Cerena Romper (Rebecca Page Patterns)

More sewing for little girl, to complete her red/black themed capsule (with white and some metallics mixed in)…a Cerena Romper! This was actually the fabric that kicked off the whole capsule, because she asked demanded that I make her something from this floral.

This pattern is absolutely gorgeous. It sewed up so quickly with no fit modifications!! It can also be made as just a top, and has the option to use woven or knit fabrics (there’s some great shaping darts in the pants, and the woven version has an invisible zip…plus all options have a super sweet back button up version). I went with double brushed poly knit.

Better yet–picky little girl loves it as well!! Win.

I went with the pants option (There’s a shorts cut line also, and knee length) and did elastic gathering at the ankles.

I, of course, had to make her doll, Aubrey a matching one (out of tiny scrap pieces that usually would get tossed–much better use!) and she loves that she matches.

Happy little girl!! grab this pattern while it’s on sale here.

It comes in women’s sizes too!!
**This post contains affiliate links but all opinions are always my own

Maternity Shirt Hack!

I’ve made a few maternity shirts now using the LMU maternity add on from Patterns for Pirates and love them, as well as just doing oversized shirts that have bottom bands, but decided I wanted to mix it up a bit too. I decided instead of elastic ruching on the sides of a shirt, why not try a drawstring? This way it might be more versatile long-term as I can cinch it up more now (or after baby arrives) when I need it shorter, and let it out as I grow. I didn’t see a pattern out there for it so decided to just hack it myself….and share my steps of course.

First, I went with the Sweet Tee for this hack, but it will work with any shirt pattern with side seams. Or really, anywhere you have a seam. Ruched legs on pants? Sleeves on a hoodie? Spice it up. I started by choosing a spot I wanted the ruching to end and marking my pattern there (I chose the narrowest part of the waist) then added length from that spot (I went with 5.5″, for no particular reason whatsoever). To do that, I marked the spot on my pattern where the ruching would stop, put a pin in my fabric, slid the pattern down to a pin 5.5″ down, and continued tracing, grading the sides after to keep a gentle curve on the outside.
It’s also a good idea to grade out the pattern to be a little wider if yours happens to fit a bit tightly as the idea is that it will be taken in a bit by a larger seam allowance there…the sweet tee is fairly loose on me and the fabric I used was very stretchy (Luxe Rayon from LA Finch…so gorgeous and soft) so I chose not to.

Do the same for the shirt front and back, then cut out the rest of the pattern as usual (sleeves, neckband). You will also need to cut fabric for drawstrings. I went with 1.75″ tall by the width of the fabric (roughly 60″). **Pro tip, its easiest to cut these before the rest of your pieces so that you easily have continuous width.

I go ahead and sew up those drawstrings first. It is a good step to adjust tensions and nice to get it out of the way early. Sew long skinny tubes, right sides together. Then, turn them right side out. You could clip a safety pin to one end and push it through, or use a tube turning tool. Set those aside for later. 

Next, we will sew shoulders. If you have a pattern that has you attach sleeves at this point, do that too.  I wanted a short-sleeved dolman with hemmed sleeves so I skipped that. Then, go ahead and add the neckband also.

At this point, I suggest doing the bottom hem, while the sides are open. Not what I did, but you should learn from my mistake 😉

 

Next, we will make the channels for the drawstring. I’m a serger-for-knits fanatic, but this is a step for a sewing machine as you don’t want to clip off edges. You will need to sew from the bottom of your shirt until where you want the ruching to end using a 1″ seam allowance.  Mine is slightly less, but 1″ is probably ideal. A stretch stitch with a longer stitch length will help!

Press those open now. You will need to clip to that seam at the top of your stitching to do that.

Next, those seam allowances are folded out and we are going to stitch them down on each side. I did this by sewing on the wrong side as my bobbin stitching looks like the top, plus I knew it would be cinched and not very visible. Your choice though.

The edges of my knit do not fray so I’m not worried about those unfinished edges on the inside. If you are, you could serge the seam allowance of each channel before this step (just single layer) then stitch that serged edge, or use a coverstitch machine for the channels.

After stitching both sides you should have something like this. If you hemmed like a smart person, that bottom would be nicely finished too.

