Selfish Sewing Week: Tons of fall Renfrew

In order to remedy my long sleeves tees condition in my wardrobe (I only had 1 store brought pc so far... LOL!) I decided to factory produce Renfrew tees. I had purchased yards of jersey knit from girlcharlee.com months back for the renfrews but when I sat down and tried to start cutting the fabrics, the stripes matching and the slinkiness of the knits put me off and they all got chunked back into the stash.

This time round, I got so desperate I had made up my mind to get started with them with a few tips from other sewists.
Due to the slinkiness of the knit fabric, I had a lot of problem in keeping them to sit nicely on the fold for me to cut them up. So I changed my pattern pcs instead. I traced the pattern pieces of the bodice front and back on the fold of a big baking paper. So I ended up with this:

Then I placed the pattern pieces of the knit making sure the front n back bodice sides seams are aligned with the correct stripes. Using Crayola washlable marker, I then traced the pcs again onto the fabric. The cutting process took way longer than usual but I am glad I did it, cos the end products look more professionally made with all the stripes matching!

Ohya, when I am sewing up the pcs, I used pin basting to align the stripes as well. And because my overlocker cutting blade is a gone case since day 1 (it's a long story, shall reserve it for another post. I broke the blades the day I got it), I used straight stitches to stitch the 5/8 seams first, then trimmed the seams down to 1/4 inches then I used my serger to serge the seams. A lot of extra time taken I know, any one knew where I can get a replacement blade for brother overlocker ?

 

This is the first tee I finished. As a mummy of 2 boys, I figured mid sleeves will suits me more as it will be easier to carry out my daily routines and duties without the need to keep rolling up my sleeves. This is the first time I made it in cowl neck version too! I love it!

 

 

Hohooho... C the matching stripes? Even the sleeves under arm seams matches too! I am so proud of myself:) Whee!

 

 

 

Sorry I got too carried away playing with the cowl until I became a potential sadako...

 

 

This is the second tee using the remnant knit. I cut the bands vertically as I had to make do with the remaining yardage I had.

 

This matches perfectly too!

 

I think I got too excited with how comfy and versatile the tees are, I immediately dug out my other navy stripes jersey knit and cut out another 2 renfrews as well.

 

 

 

Matchie matchie!.

 

Sorry for the photo bombing in this post. I think I should stop on my renfrews and start on other projects before my readers get bored to death. HA!

 

Thanks for stopping by:

XOXO Ashley

 

Selfish sewing week- Getting ready for fall

 

Hey everybody, this week is the selfish sewing week! Dedicated to beauties all for myself. The temperature in Phoenix is starting to drop, especially during the mornings and wee hours. This will be our first winter ever! I am so excited and cant wait to grab n throw snowballs at my boys this Dec during our planned roadtrip to Flagstaff.

First up is this swiss dots long sleeves alma top.

 

Pattern used: Sewaholic alma blouse

Materials used: Remnant swiss dots in black and red, invisible zipper, interfacing

 

Thoughts on this project: This is my 3rd alma blouse and I still love it a lot. I cut a straight size 4 cos I prefer roomy tops ( to hide my bulging tummy still). Usual shortening of the bodices length and I also shortened the sleeves by a good 1 inch (still a bit long for me though, will take note in my next alma long sleeve version). For this top, it asks for a 12" invisible zipper, but I only had a 9" YKK in stash. So I modified the zipper placement instead. It actually starts from the bottom hem instead of the middle. The zipper is a bit short, but the opening still allows me to wear the top easily, maybe it's because of the bigger cutting?

The placket portion is a bit new to me, I did struggled a bit but the instructions are very clear thus everything went slowly but smoothly. There's a bit of puckle though, but I dun think that's a big issue.

Duration taken: A few hours of cutting and sewing:)

 

I really like the color contrast of black and red. Red is my new favorite color!

 

 

My lovely plackets. LOL!

 

 

Pardon the powder smear on the collar part. The curved hem design really flatters the overall figure.

 

 

The change in the zipper position.

 

Meanwhile the following items are my plans for this selfish sewing week:

-a red stripey Renfrew cowl neck tee (pcs cut)

-a nautical stripe round neck mid sleeves Renfrew tee (will cut out tonight)

-a hawthorn chambray dress (done)

-1940s vintage inspired tie bow top

 

Hohoho, hopefully I can be selfish enough to finish them in time:)

Anyway, I have won a set of 3 sewaholic patterns from the sew mama sew community sewing match! I will be able to choose the designs, so far I have decided on getting the robson trench coat and  minoru jacket. For the last pattern I am still hesitating between the saltspring dress and the pendrell blouse. Due to my bucket waistline, I am seriously afraid that the saltspring dress will only make my no waistline even worse. But seeing all the lovelies dresses sewn by the others, I really cant decide. What do you all think? Saltspring dress or pendrell blouse?

