Ottobre 4-2011-15 and another Jalie 2796 Circle Skirt

I pulled out an old favorite Ottobre 4-2011-15 to use for the top of Merida, but since it has been a while since I made it, I had to make it up again in red as a sample first.

The nerdlet decided to play the part of uncooperative child today.

I did get some cooperation after she had worn it half a day and had breakfast and spilled stuff on it.

This top is a size 98 in width and a 110 in length and made out of red rayon knit.  The Merida top is out of a cotton jersey and will not be so clingy.  When I showed it to the bear cub, once again she wasn't enthusiastic about it and my mother figured out that the bear cub doesn't want to wear red.  The nerdlet loves it though.

The skirt is a size 7 Jalie 2796 skirt with the Mickey fabric as another circle skirt.  The nerdlet fits into the size 4s that I made earlier, but she much prefers the extra room in the bigger skirt, so I likely will be making them bigger since they don't fall off of the nerdet who has the smallest waist of my three girls.

Donation Quilt

This quilt was actually finished during Lent as part of my Lental promise/sacrifice.  It's to be donated to children's advocacy.  It's a simple quilt with a butterfly quilting pattern to match the butterflies in the black, blue, and yellow patterned fabric  It's bright and colorful and I hope some child loves it.

I actually haven't done much quilting lately.  I'm half diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and probably getting the full diagnosis at my appointment on Monday.  The x-ray and MRI has confirmed arthritis, but I hadn't noticed any psoriasis outbreaks, but I've had three since my last appointment and the current outbreak covers both my lids, which is grossly uncomfortable.  My mother has psoriatic arthritis and it apparently has a large genetic component so this will likely complete the diagnosis.  I'm actually looking forward to the diagnosis because my mom says that the medication specific to psoriatic arthitis that is not used for the other types will make a big difference in how much pain and discomfort I have.

I have finished a cute long sleeved shirt that Kate has agreed to model tomorrow so I'll be posting after pictures.

The Dresses Worn

 Doesn't the nerdlet look cute?  She decided that she thought the shirt was too short and ended up putting a long sleeve striped shirt on underneath it right before she walked out the door.  It totally ruined the Minnie Mouse, Liitle Orphan Annie look of the outfit.

I had a really hard time getting the bear cub to stand up and show off hers.  So I ended up having to take the pic after she put on her backpack right before she headed out the door.

Minnie Mouse Outfit

So this outfit was a trial before I made the same outfit in red polka dots as a Minnie Mouse outfit. The top is Ottobre 6-2009-19 in a size 98 in width and a 110 in length.  I decided to try to use snaps instead of buttons and was not entirely successful in having the front hang perfectly flat.  The bottom is Jalie 2796 with an attached circle skirt.  

I showed the bear cub the skirt and asked if she was going to wear it tomorrow.  She said, "No!"  The nerdlet immediately piped up that she would wear it since her sister would not.  I'm hoping that it isn't too childish for 2nd grade because I don't think that there is anyway that I could talk her out of wearing it.  I just don't want her to be teased and since she is already a bit of a bully magnet so I worry.

Now that the bear cub has rejected the first of the line I plan on making, I'm wondering if she'll wear any of them.  The only sure thing is Sofia the First because the bear cub loves her.  Next up is Merida.

I'll try to post a picture of this one and it's trial with the girls in them tomorrow.

Craftsy t-shirt class

After reading Sham's (I type that like I know her and she even has a clue who I am) suggestion on her blog to take the artistic t-shirt craftsy course, I signed up for both that class and the basic t-shirt class. I don't really have any formal or informal sewing training and so I didn't feel comfortable jumping into a class without taking the basic course first.  This turned out to be a mistake as I learned very little and most of that was which advice not to take.

I do love the t-shirt that I ended up making even though it looks nothing like the shirt that they make in the class.  I haven't started the artistic t-shirt class though I received the pattern a while back and even picked out fabrics to make it with.  I'm going to be focusing on the bear club outfits first.

Another Ottobre 2-2007

After making the version of the dress for Darth Monkey, my mom fell in love with the fabric and requested for me to make her a shirt from it.  She doesn't wear sleeveless items and I didn't have enough fabric for more than that so I made it thinking that it would be muslin.  