Here’s what it SHOULD look like at this point, from the second one I made:

Next, we will close up the rest of the side seam and sleeves on the serger.

….Just ignore that I apparently did that before the channels. It’s easier to do after in my opinion because that bottom seam allowance will be tucked away.

You will take one drawstring and thread it up one side and down the other now.

No need to tack it at the top because it’s not going anywhere. Tie some knots in the bottom of each drawstring and then cinch it and add a bow.

 

Hem those sleeves and you’re all done!

Can’t wait to see more versions out there–tag me on Instagram or Facebook (you should follow me both places, of course) with your creations! I already have my next one ready to go 🙂

Tulipa Dolman (Sew Like My Mom)

My daughter always feels left out when I sew a lot of things for myself, like a capsule….so she needed a capsule too. And because her favorite color is now “RED-and-definitely-not-pink” I chose to go with a red/black/white/metallics color pallete.  First up, a top/tunic I had the opportunity to test for Sew Like My Mom and I was not disappointed!

The Tulipa Dolman is a shirt, tunic or dress pattern that can have a loose gathered front or not, as well as short or long sleeves and pockets.

I absolutely love how it is color-blocked. Great way to use small fabric pieces without making it look like I ran out of fabric for something else.

The fit is amazing too. She loves how comfortable she is in it.

My first one is view A, with black viscose jersey yoke from Dressfabrics.ie and Girl Charlee jersey for the bodice. I did long sleeve, shirt length. Buffalo plaid is always a good choice for fall/winter, right? Totally want to add some black vinyl…share ideas.

I loved it so much on her that I immediately sewed up a second in view B, using cotton lycra from Jumping June Textiles for the yoke and rayon challis from LA Finch for the bodice. And yes, you can use a drapey woven for the bodice on view B!!

She loves them of course! The pattern is on sale NOW through August 31. It comes in sizes 12m-8 girls, and 6-16 tween, or a bundle that includes both. (Char is wearing a size 5 girls with length added to make it size 7 length). Pick it up here!

 

Maternity Capsule, Phase 2

There’s something about pregnancy that makes sewing deadlines more urgent, right? You can only back-burner projects so long before they become obsolete….so I’ve already started expanding my maternity capsule! First, a Mama Isabel dress. I did not modify it for maternity but decided to do the duster cardi hack (from m4m blog) and longer ties so that it’s more of a layering piece than a standalone dress. It works as a dress for now…but I give it a month before it’s solely a cardigan.

I used some gorgeous rayon spandex from LA Finch Fabrics. I also decided to try styling some outfits I could do using pieces from the rest of my capsule.

Oatmeal LMU, Denim SOS, homemade scarf, flats from Kohls

Pencil skirt top, denim SOS, Toms Booties

Favorite tee with maternity mod, pencil skirt, toms ballet flats

oatmeal LMU tank, Kohl’s ballet flats

PSD. homemade scarf, black flats from Kohls

So now that I have mustard included, why not make some of my favorite joggers–Greenstyle Creations Brassie Joggers in double brushed poly with ribbing for bands.

Plus, of course, some styling ideas….

Ellliedactyl ellie dolman in sweater knit, LMU tank, chucks

favorite tee, GAP jacket, toms booties

Definitely the most comfortable pants in my closet currently. No modifications needed for these as they are a very low rise design.

Next up, an amazing maternity shirt to *tie* in more mustard! 😜

 

**This post contains affiliate links but all opinions are always my own

Maternity Capsule

I have completed Phase 1 of my Maternity Wardrobe! I say phase 1, because of course I already have plans to expand it and include more 🙂

When planning, I took into account a few things.

• I don’t currently own maternity clothes (purged with the move).
• I’m a stay at home mom so I already wear a lot of things that could work well for awhile (leggings, jogger pants, slouchy tops).
• I live someplace cold, but will be travelling while pregnant (Mediterranean Cruise! and a month in Florida) so knew I would need clothes that work for variety of climates.
• I didn’t want to make jackets, sweaters, etc that are dedicated maternity items, but instead plan to use existing ones I own and layer up.

This is my fourth pregnancy so I know what I like to wear later on….some tops that will cover my belly and not ride up and dresses that are easy to throw on are must haves, as well as at least one pair of full belly panel jeans. I also knew that I wanted clothes to be somewhat nursing friendly so that they would work postpartum as well.

