Finished Project: Green Bee Design & Patterns - Sally Romper

Toddler time!

Eva got to "test drive" her new romper out at the playground the other day. Photographing my new projects for her at a playground is certainly much more interesting (and better lit) than trying to photograph them in our backyard; however, trying to photograph a toddler at a playground is like trying to hold jello in a sieve, when it comes to getting her to sit still and smile for mommy's phone.

In any case, my latest finished project is a winner, I think. The pattern I used is the Green Bee Designs & Pattern Sally Romper (and Dress):

Green Bee Sally Romper

 Here's a flat view of the romper, not obscured by playground equipment:

Sally Romper - flat

I'm not particularly familiar with the pattern company, Green Bee Designs, but I saw this pattern with its adorable envelope photo and fell in love with it when I was browsing Drygood Design back in July. I loved that the pattern included both a romper and a dress option. Eva is prone to sometimes dropping to a downward-facing dog position at a moment's notice and declaring "Upside-down time!", so I like to dress her either in rompers or in dresses with some sort of shorts or leggings underneath. More specifically, I'm always a sucker for a cute, original romper pattern.

Green Bee Sally line drawing

Those cuffed shorts and pockets are too cute, aren't they?

As far as sizing goes, according to the size chart, Eva would be at the upper end of the 2T size for height, but at the lower end of the 2T for girth. Proportionately, she has a long torso, as well. I opted to trace a 3T in height and a 2T in width for her. I'm really glad that I went with the 3T in height; the 2T would have been pushing things on her torso length. This pattern runs true to size for the measurement chart.

Pattern instructions are on the sparse side. This wasn't an issue for me, but I could see it being intimidating for a beginner.  I like that they direct you to an almost-entirely clean-finished garment. However, there were times that I disagreed with the directed techniques to produce a good result. For example, you could use the "burrito technique" on the bodice yokes/front/back to get a clean-finished yoke, but the directions have you ironing up your seam allowance and top-stitching. I also did my button holes and buttons as soon as I had the main bodice completed so that I didn't have to deal with trying to stitch buttonholes with the romper shorts attached.

Here's a back view:

Green Bee Sally Romper - back view

The fabric I used is a Michael Miller quilting cotton from the "Anchors Aweigh" line. It has coral-colored whales on a navy blue background. I purchased this fabric from Drygood Design when I purchased the pattern.

Another toddler picture

Would I make this pattern again? Absolutely, although since our weather will likely start to cool soon, I'll be putting it away until the spring, when I'll likely need to trace off the next size up for Eva. I'd like to try the dress view, too.

I looked on Green Bee's web site, and they have several other really cute patterns for girls that I might give a try at some point. (I'm particularly eyeing that shirt dress pattern.) They have some cute women's patterns, too, but I'm more hesitant to try those because their women's sizes stop at an XL that I'd have to grade up quite a bit.

Finished Project: Blank Slate - Sleepover PJs

Apologies in advance for the craptacular iPhone pics with bad lighting, but I wanted to blog about these while they were still fresh in my mind and before I get sucked into the mini-wardrobe contest vortex, starting tomorrow.

We've got a heat wave forecast for this week (Temperatures in the high 80's! In Seattle!), so I wanted to whip up a couple more quick sets of summer pajamas for Eva. I'd previously made the Peek-a-Boo Patterns Alex & Anna summer PJ's, but was intrigued by the envelope-style neck opening on Blank Slate's summer PJ offering and so decided to have a go at the Blank Slate Sleepover PJs:

Blank Slate Sleepover PJs

The version pictured is actually my second go at these. In the first version, which Eva wore and wound up in the wash before I could photograph them, the bottoms were too big and I had some bad gaping at the neckline. The second pair (pictured) turned out pretty much perfect, with a few minor tweaks:

• In my experience, Blank Slate patterns run very close to RTW sizing for major kids' clothing brands (Carter's, OshKosh, Old Navy, etc). We've been buying 2T size sets of things for her, but she's really still in the 18M size in pants, shorts, etc. I made her a 2T in the shorts on my first pass at this pattern, found them to be a bit large, and then went with the 18M in the pictured version. The 18M fit is spot-on.
• The neckline binding, as drafted, is probably too long for all but the least-stretchy of knit fabrics. Being inexperienced with this type of neckline (outside of a couple of onesies when Eva was a baby), I wasn't sure if I'd need to ease the binding onto the neckline to avoid gaping. The answer: Yes, you want the binding to ease onto the neckline to avoid gaping, same as you would with a t-shirt or other knit top. For the "good" version of the PJ top, I shortened the binding pieces by about 2" from the original draft.

Outside of those two things, this is a nice little pattern that goes together very quickly. It took me around 2 hours to complete the set from start to finish. I like the envelope neck opening because it makes it easier for Eva to put the top on and take it off herself--something that she's very keen on being able to do right now.

Here's the line drawing, so you can see that the final PJ's match the line drawing very well:

Blank Slate Sleepover PJs line drawing

As always, I found Melissa's instructions to be clearly written and photographed. She uses a method for applying the neckline binding that is both easy and produces nice results.

If I were to compare the Peek-a-Boo to the Blank Slate version of knit summer PJ's, I think that they're both good patterns, and if you have a preference for one version over the other, go with that. The Peek-a-Boo version runs a little smaller/more snug by design and is a little shorter. The neck opening on the Peek-a-Boo is a bit on the small side. I like the flexibility of the envelope neck opening on the Blank Slate, but like I said, watch your binding length when you pin on the binding, and adjust as needed before stitching.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be diving into my first garment for the mini-wardrobe contest. I'm looking forward to hopefully putting a small dent in my fabric stash and tick a few patterns off my pattern stash list in the process. And assuming that everything goes well, I'll have a few new outfits at the end of the month, too!

Finished Project: Blank Slate - Retro Romper

I bought a Pfaff! More on that once I've had a chance to play with her and bond with her a little bit.  For now, though, I'll show you what I've been working on for the last week: the Blank Slate Retro Romper.

For the unfamiliar, Blank Slate offers PDF download patterns for kids (and a few women's patterns, too) in sizes 18M to a child's 8.

Seriously, how cute is this?

Retro Romper at the playground

As I think many female children-of-the-80's did, I had a very similar romper to this one when I was a little girl. Somewhere in my parents' photo albums, there's a bunch of pictures of a 5- or 6-year-old me wearing my terry cloth romper on a trip to Sea World. If I had been a little older at the time, I would have looked like an extra from the cast of Meatballs.

When I discovered Blank Slate patterns, I knew that I had to make this pattern for Eva as soon as the weather was warm enough.

Contemplating a slide

As for the pattern itself, it was a joy to sew.  The printed pattern contains clear markings to line up and make it easier to tape the pages together, everything lined up beautifully, and the different sizes were well-marked. The instructions contained a nice amount of detail and were well-photographed. As a side note, this pattern contained one of the best step-by-step sets of instructions for how to apply a visible bias binding that I've run across. I think that a beginner could attempt this pattern and get really nice results.

Nearly all of the romper's seams are enclosed in a visible bias binding. This was a little time-consuming to do, but I think it's pretty clear that it "makes" the garment.

For my version, I used a remnant of red Sophia knit from my stash and strawberry-and-cherry print bias tape that I purchased for this project from Pacific Fabrics here in Seattle.

Love this binding!

I found the sizing to be accurate. Eva usually wears a 2T in ready-to-wear (RTW). She's slightly under average height and is slender for her age (she turns two in a few weeks). I sewed the 2T for her, and it fits perfectly.

