On Memorial Day, thank you....

To all those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom - thank you, from a grateful nation.

Some boy stuff

First up, new PJs. Yeah, I know - it's warm weather and these are not. Tough. They may still fit in the fall, but also, sometimes the boys like wearing warm jammies in the cool AC. I bought the fabric at JAF during a sale on both Snuggle flannel and Sew Classics Knits. I just needed a little retail therapy that day, and Thing 2 especially needs new PJs. I have a decent flannel PJ shirt pattern for Thing 1, but not for Thing 2, so I decided that a solid knit with a fabric applique would do nicely and make it obvious that the items went together.

The pants are KS 3042, size S, and the shirt is KS 2894, size S. I added cuffs because it is PJ shirt. Thing 1 chose the applique for the shirt.

This is KS SFT, size 3T for both. I added two inches in length to the body and sleeves for the shirt, so it should last a long time. Thing 2 also chose his appliques. I used self-fabric for ribbing on both shirts. I simply cut a quarter yard piece off the length before prewashing and put it away for use as ribbing.

This is Fishsticks Designs Patrick Curved Raglan Shirt, sizes 3T and 5T. I cut these out long enough ago that they were supposed to be long-sleeved, but when actually stitching them, I decided to leave off the undersleeves, as I don't necessarily expect these to last into fall. The knits are both thin, so they should be good summer/early fall shirts. I used the tutorial to add a hood to each (since they were supposed to be made much earlier - oops!), and I really like how they turned out.

Also, because these knits were not necessarily behaving nicely, I decided to heavily starch them after I had cut the pieces out. So I made starch in a five gallon bucket and starched each piece by hand, soaking them, wringing them out, and then spreading them on towels to dry. Once they were dry, I pinned and pressed the hems up. I have to say that it made twin-needling the hems almost painless. I will definitely do this again! I didn't starch the hood pieces, because those were being serged together, not hemmed.

I like the hood size on Thing 2 - not huge and floppy, but not tight. I'll have to see how the larger size is when Thing 1 tries his on.

Up next: working on the next sizes of the button-front shirts and maybe pulling out the other Patrick shirts I cut out at the same time as the train ones. These are not hooded and will also be turned into short sleeves.

The weekend's progress....

The scrub jacket is as done as I can make it right now.
As you can see, it is missing its cuffs, but that's because I need to find appropriate colored ribbing for it. I actually purchased some dark pink (fuschia, maybe?) ribbing over the weekend, but The Husband wisely pointed out that it would cause the cuffs to draw the eye, instead of blending in. So instead, I'm on the hunt for some pale pink ribbing, to match the background. I have time - this is a Christmas gift.

And I finished the new lightweight summer pants for the boys. I had just bought the fabric this month, so I'm pretty pleased that it went as intended and didn't become stash. And they are happy with their new pants! This is KS 3042, size S, for Thing 1 and KS SFT, size T3, for Thing 2. Both sizes give a little growth room, still.

And while I am currently working on the new PJs - planets flannel and green interlock - I remembered the project that had been shelved ages ago, waiting for more stuff to serge with green thread. These are Patrick Curved Raglan shirts from Fishsticks Designs. I cut these out so long ago that they were intended to be long-sleeved. I decided to keep the hoods (very thin knit) but eliminate the undersleeves to make these more warm weather friendly. The sleeves have been attached but not topstitched, and the hoods have been constructed. Tomorrow night (I hope!) I will sew up the side seams and attach the hoods. Then they'll be ready to wear!Hmm...forgot a scrub shirt that has been cut out for ages, which was supposed to be finally made when green thread was on the serger. Guess I'll have to pull that out. I'm sure that nothing has been interfaced. We'll see what I do tomorrow night.

The new PJ pants are done, and the shirts are mostly done. Left to do: hem the lengths and applique planets to them. Then they need a run through the wash prior to wearing. That's okay - the train shirts will also need to go through the wash, as the pieces were heavily starched to make them behave better for the hemming.

Yep, another scrub shirt....

Since I was working on the horse scrub shirt for my stressed out friend, I figured that I might as well do two at a time, and I cut out this shirt for another friend. (This, however, really will be kept for the going away time.) Despite doing a food animal internship, this friend is truly a Dog Vet, and in fact I nicknamed her the Dog Vet Intern in my short-lived facebook journal of my adventures. So I thought this fabric would be especially appropriate. (The fabric was originally purchased to be a scrub shirt for our technician, who deals with a lot of the dog breeding, but I can't figure out - without asking, which embarrasses me - whether she doesn't wear the skull scrub shirt I made her because she doesn't like it or because it's the wrong size, so I wasn't going to make another.) Personally, I thought the fabric was kind of hideous in the flat stage, but it's kind of grown on me since it became a scrub shirt. I hope that she will like it!
Again, the neckline is from Kadiddlehopper's tutorial, and I dare you to find the upper pocket. :)

Up next? Still finishing the scrub jacket for my friend - that one just needs hems and cuffs, but I haven't yet gotten cuff fabric - the next sizes of shirts for the monsters, new monster PJs, and new summer pants. I think that's all that I've cut out so far....

A new way to make a scrub shirt....

I have a friend who had a very stressful surgery on Saturday, so I decided that she needed a new scrub shirt to cheer her up. I had just the print in my stash, so I whipped it up Sunday and presented it to her Monday morning, much to her surprise! I used Katie Kadiddlehopper's tutorial for making a "Bound Neckline on Scrubs" and think it looks really nice!

And I totally pattern-matched the pocket:And here's what the whole thing looks like! She loves it and wore it the next day. Nothing more gratifying than that, is there? No question of whether she liked it. :)

I have another scrub shirt coming up, and I just cut out the next shirt sizes for Things 1&2. We'll see how quickly those work up. And DH is going to get his next shirt soon, too. I think this one will be grey.

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!

Scrub shirt marathon complete....

Well, mostly, anyway. Though technically, the other scrub item I was working on was a scrub jacket, so the scrub shirt marathon is complete. But I digress....First up, the masterpiece, the Beatles scrub shirt!


I think it turned out really well. And check out the awesomeness that it the matched pocket! Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the pocket was standing slightly away from the shirt when I took the picture, so this doesn't do it justice. From a small distance, you really can't see the pocket.My friend was super excited to get it - not the least because she had given up that I'd ever actually make it. She was thinking that the fabric would be willed back to her. :) It was a great surprise.

Next up, Taz, for my friend's husband:

Then Suzy's Zoo, for my mom:

Followed by McDs, for my friend. This one will probably go into the mail Monday as a Nurses' Day gift. It'll make her laugh. :)

All the scrub shirts are M9123, except Taz, which is M2834 (same thing, but bigger size).