Here’s what I came up with! Just imagine a huge belly for all of them instead of my “I ate a few burritos too many” look.

First up, the jeans. I used the SOS pants pattern from Patterns for Pirates with the over belly maternity band from their pirate peg legs pattern. The fabric is denim look french terry from LA Finch. I wish I had way more yardage of that french terry. It is slightly stiff so it looks and feels like denim from the outside, but it’s slightly stretchy and soft like a sweatshirt on the inside. Perfection. For the belly band, I used some performance knit athletic wicking fabric from LA Finch, so breathable and soft but nice firm hold so they stay up great.

These are by far the most perfect pair of jeans ever. I have already worn them a couple times and my non maternity jeans still fit just fine (I pushed out belly for pics haha)

Next, nice comfy dress. I went with the Boundless dress from Patterns for Pirates, tank option. It has sleeves available in the pattern but wanted more versatility and figured I could easily layer. The floral is double brushed poly from Knitpop and the cream is bamboo jersey sheets from target (I bought a sheet set years ago on clearance for the sole purpose of using the fabric). It has nice roomy pockets also that I put a little lower than the pattern suggests because I was worried about having them too high with a growing belly….I maybe shouldn’t have lowered them as much as I did though. They are definitely still functional.

It was from this dress that I made most of the rest of the fabric choices….so next up, I made a pair of Layer Me Up tank tops with the maternity add on (sides are ruched with elastic and there’s more space for a bump). Really love how these turned out. The teal one is luxe rayon from LA Finch, the other is some viscose jersey from Minerva Crafts.

My favorite maternity t shirt through previous pregnancies was a simple black v neck. Perfect for when you dribble food on your belly because you are too awkward to eat like an adult (only me?), so I used the Favorite Tee pattern with the LMU maternity mod to make my own (luxury viscose jersey from Dress Fabrics).

I felt pretty good about basics at this point. With these tops and some existing oversized tunic ones I own, I can make a lot of outfits happen. On to some outerwear to layer over them!

First up, the Mama Claire hoodie. I love my other Mama Claires I’ve made and know from the roomy fit I didn’t need modifications for maternity (when you sew it up with drapey fabric that is, fabric like cotton lycra or brushed poly hugs the body more). It’s sparkly gold/beige sweater knit from Dressfabrics.ie that reads a little olive in my opinion, so layers well with everything so far.

I wrote a whole post on how I hacked this already.

Next, Pumpkin Spice Dolman. It’s a super neutral taupe french terry (Also from knitpop) so think it will match everything. This is an incredibly roomy fit top so I didn’t do any modifications for it, either. I hate the pocket so let’s ignore that for now…it’s being removed later. For both of these, I went with the banded hem to help anchor it under the growing belly.

Last, some more bottoms to pair with all of these. The Pirate Pencil skirt is maybe not so functional here in Ireland, but it will come in handy on the cruise and in Florida. Also, it can be styled as a scarf or tube top according to a huge mega clothing company, so I went with it. I added a modified maternity band to it, kinda like a contoured waistband for a little extra space. I don’t remember where this fabric came from either…feels like a not very stretchy cotton lycra.

And last, some athletic leggings. I have had this issue with my gym leggings not fitting so well over my burrito belly so needed some gymwear….but figured they could also double as just fun leggings for later on when the gym is not so attractive to me. I used athletic nylon spandex from LA Finch so they are super breathable and comfortable to wear, in all weather. I did the low waist maternity band from the peg legs pattern.

And yeah, they are covered in martinis and wine glasses…so maybe not a maternity print per se, but I can think of drinks I once used to enjoy?

Now, the fun part. Here’s some combinations I came up with using all these pieces. I tried very hard to make sure they all worked together and feel I achieved that. I have existing clothes to mix in also, and plans for future items already but it feels pretty stand alone as is. Should make packing easy!

Any other combinations you see? What else would you include? Next up….Mama Isabel dress/duster cardi out of some taupe/black/teal/mustard print…another favorite tee in mustard luxe, some brassie joggers in a floral mustard/black print, a Kingston jacket in denim, maybe with french terry sleeves and a hood, an Emma top in navy/flourescent yellow print, some white skinny jeans……okay, maybe overly ambitious. We will see what I manage to finish!