 

Thanks for stopping by:

XOXO Ashley

 

Completed: Tutti Pink Swirls Hawthorn

 

I hopped onto the hawthorn wagon finally! A bit slow, but I finally made it. All the hesitant is due to their c cup pattern size. I am only a B and a noob at fitting and patterns alteration. Luckily they had covered the SBA part in their sewalong, cos if they dun, I wont even dare to buy the pattern at all due to bad experiences in the previous hazel fitting. The macaron pattern is still lying in my stash untouched cos I dun wanna suffer the headaches yet. LOL! This time I choose the blouse version to test sew first as I wanted to add more separates to my wardrobe as they usually get more wears than the dresses. My life nowadays involves driving my boy to school, so I usually wear shorts or jeans these days, as it is easier for me to move around and carrying didi as well.

The collar is a bit bulky and still cant sit properly. I shall have a iron wrestle with it later on.

 

Pattern used: Hawthorn from Colette Version 1 but sleeveless instead, as I wanted to be able to wear it with my new cardigans without having distorted sleeves.
Materials used: Tutti Plisse Pink Swirls from Fabric.com, buttons from walmart, white broadcloth for collar. Pink satin store brought bias tape for armhole finishing.
Thoughts on this pattern: I cut a size 0 for the bust and taper to size 2 waist. First I made a simple muslim for the bodice section and it had lots of ease in the bust and back area. So I tried to do a tiny winy SBA according to the instructions in their sewalong. Not really sure whether I did it correctly:P And I also shorten the bodice by 1cm. It fits better in the final product but is still loose in the bust area and especially the back portion. The sew along did not cover on any back alterations though... Sad... I think the fabric also contributed to the looseness as it has a seersucker like vertical puckers on it which seems to flatten out and become wider after I pressed it while sewing. The collar couldn't meet the desired points of the bodice (for my muslim I used cotton broadcloth, and the collar has no problem at all.), causing the collar to look very far apart. In order to make do with the fault, I sew across and flatten the pointed areas of the collar part to  make the fault less obvious. Other than the fitting issues and the collar problems, the sewing process went through smoothly as the instructions are very clear and the sew along also helps a lot. If only Colette patterns comes in smaller bust cups patterns as well:)

C? The back is supa loose! I got bad spine alighment, the doc say it's S shaped so the shoulders doesn't seem to be that crooked. Maybe thay's why I have shorter torso, if my spine is straight, I might actually be taller a few more cms!

I still love this new top I had even though the collar and the fit is not as perfect as it should be. The pink swirls print is lovely and unique. I actually regretted buying this fabric at first, since it is used mostly for children apparels, but the prints really got to me. Have any of u sew a clothing for yourself using kids apparel fabrics? Feels a bit weird isn't it? The good thing about this fabric is, it doesn't wrinkles and that means no ironing needed! Whee!

 

This is my big boy Aidan with his beloved T-rex.

 

The peplum is lovely and helps to hide any tummy flaws. I have already cut out my second hawthorn long sleeve dress in chambray fabric, reducing the bodice length further by another 1cm more. Hope the fit will be better for the dress:)

 

Thanks for stopping by:

Ashley

Completed: Casual outfit

Finally there are more completed projects for me to blog about. My sewing time has decreased tremendously when my elder son started his preschool this month and a knitting bug crept inside me. But looking at my super pathetic fall wardrobe status, I am now picking up on sewing my pace this few days. So I promise that I will have more FO posts in the next few weeks including the popular Colette Hawthorn!

 

Today I got 2 simple and easy projects to share. Both of them are simplicity patterns I had in my stash, and fabrics are also from my huge collection of stash as well. 

 

 

Pattern: Simplicity (To be updated)

Fabric: Light pink semi sheer cotton purchased back in Singapore. Buttons are reused from old unwanted apparels. 

Thoughts on this project: I had this fabric in my stash for many donkey years. Fell in love with the cotton and the sweet stripes design and brought it on impulse with no real idea of what it can be made into. This time I finally decided to cut into it and sew a loose comfy blouse for myself. It is a bit sheer though, but it shouldn't be a problem if I had the correct inner wear on. (Sorry for the black inner pc shown in the pic, just so lazy to change into the proper one.) I cut a straight size 0 for it, since there is a lot of ease included and the overall fit is still quite loose. For the alterations wise, I only shorten the bodice length by my usual 1 cm and that's it.

