happilycaffeinated: peekaboo patterns

Showing posts with label peekaboo patterns. Show all posts

Friday, October 23, 2015

This Week in Patterns (23-Oct-2015)

We had a pretty interesting week of new patterns this week, including a couple of major indie releases and a new BurdaStyle Plus collection. Here are the new entries:

BurdaStyle Plus
Colette Patterns
Pauline-Alice
Peekaboo Patterns
StyleArc

BurdaStyle (Plus): November 2015 collection (Canal Walks)

I've been so impressed with BurdaStyle's plus collections as of late that I recently spent a chunk of birthday money on a trial subscription (after not having subscribed in ~5 years). While maybe not as outstanding as the September 2015 collection, November's collection has a few pieces that are right up my alley.

11-2015 #130: Cuffed Culottes

First up is a completely unremarkable pair of culottes. Can you even call these culottes--they don't really have any of the volume associated with culottes and look like long shorts or short capris to me. This is probably the worst design out of this group.

11-2015 #130: Cuffed culottes

11-2015 #129: Button Up Blouse

Up next is a nice basic: a darted button-up blouse. I think that this could be a nice alternative to the Grainline Archer for those of us who wear larger sizes. Note that the Burda (unlike the Archer) has a bust dart for shaping.

11-2015 #129: Button up blouse

11-2015 #128A & B: Shirt Dress and Tunic

Next up are my two favorite pieces of the collection--a retro-inspired shirt dress and tunic. I love the gathered shoulders, open neckline, and tie option on these.

11-2015 #128A: Shirtdress

11-2015 #128B: Tunic

11-2015 #127: Long Sleeve Dress, Skirt with Flounce, Pencil Skirt

This collection has three views that all use variations on the same skirt pattern. There's a long-sleeved dress, a skirt with a flounce, and a plain pencil skirt (which I'm not including a photo of because...it's a pencil skirt and we all know what that looks like).

11-2015: #127: Long sleeved dress

11-2015 #126: Pencil skirt with ruffle

11-2105: #124 Long Pea Coat

Finally, we have a coat and jacket pattern that uses the same base pattern. I'm not a huge fan of the lack of shaping here, but I do think that it's a sharp-looking coat and jacket, and it has nice details. The coat has an optional removable fur collar.

11-2015: #124: Long pea coat

11-2015 #122: Belted jacket

Colette Patterns: Wren Dress

We finally have our latest non-Seamwork release from Colette Patterns, and it's a knit surplice/faux-wrap dress. It's a pretty enough dress, but I'm a little wrap dress'ed out at the moment. The gathered front bands are a nice detail, and I like that it comes with two different choices of skirts. As far as whether I'd purchase it, though, I think I'll wait to see some reviews and how it looks on a curvy figure first.

Colette - Wren dress

Pauline-Alice: Rosari Skirt

OMG, this is such a cute skirt! Love the 70's vibe and the different length and pocket options. Yes, you could find a similar skirt in a vintage pattern, but this one has a decent (not great) size range, and the PDF is only 8,00€.

Pauline Alice - Rosari skirt

Peekaboo Patterns: Bristol Button-up

I haven't typically included Peekaboo patterns in these roundups because the early women's designs in this line all had similar alternative patterns that were available many other places (e.g. a raglan tee), the samples appeared to have fit issues, and they lacked line drawings. They still lack line drawings, but to give credit where it's due, Amy released a cute hoodie with an asymmetrical zipper a little while back that's been getting rave reviews, and now she's released a shirt-jacket that's a fun 90's callback: the Bristol Button-up.

Peekaboo - Bristol button-up

Remember those flannel shirts with the knit hood? That's what this is. I had a neighbor in the dorms who used to wear one of these all the time. The main things that I remember about him were that shirt and the fact that he used to play Wolfenstein at all hours, blasting the sound over the speakers from his IBM 386. ("Guten Tag!") This pattern comes in sizes from an XXS-XXXL and is fairly reasonably priced for an indie. (And if you question whether these are actually coming back in style, there's a kids' version of this shirt in the December Burda preview.)

