Easter shirts! (yes, finally!)

Yes, I've been horribly remiss in posting pictures of completed Easter outfits to date.  Ridiculous, I know!  Anyway, here goes (and these are both B3475):

First up, Thing 1's white penguin shirt.  This is a size 8, and I added a lined yoke.  The outer fabric is a white twill from JAF.  The facings and inner yoke are a penguin print cotton, also from JAF.  To prevent the print from being visible from the outside, I underlined the facings and inner yoke with a white muslin.  It didn't add much bulk but did mask the print.  I used snaps for the closure, per my son's request.  And in the end, he didn't even wear this for Easter, as the kids' choir he was in decided that white was not a good color for the kids to be wearing onstage. :(  However, he did wear it for his school concert a month later, so it was all good.  He became very self-conscious about the penguin print facings, so I ended up adding another snap near the neck, so that only white was visible.  Next time, I would leave the facings plain and only go with something fun on the inner yoke.

 Thing 2 loves Star Wars, so I found him this Clone Wars print at JAF.  (No, our church is not necessarily traditional on dress code.)  This is a size 6, and again I added a lined yoke and used snaps for the closures. He loves it!  And I came this close (><) to matching the print across the front, but somehow it still ended up being about a quarter inch off - gah!  Oh, well.....it's still really cute.

All in all, a hit!

Back to school!

Despite my best-made plans, the new school outfits were not finished in time for the all-important first day of school. They were okay with that, however, and they wore other Mama-made clothing. I also didn't have them done in time for the second day of school - for shame! - but they were ready to celebrate the THIRD day of school (which really doesn't get enough love, so it was all good).

Thing 2 got a new button-front shirt identical to the one I made for Project First Day (B3475, size 5) and a pair of chocolate brown twill shorts (B3475, size 4). You can't see them in this picture, but the pocket flaps on the shorts are lined with remnants from the shirt. He was very excited to get his new outfit! The shirt has only been worn once so far, but the shorts have been worn several times. Thing 1 got a new Ooga Booga shirt (Fishsticks Designs Patrick Curved Raglan Seam shirt, size 7/8), this one in the Rainbow colorway. He loves the hooded shirt I made him earlier this summer in the red/black/grey colorway, so when he saw this fabric, he jumped on it! The shorts (B3475, size 6) are a blue denim, and the pocket flaps are lined with a green broadcloth. The shorts are a little long, so I'll probably shorten the next pair, but he says that he also likes this length. And while he has reworn the shorts several time, the shirt seems to be his first choice as soon as it comes out of the wash! Good thing I have more of this print as well as some of the other colorways! I foresee eventually making a long-sleeved shirt in this print, maybe with a green or blue solid instead of red.

And in other back to school news, my older son came home on the first day and told me that two students in his class had asked if I would make them backpacks, too! ;) I'll take that as a compliment.

Back-to-School charity sewing

Project First Day was started by Susan Stewart to help give the children of Joplin, MO, a sense of normalcy in the midst of the continued devastation from the tornadoes last Easter. She remembered that as a child, she always got a brand-new outfit for her first day of school, and she wanted that for these children, despite all the struggles their families may have just to survive. So she put out a request for sewers to make and donate brand-new outfits for school children, with a note attached to tell each child that someone was thinking especially of them while making this special outfit.

I thought about it and decided to contribute two outfits - similar in style/fabrics to what my own boys will be wearing for their first day of school. I even enlisted my boys to help pick fabrics. For the first, I used B3475, my go-to pattern for boys' button-front shirts. The shirt is a size 5, and the shorts are a shortened size 4. Both are perfect for my DS#2 while still giving a bit of growth room. I used all stash fabrics for this, only purchasing notions as needed.

Because I used stash, my boys will not have identical items, but theirs will be very similar. The shirt fabric is one that I purchased several years ago - it may have been from WM or JAF clearance aisle. I'm not sure anymore. But it has a nice feel to it, so even if it was inexpensive, it wasn't a cheap fabric. I had just enough to squeeeze out two shirts, much to my DS's delight! And I enlisted my DH's help on choosing button colors. For this one to donate, I sewed an extra button on the inside of the button facing, at the bottom of the shirt - a RTW touch! ;)

The olive green shorts are a cotton twill, I believe. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough for two pairs, so my DS#2 will have dark brown shorts. The pocket flap is lined with the leftovers of the shirt fabric to tie the outfit together.

