(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.
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:
the birthday tradition continued in 2015!
recap: for maya's first birthday the theme was balloons and i made her a dress from this great balloon fabric. for her second birthday the theme was farm animals and i made a tunic with a pig embellishment.
for her third birthday the theme was the lorax. not to brag but this was the direct result of a certain fun aunt (who works in the solar industry) buying her the book years ago to encourage environmentalism and reading it to her on many occasions:
also know as polka dots for maya part 3
i picked up the playdate pattern from oliver + s on sale at stonemountain & daughter while visiting victor a while back. then it just sat in my stash for months. i have no idea why, but for some reason i just wasn't drawn to the picture on the front.
however as soon as i saw gail's version i suddenly had to make it. so one friday night with a nitro milk stout and some polka dot fabric i picked up from gather here that was in my stash i set to work.
also known as polka dots for maya part 2
as previously mentioned, when i first saw the library dress from oliver + s i was smitten. i mean a wrap dress fit for a little girl?! how could you not love that?
the only issue was the back. it was all buttons and i knew nora and etta would not be down for a dress that required assistance. so with plans to eventually make an zippered version in the back of my head (see those versions here and here) i decided to get the hang of the pattern by making a standard rendition for maya.
i found this purple and yellow polka dot print and coordinating solid at stonemountain & daughter. it was a bit higher quality (and thus a bit more expensive) than the standard quilting cottons but i had just nailed a job interview so i treated myself.
a few days ago i texted my sister and mom asking if they had any picture of maya in a few outfits so i could blog about them. it went something like this:
me: do you have any pictures of maya in that red polka dot dress?
me: what about that orange and purple [polka dot] long sleeved dress?
me: or that orange and white polka dot skirt?
me: also the green [polka dot] top with the purple accent and that purple and white [polka dot] top?
it was around this time i realized i should probably examine my relationship with polka dots.
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.
beginners luck. that's what i had the first time i made the roller skate dress by oliver + s.
i got this chevron print at the fabric depot in portland oregon when i took nora to pick out materials for thefairy sisters dresses. i had originally planned to just dresses for nora and etta, but realized pretty quickly i couldn't exclude maya. so i planned my cutting and was able to squeeze out an additional dress from my limited fabric.
let me tell you getting the chevrons to match up was not easy, but somehow (let's give credit to the watermelon beer i was drinking and my critical thinking skills, but mostly the beer) it all came together perfectly.
as previously mentioned maya and neela have beautiful complexions and can pull off very bright colors. where other kids would get washed out or overwhelmed by bright bold prints, these girls look amazing. which means aunt maggie has a lot of fun picking out fabric for them.
when i came across this remnant of amy butler voile (spearmint buttercups from the soul blossoms | joy collection) at gather here i knew immediately it would be perfect for maya.
while i ponder the all too quick passage of time we're gonna finish off back to school week by talking about the skirts i made nora and etta for the first day of school.
since this was etta's first year I let her call the shots. bucking tradition (she's a firecracker my bo betta) she requested a skirt as opposed to a dress. naturally i saw this as an opportunity to try a pattern i've had for a while, but haven't yet sewn: the hopscotch skirt by oliver + s.
for the holidays a few years back i made maya a fabric memory game. it was such a hit i thought i would share a tutorial.
let's continue back to school week with what nora and etta wore last year.
the instant i saw the library dress pattern by oliver + s i knew nora and etta would love the faux wrap style. however the back presented a problem as nora and etta are past the age where dresses that button up the back are practical.
at that point i was pretty confident i could alter the pattern to close with a zipper, but when i saw this tutorial post over on the oliver + s blog i had no excuse. after first making it one time as instructed for maya (will blog about that rendition next week), I tried my hand at a zippered version.
it turned out fantastic. (as have both subsequent versions, one of which was the show & tell dress in corduroy.)
the tradition of making each girl a special dress or outfit for their birthday continued in 2014 (read aboutmaya's first birthday dress here and etta's third birthday dress here) and first up was maya's second birthday.
a few months earlier i had made a polka dot class picnic tunic by oliver + s that was incredibly popular with maya and her mom. so when it was decided that the party theme would be farm animals i decided to do a twist on that much loved style by adding a pig embellishment.
let's kick off back to school week with a throwback post to the dress i made two years ago for nora's first day of kindergarten.
earlier that summer i was back in michigan visiting my family and took nora to the store to pick out fabric. we settled on this gradient sprinkle print in pink (for her) and blue (for etta) as well as some accent ribbons.
i came home to cambridge, poured myself a harpoon summer ale, and set to work on two roller skate dresses by oliver + s. since we couldn't find any accent fabric that went with the sprinkle print i made version a. lined in white cotton batiste they ended up being perfect for the first day.
my sister sammie loves to cook, maya loves to help, and i love to use up scraps of fabric. so it's not surprising this apron came into existence.
the birthday dress tradition continued when etta turned three (read about maya's first birthday dress here). she asked for a fairy tale dress by oliver + s (okay she asked for a pretty dress and i decided that meant the fairy tale dress).
however she did specifically request a pink fabric with blue flowers. so while visiting victor i made a trip tostonemountain & daughter in berkeley and picked up this adorable print. to this day it remains one of my favorite fabrics.
this is the story of how aunt maggie won christmas.
december 2012: my nieces were incredibly into their american girl dolls or rather they were incredibly into those babies made by the american girl doll company. yes just about everything these girls did revolved around tweedy and mister dolly. (you read that right, mister dolly is what etta named her doll. in terms of cuteness that's right up there with how she calls vic 'aunt vic' or 'uncle vicky').
sometimes it's fun to ask the girls what they want in a dress and make it. other times i ignore what they are saying and make what i want.
this is an example of the latter.
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.
did you know disney has an entire movie franchise on the adventures of tinkerbell? in one film 'secret of the wings', we learn about the existence of winter fairies and (spoiler alert) tinkerbell discovers she has a fraternal twin sister periwinkle.
drawing inspiration from this epic motion picture nora and i decided to make her and etta matching fairy sister dresses.