**This post contains some affiliate links to help fund my sewing addiction….opinions are always mine though!

Mama Claire Hoodie Hack!

In my last post I talked about the Capsule Contest from Made for Mermaids and Patterns for Pirates. I am preparing all my pieces now for the fall contest and decided this time to make them all maternity friendly since I have ZERO maternity clothes. And will need them very soon. I thought ahead to nursing and tried to pick things that would work postpartum also. The Claire definitely checks both boxes, and I have already made a couple. But more on that later….first, I’ll share a quick tutorial on one piece I made for my capsule!

I saw a shirt on pinterest that looked like the coziest wrap hoodie and knew I could recreate the look with the Mama Claire from Made for Mermaids. Hoodies are perfect for Ireland since they are #1. warm and #2. help keep the drizzle off of me. It’s not really rain here…Florida rains. It just sort of mists at you and if you’re like me and have big hair once it gets slightly humid out, a hood comes in handy.

I chose some sparkly sweater knit from Dress Fabrics. First, I cut 2 2″ tall bands from the full width of the fabric to ensure I’d have long pieces for the new neckband piece that would incorporate the hood. I wasn’t sure how long they would need to be yet and didn’t want to run out of long strips. Next, I cut out all the pieces I would normally need for the Mama Claire, plus a hood.

For the hood, I chose a crossover hood I had in my pattern stash (I used the riviera raglan crossover hood from New Horizons). I will explain later how I trimmed it to fit the Claire. Any oversized hood will work. You can always trim it down later on in construction.

Start with preparing the hood. You will need to attach the hood sides together along the center seam. I chose to do a french seam so that there wouldn’t be a serged edge visible when the hood was down. Start with fabric WRONG sides together, sew, trim the seam. Then press it with fabric RIGHT sides together and sew again to encase the raw edge (There’s videos available out there if that’s not making sense…or feel free to ask me for help!). I topstitched that seam down as well, but purely optional. **You could also just do a fully lined hood or line the whole thing for extra coziness, no bands, and lots of warmth! Kelly over at onwednesdayswesew.com did exactly that.  Just double your pieces and use the bottom band to attach it all after you flip right sides out.

Next, I sewed the shoulder seams together for the bodice like the pattern has you do first, and pressed them towards the back.

I then found the center of the back, matched it with the center seam of my hoodie, and pinned it around. I checked fit and thought the hoodie needed to have a little less….so this is the shape I ended up with.

You could easily use the Henley or Slim Fit Raglan hood from Patterns for Pirates with the slight modification shown and it will get you to the same shape!

I didn’t stretch the hood as I pinned, and also made sure that it came around in the front to stop in the same place on each side. Go ahead and sew the hoodie onto the bodice now.

(apparently I stopped documenting every step right here)

(I used a serger for construction, but you could also use a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine–this is my favorite setting for sewing stretchy knits on my sewing machine)

Next, the band. I measured the length from one end of the bodice crossover, around the hood, to the other end. Mine for size purple was 66″…I multiplied that by .9 to calculate the band length. Usually for neckbands I use .8 or .85 depending on the stretch of the fabric, but I went with .9 because I wanted a looser more relaxed feel. Thankfully, I didn’t need to join two pieces together because my fabric was wide enough to get it out of one piece. If it wasn’t, I would have divided that measurement in half, added .25 for seam allowance, and serged two long pieces together.

To attach the band, I found the center and pinned it to the center seam of the hood (if you have two pieces joined together, you’d want to match that seam here). I then continued to pin around the hood without stretching my band at all. When I got to the seam to the bodice, I pinned at each end, found the center, and pinned again so that it stretched through the bodice piece. Attach the band, nice and slowly. Lots of pins. Then, press the seam allowance in and away from the band. You can topstitch if you’d like, but I didn’t.

The rest, you sew up just like the pattern says. Attach sleeves, sew sides, hem or attach a bottom band. I went ahead and centered the seam of the bodice band on the back instead of the side since this Claire is most definitely not reversible….unless you’re into the hood over the face look. I remember someone did that on Project Runway once but I’m pretty sure he went home for it….

Don’t forget to weave in those serger tails! I also shortened the sleeves on the pattern and added some armbands instead of a hem, too. Nice and cozy!! Much better pictures, and how it looks with the other pieces are to come.