StyleArc: Louisa Dress/Top

I'm either in an unusually good mood, or there have been some really cool patterns released this week. The latest from StyleArc also falls into the "want" category.

StyleArc - Louisa top/Dress

I love the seaming/darts and how they open up into pleats to make a full-skirted dress. On the other hand, I know that that neckline (when zipped) isn't going to work for me, so I'll wait to see a review or two on this one to make sure that the zipper can be worn semi-open to give more of a v-neck-style neckline.

Final Thoughts

What were your favorites out of this week? Mine are actually the Burda Plus shirtdress (no surprise there) and the new Peekaboo Bristol (I'm wearing Doc Martens while I type that, BTW) AND I really like the Pauline Alice skirt. I quite like the StyleArc dress, too, but think I'll need to see it made up a few times first.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Last Week in Patterns (28-June-2015)

It's Sunday, and we have a LOT of patterns to look through, including early Autumn releases from Simplicity and McCall's, both of which had some nice patterns. Grab a cup of coffee and a nice breakfast pastry because we're going to be here for a while.

Here's the list of the releases that we'll be covering today:

Cake Pattern: Tidepool Collection
Closet Case Files: Sallie Jumpsuit and Maxi-dress
McCall's: Early Autumn 2015 release
Peek-a-boo Patterns: Friday Harbor blouse and dress
Simplicity: Early Autumn 2015 release

Cake Patterns: Tide Pool Collection, Wave 1

After a long hiatus of about a year and a half, StephC from Cake Patterns has released a new pattern collection for summer called "Tidepool". She'll be releasing this collection in two waves, and it will consist of three top patterns that can be paired with two bottom patterns, all with multiple views. She's just released the Wave 1, which consists of two shell patterns and a pattern for pants or shorts.

I'll admit that while I was turned off a bit from Cake after Steph's social media meltdown a while back, I do like a few of the patterns in the collection. Granted, I'm not sure that anyone needs three different knit shell patterns that, at first glance, all appear to be pretty similar but with different details.

Pipi Shell

Like all Cake Patterns, you'll draft/trace the Pipi Shell to your own measurements. This is a simple pattern, but I like it. Cut out backs and back details are all the rage these days, but unlike a lot of patterns I've seen along that line, this one is actually bra-friendly. I'd consider this one.

Cake - Pipi Shell

Janthina Shell

Whereas I kinda liked the Pipi shell, I'm pretty meh on the Janthina. It just reminds me too much of those tops with flounces that everyone was sewing a few years ago. Both Simplicity and HotPatterns had variations on this, and I'm just not ready for flounces to come back yet.

Cake - Jathina shell

Endeavor Trousers

These are easily my favorite pattern out of this bunch. The seaming and pocket details, while not totally original, are also something that you don't see in a lot of sewing patterns. The trouser legs are a bit wide for 5'2" me, but I suspect that's something that you can customize with this pattern, at least somewhat. And I just think that the shorts are really cute and wearable.

One thing that I'll point out is that the shorts and pant samples fit Steph very well--no weird crotch wrinkles or butt drag lines or anything. Granted, this is easier to accomplish with a wide legged trouser than, say, a pair of skinny jeans, but we've also seen plenty of pant patterns from other indies that have had insane crotches or other fitting red flags. Outside of the fact that I feel like these look too long on Steph (or that she should have been wearing different shoes), I think that many of us would be really happy to have trousers that fit like these.

Cake - Endeavor Trousers and Shorts

Closet Case Files: Sallie Jumpsuit and Maxi-Dress

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. I think it's cute, but I've been hoarding jumpsuit and maxi-dress patterns for a while and have options that are fairly similar to most of the views here that I'd wear.

