(like the rod stewart song)
i'm a millennial living in the bay area who loves dark beer, the environment, and sewing for the tiny humans in my life.
All in little girl apparel
some girls have their weddings envisioned long before they are engaged, and the planning process is really just an exercise in execution. i am not one of those girls.
we have a new addition to the family! meet charlotte, maya's new doll.
too much of a good thing? rubbish.
for the holidays victor asked me to put together a wish list of things his family could get me. one of the items i listed was three yards of this beautiful bee print from the cotton + steel mustang collection.
my brother-in-law scott, also known as nora and etta's dad, is a big time hunter and fisher. so when I saw the cotton + steel mustang line, with it's animal and arrow prints, I knew it would be perfect for his daughters.
this is one of two photos i know of where my sisters and i are in matching outfits. okay, there may be a few more if you include pjs, but roll with me here, the point is that by having your children over the course of a decade isn't conducive to dressing them alike.
despite this upbringing this i've made the my nieces tons of matching and coordinating outfits over the past four years. today i'll share a few of my favorites.
when aunt maggie comes to Portland for the weekend a few things change:
when I was in portland this past weekend nora and etta put on their new bee mine dresses and we went for a walk around the block.
the supreme court gives the best birthday gifts.
this year when i woke up on june 26th i found they had ruled that marriage was a right for all americans. that night i opened my present from victor's mom: a package of beautiful fabrics, including this rainbow print. how fitting!
like many in the sewing world, i am on a constant quest to sew my stash. i've even gone so far as to proclaimed my desire to have less fabric all together, and consider myself am midway through a major two year fabric diet.
so today i'm going to share some of my favorite patterns for busting my stash.
if i had one regret about my 2015 sewing it's that I didn't make enough for my older nieces nora and etta. at 5 and 7 they are a tad pickier than 3 year old maya and baby neela.)so I promised myself the first project of 2016 would be for them.
when oliver + s announced their pattern mash up challenge I knew I had to try it. so over the next few weeks of commuting i developed a vision came together that combined four different oliver + s patterns.
a while back i was watching maya and as bedtime was approaching i said it was time to put on her pjs. the kid lost it. turns out she had never heard anyone refer to pajamas as pjs before and thought it was the funniest thing ever.
today i am going to share a three non pajama patterns that actually make great pjs.
these skirts satisfy two of my sewing resolutions: busting my stash and sewing more patterns.
i was doing what i always do when planning a project: sitting cross legged on the floor, patterns on my right, stash on my left, a mason of a triple rock porter in front of me pulling together various combinations and seeing what might work. when i came across this pairing of a lightweight cobalt eyelet and the sunday brunch pattern from oliver + s i paused:
remember that awesome fabric combo i came up with for maya's second playdate dress? well i had a fair amount of fabric left over and i was at a loss for what to make with it.
then i remembered the book report dresses i had made a year earlier. maybe the cut of the pattern that worked so well with the busy and bold ikat would also work with the tessellation print.
each time I think I've blogged all my past projects another one surfaces. here is another one i found.
i was so smitten with the library dress pattern from oliver + s after making it first as instructed for maya, then with a zipper modification for nora and etta's back to school outfits that it wasn't long before i made two more for nora and etta, this time from a simple purple polka dot cotton.
for the next few days we are talking about my favorite homemade gifts for various types of occasions. yesterday i shared my favorite kid toys and accessories to give as gifts and today i'm talking about making little girl apparel as a gift.
now sewing for little girls is sort of my 'thing' so i'm breaking it down into three pieces of advice.
quick post today....
i first saw this joel dewberry print at gather here a few years ago. it was beautiful but i wasn't sure how i would find coordinating fabric so i held off.
a few months later i saw it for sale on fabric.com when i was order something else and this time i couldn't help myself.
as part of my stash busting initiative and quest to sew all the oliver + s patterns i recently made this swingset skirt for the toddler of a friend.
as i said yesterday one of my sewing goals for 2016 (and the rest of 2015) is to sew more patterns i haven't made before, specifically the oliver + s patterns.
until a few weeks ago one of those patterns i had, but hadn't sewn yet was the sailboat pattern.
coming off my awesome (if i do say so myself) peacock and paddington bear costumes the past two years i was a tad nervous for maya's hallowen costume this year. i mean how could i top those two gems?
well i did.
one snowy day back in cambridge I bundled up and headed to gather here. on the store dress form was a darling rendition of the book report dress by oliver + s. inspired i started looking for a fabric for my own version. i came across this ikat print and knew it would be perfect.
