(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. more
All tagged neela
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.
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.)
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.
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.
i've always said that unless a child in participating in a royal wedding there is no reason why their attire can't be 100% cotton.
my youngest niece is miss neela banana peela. Now this child is so perfect anything would look great on her.
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.
while bay area weather is just about always beautiful and perfect my hometown of ann arbor, michigan has some pretty intense winters.
continuing my series of my favorite homemade gifts today with gifts for babies and new moms. (want to take revisit my past posts? you can find my favorite kid toys and accessories here, my favorite little girl apparel gifts here, and my favorite little boy apparel gifts can here.)
first off the obvious: who doesn't think of a onesie for a newborn gift? here is neela in her put a bird on it onesie from the lullaby layette pattern from oliver + s
today I am going to share the things I've sewn for this sweet girl.
when sammie told me she was having a girl last September I immediately got to work on my future niece's wardrobe, because as a fellow youngest sister I didn't want her to be left out.
my third oliver + s style was the music box jumper, making all three girls grey polka dot versions for thanksgivng.
the fabric is a quilting cotton from gather here. at the time I didn't know it was quilt backing (and thus 120 inches wide, more than double what normal fabric is) so i had a lot of it!
i probably should have started with this style, it's simple (a one scissor pattern) but most importantly, easy to get good results with, which is essential for beginners.
i would also recommend using snaps for this dress if you are just starting out. button holes are really tricky (i was never able to get the hang of them on my old machine). however i found snaps to be a great alternative during my first year of sewing.
for the past two months all but one of my blog posts have been about old projects. (i guess is the blog version of stash busting?)
while I still have a fair amount of posts lined up i wanted to end the month by sharing more recent pictures. some updates of things you've seen before and some previews of projects i've been working on.
it's pretty obvious i love all 49 of my oliver + s patterns (94 if you count each size), but according to all the podcasts about blogging one should do 'list posts' so here it goes:
about a year ago i was searching for the perfect wool for maya's paddington coat. a few options online caught my eye but having never bought wool before and seeing a wide range of prices (and presumably quality) it was apparent i would need to see it in person before making a decision.
after exhausting my east bay brick and motar options, stonemountain & daughter and a verb for keeping warm, i knew a trip to the city was necessary. armed with an iPhone full of taylor swift and iced coffee from the hip local shop (exposed brick, menu written on the chalkboard wall, and light fixtures made from old bicycle parts...am i painting a mental picture for you?) i set off one saturday for my quest.
i have to admit, i wasn't in love with the hide & seek dress (available for older children here) when it first came out. (i'm willing to bet it had something to do with my deep rooted fear of making 'frumpy' dresses, caused by my sister referring to my first creations as the 'duggar dresses' and the relaxed fit of the dress.)
but then it started showing up on the blogosphere. first i saw gail's version, then this one, then this one, and i knew i had to try it.
maybe it's because I've spent a lot of time in pdx (and love it!) or maybe i'm just their target demographic but i love the show portlandia. i mean 'dream of the 90s', 'she's making jewelry now', and 'dream of the 1890s' really describe my life.
when i saw this bird print at stonemountain & daughter last spring i knew it would be perfect for maya the animal lover.
remember that 'lil man flannel i made? well these pants were intended to go with it.
i had this corduroy in my stash from a jacket i made etta, I originally purchased it back in cambridge from gather here. i picked up the accent fabric at a store in scottsdale when we were at spring training. yep that's how vic and i roll: baseball games, fabric stores, and beer. #compromises
feeling confident in my corduroy abilities after my experience with farmers market jacket and winter dresses, i decided to try my hand at a new challenging pattern: art museum trousers by you guessed it, oliver + s.
given that my parents were hippie baby boomers who joined a tofu co-op in the early 90's, it's not surprising that there weren't a ton of rules in the kempner house. (in hindsight the fact that we were all naturally good kids who liked school, had nice friends, and weren't too boy crazy was probably conducive to and thus afforded a laissez faire approach to parenting.)