If you're not like me and don't hoard jumpsuit and maxi-dress patterns; however, this one does provide you with quite a few options. I do really like that Heather included both bra-friendly and non-bra-friendly views in this pattern, so that those of us who do not have the option of wearing a strapless bra aren't left out in the cold. I'll be putting this one in my "like it, but probably don't need it" pile.

Closet Case Files - Sallie Jumpsuit and Maxi-dress

McCalls: Early Fall Release 2015

Much like their early spring release about six months ago, there are quite a few patterns that really like in McCall's Early Fall release. What's interesting to me about this collection is that I've been seeing many of these looks popping up in RTW around Seattle. A valid criticism of the Big 4 is that their patterns are sometimes a step behind RTW trends, but you could walk into a department store today and buy pieces that are similar to a lot of the patterns in this collection.

Also, remember that cute brunette model with the short hair that we all liked so much from the Early Spring release? She's back, and she's still damn cute.

If you haven't already refilled your cup of coffee, now is the time to do so.

M7187: Misses' Dress with panel inset and drop-waist skirt options

I think that this dress is really cute. I like the princess seam inset/panel, and the skirt options on the drop-waist are interesting.

M7187

M7188: Misses Dress (with cup sizes)

Princess seams, a short midriff band, and a quarter circle skirt? I'm there. The styling in the sample photo is really unfortunate, but look beyond that and see what a cute, potentially flattering dress there is in the line drawings.

M7188

M7199: Knit jacket with asymmetrical zipper

I've been seeing this style of jacket all over Seattle. They're really cute on a lot of women. I was actually figuring that I'd buy the StyleArc Marie, which is relatively inexpensive in PDF form, to knock off this style, but now McCall's has put out a nearly identical version of this look. The "No provisions provided for above waist adjustment" is a little concerning, though, given that I know I'd need to FBA this.

M7199

M7192: Misses' Tops with sheer overlay

I've been seeing these blouses with the asymmetrical sheer overlays around town a lot so far this summer. I've stayed away from these patterns with the overlays on the front before because I was afraid that the fabric would hang unattractively off of my boobs, but I'm less concerned about that with this version, since the overlay fabric would be a lightweight, drapey sheer.

M7192

M7195: Misses' Woven Sweatshirts

Woven t-shirts have been huge for the past couple of summers, so it makes sense that the next step in this trend evolution would be a woven sweatshirt, right? I live in the sweatshirt capital of the world, so of course, I'm going to give this one a try.

M7195

M7203: Misses' Romper and Jumpsuit

Because I hoard but don't make romper and jumpsuit patterns. Well, to be honest, part of that is that I've been searching for a romper/jumpsuit pattern that had the following elements that previously had been difficult to find all in one pattern: button front, elastic waist, easy to FBA. This pattern checks all of those boxes. Have I finally found the pattern that I'll use to test drive this trend?

M7203

M7214: Kids' and Adults TMNT and Minion costumes

Minions! And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! All part of the same pattern! Eva is really into minions right now, so this pattern will be a likely contender for this year's Halloween costume.

M7211: Frozen Costumes for Dogs

Frozen costumes for dogs. I have nothing else to say about this.

M7211

Simplicity: Early Fall Release 2015

Simplicity released a small batch of patterns earlier this week (although these patterns had been appearing around JoAnns' stores for at least a week before this). As is typical with their early fall releases, this batch contained a few costume patterns that I suspect Simplicity expects to sell well for Halloween. There are also some nice basics for fall, including a jacket that I absolutely love.

Simplicity 1066: MimiG Lined Jacket

Generally, MimiG's style and my own style don't have a whole lot of overlap, but OMG, I LOVE THIS JACKET pattern! First off, it's actually a lined jacket pattern (as opposed to draft your own lining and figure things out), it includes multiple cup sizes--up to a DD in the larger range, which is what I use, it has shoulder princess seams (yay!), and I really like the optional details--you could either go with a bit of a military look or incorporate some faux leather piecing.