This outfit uses B3475 for the shorts (size 6) and Fishsticks Designs Patrick Curved Raglan shirt (size M). I didn't think in time about shortening the shorts, so they will be long. More growth room, I suppose! The shorts are a black stretch denim that I purchased with the intent of maternity jeans - five years ago....I used the rest of it recently for long pants for my boys - which should still fit next year - and I think there's enough left for KS SFC shorts for DS#1, but not for these cargo shorts. I lined the pocket flaps with a red tonal cotton print. DS#1 will have blue denim for his cargo shorts.

The shirt front uses leftovers from a shirt DS#1 wears at least weekly. I only had enough length to cut out the front, so I decided to use a solid black for the back and neckband and a solid red for the sleeves. I was afraid that if I used black for the sleeves as well, it might look like I just ran out of fabric, instead of a design feature. ;) It seems to have worked - DH thought it was great, and DS#1 was drooling over it, despite already having a very similar shirt with that print! (He's now picked out an ooga interlock in a different colorway for his back-to-school shirt!)
Thanks to health issues and then sewing room makeover, I didn't get started on these nearly as early as I'd intended - oops! Oh, well - I stayed up late Friday night and got up early Saturday a week ago to get these done and to the post office in time to make the August 1st deadline. Whew! Still working on the versions for my boys now.....

Kid Clothes Week Challenge - Final

So I didn't do a great job in the kids clothes week challenge, but that's okay. The only completed items were the two Fishsticks Designs Tanks and this mouse shirt, which I didn't have time to blog about before we left for the weekend. I actually finished sewing it Thursday, but I didn't put the snaps in until late Friday night, just in time to pack it up and leave.

It was a huge hit! Thing 2 loved it, and he proudly wore it to graduation Sunday. It was cold this weekend, so he wore a sweatshirt over it, but he kept pulling the hem out to show people. I foresee this shirt will get a lot of wear over the summer!

You can see the engraved mouse snaps I used here, though the snap has gotten itself turned nearly upside down, and the picture is somewhat grainy. You get the idea, though - it's just a nice subtle touch. I was pleased that the red snaps matched the red background so well! He can easily fasten and unfasten the shirt himself with the buttons - I'm pretty happy!

This is the inside of the shirt. The pattern is B3475, which I've used before. I tried the previous four shirts on Thing 2 to check for sizing - he can wear all the sizes (2-5), but size 5 was definitely the winner for growth room! His size 2 shirt is getting a little short, and the size 5 wasn't ridiculously long, so it was the winner. I want him to be able to wear this for a long time. I changed the pattern to add a lined yoke, for easier installation of the collar neatly. I'm pretty pleased! As per my previous versions, I used french seams on the sides and bound the front facings and the armholes with bias tape. This shirt looks good on the inside, and it didn't take much longer to make it that way.

Thing 1 pretty much won't wear his button-front shirts at all, so I'm sticking with knit shirts for him. But Thing 2 seems pretty fond of these, so I'll likely make him a few more over the summer. We'll see....

Dribs and drabs....

So I changed the serger thread to brown, to make my new chocolate brown scrub pants. But of course you can't sew just one thing at a time! Or at least I can't....so here were the tag-alongs! One pair of pirate print cotton pants for Thing 1 - these are KS3042, size S, cut out sometime last year (winter, I think). They should still fit for school this fall. I love the print, so hopefully he will enjoy wearing them. As usual, they have slash pockets and a pocket bag from a contrasting color of broadcloth.

Then there is another pair of cargo shorts for Thing 1, from a chocolate brown twill that was on sale recently at JAF. This is B3475 again, but this time I took another inch off the hem. He thinks that it is about perfect now.

And finally, a pair of shorts for Thing 2 out of the leftover brown twill. Taking that last inch off the cargo shorts made it possible to cut this pair of shorts, and Thing 2 is very happy with his new shorts with blue pocket bags. These are KS SFT size 4T.
And then, of course, my chocolate brown scrub pants - M9359, size M, with my now standard modifications. I think these may be my favorite so far....

