Sewing:

I've been going a little crazy in the sewing department lately. Mostly stuff for M but a few things for myself (yay!). Maybe it's nesting. Maybe it's that I'm finally feeling like I have energy again. Either way, I'm taking advantage of it to get some stuff done.

Here's what I'm currently working on:

Maxaloones by Max & Meena. I can't seem to stop making these pants. So cute, so comfy, and they last forever! I can wax poetic about my love affair with these pants for a really long time. I have a lot to say so stay tuned.

Small Fry Skinny Jeans by Titchy Threads. Little M has yet to own a pair of jeans. This is about to change because I just bought some denim on sale and hit the jackpot and got the end of the bolt so now I have about a million yards of dark wash denim on my hands. Needless to say, I will be making multiple pairs of these.

The Jude Jacket by Shwin Designs. You have no idea how excited I am to make this coat. Andrew is totally jealous that it doesn't come in a larger size. 

I'm making it in a charcoal wool (see above) and lining it with that grey and orange lightning bolt fabric. Did you see it in all its glory? Hearts in eyes. I also just got him a lightning bolt shirt for the fall/winter. My Harry Potter infatuation is finally rearing its ugly (or awesome) head.

I've also got big goals as far as future projects. They include:

This Totoro costume. Because, well, did you see it? Must make now. I've already got M's Halloween costume all planned out but I may just make this to wear around the house. 

These ridiculously adorable coats by the super talented Little Goodall. She sells these beauties in her shop but also sells patterns to make your own. So, of course, that's what I'll be doing.

I've also got some other projects in the works, including those of the non-sewing variety:

• 2 maternity shirts for me
• Winter maternity leggings
• Newborn sweaters (more on those later)
• 2 winter sweaters for M
• Winter sweater for A
• M's Halloween costume
• M's annual homemade Christmas gift
• Baby bibs
• Headbands for a good friend to help raise money for her adoption

So, yes, I'm back and very busy. I wouldn't have it any other way, though and I can't wait to share all my projects as I work through them. 

While you were sleeping:

Baby M is having his one-year photos taken this afternoon. I whipped up this cute little crown last night, in celebration of the event, between painting the kitchen and showering.

I had used this pattern and tutorial but I didn't like that the crown was only in the front and the back was just elastic to I went rouge and did my own thing. I couldn't measure M's head because he was in bed so I guestimated that his head was roughly 18 inches. I cut the pattern piece from my felt and augmented it a little so that it was 20 inches instead of 16. I followed the rest of the directions but instead of just attaching elastic in the back, I fed it through the entire circumference of the crown. I got to try it on M this morning and it fits really well. Now if we can just get him to leave it on his head.

While you were sleeping:

photo

Baby M's first birthday is rapidly approaching and I've been working like a mad woman to finish making a few things for him. Up first: a birthday bunting banner.

I have 52 pieces of fabric from his weekly photos (see here) and some of that is designated for a quilt but there is still a ton left over so I decided to pick a few of my favorites and make him a bunting banner. The idea is that he will have something just for him to pull out year after year to celebrate his special day. My hope is that even when he is grown with a family of his own, he will get it out every year and make it a part of his birthday celebration.

It was really easy to make -- just time consuming. Probably more so for me than it would have been because I kept changing my mind about things and adding fusible interfacing to everything at the last minute. But I'm happy with how it turned out and can't wait to string it up.

I've moved onto finishing that quilt --  here's hoping I can get it done in time!

Selfish sewing:

I have loved Emerson Fry (see here, here, and here) and their caftan forever. Seriously, for years. It's always sold out though and when it's not, it's almost $300. As much as I love it, I can never pull the trigger on paying that much for one dress. 

 So, I did some digging around and found something similar to make myself.

I think I'm going to use this vintage pattern (view 2) to make my own Emerson Fry knock off.

Here are some of the fabric options I've found:

Still hunting the perfect fabric but can't wait to get to work on this! It's going to be the perfect lazy summer day outfit. And much cheaper than the long-lusted-after one from Emerson Fry!

While you were sleeping:

One of my dearest friends has a  little girl who is about three weeks older than baby M. This past weekend we celebrated her first birthday. I took this opportunity to make a cute outfit for such a sweet little lady.

I had so much fun choosing the fabric for this project. As I'm sure you know, one of my favorite things to do is shop for fabric. After I made my fabric decisions, I made sure I pre-washed everything to reduce shrinking. Then I cut out all my pattern pieces and got to work.

Next, I pinned the pattern to the fabric and cut out all the pieces. This is the most time-consuming (and my least favorite) part.

It all went together easily, although I have some issues with the pattern and directions.

I had some issues with the button holes as well but I fixed it all. And I'm really happy with the final product. Can't wait to see that little girl in her new outfit soon!

I made this outfit as part of Kids Clothes Week (see more here and here). Can't wait to share the rest of my week's creations soon!

Fabric love:

In preparation for Kids Clothes Week, I went on a fabric hunt. Dangerous, I know. Expensive, too. Because I've got fabric on the brain, here are some of my favorite finds:

Not sure why I'm suddenly so drawn to animal prints these days. Maybe it's the whole sewing for kids thing. And the name of that last one cracked me up -- cats at a sweater party.

