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.

Simplicity 3503

 So my favorite dress is a version of Simplicity 3503.  It was a pattern that was very popular when it was released in 2009.  I don't know when I made my first one.  I looked through my blog here and my pictures on facebook and I could only find a few pictures of me in it from one of my daughter's birthday parties, and they don't exactly show off the whole dress.

 
Here is a picture of the whole dress that I took last night.

Ever since I have made the first one, I have intended to make more, but somehow I have always put it off for other projects.  For Mother's Day, my husband has been trying to give me as much time this weekend to sew as possible for a semi sewcation.  So I made another one.  I actually lost the instruction sheets for the pattern so this was likely made slightly differently.  I'm actually super happy about this one.  

I am rather fond of polka dots though I very rarely wear them or make anything with them, but these I think are very nice.

I have 3 more cut out.  Here are the waistbands for them so you can see the fabrics.  I'll probably make the middle next simply because I have black thread in the sewing machine and serger.

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.

Ottobre 2-2020-2

 These were made in size 40. Darth Monkey asked me to make cactus pants for her teacher. I decided to try the pattern out on my daughter first and she chose this pink and purple tie dye double brushed knit fabric (from califabric.com) which is super soft and similar to the cactus fabric (from fabric.com). I changed the drawstring waist band to an elastic band on my daughter's pants and a simple yoga band on the cactus pants.

Darth Monkey in her pants

Holding her teacher's pants

This is the first time where I have made something for someone else without taking any measurements and I made them in my daughter's pants size 40 and I hope they fit well. I do like the pattern and am considering making them in my size (much larger than 40).

Mola Masks

In Panama and Columbia, there is a indigenous tribe of people called the Kuna (apparently now called Guna).  They make a fabric art called molas, which are pictures sewn using reverse applique.  When I lived in Panama, I felt in love with them and I regularly wore clothing that had molas sewn into/on them.  

The last time I was browsing on Spoonflower, I found that there were some fabrics that depicted molas and I decided that I needed some.  I bought this one.  

I decided to make masks.  I used the mask pattern that I used in my last post.  The rectangle in the fabric are much smaller than my mask pattern so even with fussy cutting, I had to improvise quite a bit.  I'm still rather pleased with how they came out.  

  I also decided to try to make one without the seams across to see  how it would affect the look and feel.  That is the bottom one in these two pictures.

It really doesn't feel that much different, but it make the folding a little weird. The pictures don't really do them justice, and they don't really do justice to real molas.  I actually really like how they turned out and for me, they are really nostalgic from when I lived in Panama.  

New style of mask

 I know an awful lot of  people aren't wearing masks anymore, but we still are.  I found a new mask pattern that I really like.  It is by far the most comfortable mask to wear that I've tried so far, especially for a long period of time.   After wearing it for a couple of hours, I immediately went looking for the pattern.

The pattern that I found which seems identical even down to the sizing is from this youtube.  The actually printed pattern is here from a dropbox.  I have traced all four sizes and made the small, medium, and x-large so far.  

The small fits my three year old perfectly.  I would say it is meant for children 2-8 ish.  You can actually cut out 3 small masks from a fat quarter if you are very conservative with the fabric.  For all other sizes, you will only get 2 masks from a fat quarter.

Here is the grandbaby wearing hers.  This size mask also barely fits the bear cub, who is 12, but she is much more comfortable in the medium.

The medium size is probably meant for ages 9 to small adult.  It fits my (almost)14 year old fine, but my 10 year old feels it is too confining.  She will be more comfortable in a large, which is probably sized for most women.

The X-large is very comfortable for me and my husband.  I considered making an extra pattern for XXL, but I am not going to unless I find someone that needs a bigger size than this XL.  This was my first attempt, which came out fine and my husband has claimed, but I am using a different technique to insert the elastic for the ears.  I am now putting the elastic immediately after turning the mask inside out.

I will be making a bunch of these because they fit so well, maintain their shape, and are so comfortable.  I bought the nose wire and elastics on Amazon.  The Minnie fat quarter is one the grandbaby chose at Walmart (it was supposed to be for a hair bow).  The other fabrics were from fabric.com.  

Simplicity 6895 version 4 and more of 6

Here is version 4 made for Darth Monkey when she was this size, but now worn by the grandbaby, who is very tall for 3 1/2.  This was the bear cub's favorite version of this dress, but for once it didn't seem to phase her that I put it on the grandbaby.  So I guess the bear cub likes her new version.

 

I couldn't get the bear cub to pose for me.  She was too interested in A Bug's Life.  

These girls love each other so much.

Next up are two more versions, but I don't know how long that will take for me to get to.  I can't just sit and sew as much as I used to and I wear out much sooner.  I am enjoying blogging my sewing again though and I do wish I had a sewing record of what I have done while I wasn't blogging.

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.

Umpteenth version of McCalls 6875

 I have made so many versions of McCalls 6875 in sizes 3, 4, and 5. My girls lived in versions of this dress when they were smaller.  They loved it and so did I.  I even made the doll version once.