We know what jacket pattern I'll be making this fall, right?

Simplicity 1066 - MimiG jacket

Simplicity 1063: Misses' Knit Tops

Based on my experience with a similar HotPatterns knit top that I ended up not wearing much, I don't think that Simplicity 1063 is the best look for me, but it's an interesting pattern that incorporates some draping and a crossover in a kind of cool way. (There was also a similar BurdaStyle pattern about a year and a half ago.)

Simplicity 1063 - Misses Knit Tops

Simplicity 1061: Sew Chic lined dress and jacket

This dress is cute as heck (especially in the fabric that they chose), although it's probably not something that I would sew/wear. I suspect that we'll see lots of cute versions of this one out and around the SBC in coming months.

Simplicity 1061: Sew Chic dress

Simplicity 1095: Misses' (Dr. Who) Costumes

I don't watch Dr. Who myself, but I know plenty of people who are really into it. One of the most Seattle cars I've seen since moving here was a Fiat with a "My Other Ride is a Tardis" sticker on it. This costume is for the driver of that car.


Simplicity 1095: Misses' (Dr. Who) Costumes

Simplicity 1094 & Simplicity 1097: Girls' and Misses' Frozen Fever costumes

Were you a child in the early 80's? Did you play with Star Wars action figures? Do you also happen to remember how George Lucas would license and Kenner would sell action figures who appeared in all of ONE SHOT of the original trilogy? Like this guy--Hammerhead? (He was featured in exactly one shot of the Cantina Scene in Episode IV.)

Star Wars Hammerhead action figure

Disney/Simplicity appear to be heading down a similar route with the movie Frozen and its characters. With a true sequel somewhere on the distant horizon, Disney ran a 10-minute animated short called "Frozen Fever" before the live-action version of Cinderella a few months ago. We now have a set of women's, children's, and 18" doll costumes from Simplicity, based on the dresses that Anna and Elsa wore in that short. Has Frozen jumped the shark? And is this worse than Anna and Elsa costumes for a dog? (FWIW, my 3-year-old is currently more into Thomas the Train and minions than she is into Frozen.)

Simplicity 1094

Simplicity 1097

Final Thoughts

So when is the next McCall's sale at JoAnn's?

Scrolling through this post, I feel like a cat in a room full of laser pointers. This one! No, I'm getting this one!

My picks for the week are the Endeavor (I actually have a voucher for a free pattern from Cake from my "house" winning a long-ago sewalong), the MimiG jacket from Simplicity, and a whole lot of the new McCall's patterns. Which are your favorites out of this bunch?

Monday, October 6, 2014

Finished project: Peek-a-Boo Patterns - Poppy Polo Dress / Versatile Blogger Award

So, I finished a new dress for Eva two weeks ago. After several wears and many attempts to get Eva to stand still enough to get decent photos for this blog, I gave up. These are the best that I got:

Peek-a-Boo Patterns Poppy Polo dress

Here's a flat view of the dress, so you can see what it looks like when it's actually not in motion:


Poppy Polo dress - not in motion

For this dress, I used Peek-a-Boo Pattern's Poppy Polo pattern, which includes both a top and a dress option. Amy from PAB originally drafted this pattern with the intention that it could be used for a school uniform or dress code, where needed.

PDF and pattern drafting notes

The pattern printed out just fine.
Two things to note about Peek-a-Boo patterns:

There's no key or cues to taping the pieces together. Now, this is a kids' garment, and there aren't a lot of pages, so it's pretty easy to figure out what goes where. However, if you like having matching circles or letters to help you tape, be aware that this pattern line doesn't use them.
The pattern lines for the different sizes are color coded, but do not use things like dotted or dashed lines. This makes it a little harder to tell pattern sizes apart if you print out your PDFs in black and white.

The PDF uses very little paper. You cut things like sleeves and the collar on the fold. The top front and back use the same pattern piece with different necklines. The two ruffle tiers for the dress are rectangles that you're given dimensions for and draft yourself.