The only modification that I made to the pattern was to add a snap crotch instead of sewing the crotch shut. Even though we don't need to change diapers quite as frequently as we used to, I didn't want to have to take her romper off every time that we changed her. To incorporate the snap crotch, I simply bound the inseam with bias tape and set three snaps into the binding. There might be a better way to do this, but this method seemed the most intuitive to me and seems to work just fine.

I really love how the romper turned out, and I definitely would like to make this again. The pattern specifies that it can be used for a knit or a woven; since I used a knit this time, I'd like to try it again in a woven. I might even get ambitious and make my own bias binding!

Until next time!

Finished project: Peek-a-Boo Patterns - Alex & Anna Summer PJs

Do you watch HBO's Game of Thrones? And if you do, do you remember the not-in-the-books scene from Season 2 where the lovely Emilia Clarke (as Daenerys Targaryen) did the whole overacted "Where. Are. My. DRAGONS?!?" bit? If so, then substitute the word "dragons" for "penguins", and you've witnessed my 2-year-old daughter at bedtime lately.

If you don't watch Game of Thrones, then just picture a very irate 2-year-old who is threatening a meltdown if she can't wear her warm flannel penguin pajamas because they're either in the wash or because it's 72 degrees F in the house. Before you suggest that I let her wear them anyway, even when it's warm, understand that Eva doesn't sleep when she's too warm. And when Eva doesn't sleep, no one else in the house gets to sleep, either.

Thankfully, I had somewhat recently added a penguin print knit to my stash from Girl Charlee to my fabric stash. (I grabbed it on closeout about two months back solely because of Eva's love of penguins.) I poked around on the internet for a pattern for kids' knit summer pajamas and found exactly one that came in a size 2T (Eva's size): the Peek-a-Boo Alex & Anna Summer PJ's. Thankfully, the pattern is a winner:

Happy Eva models her new PJ's. Happy Eva = Happy Mama.

As a side note, while I was lamenting the lack of variety in kids' summer PJ patterns, Blank Slate managed to release not one, but two, summer PJ patterns in the past week--the Sweet Pea pajamas and Sleepover Pajamas. Both patterns have since been purchased and downloaded to my laptop.

If you're new to sewing knits or are a beginning sewist, this is a great pattern for you. Both the pattern and pattern instructions are clearly geared towards beginners. Instead of dealing with sometimes-tricky knit hems, the legs and arms are finished with cuffed bands. The only actual hem is the t-shirt bottom. I whipped these up nearly entirely on my serger in a little two hours, including PDF taping time. Since Seattle's weather can vary quite a bit, I also sewed a pair of matching Oliver + S leggings so that Eva could wear these on cooler nights:

3-piece pajama set + toddler foot

A few things to note:

• Peek-a-Boo makes a conscious effort to reduce paper in that there are no paper pattern pieces for the neck and hem bands. In the instructions, you're given dimensions of the band for each size, and you can mark and cut the out yourself.
• On a similar note, the top front and back pieces use the same pattern piece, but with two different necklines drawn. To make things easier on myself, I simply printed out the two sheets of paper containing this piece twice so that I could have separate pieces.
• I found the neck opening to be quite small for my daughter's head. I dropped the neckline by an inch, and still found the opening a little tight. Since neither of my fabrics had much stretch, I finished the neckline with foldover elastic (FOE) to facilitate getting the top over her head, rather than add to the lack of stretchiness.
• For at least the 2T, I found the sizing to be very true to RTW of the same size. Eva normally wears a 2T, and I felt that these fit her perfectly. As the pattern description notes, these are a snug fitting pajama (as knit pajamas should be). You won't find the excessive ease of many Big 4 kids' patterns with these.

I will definitely be making more of these. They were super fast and easy to whip up, and more importantly, Eva loves them. 

Finished Project: Ottobre 6-2013 Pretty Basic Jersey shirt

I sewed my first Ottobre! It's only taken me two years into my subscription to finally make something from one of the magazines. Granted, I wasn't sewing much for Eva when she was a baby because it didn't make sense to me to invest the time in making her clothes when she was growing into a new size every three months. Plus, I felt that most of the Ottobre designs for babies were pretty basic. But, now that she's into toddler sizes, the fun begins!