 I also forgot to add the seam allowances so then  I really didn't think it would work at all.

She decided that she likes it a lot and has been wearing it for working out at the senior center.  I've also cut up a bunch of her t-shirts and reshaped them to fit her better.  I've also resized some t-shirts for the girls so that they would fit them better, too.  I've decided that unless you really like the t-shirts for some reason it is easier to make a t-shirt than to resize one.

The Edgar Allen Poe Shirt

Q has always liked Edgar Allen Poe, and so for Valentine's Day, I made him a shirt.  It is another version of McCall's 2149.

More versions of Ottobre 1/2016-18

After I finished the nerdlet's recent peacock dress, I made a number of other versions of the dress.  I'm just going to post pictures and not really go too much into them.

This one was for my niece.  I let her pic the fabric and when I pulled it out, her sister and my nerdlet wanted dresses from the same fabric, so I ended up making three dresses with this fabric.

The nerdlet's is only slightly different.

And a few more.

This last one was made from a fabric that Darth Monkey insisted that she had to have a dress from.  After it was made the bear cub decided it was hers and that was that.

Jalie 2796 and Ottobre 6-2009-19

While I have not been blogging, I have been sewing.  My plan is to post a number of them in a row, but I'm going to start with what I finished today.

First is Ottobre 6-2009-19.  This top is a size 98 in width and a 119 in length.  It is meant for the bear cub, but I'm hoping it will fit the nerdlet also.  It is made from a tutti frutti fabric that I got from my MIL.  I actually just finished sewing on the last button right before sitting at the computer to post this.

Next is a matching skirt from Jalie 2796.  The skirt is a circle skirt that I sewed between the shorts and the waist band.  

I made the skirt opening 30 inches and then stretched the shorts and waistband to match to sew so that it would still stretch.  I loved the look of the circle after I hemmed it so I took a pic.

This was just a sample to see if I like it.  My bear cub cannot use the restroom herself unless she is in a two piece outfit and so I cannot send her in dresses to school like her sister.  I've been planning outfits that coincide with all the Disney princesses and a few other Disney characters.  This particular set is going to be for a Minnie mouse set that I have already purchased a red and white polka dot fabric for.  I'm glad that I made this ahead of time because I want to make so changes, but for the most part, I really like how it turned out.

Ottobre 2-2007 Tshirt Combo

So on the nerdlet's peacock dress post, Mother of Reinvention asked me if I had made any adult Ottobre patterns.  I have only made panties but I have traced a number of patterns off and decided to make one of them up.  This is a combination of Ottobre 2-2007-3 and 2-2007-5, which are both tshirts with slight variations.

I hadn't intended to trace off different sections and didn't realize that I had until I had finished the t-shirt up.  This was made in a size 46.  I chose it on the basis of most of my measurements and made no adjustments, but my chest measurement is a size bigger than the pattern.  I figured that the since it was a knit t-shirt it would be fine, but I think I might be more comfortable in a 48.

The fabric was sent to me by my cousin and it is incredibly soft.  It's actually been through the wash a number of times before the t-shirt was made because my girls are constantly playing with it and at one point the nerdlet even cut a big hole in the middle of it.  It was going to be my first maxi but because of the hole the plans for it changed and a number of smaller things are being and have been made from it.  There is another dress from the pattern that I used for the peacock dress coming up, but one of the bodice pieces has disappeared.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and I intend to make a number of other items for myself, though I may trace off larger sizes than the ones that I have waiting.

More of McCall's 2149

The next three shirts I made for Q.

I have quite a few more to come, but I won't be working on them for a while.

Ottobre 1/2016-18

My nerdlet loves birds, especially flamingos and peacocks.  When I saw this fabric, I knew she would love it.  I had just received the newest edition of Ottobre, which had this dress.  The picture is not that good because the nerdlet was not exactly being cooperative.  I barely got her to take off her jacket and she wouldn't let me straighten the dress on her shoulders.