Fabric

The fabric for this dress is a cotton/rayon/spandex blend from Girl Charlee. The ribbing is a rayon rib knit, also from Girl Charlee. The size 3T dress took one yard of the main fabric and remnants of the ribbing. The main fabric is fairly lightweight, has some vertical stretch, and is very, very soft.

Pattern sizing

Eva is on the cusp of the 2T/3T size break on the Peek-a-Boo size chart, so I sewed her a size 3T. As you can see, the dress version ran a bit long, which isn't something that I've seen in other Peek-a-Boo patterns before. Granted, my fabric did have vertical stretch, which I'm sure doesn't help. Seeing the hem cut-off for the top version, I do think that the top will run a bit more true-to-size, length-wise. Obviously, if/when I sew the dress version again, the length will be an easy enough fix.

Pattern instructions

I found the instructions to be a bit of a mixed bag. Is it possible for instructions to be too detailed towards beginners?

To elaborate, I've never made a contrast knit polo placket before, so I'm answering this question from that perspective: I found the instructions for the placket to be confusing. I had to rip out the placket and re-do it three times before I got to a point where I was satisified-for-a-first-try with it. I think that it will go a lot smoother the next time, and I definitely will use this pattern again. What tripped me up is that I thought that the instructions were both too directed at a real beginner but not simple enough. They rely very heavily on the color photos in the PDF, which is fine if you're reading them from a computer screen, but I'd printed them out in black-and-white to have them right next to me as I pinned and sewed. (Full disclosure: I don't normally print out PDF instructions unless there's a new technique that I want to be hand-held through. The polo placket fit the bill for wanting some hand-holding from me.) Given that the photos show light thread on a light-colored placket, I had trouble telling what was stitched vs. pressed seam allowance on some photos, which led to some of my frustration. Additionally, there are times when the whole thing could have been made easier to understand by simply saying, "Stitch with a 1/4 seam allowance," rather than trying to describe that without saying it. Once I feel more confident in the placket technique, I'm thinking that I might put up a tutorial on my blog because the instructions for this drove me so nuts! Outside of the placket instructions, I thought that the rest of the instructions were fine. The order of construction made sense and techniques used were appropriate for the garment.

Here are photos of my good-enough polo placket:

Poppy polo placket - closed

Poppy polo placket - open

And just for kicks, here's one of my outtake photos of Eva showing off The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Showing off her caterpillar!

Overall, I think it's a cute dress and a good, versatile pattern. I suspect that the contrast polo placket will be much easier the next time around. If I feel like I've really got the technique nailed, I'll post a tutorial here, since I couldn't find much online to help me with this particular variation on a polo placket.

Versatile Blogger Award

A couple of weeks ago, I was nominated by the lovely and funny Rox at Brand New Old-Fashioned for the Versatile Blogger Award. I responded to her that I'd write my post later in the week, but I was just about to post my "around the world" blog hop post and wanted to space out my ramblings about myself a bit. So, I'm writing my post now--I didn't forget!

The rules for this blog award are simple: Share 7 things about yourself and nominate up to 15 other bloggers. Here are 7 things that you might not know about me:

You probably know that I have cats (and a dog). But did you know that my oldest cat is 17 years old and that I've had him since he was just a few weeks old? I actually helped bottle-raise him and consider him my "furry first-born".
I played clarinet in my high school marching band. I'm still friends with many of my fellow band geeks.
I've been to Japan, France, and Italy twice, and have been to England and Scotland, but have never been to New York City outside of a layover at the airport.
My next selfish sewing project (after I complete Eva's Halloween costume) will be a winter coat. Interlined with thinsulate, bound buttonholes, and everything.
Outside of my very early childhood, I had never experienced a real "fall" until we moved to Seattle last year. Same goes for snow that didn't require a drive to the mountains.
One of my biggest thrills as a teenager was seeing Depeche Mode from the 6th row on their World Violation tour.
Meltdowns aside, being the mother of a 2-year-old is way, way more fun that I possibly could have imagined.

