(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.
as previously mentioned my hippie parents didn't enforce a lot of rules.
however there were guidelines they, well really my mom, believed everyone should follow: always drive slower and more carefully than you feel is necessary (especially in bad weather), perform at least one random act of kindness each and every day, don't leave candles or anything that burns unattended (better yet just don't burn anything inside), and always say thank you.
a few years ago my retired parents, who had shunned off all pets since my childhood dog had passed away a few years earlier, woke up and decided to get a new dog. so rosie the english bulldog entered our lives.
i feel like you might need a visual to really be with me here.
sometimes it's the simplest and easiest projects that bring my nieces the most joy.
my sister sammie is exactly the kind of mom i, as the biggest recipient of her nurturing instincts for 26 years, always knew she would be. that is to say she's amazing. she's warm, caring, disciplined when need be, and most of all really fun. so when i see maya idolizing her, hanging on to her every word, and wanting nothing more than to be like sammie, i can totally relate.
a few years ago when i was just discovering the glory that is oliver + s patterns i went to visit vic's family in pennsylvania for the weekend. now i've already talked about how i find hand sewing to be a great way to bring your sewing when you travel. but another thing is pattern tracing.
when done right pattern tracing is time consuming, especially if the pattern has a lot of pieces. add into that doing the same pattern for multiple sizes and you're looking at hours and hours of work. fun work, but work. so i brought along the croquet dress pattern and traced both versions for all three girls that weekend. not a small task.
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.
when vic and I did long distance for 819 days (but who counted) one of the few things i didn't like about visiting him in california was that i couldn't bring my sewing with me. then i discovered you could do entire projects by hand. game changer.
one of the early hand sewing projects i did was birthday bunting for the girls. when i referred to them as bunting vic was incredious, insisting they couldn't be as that was something baseball players did. #allboysfamily
sometimes aunt maggie needs to sew for herself. now in general i prefer to sew for kids over adults for a few reasons:
nora and etta are active little girls. very active little girls. but they are also quite girly and like to wear dresses and skirts.
so a few years back i decided the badminton skort from oliver + s would be the perfect style for them and with some polka dot cotton i picked up on sale from gather here i gave it a try.
fresh off my awesome introductory experience with the duggar dresses i was itching to try another style.
after consulting the internet and reading this queen of the flies post and this probably actually post i decided on a pattern for my second oliver + s adventure: the sunday brunch jacket.
so armed with green canvas-esq fabric from gather here, some purple polka dot fabric from when I had gone to meet month old maya in north carolina, and a harpoon ginger wheat beer i set to work.
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.
oh man i love the class picnic tunic from oliver + s. more specifically, maya loves the class picnic tunic. it's perfect for her casual and comfortable style. i've made it for her second birthday, her third birthday, and her winter wardrobe. but this top came before all of those.
fall 2013: after seeing gail's version here i had to try this style. so one friday night in boston armed with a dogfish head pumpkin beer and stash fabric from nora and etta's dolly's ergos, i dove in.
i know what i like and i like what i know.
after my first rendition of the playdate pattern from oliver + s i was smitten. since it only goes up to a size five if i wanted to make it again it had to be for miss etta.
so make it for etta i did.
have i mentioned nora and etta are quite girly? well they are. i however am not. so it's a constant struggle to find fabrics that are sweet enough for them but not too saccharine for me.
when i saw this amy butler lark print at stonemountain & daughter i instantly knew two things: a) nora and etta would love wearing it and b) i wouldn't mind sewing it. so i picked up a few yards and waited for the right inspiration.
final post in technique week! if you are just joining us here is what we have covered so far:
on monday i did a tutorial for making your very own fabric labels with just fabric, stamps, and ink. on tuesday i covered french seams, or rather the do's and don'ts of using french seams. on wednesday i talked about straight stitch seams and what i feel are the three key benefits of using them. on thursday i wrote a guide to facings, which are my personal favorite finishing technique.
for our final post today we are talking about the benefits of hand stitching.
technique week marches on!
if you're just joining us: on monday we had a tutorial for making your own fabric labels, on tuesday we discussed some do's and don'ts of french seams, on wednesday we had three reasons you should use straight stitch seams in your next project.
today we are talking about facings, which are probably my favorite technique. (i'm only saving hand stitching for tomorrow because so often it's the final step in a project, so it feels right to end the week on it.)
on monday we learned how to make your own fabric labels, yesterday we talked about the french seam, and today we are talking about my love of straight stitch seams and why you should use them in your next project.
for those of you who don't know a french seam is a finishing technique whereby you see the seam twice: once to attach the two pieces of fabric, and once to enclose the raw edge in a pocket on the inside of the garment.
all this week we'll be talking about techniques to make your sewing more professional. today it's all about labels.
when i first started sewing i ordered my labels online. however i always felt they were a tad overpriced ($1 apiece), took a little too long arrive (6 weeks or more), and no matter how much time i spent designing them they didn't quite have the look i was going for. so last year i decided to try making my own. they turned out great so i thought i would share my process.
i think of my early sewing projects like i think of high school: sure at the time i thought i had it figured out and was doing a bang up job, but man there were some cringe worthy situations.
however unlike my high school experiences i am better for it and am willing to talk about them. so i thought i would put together a list of my favorite techniques and tips that i've found make my sewing more professional.
