FO: Christmas Accessories

Holy cow it's past Valentine's Day and I still haven't posted about these, lol. Whoops.

After making my Christmas Dress, I had over a yard of fabric left with which to make matching pieces for the others in my life. When mentioning this to my friend, he asked if I was going to make him a tie to match my dress, which of course made me ask, "Do you want a tie to match my dress?" And this project was born :) 

Having never made a tie before, I just followed the free Men's Tie tutorial and pattern from Purl Soho. In the pattern it says that it's designed to be 2 inches shorter than standard, so I lengthened the pattern 2 inches off the bat thinking it would put it back to regular tie length. I very much fussy cut the fabric to keep the tree in the center of the tie when worn, which means I did not cut this fabric on the bias as suggested. It seems that both of these things combined made for a tie that was comically too short. He was able to tie it, and he was a good sport and wore it to church with me, but the end of the tie was only about 2 inches past the knot once tied, and it stuck off to the side very obviously, lol.

I'm pretty proud of how well this was constructed though :) Lots of ironing and hand sewing, but it really is not difficult at all to make a tie.

This was also the perfect opportunity to use my brand spanking new personalized labels I bought during the Dutch Label Shop sale on Black Friday weekend. I've never had any of these made just because I could never decide on a design and always planned on making one that matched my blog. I've seriously wanted to make some for years - ever since they became popular on the blogosphere - but not deciding on a design always kept me from it. This year I decided to just get something simple in a color I liked - and here we are :) Done is better than perfect, yes?

And look how great it looks on the tie back! When I put it how a tie should be (like in this photo) the label works to hold the bottom of the tie in place, but given that it was way too short this didn't work so well in real life, lol. But this is my first tie and my first time ever using my own labels, so there's that.

After the tie, I went about making toddler dresses for my little ladies. I just grabbed a plain white t-shirt from Hobby Lobby for each girl and cut it off to match a dress they already have and I liked the length of. Then I just laid the shirt on the fabric and kept the a-line shape going to create the skirt. I serged the whole thing together (except for top stitching the hem) and this project seriously took about 30 minutes including decision making time.

And I made 2 of them :) I had originally planned to jazz up the top in some way - maybe with a riffle or some covered buttons or something just to make it not so plain. In the end I could never decide and it was Christmas time, so they just wore them as you see. They look cute in anything, so it was all good. Sadly, I did not get a single photo of all of us, or even just of the girls in their dresses. We looked cute at church though, trust me, lol.

Even with making these extra projects in my beloved tree fabric I still have a nice chunk of it left, so maybe next Christmas will see new coordinating pieces that fit better. I'm mostly just glad I finally made my dress happen, so these little side projects are just an added bonus.

FO: A Tale of Two Bosties

This is a shirt with an interesting story, lol. It all started when I was looking on Joann's website at the new fabric designs and came across this Boston Terrier printed cotton interlock from their Doodles line. My sister, Shannon, has a Boston Terrier named Willie and totally loves him. I suddenly decided she needed a Bostie shirt for her birthday (which was in 6 days at that point). I drove to Joann's right then and had to do some hunting to find this print, but find it I did and I walked out with enough to make a shirt.

I asked my sister what she likes in a shirt fit-wise and decided to make her a Deer + Doe Plantain but with the raised neckline of the Sewaholic Renfrew. I didn't like the idea of using such a large print for the neck band so I dug through my stash of knits and decided to use this bright aqua blue rib knit I got at a thrift store and I love how it turned out :)

When I finished the shirt, I was really in love with it and on a serious roll. I had the notion that I could make a matching shirt for my nephew with the larger leftover pieces. That night I saw my sister and literally took the t-shirt off my nephew's back to trace a pattern from, which I did that night. He's much bigger than I anticipated, so I was only able to use the Bostie fabric on the front panel and even that I had to piece with a bottom band to get it long enough. Luckily I had plenty of the rib knit, so I just used that for all the other pieces.

So here's where it gets interesting, lol. My sister came to visit from Oklahoma a week after I made the shirt, and I quickly suspected that she would not be as amused with the Bostie fabric as I was - not in a bad way or anything, she just has a more contemporary and (dare I say) adult style then myself, haha. I had a cute Lauren Conrad blazer I picked up at a thrift store recently and thought at the time that it looked like something Shannon would wear, so I brought the Bostie shirts and gave a big schpeal that she did not need to feel obligated to keep the Bostie shirt if she thought she would never wear it and that I had an alternative offering if she so chose. I was right - I liked the shirt way more than she did (like I had actually thought of going out and getting more of the fabric to make myself one) but she did like the blazer. So now I have my own Bostie shirt and Shannon has a blazer and all is well, lol. I still insisted on doing a photo shoot with the original recipients along with her dog though before they left.

The fit came out really well so at least I know what size to make if/when I decide to make a shirt more to her taste in the future, lol. Luke didn't want to wear his shirt at first, but once we convinced him to put it on he refused to take it off so clearly he's a fan. It is now his "Willie shirt" since that's the only Bostie he knows. Willie clearly approves as well.

Haha - gross.

So now for the particulars. I made the short sleeve length and just added bands that were the same length as the bottom of the sleeve piece (personally I hate sleeves that hold tight when worn). So it turned out as a sort of cuter version of a ringer tee.

I'm really pleased with the fit on this shirt - it's snug enough to give me a shape but not digging in anywhere.