My bear cub still wear a lot of dresses as does the grandbaby who is living with me.  There are a number of size 5 dresses that recently have been passed from the bear cub to the grandbaby.  My 12-year-old daughter was still wearing size 5 dresses but as tunics and she was/is not happy that I have passed them on to the very tall 3 year old.  So it was time to make new dresses for her.  

The nerdlet is very happy with this dress also and it also fits her.  In fact, I was afraid that the nerdlet was going to be upset about the bear cub having it because she seemed to be getting attached to it as I sewed it and tried it on at every stage of its development.  The nerdlet rarely wears dresses anymore, so it made me pretty happy that she liked this one.  The grandbaby is also really eager for this dress to fit her and tried to get me to put it on her instead of Chloe this morning.  I know this super bright orange batik isn't for everyone, but I'm glad that my girls like it.

I will be making more of this dress in this size and in the smaller size for the grandbaby, but first I have peasant style dresses that I have already cut out for the bear cub.

Panda Pillowcases

It's been a while since I posted something I have sewed.  I actually feel the lack, especially when I'm looking for what pattern I used for a particular project or what size of something I made for my girls.  I don't know if I will keep it up but I figured I would at least post these pillowcases.

I made these two panda pillowcases for my panda loving niece.  Her birthday is this month and I don't think I've made anything for her yet.  I used my French seamed pillowcase method that I always use.  You can find it here.  I've made so many of these pillowcases and they last forever.  

This main fabric and the flange fabric is from fabric.com and it is surprisingly soft.  The trim fabric is from a local quilting shop and has gold flecks.  I used a 5 inch trim, which is bigger than I normally use, but I wanted the busyness of the two fabrics separated more.  

I almost always really like these pillowcases.  For something so simple to sew, it gives a lot of satisfaction.

Tunic for the Bear Cub

I need to make some long sleeve tunics for the bear cub.  People with Down syndrome in general tend to have long torsos, shorter arms, and shorter legs for their heights compared to duosomy people of the same height.  The bear cub still loves dresses but it makes it more difficult to use the restroom by herself.  Also, it's getting colder and so long sleeves are a better idea right now. Unlike the nerdlet, the bear cub prefers her outfits to coordinate and be as feminine as possible.

I started with a t-shirt that I thought would fit her.  This is a modified Ottobre 4/2018-9, a basic long sleeve t-shirt pattern.  I shortened the sleeves by two inches, added 2 inches to the bottom length and width, and curved the back lower in the back.  This was basically a muslin to see the fit so the inside isn't finished with the serger and I hemmed it with a zigzag.  It's been so long since I did a finish like this that I had forgotten that you can still get a fairly nice piece without the fancy equipment.

You can also see how my nerdlet has decided to wear one of the pairs of pants I showed in my last post.  They are watching Supergirl before they go to school.  Darth Monkey is obsessed with that show.


The fabric was given to me by my cousin and I used it before right after she sent it to me in 2011 to make a shirt.  I don't have any idea what happened to this shirt, but I do believe that I need to pull up Simplicity 4076 to make me some more of them as I remember really liking that design.

I also had forgotten how this knit has such a cool, subtle, silver sparkle. I couldn't quite capture it on camera, but you can see it a bit in this picture.  I have a tiny piece left and I may just have to make my grandbaby a t-shirt or something.

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.

Accuquilt

I've been eyeing the Accuquilt for a while, but I wasn't sure I would use it enough to make it worth it and it was so expensive, especially for the Go!Big which I would really need because of a few diagnoses that I have.  I have the impression that they are on sale only on Black Friday every year and my MIL had expressed interest in using it, too, and so I decided to finally get one and keep it at her house so that she could use it and I wouldn't have to worry about storage.  Win-win.

She received it on Friday and so I gathered some of my batiks together and dragged the family to the in-laws on Saturday so we could play.  Over the course of the day, we cut out six blocks.  It was slow because we didn't have any of it planned out in advance, but I brought home all the pieces we cut.  Today I sewed and pressed the blocks.   I sort of wish I had bought a bigger cube because it is going take a LOT of 6 inch blocks to make a decent size top.

Anyway, here are the blocks lying on the fabric I intend to use for sashing. 

On the sewing front, I've finished another pair of the nerdlet's pants, and I plan on getting a pic to post when she wears them.

Pants for the Nerdlet

The pants pattern no longer has anything in common with the original Ottobre 4/2005-10 pattern, but they make the nerdlet happy.  I cut six pairs yesterday but only got one sewn up.

I took the nerdlet shopping with me to JoAnns this past Saturday so she could pick out fabrics and this is one of the ones she chose.  It's a plaid minky that is made for JoAnns.  Darth Monkey is extremely jealous of the fabric and unfortunately I only bought a yard, but after I finish the nerdlet's pants, I should be good to work on hers and the bear cub's wardrobes. 

I often look up or ask about how many pairs of pants a particular child should have but I'm thinking that when they are such wild patterns that they probably need more so while I say I'll be done with the nerdlet's sewing, I'm not sure it will be so.

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.