 

 

The v neckline is a bit low, maybe I should go add a little snap to make it more decent?

 

The total time taken to sew this blouse is quite fast actually. The only pain in the neck is the collar portion. I cant really get the inner collar band to sit nicely while I top stitch them down. I tried ironing but my machine foot keep distorting the folds underneath. Now the insides are a bit messy and I gave up trying to unpick and restitch them back nicely. The sleeves design are quite cute and flattering. I might sew another pc in a thicker fabric and in 3 quarter sleeves version in future.

 

 

This blouse is really comfy and cooling but not really suitable for the coming fall season. What am I doing? LOL... I dunno, I just keep having sewing block this few weeks. Meanwhile, I will wear this top as much as possible before the temp starts to drop here:)

 

And now for the super easy peasy denim skirt.

 

 

Pattern used: Simplicity skirt pattern

Fabric used: Remnant denim fabric from my denim Kelly skirt.

Thoughts on this project: This skirt only takes less than 2 hours from cutting to finishing. It only have 2 pattern pcs for this version. And the waistband is just a fold in and elastic and no pockets at all. Very basic and super good for modifications and embellishments. I just added a denim bow to the side of the skirt and added a bit of topstitching in red threads.

 

 

This skirt is a great match for tucked out tees and blouses. Comfy and casual. I am wearing this skirt as I am blogging now. So there will definitely be a lot of wear for this pc. And this skirt is great for fall too, I can match it with leggings and boots:) Ruffles skirts are great for flattering boxy waistlines.

 

 

And I am planning to stitch up another ruffle skirt in black lace soon.

 

That's all for today!

Thanks for stopping by.

Ashley

 

Completed: 2 Sail Boat Shorts And 1 Sailboat Top

Yup... Some more sailboat pants completed. But this time I made them shorter by just eliminating the length from the slit onwards. Maybe I shouldn't name them shorts? Should I call them bermudas instead? LOL!

 

 

Pattern used: O& S Sailboat pants

Materials used: Little Birds Corduroy Teal from fabric.com (They r on clearance sale:) This fabric is so soft and comfy, love it. Should have brought more to make into little coats n jackets.

Changes made: Shorten the length as stated above.

 

I made one in size 3T and one in size 18-24months. The boys love it. (Well, they didn't complain so... I just presume that they love it.) Initially I wanted to make it fancier by adding piping to them, but I only had peach satin pipings in my stash and I couldn't wait till the next trip to Walmart to get the pipings and start on the pants. So maybe next time then:)

 

 

Look at the alignments of the birds! At least I am having some improvements on aligning prints:)

And this is little brother version. Couldn't get him to pose for me so this is the only decent pic of him with his new birdy shorts.

 

Next up is the sailboat top. The instructions are very clear and straight forward. And I like how simple and easy it is to sew this top.

Pattern used: O & S Sailboat top

Materials used: Stretch Yarn Dyed Plaid Shirting from Fabric.com

Kona Cotton Remnant Black

 

Yes, 99% of my fabrics are purchased from fabric.com site. They had this super 4th of july sale where u can get additional 25% and free shipping. I took this chance and stocked quite a bit of boys fabrics to build up on handmade wardrobes for the boys. I even told my hubby that I will make all the boys clothes from now on, well except for their shoes.

The small blue buttons are from Walmart

 

Changes made: I just added a patch pocket on the front. The pattern is from a jap sewing book.

 

I made the top in size 18-24months for my little boy. As you all can see from the pics, my little boy head is slightly bigger than other boys of his age (our pediatrician has testify to that and convinced us that bigger head mean bigger brain and it's a good thing. What a brainy kid.)- so even if I unbuttoned all 4 buttons, the head opening is still a bit tight for him and he will out grow this lovely top soon. For the next sailboat top, I will need alter the pattern to accommodate my brainy boy big head.

And he got a new haircut! It's uneven but at least he still allows us to bring him to salons, unlike the big brother who will never ever allow people to touch his hair. He got really freaked out when he saw his hair falling to the ground. My hubby and I had a really hard time trying to cut big brother's hair ourselves.

Perfect cute pose.