I finished the neckline and sleeves with fold over elastic.  She really likes the style and has asked for more.  I think she is outgrowing her desire for frilly over-the-top girly dresses and is looking for more comfortable and simple dresses.

Bear Cub Sweater

The best sweaters for my bear cub are a design for infants and toddlers from Ottober Magazine 6/2011.    The reason that I think it is the best is because it is lined and none of the seams touch the body.

It goes up to size 86 which is a size 2T.  I was planning to use the 86 and blow it up to the bear cub's current size, but I couldn't find either the magazine or the pattern sheet.  So I had to improvise.  I used a boys's sweatshirt with raglan sleeves that started at size 98 from Ottober 4/2010 for the length of the shirt and sleeves and estimated the size and shape of the pieces.

Here is Darth Monkey modeling the sweater.  Please ignore the dishes behind her that need to put away and may or may not have needed to be put away for quite some time.

My MIL bought the pink sweater fabric at Hancock's last week and she also bought it in purple and green so I will be making more assuming that this fits the bear cub well.  Based on the fit on Darth Monkey, I imagine that I might have to shorted all the pieces, but either way the bear cub will be wearing this one tomorrow since it is supposed to be close to freezing tomorrow and for us this means very cold.

McCall's 2149 Version 12

There are going to be a few more men's shirts before I get to other clothing. 

I posted a while back about an awful experience that I had at Jo-Anns.  The shirt that I finished today was the fabric that I bought at that time.  I'm decent at improvising (and by decent, I mean that I start by panicking and throwing a small internal fit unable to think that I will be able to fix it and that it is completely ruined until I eventually get back on track) and so I pieced the back so that it look intentional.  I'm lucking that the pieced line looks about the same point that men's shirts often put the same line because in this case I didn't have much of a choice.

Q came home yesterday telling me that he got lots of compliments on his peacock shirt.  I think he's excited about this shirt and the upcoming ones because last night, he kept saying things like, "It's okay with me if you would rather sew tonight."

McCall's 2149 Version 11

Before I show you Q's newest shirt, I need to preface it with the story.  I had a number of fabrics picked out and in my online cart, some of them for Q's shirts and some of them for dresses for the girls.  I showed them to Q so that I could get the okay before I checked out so that I could be sure he would wear them before I purchased them and put all the work into the shirts.  This fabric was actually one that I had picked out for a dress for the nerdlet, but this was the one of the group that got the most approval from him, so I changed the fabric amount and purchased it.

I  actually thought that maybe I would still make a dress or two out of it, but after finishing the orange shirt I posted, this is the one that he wanted me to make next.  I'm posting it now although it still needs buttons because my sister asked to see it.  I had buttons picked out for it, but they have disappeared.  I should pick new ones later today.

I actually love it.  It is beautiful fabric and the size of the shirt is perfect to show the fabric off.  I also love that Q has the ego to pull off wearing a shirt like this, and really who else than my opinion matters, right?  Right?

Anyway, on to the shirt...

Photo of my beautiful girls

Christmas Day, ages 6, 5, and 8.

McCall's 2149 Version 10

Two weeks of the new year has passed and I've just finished my first project.  I actually did quite a bit of unblogged sewing in 2015, but I'm hoping to do better about posting my work this year.  I often use it for information on what changes I made to a pattern or thoughts about future changes, and sometimes re-reading a post about a pattern reminds me of something helpful when I make it again.

I'm making Q more shirts using McCall's 2149.  I had planned to use this as a shirt block to make a lot of different styles of shirts for him, but he expressed a desire to continue using this style and since I now have it down, it's fine with me.  I have a number of them with the fabric cut out, where I need to cut out the interfacing and make sure I have buttons and the like.

Here is the newest one.  Darth Monkey loves it. 

I actually bought a bunch of fabric and patterns during the MLK sale at Hancock's going on through Monday.  I probably shouldn't buy any for a while.  I am excited about some Scuba Knit that they had.  They only had ugly colors and patterns, but I bought some of every one that I found so I can play with it.  At $1.50 a yard I couldn't pass it up even if these were the very last colors I would choose.  I'm looking forward to playing with it, but I have quite a number of projects that are on my list first.

Here's hoping to a better year of blogging here.