Let me know if you try it out and ask if you have any questions!!

 

Capsule Sewing, Take 1

Back in Spring, Patterns for Pirates and Made for Mermaids announced a contest to sew a mini capsule using their patterns. I joined in because I love a challenge, and was intrigued by the capsule idea. I am currently sewing furiously for their fall contest so thought I’d go back and share the last one here.

So let’s back up….what’s a capsule? It’s a collection of basic pieces that are easily mixed and matched to create many looks with only a few pieces of clothing. It started as a minimalist movement really….and it would be amazing if that’s why I sew capsules….but if I’m being honest, I do it because I don’t want random pieces in my wardrobe that match nothing else. I am plagued by this problem because of sale shopping….I buy random things, don’t think about what I actually need in my closet, and then feel like I never have anything to wear. Then I started sewing for myself instead but the same thing happened….I tried a pattern using fabric I like…move on to the next….and then nothing really matches and I just have more clothes and still that dreaded nothing-to-wear feeling. By sewing a capsule, I’m forcing myself to think about what goes together and what I need to mix and match. It also streamlines shopping for shoes and accessories.

For my first capsule, I started with a print I liked (the floral for the dress) and chose coordinates from that. I then picked patterns best suited to each fabric and started sewing. All fabric was from my current stash (aside from one upcycled item) so no need to deal with shipping.

Sweet Tee (hack from a pinspiration) using double brushed poly, some striped knit from Hobby Lobby, and suede scrap, Timeless Tunic (upcycled from a dress I found at Lidl, with some modifications), Layer Me Up/Pirate Pencil Mash out of french terry, Layer Me Up Tee from So Sew English rayon spandex, Mama Isabel (hacked into a cardigan) out of Joanns French Terry, Mama Isabel Dress out of rayon spandex, Peg Legs, Peg Legs (both double brushed poly from LA Finch, and SOS Pants out of denim jegging from Hobby Lobby

For the cardi hack, I used the existing bodice from the Isabel. I wanted it to have a little more coverage in the neck so I widened the neckband an inch, and lengthened the ties so they would wrap around completely. Last, I finished it with a bottom band (cut at around 85-90% the width of the bottom of the cardi). The band is 5-6″ tall. I sewed the short sides right sides together before adding it on to the bottom 🙂

I was pretty happy with how it all turned out, so I decided to make a capsule for Charlotte also. For hers, I chose a floral print once again and picked solids and a stripe to coordinate.

She ended up with a Sugar Pie Tee, Bonny Skirt, Infinity Scarf, Bonnie Leggings, Chloe Skirt, another Sugar Pie Tee, Isabel Dress, Bonnie Leggings, and a hoodie made from the Jolly Roger Raglan with add-on pack. She absolutely adores this capsule months later and loves how she can mix and match pieces and get dressed quickly…so much so that she bragged constantly to her brother about how easy it was to pick what to wear….and then I ended up making him a quick capsule also. Of course.

His was all tops because a) I didn’t have a boys pants pattern from either company and b) I chose all the tops based on a couple basic pairs of pants he has…namely some black joggers, jeans, khaki pants and mario joggers I made him previously. The idea was that he could mix these tops and hoodies with those and be all set.

He received a few Jolly Roger Raglans and Yo Ho Henleys…and I just did tons of variations for each to make them all unique. Plus, I threw in some Nintendo fabric to help him want to wear it all. He is still very much in love with each of his pieces too and that’s a HUGE win since he’s of the age and opinion that homemade is not cool.

There you have it….three mini capsules in 2 weeks. Thankfully M4M and P4P make some quick and easy patterns! I can’t wait to share the next capsule….only one this time though 😉

 

**this post contains affiliate links to help fund future pattern and fabric purchases but all opinions are my own!

Off to the Races!

Summer in Ireland is FULL of festivals everywhere, and one of the largest in Galway is the Galway Races. It is a week solid of horse races with lots and lots of high fashion and hats. What better way to immerse ourselves than do some ridiculous family outfits?