 

This top is perfect for our coming road trip next month. We will be going to San Diego for 3 days 2 nights. We are going to visit Sea World as Aidan's favorite animal now are sharks and whales. Looking forward for my friends to arrive from SG and heading for this little holiday together:)

 

In conclusion, Oliver and S patterns are really great! I will definitely make more of this sailboat tops and pants for both of my boys and getting more of their patterns in future.

 

And here is a little entertainment video of my boy acting along his favorite show song. Blue clues from Nick Jr.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151977314893243&l=2338353810739605384

 

Thanks for reading!

XOXO Ashley

A Gingham Boy Shirt and a funny face

Yesterday night, I managed to whip out a tiny weeny shirt for Aidan. Having made many women shirts before, I can say that this tiny sized version is so much more difficult for my clumsy hand. The pcs are so small and is more difficult to sew using my machine. Luckily, everything still sort of went well and I am really happy with the end product. This time I do remember to try to match the plaids:) Almost it's not perfect, But it's still better than the pants right? LOL.

 

Materials used: Stretch yarn dyed cotton shirting from Fabric.com

Black Kona remnants for the contrast cuffs

Blue buttons from stash

Black bias tape from stash

This pattern is from a Japanese sewing magazine for kids. I cut a size 90cm (height).

I cut out the pcs and just sew them up using my knowledge from the previous shirts making experiences. The rounded collar is really cute and makes it less formal looking. And I used the black bias tape to hide the collar seams this time due to an error made in the collar construction process.

 

And of course, Aidan with his sweets. I think all this photo taking sessions are making him more n more chubby. After this kids clothes week challenge, I definitely need to take a break from kids sewing so that my boys wont get obese from those treats. Ha!

 

And that is little bro trying to steal big bro limelight.

 

I cut the patch pockets on the bias to prevent the need of another plaid matching effort. It's a bit wonky and I am just too tired to go and make it perfect. All I can think of is.... Faster finish....

Big bro is wearing a matching Sailboat pants with the shirt. Hmm... Looks like PJ instead. Lesson learnt- never ever wearing matching tops and pants together, it really make them looks like PJs.

 

And this is the promised funny expression caught on camera. HAHAHA! Not really sure what he is thinking of then... (Mummy, pls stop taking photos! I wanna eat my sweets in peace pls?)

 

Ok. That's it for yesterday work. This shirt really took out a lot of time because of the little details. I still had 2 sailboat pants, 1 sailboat shirt cut out fabric pcs to complete tonight. Ganbatte!

 

Ohya, I am on bloglovin now. You can follow me there:)

 

Thanks for stopping by.

XOXO Ashley

Kids Clothes Week Summer Sewing Challenge

This week is dedicated to my boys closet. And is my first official sewing challenge:)

 

Mostly are pants and shorts as they are really short of them. And because most of the fabrics in my stashes are woven fabrics. I had got 2 XL size tees last weekend and will be using them to make into raglan tees and muscles tees for them.

This sailboat pants pattern are from Oliver and S. I brought the digital version after seeing all the handsome little sailboat pants on blogosphere. First trial on it, I made it in size 2T for my big boy aidan. Using plain brown kona cotton and 4 white buttons from my stash. I really like how easy this pattern is and had no trouble with the instructions at all.

Aidan had been rolling and jumping around the whole day before I took this pic, that explains the wrinkles. And the thing on the head? Is a plastic Tupperware which he likes to wear and pretend it is a hat.

Something on TV caught his attention and finally, one nice clear pic.

Oophs... Tummy getting bigger!

And this version is for small brother. It's my first time working with plaid fabrics and I totally forgotten to match the plaids when I am cutting it. Thus resulting in this super mismatch of the plaids. Sigh. I used scraps of black kona cotton for the side panels and the faux patch pockets.

No buttonholes? Yup, from my first experience for big brother sailboat pants, I never unbutton it at all while dressing him. So this time I just shortcut and skip the tedious buttonholes and just sew on the buttons through both layers.

The faux patch pockets for decorative purposes. I just zigzagged along the edges of the patch.

And this is little brother Allen lying comfortably on the new carpet watching cartoons.

 

This shirt is my first version of the easy linen shirt from the book Sewing for boys. The cotton is from Riley Blake Scoot collection and kona cotton for the contract collar.

And of course a second version of the pattern using remnant cotton for the color blocks effect. I added a tab on the front to sort of reinforce the open slit.

Only sweets can calm him down for a steady clear shot. Otherwise all the pics will be filled with ghostly hands and legs.

And many more pcs to come... C you next time then.

 

Thanks for stopping by

XOXO Ashley