As you probably know, I've been collecting fabric for M's weekly photo project (see here) for a while now. His last one, the big 52 weeks, is coming up quickly and it's the only one I haven't gotten yet. I can't decide if I want to buy something or design my own. Here's one option I'm leaning towards:

Kid's clothes week -- day one:

This week is kid's clothes week! I've been eagerly anticipating this day. I've spent way too many hours deciding what I should make this week. I spent far too long than is acceptable browsing fabric. I had grand ideas of what I would make for little baby M but sometimes what you imagine just isn't completely possible. Sure, I could make lots of fun, really cute, detailed garments for him but (a) I don't have hours and hours of free time to devote to sewing and (b) if I made something fancy, I probably wouldn't dress him in it anyway for fear of messing it up. He's growing so fast these days, he'd probably never even wear it before he outgrew it. What he needs are casual, comfortable pieces that he can wear every day. Simple and practical.

So, here's what we're going to be creating this week:

• 2 pairs of leggings
• 2 shirts

I'm also going to be working on an outfit for a friend's little girl. 

Here's a sneak peak of the fabric I'll be using:

Stay tuned for more Kid's Clothes Week! Can't wait to share our creations with you! Want to participate? There's still time to join! Go here for more info.

Pattern love:

I've been making lots of baby things lately but haven't had the time or energy to make anything for myself. We've committed to buying more high-quality pieces from US-based factories that treat their workers fairly (more on that here and here) and with that comes the obvious decision to make more of our own clothing. This is a challenge for me because I'm usually pretty tired by the end of the day and the last thing I feel like doing is sitting down to some sewing. It's a real problem.

One of the issues I have with store-bought clothing is how much they expect consumers to pay for a sub-par product. The construction is poor. The seams are not clean and finished. The patterns aren't matched. There is usually no lining. They use cheap, man-made fabric. I can no longer, in good conscience, spend my money on these things, especially taken in to account who is making them and how they're treated. They say you vote with your money, right? Well, I vote no.

Of course this requires me to get off the couch and get to work. I'm working on this. Step one is to evaluate my wardrobe to determine where the holes are. Step two is to decide what I want/need to fill those holes with. I've been looking around and here is what I've found.

I've never been one for the patterns you can find from Butterick, Simplicity, etc., however, I really love Named. They have such great patterns. Clean, modern, classy. You can see more of their patterns here.

I'm also planning on making this shirt from Grainline:

Now that I've figured out what I want to make, the hardest part for me is picking out my fabrics. 

If you're looking for new and interesting patterns, these are some of my favorite independent designers:

1. Grainline
2. Named
3. Colette
4. Victory
5. Blank Slate
6. Go To Patterns

Check out Craftsy and Etsy, too. I have found some really great patterns there!

While you were sleeping:

One of the traditions I started this past Christmas, my first as a parent, was homemade gifts. I loved the idea of having something under the tree that was lovingly crafted by me -- something that represented all the time and energy I put in to create a unique thing for my child. It's something that they will have forever as a symbol of my love. My plan is to do this every year so that each child has a few special and unique things from their childhood to look back on with warm memories. This was my first year to do it for Baby M. After brainstorming, I decided to make a stuffed turtle for him. Since we lovingly referred to him as the turtle before he was born, this seemed appropriate.

I found a free pattern on the Purl Bee blog (I love pretty much everything they put out) and some fabric that I already had on hand. I only needed to pick up some fiberfill. That's how much this project cost: a bag of fiberfill (that I got 30% off because I used a coupon).

I started by cutting out my pieces using the pattern and laying them out. That's one main body, two shell pieces, two tail pieces, two heads, two front legs, and two back ones.

Then I pinned all the pieces together and sewed the seams using a 1/2" seam (or maybe it was 1/4", I don't really remember).

Once I had both pieces completed, I pressed the seams to make sure they were nice and flat so it would lay right. Then I pinned the two sides together.

I had a little trouble making sure it was all pinned correctly (that little tail is tricky!). Once I had it right and was happy with it, I just sewed it up (leaving a small hole to turn and stuff), pressed the seams again, clipped the curved seams, and turned it right side out.

I was left with a sad, deflated, little empty shell of a turtle. It started to come to life once I started stuffing it, though. Then all that was left was to sew up the hole and add some eyes. I decided to embroider the eyes since it was for a baby and I didn't want to have to worry about buttons or anything like that.

I also embroidered M's name and the year on the bottom of one of the feet (flippers? paws?) so he will always know that his mom made this just for him on his very first Christmas.

And come Christmas morning, there he was -- waiting so patiently to meet his special new friend. 

M was pretty excited to meet him too. I get kind of teary-eyed just thinking about this kind of thing. I have such great memories of sharing special Christmas mornings with my childhood stuffed animals. I love that this may be that kind of relationship in the making for M and his little turtle. 

I have already started making a few special things for M's first birthday. I can't wait to share them with you.