Dinosaur Applique

My nephew turned 6 this week. How did that happen?? I will always remember the call that woke me up to announce his arrival in the world.

He happens to be an expert on dinosaurs, and a big fan of the color yellow, so this is what I made him for his birthday.

I was worried that he might be concerned about the lack of scientific accuracy--this is a guy who can sketch the evolutionary tree of all such prehistoric creatures--but I hear he was pleased. He even noted that it was sewn, rather than silkscreened. He appreciates the craftiness!

I bought the organic shirt from American Apparel and used my stash for the applique. I thought the polka dot scrap had dinosaur written all over it.

My Summer Un-Challenge

I don't like the commitment part of all the sewing challenges I see on my favorite blogs. I suppose I fear the commitment part. Or I dread recognizing that I have failed in my commitment....

So this is not a challenge. Or a commitment. More like a nebulous optimistic concept.

I would like to reach the end of the summer feeling proud that I have sewn one project each week. Can you see me visualizing success?

This is my first project. I used cotton knit from my stash to make a pair of soft shorts for H. This modification of the Oliver & S Sandbox Pants has become her favorite pattern.

Upcycled Surf Tee

Of course I forgot to take a photo of the ratty tshirt first. It was one of my husband's favorites, and I didn't ask him. I found a hole in the shoulder, so I consider myself justified.

The doll clearly needs board shorts.

American Kid doll

Surely I'm not the only one whose son who wants an American Boy doll for his 9th birthday? "It will be my last doll, Mommy."

But there are no American Boy dolls. There are scary dolls out there (http://www.carpatina.com/boydolls.html). And there are great customized dolls on Etsy. But American Girl does not sell 18" boy dolls. "Why don't they call it American Kid?" my son asked me.

I called the company. "We have boy Bitty Twins," the lady assured me. My son already has a boy Bitty Twin. They are marketed to kindergarteners. Santa brought the Bitty Twin in kindergarten. Now he is turning 9. He wants an American Boy doll. "Which dolls are the most masculine?" I asked her. "Excuse me?" she replied.

So I went to the store in Los Angeles. It was overwhelming, like Disneyland. I found Christian, an enthusiastic guy who was happy to stare at various noses and chins and lips with me. The historical-character dolls go by name, but the "Just Like Me" dolls go by number. Christian explained that 29 is the same as 32, only with longer hair, but 30 is very different (I've forgotten actual numbers). The dolls come with various hair colors, different parts, three skin tones, and so forth. You don't customize; you just choose the best match. We settled on 28 and 29, both with medium brown hair, brown eyes, and "medium" skin. I bought two dolls and a hair brush and headed out to my own stylist. Christian wished me luck.

I have known Victor since long before my husband. I would drive anywhere to see Victor. He decided on 29, which had a slightly rounder face. There was a more delicate chin on 28, which looked more feminine. "We're going to do a proper hair cut," he said, and sat the doll down.

 

At the American Kid store, they have miniature salon chairs. I didn't buy one, so it took two of us to hold the doll steady while he started to cut.

  

He cut a lot. Number 29 had long layers.

 Here is the talented and generous Victor:

Here is the boy, after Victor finished with him:

And here he is wearing his new clothes, which I made for him.

Handsome, no? I think B will be happy with his Last Doll.

Little Coat

I had some orange wool felt left over from a previous project (probably a birthday crown), so I made a doll coat for my 2yo niece for her birthday. It's so nice to sew with felt: no need for hemming!

Quick Change Trousers

With the recent changes to Gmail, I nearly overlooked an Evite to a friend's baby shower. Consequently I didn't have much time make a gift for the baby--her third child, a boy. Sewing made more sense than knitting, and I figured my friend would have about a zillion hats and blankets.

I used the "Quick Change Trousers" pattern from Anna Maria Horner's book Handmade Beginnings.

The little pants are reversible, and I used fabric from my stash. 

And here is the reverse:

Suitable Shorts

Shorts, not pants. Soft. No pinching. No rubbing. No scrunching. No buttons. No zippers.

Right.

Here they are:

I used the Class Picnic shorts pattern from Oliver +S. With tan corduroy and a floral print, both from my stash, they made her happy. That makes me happy.

B makes an apron

B decided he wanted to make an apron for H for Christmas. So he did.

He chose the fabric. I helped him a bit, mostly with guidance, but he did almost everything.

I found the free pattern on Sew Liberated. It was super simple and it fits H perfectly.

Thanksgiving dress

This is the School Photo dress dress from Oliver & S. I actually made it for Thanksgiving last year, but (a) it was even bigger then, and (b) she wouldn't wear it for a photo then. This year she liked it, especially the secret pockets that she made me promise I'd keep secret. It was the most complicated dress I've made, and I'm actually pleased with how well it came out. The adorable neckline bothered her eventually, but we've had at least two evenings out of it. Well, she wore it to dinner yesterday, but no during dinner. She ate naked.

Invisibility Cloak

Obviously you can't see it here, but you get the idea.

B wanted an invisibility cloak, so while we were in MN we went to Hancock Fabrics and found the perfect solution: silver Liquid Foil. He can see out just perfectly, while the rest of the world can't see a thing. And it feels fantastic: it's slippery and metallic and heavy in a cool way. I cut the yardage into three rectangles, and then just sewed the pieces together with a curved seam at the top. The raw edges definitely needed to be finished, as the fabric starts to run almost immediately.

It's even big enough for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. When they were first-years, anyhow.