I think the fabric is so much fun! Even though I'm a corgi lover, how can you deny the cute-ness of these Bosties? Amiright?!

I did manage to get a few pictures of Luke in his shirt the night I gave it to him. These are all his own poses - my personal favorite is the "pregnant lady pose" in the center, lol. Who knows how he came up with that one. His shirt actually came out a little big, which is surprising and a bit of a relief because I was worried it wouldn't be long enough for him compared to the shirt I made the pattern from. The blue ribbing seems to have caused the shirt to grow a bit, but it's kind of a good thing because it means he will be able to wear it longer.

For the adult version, I decided to be fancy with switching my thread colors on the top stitching. Ooh, so fancy! I used my favorite twin needle finish wherever possible and always had woolly nylon thread in the bobbin. Around the neckband I used white thread while at the sleeve bands I used a matching aqua blue color so it doesn't distract. I'm pretty proud of how the sleeves turned out for such an improvised thing. I didn't want actual hem bands, so these are done like the neckband - I stitched the pieces right sides together, pressed the bands under at a width I liked the look of, then top stitched the hem in place. It looks a little interesting on the inside, but it's still neat and clean - there's just 2 seam allowances there now.

So that's it :) The shirt that wasn't actually intended for me but is now mine. It's like I made myself a gift! lol Those are always the best kinds anyway. I look forward to wearing it around on casual days to come. And my nephew thinks it's pretty cool that we have matching shirts too :) #coolestauntforthewin

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards of Doodles Boston Terrier Cotton Interlock Knit - $9.00, aqua blue rib knit - $0.25 (thrifted)
Patterns: Plantain by Deer + Doe with Renfrew neckline
Notions: knit interfacing - $0.10, thread - $0.50, woolly nylon thread - $0.25
Time: 5 hours (for both shirts)
Total Cost: $10.10

FO: A New Hat For Luke

My little nephew, Luke, has grown (as toddlers tend to do). I made him several hats as a tiny baby, but none of them fit his large noggin anymore. Back in January, this became an issue with the cooler weather. He had store bought hats, but none of them were long enough to cover his ears. He came to me one day and specifically asked if I could make him a hat that covered his ears, lol. How could I refuse that?

I'm pretty amazed at the size of this kid's head to be honest, lol. His circumference is 22". I have a large head for an adult and my head is 23" around. Crazy. I decided to get all sentimental and make him a hat out of the same yarn I made him his first ever hat that he wore in the hospital. Awe...

The sad thing is that it almost isn't long enough for him! I measured him and had him try it on before I decreased and all looked good, but it's still a smidge short. Oh well - it was way better than the store bought versions he had and it kept his head warm so he could play outside :)

He was a big fan of watching me make the "puffy ball" on top. He kept squishing it while he wore the hat (imagine honking a clowns nose, lol). The yarn is Caron Simply Soft in Ocean - I figured it would be best to use acrylic for a toddler. 

I made this hat the night he asked me, and had it finished the next day so we had this photo shoot. Taking pictures of a toddler that you want to show anything in particular is a futile effort, ha ha. He was running and jumping and I was just lucky for these few shots.

So there's Luke's new hat :) He was pretty thrilled about it, and that's all that matters. He's my little buddy and he thinks my knitting is "pretty cool". I love quick little gratifying projects like this to boost my mood. Anyone else?

Christmas FO: Lukey's Lizard PJs

I've made my nephew all kinds of toys and whatnot over his 3 years, so I really had a hankering to make him something different. My sister used a PJ onesie that already fit him to make a pattern for his Halloween costume in October (he was Curious George), and I had picked up a large piece of this super cute lizard print knit at a thrift store this summer so I decided to make him some fun pjs :)

So the pattern my sister gave me was just for the body and sleeves and I had to make my own gusset - I've never sewn a true gusset before, but after a little internet learning I was good to go. It's not really that hard, you just need to take your time. The fabric is a knit, but it isn't incredibly stretchy. I believe it's a polyester blend French terry because it has a loopy texture on the wrong side. It makes it nice and snuggly though.

I was going full stash on this project, so I dug through my box of thrifted zippers and found a bright green one that matched the green lizards = perfect! Luke really likes doing zippers up himself, and I likes that this one is colorful.

Details! Here you can see the crotch gusset and the color of the zipper. I did stabilize the zipper opening with knit stay tape, but that was the only precaution I took. Everything else was just sewn with a lightning bolt stitch. The neckline was just turned over and stitched with a straight stitch, while the hems on the sleeves and legs were stitched with a twin needle.

All in all this was such a simple project and Luke really likes them :) As soon as he opened his present, he asked if he could put them on. I was worried I would be "that relative" who gave him clothes, but he was really excited about his lizard pjs. The only fit issue is at the sleeves - I may borrow these and add a gusset at the sleeve hem because they're just barely big enough, so they are a smidge tight when he tries to get them off. That didn't deter him though :)

So, I've officially made toddler pjs :) He was dancing around and spinning on the floor (they made for a great slick texture on the tile), and he loved that he could get in and out of it by himself (he's potty training so this is very important, lol). I'm so glad he liked them so much and now I have the confidence to make him more clothes in the future. Merry Christmas, Lukey!

Summary:
Fabric: 1 odd cut yard of poly blend French terry lizard print knit - $0.25
Pattern: copied from rtw
Notions: 18" zipper - $0.10, knit stay tape - $0.15, thread - stash
Hours: 2
Total Cost: $0.50