Since this was my first shot at an Ottobre, I wanted to keep things pretty simple. I've had my eye on this simple raglan-sleeved top with a ruffle detail since the 6-2013 issue arrived in my mailbox last fall:

Ottobre 6-2013 "Pretty Basic Jersey top"

This top presented me with several "firsts" to check off my sewing list:

• First time sewing ruffles. (Hard to believe, I know, but I'm not a ruffly person for my own clothing. I've done flounces, but never a full-on ruffle before. They were a pain, but they turned out cute.)
• First time using the rolled hem stitch on my Babylock Evolve. This step took a while, but I think it was totally worth it and produced a really nice result. I will definitely be using that again.
• First time doing a lettuce edge on my Evolve. I opted for this finish to make the ruffles rufflier.
• And of course, first time sewing from an Ottobre magazine.

I traced the size 92cm for Eva, and when overlayed on one of her 2T t-shirts, it's nearly an exact match. The Ottobre appears to be slightly longer and slimmer fitting, which is actually a good thing given that Eva has a long, slim torso, but that was the only difference. I just finished the top this morning, though, so I haven't had a chance to try it on her yet (or get pictures of her wearing it). Based on how close it was to her t-shirt, I imagine that the fit will be fine.

As a technical writer, I was really impressed with the Ottobre instructions. The instructions were extremely precise while being concise enough to fit into half a page in the magazine. I love that they acknowledged that a home sewist might actually own and use a serger and coverstich. I found it to be a breath of fresh air that they suggested finishing the ruffles with a rolled hem finish, rather than giving me convoluted instructions to do a baby hem or suggesting an overlock over a rolled hem.

The fabric for this top/outfit was left over from the Oliver + S Playtime Tunic and leggings that I made last week.

I think that the finished top is really cute:

My ruffles take up less space on the front of the top because I goofed and folded them over, so they're doubled up. I'm not sure why I thought I needed to do this--it wasn't in the instructions, and there was nothing confusing in there, so I think it was just a brain fart. This top would have been much faster to construct had I made it the way that I was supposed to make it. Still, I like it, and I think that the ruffle detail is cute and girly without being obnoxiously so:

Ruffle detail

I made another pair of leggings from the Oliver + S Playtime tunic & leggings pattern to go with the top:

Ottobre top and Oliver + S leggings

Edit (1-April-2014): I did get a picture of Eva wearing her new top last night:

Ottobre ruffle top, modeled by Eva

Speaking of the Oliver + S outfit, I rather unsuccessfully tried to get some better pictures of Eva wearing her new outfit, but I figure you can get a better feel for how it looks on a "real girl" here:

Front view

Yes, she draped that IKEA bag around herself like that. No, I didn't let it stay around her neck for more than a minute when I saw what she'd done. The tunic is long-ish, but it looks longer from this camera angle than it really is.

Back view

Apologies for the messy, toddler-ized and dog-ized living room.

Mid-laugh

This was the best direct head-on shot that I could get. You get the idea. ;)

Finished project: Oliver + S Playtime tunic and leggings

We think that my daughter, Eva, has recently hit a growth spurt because everything has suddenly very quickly gotten to be too short on her. Her size 18M leggings and pants are all capri length now, and some of her 18M sized t-shirts are dangerously close to showing toddler tummy when she moves around. (She turns 21 months old today.) We have a handful of 2T sized outfits for her, but with the way she goes through clothing, I felt that it was best for me to take a break from sewing for myself for a couple of weeks and beef up her 2T sized wardrobe.

