sale at JoAnn and I made my inaugural purchase of toddler patterns, now that he's a 2T. This one, Simplicity 2627, fits a slim kid very well, though I could have added some length. It went on easily (unlike the far hipper Oliver and S sailboat top). My only modification to the pattern was to gather the sleeves before sewing them to the body of the shirt, so that they'd fit in smoothly.
Check out the airplane buttons! I made the buttonholes way too big, so I only cut them part-way open. Oops. Something about the irregular shape of the buttons made me think I'd need huge buttonholes.

The best part of this project was that it was an instant hit. I wasn't even planning on presenting the shirt to him, but Jojo saw it hanging on the closet door and immediately wanted to wear it - pointing at his ratty tee and saying, "Off!" Since I told him it was his "chemise synagogue," he pulled out his Jewish Holidays book and started un-velcro-ing the Torah. This was all a lot of fun until it was dinnertime and I had to get him out of the shirt. He ended up eating his dinner topless as a compromise.


















As for the "hers," my second garment from Ottobre is a pair of pink velour jodhpur pants (clearly, a wardrobe staple). The pattern was very easy to follow and I love the details - mock side vents at the hem, accent buttons - that set these patterns aside from their stodgy American counterparts. I had used most of this fabric to make an unspeakably hideous maternity dress, so I feel I've redeemed it now with this project.

First Ottobre "mekko"

(that means "dress" in Finnish!)

For my birthday, I received not one, but two subscriptions to Ottobre Kids magazine! Guess everyone knew how I plan spend the rest of my maternity leave. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on the baby, too.

Like Japanese patterns, Ottobre's patterns require a fair amount of elbow grease on the part of the sewist. You start with scary pattern sheets that look like this. You have to locate your pattern pieces, trace them onto tissue paper, add seam allowances, and then figure out the cutting layout. Some of this grunt work is actually pretty interesting, since you really have to think through how the garments are constructed.

So, about this dress. It's the "plum tree" dress in size 74 sewn in 100% linen. As I wrote about earlier this week, I have been rethinking my fabric choices for little ones after reading a particular blog post. The author came out strong for linens and I decided to try it. Linen is very yummy to sew, since it's thick and sturdy yet flexible. I like its rumpled look for kids' clothes, and the colors are rich with depth.

The dress features pockets (from a different pattern, btw) of Echino fabric, whose butterflies match the dress perfectly...










...and a mock placket with cotton lace and buttons. I haven't sewn lace since I was in elementary school, and like gathers, I think I'll be seeing a lot of it in the coming years as I sew for Liora!

Stripey dress

Another long-sleeved dress, here in striped seersucker (McCall's 5739). I know it looks quite rumply, but I didn't want to iron all the intended puckers out of the seersucker.

My to-do list

Some recent shopping has lengthened my sewing to-do list considerably. This post is basically a visual reminder so that I can come back to these fabrics in many months and wonder why I have 7/8 yard of one and 2/3 of another. On Sunday, I met my ever-patient sister in Portsmouth. She soothed the baby and advised while I shopped.

For example.
A rusty Fassett shot cotton and Alexander Henry circles for this tunic and pants set:
And fuschia Fassett shot cotton and Alexander Henry mushroom caps for a dress:

And a bit of this very interesting Echino print for who-knows-what.
Then things got really nuts, on an unplanned trip to JoAnn's today.
I reread a very wise post from Oliver and S last night about choosing fabrics for kids' clothes (titled "Approach Juvenile Prints with Caution") and decided I needed a large number of respectable solids to go with all this print silliness. From top to bottom, with planned project in parentheses: plum linen (Ottobre plum tree dress), turquoise linen (ditto), rust-mustard wide-wale corduroy (Oliver and S sailor pants), cilantro narrow-wale corduroy (overalls), plum knit rib and cilantro cotton knit (tights or tees), lightweight denim (jumper).

If I sew one project every week, I have a chance of getting through most of this before I resume work in September!

Zoo set

Another gift set, this one for baby Parker. The fabric is "2-D Zoo" by Alexander Henry, with a bit of leftover chambray at the cuff. Small prints really look great on small garments, a basic principle that I sometimes forget. I made the appliqué by enlarging a "p" on my computer and copying the letter. An initial is about the right level of personalization, in my opinion - it's obviously just for him but it doesn't broadcast his full name to the whole world.
Using a darker thread around the borders gives appliqués good definition and can highlight a color you like in the mix. Of course, it can also highlight all your little missteps around corners:

Monkey set

Another gift set of onesie & pants, this time for Shuba's baby-to-be. 100% cotton teal print with monkeys, accented with a pale white and beige dot print. Here's a detail of the top:

The whole thing:

My new label: