(like the rod stewart song)
i'm an elder millennial living in the bay area who loves dark beer, the environment, and sewing for the tiny humans in my life.
when a lovely coworker has a baby girl on your birthday a special gift is in order!
so you want to know the best part about planning a wedding? everyone wants to help!
early on in our engagement my nieces indicated a strong desire to contribute to the wedding. my mom came up with an idea: have them make pot holders as favors for the guests.
our friends have begun having children so i decided it was time to build up a supply of gifts to have on hand.
my lovely mother-in-law lois got me this fabric on their trip to alaska last summer and i decided to make it into a pair of sleepover pj pants. from, you guessed it, oliver + s.
for my birthday last year victor bought me sewing happiness by sanae ishida.
it is a darling book with heart warming stories and 19 little sewing projects. i’ve already made the triangle tote bag (to be blogged) and the zippered pouch a few times (here, here, and two more times that haven't been blogged) from the bookand found the instructions to be excellent. so when maya told me she had her first loose tooth a few weeks before christmas and asked for a tooth fairy pillow i once again turned to sanae.
so i love harry potter.
i’m gonna say that again to really hammer the point home: i love harry potter.
another baby boy, another oliver + s sketchbook shirt.
unlike my previous renditions of this pattern (here, here, and here) i decided to make this one from a chambray (which I got from stonemountain & daughter on my birthday as mentioned here) for two reasons:
1. it’s this couple’s first baby and chambray is a gender neutral choice. you know just in case a girl comes along later.
2. the father of this baby wears a lot of chambray button down shirts, so now they can be twins.
a few years ago i made victor a rugby shirt from this beautiful knit fabric i had purchased at britex.
a few years ago I came home from work to the best surprise: the good folks at oliver + s had sent me a package of goodies! (i’ve already shared the first things I made from this package here.)
as previously mentioned, i recently made a goal to sew more things for myself. so on my birthday a few months ago I took the day off work and made trips to my two favorite fabric stores in the east bay: a verb for keeping warm and stonemountain & daughter and got fabrics specifically for this purpose.
one of the patterns on my to-sew list was the lark cardigan, which is an adaptation of the lark tee from grainline studio. i believe the first time you sew a pattern it's best to follow the instructions and hold off on any alterations or hacks. so before I embarked on the cardigan variation I thought it best to make a basic lark tee with the lightweight grey knit I picked up at a verb for keeping warm.
next month my mom and i are taking nora and etta to disneyland and universal studios. naturally I've decided to sew the girls a few things for the trip. first up: my mom requested some bags for the girls to have in the park.
a few years ago my sister abby gave me handmade style by anna graham of noodlehead.
back to school outfits might be the start of fall sewing but for me the season doesn't sink in until i've made at least one coat. this year my inaugural outerwear garment was another school days coat, from you guessed it, oliver + s.
quick post on something I whipped up for baby wesley!
one of the oldest fabrics in my stash is this whale laminated oilcloth I bought back in cambridge at gather here in 2012. having never sewn with oilcloth before I was looking for an easier pattern that would provide lots of instruction and up my odds of a successful result.
cue the little things to sew book from oliver + s.
I wanted to recap my back to school sewing projects and share a few photos of the girls on the first day.
this year my back to school sewing consisted of five projects and four patterns, three of which were new to me.
about a year ago I got an invitation to a baby shower for the wife of victor's cousin. I RSVPed, put it on my calendar, and figured in the months to come I would have plenty of time to make something.
then I got distracted by wedding planning and realized 24 hours before the shower I didn't have anything. so i turned to my stash and a tried and true oliver + s pattern.
what is the longest you've ever left something as a work in progress before actually finishing it?
a few years ago i modified the much loved class picnic tunic pattern (from oliver + s) to make maya an apron. given that it was such a hit I knew one day I would need to make neela one.
for my birthday this year victor got me "sewing happiness" by sanae ishida.
last but not least for back to school sewing: something for neela banana peela.
okay so technically this little girl is still in nursery school, but I wanted her to have something that matched her big sister's first day of kindergarten dress.
