More of Ottobre 1/2021-30

 Neither my husband nor I are much into plaid, but for some reason the nerdlet completely loves it.  I bought 3 different plaid knits from califabrics.com this week and they sent it out right away.  Two of them were double brushed knit but the 3rd was a cotton jersey knit without near the softness or stretch.  The nerdlet wasn't sure of those and I decided to use that one first so that I didn't decide not to use it at all.  I am not even sure if my reasoning made sense. This is the fabric.  I actually bought the last of their inventory.

                                

I used the pattern Ottobre 1/2021 - 30 in size 140 that I used for her school uniform pants last year.  She wears those pants all the time, for school and home.  I turned the pattern into long shorts.  I actually aligned the pants where I thought the straight of her leg would lie and it was a mistake.  The next pair, which I will post after I get a picture of her in, I aligned the horizontal along the bottom of the leg so the hem was straight around.  Here is the pair I finished before she went to bed.  She says they are super comfortable and loves them, but because they are tight like leggings, I made the next pair an inch wider, which I think still might be too snug for acceptable school clothes, but I will see when she tries them on tomorrow.  I also ended up cutting off half of her uniform pants into capris like these since she doesn't have to wear a uniform for high school (I don't think anyway).  

                                

I am considering making her a raglan top with the sleeves with the same plaid, but matching is really not the nerdlet's style so if she wears such a top, it is highly unlikely she would wear it with these capris.

The next pair which I just finished is from this double brushed knit.  I actually bought 2 yards of this and so I have a fair bit left over.  I'm thinking of making a super simple shirred dress for the grandbaby with what I have left over, but I haven't decided yet.

                        

This is the last fabric I bought in this batch, and I'm waiting to see how the extra inch fits the nerdlet before I cut out another pair.  But she will be getting capris out of this also.  If she would wear a skort, I'd make a skort from it and I might anyway since the bear cub can wear the same size, even though she is much shorter, but I haven't quite decided yet.

Remaking school shirts

 What to do when the school sends an adult large t-shirt for your 70 pound 5 ft 14 year old...

Well, if you are me, you turn it into a dress for her.  I used a ready to wear dress as a pattern, but the fabric on the original dress has more stretch and so while this dress fits her, it is definitely more snug than I had intended, and I should have made her straighten the right sleeve before I took the picture but I cut them the same.vvShe loves it though.

This is the dress that I used as a template.  It is a size 12 kids from Zulilly.

Simplicity 5695 version 6

 Here is my Nerdlet in a size 8 version of Simplicity 5695.  I think I've made 5 others, but they are in size 5.  I practically had to tear the smaller dresses out of the bear cubs hands because they are her favorite.  

The reason that my nerdlet looks so uncomfortable is because she feels the dress is too revealing.  My nerdlet is a natural Victorian when it comes to fashion.  She actually gets upset when I let her sisters wear keyholes.  

I have two more of this dress already cut out and I hope to get them done in the current week.

This is the first one that I made and on this one I followed the pattern. This one is a size 5.  Like Kate I felt that the pattern results in too short a dress so I altered the pattern after this one, adding an additional tier.

Here is what I think is the 5th one.  On this one I added lots of trim and fancy stitches.  It was made for Darth Monkey because yellow is and always has been her favorite color.

I didn't work to hard to find pictures of the others that I made, but if they turn up, I will post them.  Also, at least one is in the wash, so I'll get the grandbaby to model that one.

More pants

The first pic is after the nerdlet was wearing them all day.  They have been slightly deformed by her usage.  They were made out of a stretchy denim.   I tried to get some pics of her as she wore them because I thought she looked sort of fantastic and showed off how unique this child is, but she wasn't at her most cooperative.

Anyway here are the other pants.

These last two are pinwale corduroy.

First Sewing Post in a Long Time

The nerdlet has issues with pants.  In lengths she wears an 8 or 10 depending on the pants, but she has a waist of 19 1/2 inches (49 centimeters).  In addition to this, like a lot of kids on the spectrum, she has tactile sensory issues which makes clothing difficult in general.  Mostly she likes to wear knit fabrics, but she will wear other clothing if it is both loose and soft.  If all that were not enough, she loves colors and patterns so while I have been able to buy leggings for her and just sew in the waist, it was tolerable to her and nothing more.  She recently requested for me to make her flannel pajama pants (which are 4T but she is still wearing) in other fabrics. 