To keep the chain going, I'm nominating L at You Sew, Girl!, Naskisha at Sew Crafty Chemist, and Gillian at Crafting a Rainbow.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Projects in progress (September 2014)

Well, I was hoping to have a new "finished project" to blog about in my first "real content" post of the week. However, while I do have a new finished project (as of last Friday), I do not have photographs of the recipient (my daughter) wearing said project yet, thanks to the brief preview of fall weather we've had this week in Seattle. Instead, I'll give a quick update on what I've been working on and hope to have finished pretty soon.

Finished

To start, last week, I sewed up this adorable romper, which I made using the Green Bee Patterns Sally Romper and Dress pattern:

Green Bee Patterns Sally Romper

I wasn't at all familiar with the Green Bee pattern company, but I fell in love with the envelope picture for this when I was browsing Drygood Design last month. I love how this turned out, but I'll talk more about the pattern when I have photos of Eva actually modeling it and do my full write-up. (She's only gotten to wear it for about 2 hours so far, due to our cool weather streak.)

In-progress

I feel like I'm in limbo, weather-wise right now. One day, we'll have a high of 60 degrees F. Four days later, we'll have a high of 85 F. My sewjo for making more summer dresses is pretty much gone at the moment, but on the other hand, we're having too much warm weather for me to really want to commit to fall sewing with, say, a jacket project. What's a sewist to do?

How about sew a casual-but-funky knit top with elbow-length sleeves, which can either be worn alone or layered under something when the weather cools? I dug out my several-years-old-but-never-sewn HotPatterns Triple Torque Top pattern. The pattern actually contains three different top patterns with different draping details in front. I chose this particular view because it reminded me of that BurdaStyle pattern with the asymmetrical drape that everyone was sewing last winter. I liked everyone else's versions of that top, but it only went up to a Burda size 44, and I was intimidated by the thought of grading up/adjusting those odd shaped pattern pieces. While the HotPatterns version as a few notable differences from the Burda version, the spirit of the two tops is similar. I hope to finish mine up in the next couple of days:

HP Torque Top (in progress)

Just Started

As I think I've posted before, I sew for 30 minutes before everyone else gets up every weekday morning. On weekends, I grab what sewing time I can, sometimes accompanied by my 2-year-old "helper", depending on what my husband needs to get done around the house/yard. What that means is that I can't count on any "floor time" to tape together PDF patterns or cut fabric on weekends, since both of those activities attract my daughter far worse than all four of our cats combined. I have learned that in order to be most efficient with the sewing time that I have, I need to do any pattern taping/tracing and fabric cutting during my weekday morning sessions. Even though I am loathe to leave something as a UFO (other than garments that are pretty much destined to be wadders), this means that sometimes I have to start on the prep stage of a pattern before my last project is finished.

With that in mind, I have taped together the PDF pattern and prewashed fabric for my next project--the Peek-a-Boo Patterns Poppy Polo Dress:

Peek-a-Boo Patterns Poppy Dress

Over the summer, Eva grew. She was on the border of a size 18M/2T at the beginning of the summer, and now her RTW 2T clothes are too short. Until I get her fall wardrobe (size 3T!) built up a bit, I will be alternating selfish sewing projects with selfless sewing for her. Expect to see many toddler projects from me over the next few months.

After finishing these projects, I'm not sure what I'll tackle. HotPatterns released a "mini-me" version of their essential shift dress pattern, so at the moment, I'm leaning towards making mommy-and-me versions of that dress. Because I'm a dork. But if you read my blog, you already knew that.