Odds and Ends

First up, finished items! As I am transitioning into surgery four days a week at an animal shelter, I have a need for more scrubs. I finished a shirt (M9123) using a cotton print I bought at least five years ago at a WM in Mississippi, planning to use it for a friend. Well, now I decided it was here and would be used by me! I have already worn it to work once and was asked where I buy my scrubs. ;) For this, I also used the bound neckline and pattern-matched the upper pocket. I have decided for the moment that I don't really need the lower pockets for surgery, so I'm leaving them off. Instead, an upper pocket for a pen and a cargo pocket on the pants for a cell phone, and I'm good to go.

Next, the second pair of solid shorts for Thing 1. I bought a khaki twill on sale at JAF and used B3475 again. This time, I shortened the pattern by two inches. I think I will shorten it another inch on the next pair. I didn't shorten the pockets or alter the placement, but I think I need to raise the placement a little for the next pair, so that the pockets aren't below the hem.

I lined the pocket flap again. I am a little annoyed with myself, because I didn't look at the previous pair to see how I did the stitching. On the previous pair, I echoed the double topstitching on both pocket and flap, but this time, I did single topstitching on the flap. I definitely don't think that this pair looks as good. Oh, well....next time.And what's to come? Well, I'm currently working on inventing a padded case for Thing 1's Didj. He really likes playing with it but has no case in which to store it or the games. We just discovered that he has lost one game in the last several months, so I upped this in the priority list. So far, I have quilted the fabric with two layers of Warm&Natural batting in between and bound all the raw edges of the pieces with black swimsuit fabric, as I am not lining it. I plan to install a zipper in the main compartment, and I am adding a zippered pocket to each side, for storing games and headphones. I hope to finish it today.

I also found a blog tutorial for making toy sacks with clear plastic windows, to see what toys are inside. Eureka! This may be the thing for attempting to contain all the toys on the toy table. I've got two sacks cut out and in the process of being made. I have a bunch more planned, too. I'm using prints from my stash for the outside and solid broadcloth for the lining. I even had tablecloth vinyl in my stash already! I am so convinced that this will go well, that I bought more solid broadcloth on sale at JAF this week. But the two in progress are completely from stash, and I'm making both at once because I'm using the same lining and thus can use the same color thread for topstitching. I'm okay with some assembly-line work.

Otherwise, there's more scrubs in the line-up, so hopefully I'll have a new top and pants to wear to work this week.

Shorts for the Things

The Things have very few solid colored shorts, which is bad when I like to make them print T-shirts. So I decided it was time to do something about that, especially since I'm starting to make the button-front shirts and they'll need something to wear with those. Thing 1 possibly has the greater need, since no one expects a four-year-old to match anything, right? So I decided to try the shorts pattern in B3475, but they looked awfully long. Still, I made size 4 as is, to see how they would turn out. After all, I see a lot of kids at Thing 1's school wearing long shorts, so apparently it's the style.

I used a greyish stretch twill/denim that I bought at WM a few years ago. It seemed kind of boring, so I used bright green to topstitch. Just for fun.

There are cargo pockets on both sides, so I didn't see the need to add slash pockets.

And I decided to line the pocket flaps to make them look better. For these, I used a leftover bit of a fish pucker print. (This became summer shorts for both Things two summers ago.) I think it's a nice touch.

I had intended to make Thing 2 a similar pair in a size 2, but my fabric piece wasn't large enough to cut out both pairs. Instead, I cut another pair of KS SFT shorts in size T4. I also used green thread for topstitching these, and the pocket bags are a solid green.

New stuff....