So I decided to start with a pajama pants pattern.  I chose Ottobre 4/2005-10.  I went with a size 128 to start with.  I knew they would be short but I figured that the first pair would be just to try out.  I chose a lightweight denim that I got from from my MIL.  Other than the length I changed nothing.  they ended up being really big.  Luckily Darth Monkey, who is 3 years younger, is significantly larger in every way but height (though she might match her in the next year in height).  You'll have to excuse her pose.  I'll admit I didn't make her change it.

 I actually have a hard time fitting Darth Monkey's butt into normal pants so I might just use these as a jumping off pattern for pants made for her.  The front would need a bunch of excess fabric removed.

So after trying on the above pair, the nerdlet expressed that she wanted to wear them lower and she wanted a waist band, too.  I added 14 inches to the length and removed 5 inches from the top (an inch or so too much) and added a long waist band.  She's wearing them now, but I think they still need some adjustments for the next iteration. 

 If it wasn't winter, I might have a field day making her batik and other light cotton fabrics.  As it is I'll have to go through my fabrics to find something appropriate.  This particular fabric I've had forever and I made a fantastic skirt for my mom with it about a decade or so ago.

Day 2 of Thanks

When people are asked what color they think I am, they say 'Orange' or 'fuchsia'.  I've always felt a little put off because they are considered loud, obnoxious colors that are grating.  I've been watching my nerdlet at school as she is a member of the school's safety patrol and I can definitely see that she is a bright different color that stands out like orange or fuchsia.  Not everyone may like the color but flowers in those colors add so much to a field of green.

One of the things that I am particularly grateful for are the special kids in the nerdlet's grade that accept and/or welcome her difference.  I know that now that she is in fifth grade, the girls are starting to get mean and form cliques and I have seen some of that for a few years now, but there are some girls that fit in and some that don't that are always nice and friendly to my nerdlet and I am so grateful that they are.

Here is a recent pic, one month before she turns 11 in a dress I think we made in size 5.

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.

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.

Ottobre 04-2013-14 Princess Castle

I have been camping my mailbox for this issue of the Ottobre magazine because I really wanted to make the nerdlet a mini-Tiramisu dress, and here it is.

I made a size 92 and lengthened it to 110.  I wish I could wake her up to try it on now.  It looks a little big for her, but I'm confident that it will drape well since my Tira's do.

I did make a few changes to increase the similarity.  I lengthened the waistband 1/2 inch and I turned the skirt into a full circle skirt (though Cake's Tiramisu is only 1/2 circle skirt).

I also bound it with bright red FOE from a new source, Elastic By the Yard.  They have a regular web store and also an etsy site and I bought it off their etsy site.  I love that they have so many more shades of colors than I've been able to find to date.  It's the same quality as I got from Sew Sassy Fabrics, which I have been happy with so far, but I was looking for a few more colors.

Edit:  Here is the nerdlet in the dress.

The Giant Dahlia Dress

At the beginning of the month I was inspired to make the Giant Dahlia skirt.  This weekend, Q took the girls to visit my mom and I took the time to finish a bunch of UFOs sitting by my machine (though I still have a bunch more).  I finished turning it into a dress and when Q got home with the girls, I had the nerdlet try it on.

 

The top is actually Young Image Y1307 from the Spring/Summer 2013 issue.  I actually bought this at the Barnes & Noble a mile from our house.  I was really surprised that they were carrying Young Image and My Image magazines because they wouldn't even order the Burda or Ottobre magazines for me.  I made a size 104, which might be okay, but because of the tremendous weight of this skirt tends to pull down a lot.  I'm not sure how much this dress will get worn, but I had a lot of fun making it and seeing such a weird idea in my head come to fruition.  Even though it's not her colors and nothing like anything she wore, for some reason it reminds me of Vanellope Von Schweets.