Princess Gown

Somebody wanted a real gown for her "princess" doll, so I tried my hand with an honest-to-goodness Barbie pattern (McCalls 8552). I won't say it was easy, but it wasn't as difficult as I feared. I'm glad I chose the sparkly gold fabric: after all that fiddling, I wouldn't have wanted it to be just so-so.

Only now do I understand all the time and energy my grandmother put into making clothes for my Barbie. If only she had done it for a girl with a bit more foresight. I can perfectly picture the garage sale thirty years ago, when I sold them all.

Urban [un]Hoodie

This is the Urban Unisex Hoodie from Heidi & Finn, only without the hoodie. It's also without the lining, because she wanted to feel the soft inside of the sweatshirt fleece. She also specified a "rainbow heart," so I used fabric for a heart decal and bias tape along the front edge and neck. I'm happy with how it turned out. And so is she.

Doll dress

I made this dress as a little birthday gift for one of H's preschool friends. "New Doll" is shown modeling it.

I used the free Popover Doll Sundress pattern from Oliver & S, and I like how it turned out.

Sweater blanket

Finally finished!  Not sure I'd really recommend this project, or if I'm up for doing another. Though I love how it finally turned out, it was one of those projects that was quite frustrating at times.  Mainly because I wanted it to look tailored and sleek at the end, and mismatched bits of felted knit fabric apparently don't lend themselves to that look.

But for you brave souls, here's how I made it:

1. Acquire a stash of shrunken felted wool sweaters.  Its pretty critical that they are all of similar weights.  Cut into strips - I used a rotary cutter and made my strips around 4" wide.

2.  Sew your strips short end to short end to make long strips.  I used a zigzag stitch and contrasting thread and butted the fabric next to each other (did not overlap).  This is not particularly strong, but you'll reinforce later.

3.  Arrange your long strips into a pleasing arrangement, then sew the long strips to each other along their long ends also using a zigzag stitch.  I sewed them all into groups of three, and then combined the groups of three.  This is the VERY fiddly part.  One of my strips had much more stretch than the others and ended up pulling the whole thing out of square.  I ended up taking that one out in the end.

4.  A steam iron is your friend.  Once I had sewed all the strips together, I pressed it with a steam iron.  It really helped to flatten out the wavy seams and I could pull and stretch it until it was square again.

5.  Next, you are going to reinforce your seams with iron-on seam tape.  Lay the seam tape along the seams on the wrong side of your blanket and then cover with parchment paper and iron it.  It will melt the seam tape onto your seam and strengthen it. Apparently some of these tapes come with a peel-off backing.  Mine did not, so I used parchment paper so I didn't iron the seam tape TO my iron...

6.  Now add your backing fabric.  I used flannel.  Lay your fabrics on the floor, wrong sides together.  Then pin with safety pins down the center of your strips, not the seams.  Use lots of pins.  You may want to use your steam iron again to flatten out your blanket - I did (I really wanted mine to be square).

7.  Now you're going to quilt it.  Which means sew over your seams again with a zigzag stitch, through both layers of fabric.  This stitch will also sew through your iron-on seam tape, further strengthening your blanket.

8.  Last step is to bind your edges.  I had left extra length on my flannel side, so was able to just fold it over and stitch it down.  The other method would be to bind with separate strips of fabric.  No need to use bias cut fabric, it doesn't need to stretch.

I was inspired by this tutorial, and followed much of their instructions:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cashmere-Patchwork-Quilt/

Stashbusting

These little pyramid shapes are stuffed with tiny fabric scraps. And a
pinch of catnip. Our cat of course wants nothing to do with them. But
normal cats might...

Felted sweater "blanket"

So, for years(?!) I've been collecting shrunken wool and cashmere
sweaters at the thrift store whenever I find them. I now have 2
shelves worth. Shelves which are desperately needed for other things
in our one-bedroom apartment I might add.
My plan is to make blankets. But, I haven't been excited by the look
of other blankets I've seen - too patchworky, too country cottage.
But I finally found a photo. And was inspired. And spent the weekend
cutting several of the aforementioned sweaters into strips. At which
point, I decided I didn't LOVE the colorway, and wasn't sure I had
enough, and promptly lost interest.
But I did spend some time cutting the remaining scraps into hearts.
And sewed them into garlands. For Valentines Day gifts. Or to sell.
And here they are. Bad lighting and crappy iPhone photo as usual.

New Pajamas

These were supposed to be for Christmas, but since when do I finish anything on time?

I used the Sleepover pattern from Oliver + S. I love that company! They make me feel so talented.

Zipper Pouch

I finally made a zipper pouch! Months ago our dear friend Emma of Hello Beautiful taught a wonderful class on how to make these pouches. She was so clear in her instructions that, months later, I was successful on my first try.



This will be a gift for B's first-grade teacher on her birthday.

Pipecleaner People

These are the Halloween gifts for the kids, in exchange for their remaining candy.



I found a very helpful tutorial at Duckyknits, and the felt clothes were loosely inspired by some similar dolls I had bought from Dreamchild Studio on Etsy.

Oven mitts

So here's the inspiration (so to speak). Pretty appalling. I used Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing book as further inspiration, but followed my own pattern.

I had this great vintage thrifted cafe curtain from which I removed the trim.

I then cut insulation from an old felted wool sweater.  Next time I'll use two layers, because as Frank puts it, the one layer merely delays the painful burn :)

An old sheet as the inner lining.

And the finished product.  Aren't they cute?  Even if not completely effective.