So the last time I was at Hobby Lobby, I saw that cotton prints were 30% off, and I found another Robert Kaufman Army print that I liked, so I bought it to make boxers for my dad, with the vague thought of getting them done for Father's Day. Clearly, that did not happen - mainly because I decided that I just had other priorities for Father's Day....such as my husband's new shirt. But these have been done for a week or so, and I just realized that I never showed them off! (S9958, size L)

And here is the pile that was my weekend intentions....which didn't get done, of course! From left to right: 2 Patrick Curved Raglan Seam shirts (one for each Thing), green scrub pants, fabric for a scrub shirt, Thing 1's new shirt, and Thing 2's new shirt.
But at least I finished the scrub pants! This is M9359, size M. Minimal alterations - I skipped the inseam pockets, added a cargo pocket to the right leg for my cell phone or anything else that seems necessary, and used 1/2-inch twill tape for a drawstring instead of elastic and self-fabric. The cargo pocket has a finished size of 7.25 inches wide by 8 inches deep. I placed it with the intent of the top being 12 inches below the top of the waist casing, but I forgot that the casing was for a 1/2-inch drawstring rather than an inch wide elastic. So the pocket is a bit lower than I had wanted. I will wear this another time or two before making the next ones to decide on a better placement.

I made these from symphony broadcloth (JAF) and wore them the day after I finished them. I was concerned that the fabric might be too thin and possibly see-through, but this color at least did not have that problem. It will be interesting to see how well it holds up to repeated washings, but at least for the first wearing, it seems thin enough to be cool in a warm surgery suite but not too thin to be useful. I bought a second color at the same time, so I will definitely make it up soon, and as long as it also wears well, I'll be buying more later on.

Second monster shirt!

This size 2 shirt fits almost 4-year-old DS#2 pretty well. I think he even has some growth room! Still, since I need to make another prototype for DS#1, I will make the size 3 for DS#2 and compare the two fits before cutting the dragon fabric. This shirt was also made the same way as the airplane shirt, substituting black bias tape for white. DS#2 loves it - told me it was "cool" and "awesome" - and I have to say that it looks pretty good on him! I did use 4 buttons instead of 3, because I have no delusions that these shirts will ever be tucked in. :)

Birthday shirt!

I made my boy a shirt! And it (mostly!) fits. And he likes it. A good deal all around, though I will admit to wishing I'd used a pattern with a back yoke, so that I could more easily enclose the raw seams of the collar. Oh, well - I made it work. The inner facings are finished with bias tape (white), and the armhole seams are as well. The shoulders and side seams are french seams, so there are no raw seams in this garment. Woohoo!

Unfortunately, it is bordering on too small, so the next attempt will not yet be the dragon fabric. Instead, I'll try size 5 in another stash fabric that DS#1 picked out.

Next up!

So I'm working on the shirts for the boys, but instead of using the dragon fabric, I'm testing the pattern/sizing out with fabric that I can get more of (instead of the dragon fabric that was the last on the bolt....). So DS#1 is getting airplane fabric, and DS#2 is getting wild guitar fabric. (I liked both, bought both without boys in tow, and then let DS#1 take first pick because his birthday is next week.)

Pictures to follow, and hopefully I can at least get the airplanes one done by Thursday!

Still here....

So I've been plugging away, but I'm still suffering from lack of consistent sewing mojo. So there's nothing completed to show. Still, I have in progress works as well as the "up next" contender. First, the "in progress":
I have four scrub shirts and a scrub jacket in the mix. This picture only shows the shirts - the Beatles shirt is for a friend who's a Beatles fanatic. I've had the fabric for a year, and I just haven't made the time to sew it up. Now it will be a belated birthday gift for her. And by the way, check out the upper left pocket on it - oh, wait! It's almost invisible! Woohoo! The Suzy's Zoo scrub shirt has been in stash and cut out for, oh, about two years. Oops - time to sew it up! And the McDs fabric is for my nurse friend, who worked at McDs for years. I bought the fabric a few years ago, I think, but it was forgotten in the dim recesses of my stash. And then the Taz fabric is for my friend's husband, who is an ICU nurse and a Looney Tunes fanatic. He picked out the fabric, and I am sewing it up.

This will be my next project, post-scrubs. My boys LOVED How to Train Your Dragon. (We saw it as part of our mini-Spring Break celebration.) So consequently they loved this dragon fabric. I usually make them pants out of goofy character fabric, but for a change, I'm going to try button-up shirts for both. For this incarnation, I'm planning to use B3475. We'll see how that goes. I think that a size 2 and a size 4 should take care of my little guys. For future incarnations, I may try either S3852 or S4207. I like the idea of a yoke better than a non-yoke, but I'd still like to try the Butterick one first. Hopefully I'll have something finished to show this weekend....