Thursday, March 24, 2011

Easter Shirt Trial Run


I've been working on the boys' Easter outfits for the past month or so, and made this pattern up myself, so of course I wanted to do a trial run before cutting into what little bit of fabric I have for the actual Easter shirt. 


Samuel's been asking me for a cowboy shirt, so I told him that it has pearl snaps - kind of like a cowboy shirt. He thought that was pretty good, and it must be, because I found him wearing it with sweat pants and cowboy boots when we woke up from nap time the next day :o).


I used flat-felled seams, so it's as pretty inside as out. I never knew what flat-felled seams were, but when I started looking at the insides of Tim's dress shirts I wanted to try to get the same look.  I came up with my own way of doing it on a different shirt, but then saw THIS  tutorial and found out the real way to do it :o). It's nice to make something that you can be proud of and know it will last a long time. This is also the first time I've successfully used snaps. It was really easy when I figured out the RIGHT way to put them in the snap press :o).  As long as they're in the right way they work great! It does take some practice, so always try it on some scraps before messing up your shirt :o).


The pattern could use just a bit of tweaking, but overall it's not bad for coming up with it from scratch.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Thanks Moe!


Moe (my man mannequin) was a big help again the other day while I was making Tim a new shirt!
It's so nice to have something to drape and fit things to while Tim is at work (or sleeping late at night when most of my quantity [not so much quality] sewing is done :o)). Moe was an unexpected gift from my Aunt Sheryl. Thank You!!! She got it from a retired seamstress and passed it my way. You should have seen Tim's face, Aunt Sheryl, when I brought it home :o).  I should have taken a picture for you!


I used a shirt that fits Tim well as my pattern.


Nothing fancy, but I think it turned out just about perfect :o).


 I did one line of stitching on the sleeves, only because my bobbin ran out and I didn't feel like filling it up again.


 I did a double stitch on the hem. I don't have a twin needle, so I just do a second row of stitching VERY slowly close to the first.


Thanks again, Moe and Aunt Sheryl!!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

New PJ's all Around



For Caleb's Birthday I made him some much-needed jammies. I used this pattern and liked it a lot.

Babies Layette Sewing Pattern, Size XXS - M, Simplicity 9782

It was a simple and quick sew - only taking one nap time :o). I like instant gratification!!!! :o) The pants have a cuff, so you can roll them up or let down as baby grows.


Of course adding my label. 


So classic. 


I  appliqued the C as an afterthought just so it's not so plain.


For Samuel and Josiah's I used this pattern from the 70's (Soo Cute!).


I Love these jammies!


I love the wide legs!
They are so cute on Josiah!!


I tucked about 3 extra inches into the sleeve length and pants hem, so they should fit for a few years to come. I figure if you're putting your time into making something you might as well make it last!
Even if I need to add a strip of something to the bottom of the shirt so his belly won't hang out in a year or two the rest will still fit. I also overlapped about 3 inches of the elastic in the waistband of the pants so that can be let out too. See my nice thick hem :o). I made a double line, but with very long stitches so it won't be to hard to get out later.


I think the buttons really make the whole thing though!!
I love the vintage feel!


They're Josiah's favorite too.


Samuel's seem a little more grown-up looking with the plaid I think. I really wanted to use these cute teddy bear buttons, but I had already told Samuel he could pick out whatever he wanted, so we ended up getting ...


giraffe buttons :o(. They're ok (better then the pink flowers he was also looking at :o) ), but the bears would have made it look how I wanted it to. Oh well, not the end of the world.


Here are all my guys :o) So handsome!!!


With lots of kisses to go around.




It was fun to make them each a warm fuzzy pair for winter. Maybe next year I'll make some for myself :o).