I ordered the PDF download version of the Oliver + S Playtime Tunic & Leggings back when the pattern was released, but of course, didn't get around to making it up until now. Oliver + S have really nailed the PDF format for their patterns; patterns are placed so that there's a minimum of taping sheets together. If a pattern piece can fit on one piece of paper, that's how it's laid out. I think that this format lends itself really well to kids' patterns where you will probably use several different sizes over the years--you don't have to worry about preserving the original pattern tissue for tracing. When you need a new size, simply print the pattern back out again. I'm not affiliated with O+S in any way; I'm just really impressed with how they do their PDF patterns.

In any case, here's the envelope picture for the tunic and leggings:

Leggings and a tunic with pockets! What could be more of a staple outfit for a little toddler girl? There's also a faux peter pan collar option. Here's the line drawing(s):

This is one of those projects where I made a bunch of changes and more or less ignored the instructions. I opted to use a couple of cotton-lycra blend jerseys (purchased at Mill End in Portland on our Portland trip last fall) for both the tunic/dress and leggings.

Oliver + S Playtime Tunic & Leggings - front view

Oliver + S Playtime tunic & leggings - back view

Most of the pattern changes that I made revolved around my choice to make the tunic in a knit rather than a woven:

• I eliminated the back placket and instead worked a bound keyhole opening to provide extra room for getting the dress over my daughter's head. To do this, I stitched the two back bodice pieces together so that there was a seamline at CB. I stopped stitching about 1.5" below the neckline and then bound the opening. I'm not sure if this is the "right" way to do a keyhole neckline, but it worked:

 

Keyhole opening adaptation

• As you can see from my photos, I bound the neckline, since I didn't use the facings. I used the same fabric as I used in the leggings for contrast.
• I used the peter pan collar pattern piece to applique a contrasting peter pan collar to the tunic. In the future, I think I'd alter this piece to make it a bit larger. (The pattern piece is actually a template for topstitching.)
• I didn't bother topstitching the pockets to the tunic skirt. 

Sizing for both the tunic and leggings is similar to a 2T in RTW brands like Carter's, OshKosh, and Old Navy. Unlike some toddler patterns, the back rise on the legging pattern piece is a bit longer and nicely accommodates going over a diaper in back. (i.e. No diaper exposed plumber butt with these.)

I'll take more/better photos when I get a chance, but here's a preview of Eva wearing her new outfit. (For size reference, she's on the border of the 18-24 month & 2T height ranges on the O+S size chart, so I opted for the larger size.) Apologies for the somewhat blurry toddler-in-motion pic:

Given the hit-and-miss of kids' pattern sizing, I'd tell you that this pattern is worth the cost just for the leggings piece alone (I've already made up a 2nd pair of the leggings, which will be paired with an Ottobre top), but the leggings are now available as a standalone, "singles" pattern. The fabric chart says that the 2T takes 3/4 yard for the leggings, but mine only needed 1/2 yard, and I sewed them straight off the PDF. They also only take about a half hour to make up, so I know that the leggings pattern will be getting a ton of use from me. Note that for the top, I opted for the tunic length, and it runs a little long and nearly reaches her knees, but this isn't a big deal with kids' clothes--just something to be aware of.

Overall, I think that Oliver+S patterns are generally really cute, but sometimes they're not overly practical for a kid like mine who's always climbing on things, rolling around on the ground, etc. This pattern, however, is both very cute and very practical for an active toddler girl.

Cursed projects: McCall's 6458 - Toddler pajamas

Note: I actually completed these back in 2013, but since they were a Christmas present for my daughter, I didn't get a chance to photograph them or really want to talk about them much before she had seen them. You have to keep some things a surprise, even for toddlers!

You know the type of sewing project...the ones where they should be easy, but it seems like every little thing goes wrong and every Big 4-ism seems ten times more annoying than it should be? These pajamas were one of Those Projects. Toddler pajamas.

McCall's 6458

A little history

A few months ago, shortly after purchasing my new-to-me Babylock Evolve serger/coverstitch, I   broke one of the two needles that the machine came with because I forgot to re-engage the knife when switching back to serger mode. Doh.