Doug convinced me to sew up formal wear for this. He is one of my biggest sewing supporters as he doesn’t bat an eye over fabric I buy and willingly purchases machines I beg for, so I couldn’t let him down. He decided I needed to sew up a few suits however. Now, to someone who doesn’t sew it does not seem like such a monumental task. But sewing up a men’s suit?!? Uh, no. Not in my skill set. He kept begging however, and purchased all I needed (from Minerva Crafts, thanks to their cheap Ireland shipping) so I took it on. And by took it on, I mean I sewed up EVERYTHING ELSE first because I was terrified of sewing menswear.

First up was the littlest guy’s suit. I thought it would be a nice introduction into how a jacket is constructed, and if I messed up beyond repair it was only a 3t amount of fabric and not a huge loss. I went with Burda 9443. When I started sewing, I used lots of paper patterns (I didn’t know PDF ones existed yet) so wasn’t too intimidated by it, but it has been so long since I’ve used one! It was a challenge, but I made it through. His suit came complete with welt pockets on the front, full lining, and welt and slant pockets on pants along with a fully functional fly. I was pretty amazed I completed it. I went with a straight 3t for the whole thing despite his measurements being ALL OVER the place on the chart (9-12m for most, 4t for belly, 2t for height…) I decided trying to figure out how to grade that many sizes on something with such complicated instructions was too hard. Fit was great though, aside from sleeves a bit long. Pants were long too but I just hemmed them up.

Next up was the oldest, since I used the same pattern for him. I whipped up the second pair of pants like a pro. I do wish I sized up on the vest, but it works. Pants fit him so well without any adjustments so I was very pleasantly surprised. He is super skinny and RTW clothes tend to be too wide and short on him…so if you have a kid with a similar build, this is a great formal wear pattern to have.

With some of the tough sews out of the way, I concentrated on Little Miss C’s look. She wanted a maxi dress, and she absolutely loves the Annie dress from Violette Field Threads, so I combined it with the Emmaline dress to do a tiered skirt. I used some of the cotton linen fabric along with some satin ribbon for the braided straps, and the paisley is a voile. Simple and straightforward to make because I’ve made her countless dresses before. Since I knew she was going to be cold in a strappy dress out of lightweight fabric, I whipped up a Seville Cardigan from New Horizons Designs to go over it. The fabric is a scuba knit and did not have good stretch for the bands, so I just hemmed the curved edges on the coverstitch.

For myself, I wanted to do an off-shoulder dress with  a flounce so immediately thought of the Mama Cassie from Made for Mermaids, with the flounce hack from the blog. I was going to mash with the Pirate Pencil from Patterns for Pirates but decided to go with something a little less fitted (reason why to come) and instead mashed it with Sew Straight and Gather Uptown Downtown dress (I didn’t want a seam at the waist). I also used the pockets from the UT/DT because when you’re making your own dress, it NEEDS pockets. Fabric is scuba (same as Char’s cardi). I just wish I had done something to weigh down the skirt somehow so that it would have been more practical for West Ireland winds!

Last, and I mean very last….like I waited until the week of the races to start….was the suit for Doug. I chose Vogue 8890 and started on the pants first, thinking they would be similar enough to boy’s pants that I could handle them. I had to grade between sizes to accommodate his measurements but after 2 days, I made it through and he had nicely fitting, functional pants. So.many.pattern.pieces. I then tried to convince him that pants and a button down would be great, and maybe I’d even make him a tie….but no dice. He insisted I take on the coat. So another 2 days later, I did it. I made a men’s suit coat. That fit. I still cannot believe it.  I did do some small modifications (I didn’t have hair canvas laying around since I’m not a tailor, so used interfacing….and left out pockets in the interest of time)….but it fit. And no one would think it’s homemade from first glance. He absolutely loves it, too….so I think I’m on the hook to make him more clothes in the future.

I had to modify some storebought hats with scrap fabric and paint to coordinate (well, Doug did the painting for me), and added some coordinating ribbon to Char’s fascinator to jazz it up….but then we were off to enjoy the races! Kids had a blast picking horses to win, and taking in the excitement of being there. We had some pretty amazing weather considering it has been pretty rainy here lately (and chilly for Floridians….around 18 degrees Celsius). I even picked the winner for the last race so we ended on a good note!

In the process of making all these outfits happen, we ended up making a little something else too…..and the reason I went with a less fitted dress. Baby #4 is due to arrive in early 2018!

 

**This post contains affiliate links to help fund further fabric and pattern purchases