Yes, That's the Baby's Beer

If I were a smaller person, I would avoid posting images of my blatant sewing failures, such as this birthday shirt for Phinny*.  I would hide those failures from the public.  

This little shirt had real potential as a useful all year shirt, but in my zeal to cut a roomier head hole with her giant bell, I over did it and the collar got completely weird.  But the fabric was really nice, and the shirt worked for the day.  So what.  I tried to make it a little more girly and kept the little ragged, frilly collar from the original.  You see how much good that did me.

 

*Of course, if I were a bigger person, I wouldn't need to post TWO not-very-descriptive pictures of the failed sewing project as a transparent excuse to show how cute and big my little bug looked on her second birthday.

New Proof Refuting My Laziness

I am still playing catch up here, so excuse the disjointedness of the things I'm posting all at once.

First, a good clean view of the jacket I made from the Heidi and Finn pattern.  It suffers from, as I admitted in  a previous post,  my insistence on trying to re-figure a pattern to suit my own utterly selfless desire to use old fabric with old details from other clothes.  But forgive me for saving the world, okay?!  This is the usual- an old sweatshirt and an old heavyweight stretchy t-shirt.

I would like to point out a couple of things: a.) sewing a lining for something is easier than it seems (OH YES, I DID NOT WRITE..."easier than it 'SEAMS...' BECAUSE I CARE FOR YOU AND WOULD NOT PUT YOU THROUGH THAT).  b.) using a serger when the pattern calls for a regular machine requires some care in measurement of the seam allowance...par-tic-u-lar-ly around the...ARMSCYE!  c.) and when you're using some other old shirt with its own hem/ cuff, you'll want to again measure and double check that against the pattern, because if you slip up, your shirt will be a dress, or will be cropped too short and then need to be paired with a tight slinky pair of Hannah Montana glitter shorts for an overall cohesive Prostitot ensemble.  d.) I always decide to use the smaller sized hood from a pattern and pair it with a bigger main piece.  A 5T hood on a 5T pullover kind of drags the whole shirt down is my feeling.  Don't get me wrong, Phinny's head is enormous, but I don't need her to look like the Grim Reaper in those rare times of hood use, so I cut it a bit smaller.

The jacket from (roughly) the Heidi and Finn pattern:

I love me some topstitching.  It's so gritty and challenging.  It makes my machine and needles angry but oh well, I am the boss of them.

Who's Down With O.P.P.?

Other People's Patterns

Here's why I hesitate to sew from preexisting patterns.  Because they ugly.  The End.  No, just kidding.  For one thing, the shirts?  The shirts seem to always have too tight an armscye.   "Oooooh, she said, "armscye".  She's so faaancy.  I will like to take her on a date of veal parmesan and speak to her on the mysteries of sewing..."

What the hell is an armscye.  It's the seam that connects the sleeve to the body of the garment, and it is no simple line, let me tell you.  Too tight armscyes is an ironic problem at my house too, since my child has an especially dainty upper body shoulder area (due to laziness and muscle atrophy).  So the problem is not fat toddler armpits.  It's not like I'm trying to stuff a 5T into a 3T or anything either.  I know how hard it is to make a roomy armhole without having extra wagging material in the armpit.  But kids clothes should be made for comfort and movement, right?  Right.  So why can't I get a pattern with a good proportion of arm to torso?

Consequently, shirts and jackets have been a little bit of a challenge.  The ones by Burda and Simplicity or any that I see in the fabric store always look boxy and homemade, so I don't use them.  And I haven't found too many online whose style is what I'm looking for.  I am ready though!  I am ready people, lead me to the motherland!

I like the well known Oliver + S, though I haven't gotten anything yet.  I also like some of what I have bought from Heidi and Finn (though the GOBDONG ARMSCYE still seems off to me!).  To wit, I have made this sweater jacket from a Heidi and Finn pattern twice, and though I know my fabrics are thicker than the pattern recommends, I still seems to need to go up to a size that is overall too big in order to get the arms comfortable and flexible.  It's me.  You can say it. SAY IT!

 

To be completely fair, this pattern is meant to be a closed front and made from thinner fabrics, and has been shown to produce some very adorable garments.  Just not by me.  (Okay, mine's adorable in a way, but it has hidden technical difficulties, as I have here admitted).  

Here's a shot of what the piece would ideally look like:

So there you have it.

And pants, there's always a problem with the butt.  I haven't so far seen a pattern that looks truly well-fitted (even the baggy style ones).  I want to see some thoughtful crotch contouring here or I am not going to pay.  And that stance is firm.  Bring me a pattern that both follows the sensual lines of the diapered booty yet does not bind and I will be yours forever. 

For now, I am going to give this pattern from Made by Rae a go.  It's called the Charlie Tunic.  I'll let you know if it works.  It's so cute, no?!

Why Knit Pants on a Day Like This

Well, because I was sooooo busy freaking out over having twins chiles in my belly that I have gotten really behind on some things.  I explained before how I was on a hiatus from sewing after all grief and drama here in my house/ heart, but as I emerged, I managed to put a few things together. 

I did in fact have some wares up on Supermarket like I said I would- it wasn't an unkept promise!  I just never announced it because I done sold a few things then didn't get anymore up there, so it kept feeling too anemic to make a real broadcast about shop being open.

But you know what?   You should check out the site anyway, it is the sane person's version of Etsy (which in my opinion quickly become a tragic wasteland of badly made crud and a truly endless dumping ground of multiple listing mayhem). 

Supermarket

So have a look, I posted these re-purposed knit pants and bibs in the winter:

 

 

They are all either 100% cotton for lighter weather, or cashmere.  Ooooh, cozy.  Phinny wore some about every day of winter and into spring (which as you may know, on the north shore of Chicago, was the same as winter).  Now it's hot as balls.  A pregnant chick can't win.

Okay, well you know what?  Let's look on the bright side.  There was an opportunity for several attractive fashions late into the season and a few of the days, it turned out that Phinny was in head-to-toe homemade, or almost.  I can already envision her teenage eye-rolling while looking back at pictures.   But you know what?!  I never had a perm or super giant eyeglasses that she'll be able to make fun of, so the embarrassments will be confined to pictures of her.  And that's only half as embarrassing as her being embarrassed of both us.  See?  Looking at the bright side.  See here, a couple of sweet freezing spring looks:

Oh and I have a finalized bib pattern that I made a big batch from- those on sale there too:

There, now I feel better.