After running to several different local stores trying to find the correct needles for my machine, I ended up at Pacifc Fabrics, a store with a few locations around Seattle and a FANTASTIC selection of nice fabrics. While stopping by to get the needles, one fabric caught my eye. (Even though I wasn't fabric shopping and therefore not looking at fabric. At all. Pacific Fabrics had a nice beefy cotton flannel with a licensed Yo Gabba Gabba print. My daughter loves Yo Gabba Gabba. I had to buy the fabric, right?

I felt even more pressure once I got the fabric home; every time that Eva was in my sewing room, she'd manage to find "her Gabba fabric" (as it became known) and point to and name the different characters on the fabric. "Muno! Toodee!" She'd manage to find it even when I'd shoved it onto a shelve, pull of the fabric, and name characters. At this point, I decided that Gabba pajamas would make a great Christmas present, and I couldn't wait to see her face when she unwrapped her present and found that she could now actually wear her Gabba fabric!

The project

Toddler pajamas. What could be easier? Just a pair of elastic waist pants and a shirt with a convertible collar? I even found some really nice piping at Rose City Textiles on our Portland trip, so I decided to use McCall's 8458 for a pattern. Here's the line drawing--it looks like a pretty innocent pattern, doesn't it?

Granted, one of the reviews for the pattern was pretty negative, but I'm a reasonably experienced sewist, so how difficult could it be?

• The first issue that I ran into is that the pants run ridiculously long. I chose the 2T size, figuring that they would be a little big but would then give my daughter more months of wearing. I had to shorten the pant hem by 3 inches once they were complete to make them wearable. (She's 18 months old and just over the 50th percentile in height for her age, to give you reference.)
• The second issue that I ran into is that I stupidly followed McCall's construction order (sort of) for attaching the piped cuff. I have a fairly small free-arm space on my Bernina Activa 230, which allows me to sew into tight places pretty easily. The width of the cuff with the piping was too small to fit over the free arm, and with the added stiffness of the piping, this was a bear to attach. And the McCall's instructions actually wanted you to slip-stitch the inside part of the cuff to the sleeve. On toddler pajamas. I don't think so.
• The third issue is that I had two glasses of wine before deciding to attach the button band to the shirt. When I went to attach the button band to the shirt front, I found that the button band appeared to be about 5/8" too short. So I shortened the button band by 5/8". Doh! The shirt runs nearly as long as the pants, so a pair of scissors and re-hemming the shirt fixed my mistake. (Full disclosure: I am still not sure whether the button band actually runs short or if post-glass-of-wine, I had misaligned the seams.)

After the button band incident, I was completely over this project and was actually glad that I'd be away from my sewing machine for two weeks.

I should note that the pattern envelope has the following warning:

"Note: The garments in this pack are not intended for sleep apparel."

I guess that makes it a perfect match for the fabric, which had the warning that it was "not suitable for children's sleepwear". Or maybe I should have taken those to warnings together as an omen?

The result

Thankfully, in spite of drafting issues and boneheaded mistakes, the final pajamas turned out cute:

Eva celebrates her Christmas PJ's with her bedtime bottle:

Conclusion

No, I don't think I'd sew these again. If I wanted to make toddler sized piped pajamas, I'd check out the Lazy Day Pajamas from Blank Slate or Sleepover Pajamas from Oliver + S. The only reason that I didn't do that this time was that I was cheap (McCalls were on sale for $1.99 at Hancocks) and lazy (didn't want to tape pages together from a PDF or trace). I think I've learned my lesson here--when there's an option from an established indie, go for the indie over the Big 4 pattern for toddler patterns.

Would I recommend this pattern to others? Eh, there really aren't many piped pajama patterns out there for toddlers, and you can certainly make this one work, but I'm not sure that it's worth the headache just to save a few dollars. Just be forewarned. At least the finished pajamas turned out cute, and my daughter loves them. That's what matters.