Friday, May 30, 2014

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.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

A few favorite online fabric resources

I want to thank you all for the interesting discussion that came out of my last post on my pet peeves about being a plus sized sewist. I'd had a rough week and felt like I needed to vent about something. I was very glad to see that the comments were all thoughtful and respectful. (When I first posted, I had no idea if there'd be trolls coming out of the woodwork telling me that if I didn't like something, I should lose some weight. Thankfully, there was none of that.)

This week has been going a bit better. I've got one new finished project (previewed below) and a successfully wearable muslin (the HP Weekender Daytona Hoodie) in the works, but not ready to be blogged yet.

I'm in a happier mood and would like to talk about something that makes all of us sewists happy...fabric. Now, unlike San Diego, Seattle actually has a decent array of fabric stores for garment sewists. However, I still do most of my fabric shopping online because online fabric shopping doesn't ever involve having to pry a bolt of Elmo fabric out of the hands of an emotional two-year-old.

I feel like I'm a fairly seasoned veteran when it comes to online fabric shopping, but I know that many other sewists out there are either apprehensive about buying fabric that they can't see or touch in person or have a couple of favorite stores and haven't ventured from those. Most of the rest of this post will be dedicated to sharing my own personal favorite online fabric sources and giving a rundown at what each store excels at and what that store possibly leaves to be desired.

One thing that I'll note is that I have a heavy bias towards fabric suppliers that carry designer or other RTW apparel overruns. (These are fabrics left over from the apparel manufacturing process. I find that they usually give me the best shot of a final garment with a RTW appearance.) My personal assessment of each store includes the following information:

Summary/URL: Description of the store and URL to the storefront.
Pros: Things I like about the store.
Cons: Things I don't like about the store.
Don't miss: The absolute standout thing(s) about the store.
Wishlist feature: Is there some sort of "wishlist" feature where you can bookmark fabrics to your account for possible later purchase?
Remaining yardage: Does the site list the remaining yardage of a fabric (allowing you to wait for a sale before pulling the trigger)?
Shipping costs: Shipping costs within the US.

I don't have any affiliations with any of these stores; I'm just a satisfied customer. Note that these are all US-based stores; international shipping policies vary by store.

In alphabetical order...

Emma One Sock

EmmaOneSock is a high-end online fabric store run by Linda Podietz. Quality is beautiful, and inventory generally turns over quickly. If you see something that you like, you're best off placing an order quickly. (Note that Linda will hold orders and wait to see if you like something else so that your order can be shipped more efficiently.) This site is generally out of my price range; however, it's a good source for "special" fabric when you've already made a pattern a few times and want a more special garment.

Yes, accordingly called "wishlist".

Remaining yardage listed?

Yes.

Shipping costs

Shipping costs are based on the weight of your order and calculated at checkout.

What are your favorite online fabric sources? Have a missed a particularly great store?

Memorial Weekend Sewing: Summer pajamas for a toddler

I'll do a full blog post on these when I'm able to take some pictures of Eva actually wearing them, but I spent my "sewing time" over the long Memorial Day weekend sewing a three-piece summer pajama set for my daughter:

Peek-a-boo Anna & Alex Summer PJs with Oliver+S leggings

Please excuse the toddler leg photobomb; I was in a hurry and was unable to move her out of the shot--she really didn't want to NOT be touching her new pajamas.

A quick rundown of this project is that we realized during our recent "heatwave" (temperatures in the low 80s! In Seattle!) that Eva only had about two sets of summer pajamas in her current size (2T). I wanted to make her a few more sets, and this is the first set in that series. I used the Peek-a-Boo Patterns Alex & Anna Summer PJ's for the top and shorts and a slightly modified version of the Oliver+S Playtime leggings for the leggings. I added the leggings to the original pajama set to increase their versatility for our varied weather in Seattle. The penguin fabric is a no-longer available cotton blend jersey from Girl Charlee.

These were very easy to sew, fit true-to-size, and I love how they turned out (and Eva does too). Blank Slate just released a new summer PJ pattern, too, and while I haven't bought that one yet, I'd like to give that one a try, too.