New boy shirts

I think it's been fairly clear from previous posts that I really like the Fishsticks Designs Patrick Curved Raglan shirt pattern.  So when I thought that Thing 1 could use some new shirts, I pulled it out again.  The camo shirt was made from an interlock that an online sewing friend sent me - I thought that he would love it, because his greenish camo shirt (which is falling apart) is still worn frequently.  I used black ribbing from the stash for the neckband, and I sacrificed one of my shirts (don't worry, it had a few holes in it and was headed for the rag bag) for the sleeves.  This was a size 8, if I recall correctly.  I had originally added 2-3 inches in length to the body, but then I decided that it looked wrong in the proportions, so I cut it back down.

The lizard print is one I purchased from a coop a long time ago.  Then I used brown ribbing and interlock from my stash to finish it.  This is size 10, and I think it'll fit him for a good long time.  I even thought about making it long-sleeved, but I figured he'd really enjoy wearing it now.  The next ones will probably be long-sleeved, though - he doesn't have too many of those for winter.

I'm just glad to have these done!  My serger broke just after starting the lizard/brown shirt, and I had to wait until it was fixed, then realize that the stitch fingers were still off, try to order a new needle plate, wait for it to come and realize that the needle plate came WITHOUT stitch fingers (grrrr), realize again just how hard it is to get Necchi serger parts in the US, and finally get frustrated enough to order a new serger which should be MUCH easier to get replacement parts for.....and eventually unearth this project and decide to finish it.  Worth the wait, though!

Back to pants?

I know, I said I was done with pants, but these aren't post-op pants.  These are a Christmas present, even though they were done at the same time as all the post-op pants.  And yes, I realize that the fabric is pretty crazy.  This is deep stash, originally purchased at WM, I believe.  And no, I have no idea what the original purpose was.  But it clearly didn't get done, so I appropriated them for PJ pants.  These are a trial run for the husband of a friend.  They'll double as his Christmas present, but the real intent is to find out how they fit for either Looney Tunes or Bears PJ pants next Christmas.  Gotta make these muslins in fabric you don't really care about, right?

I remember that my friend suggested not using flannel for his PJ pants, as he tends to get warm.  No flannel, check.  (But that does reduce my chances of finding semi-appropriate fabric in long enough pieces in the stash - hence the lobsters.)  And he wears a size M in his boxers, like my brother, so I figured that using my brother's size in PJ pants was a good start.  

Hopefully he'll be amused by the pants, and hopefully they'll fit well.  We'll see!

Boxers!

So apparently it's been awhile since I've sewn boxers, which is hard to believe, considering my past production....The last boxers I blogged about were in 2011, as Christmas gifts.  But I changed that recently!  My DH enjoys drinking beer and occasionally brewing his own, so when I saw this beer bottles fabric at the local quilt store, I just had to get it for him!  (I even paid full-price, so these are the most expensive boxers I've ever made!)  This was his Father's Day present.

And on a recent retail therapy trip (aided by a gift card, I might add!), I found licensed fabrics on 25% off sale.  My brother loves Star Wars and the color green, so I thought that this blueprints on green print would be awesome for some new boxers!  I think he'll really get a kick out of these for his birthday, and I'm really happy with how they turned out.

2nd try at the fancy dress....

 So you may remember the previous adventure of the multi-fabric, non-matching dress, otherwise known as the Ava Knot Dress, Part I.  I had wanted to make a second dress for my niece, but this time in a combination that did not hurt my eyes.  And when I saw this green ladybug fabric at JAF, it jumped into my cart and declared that it needed to become an adorable little girl dress.  So off we went for coordinating red prints (note that I did not actually match the two red prints - in the spirit of "boutique" clothing) and called it good.  I decided to skip the apron, on the grounds that I bought the fabrics and can make this any way I want, and I didn't want the apron. :)  But I did see some cute ladybug ribbon on a later trip that I just had to buy for this dress.  It doesn't exactly match, but it's close enough, especially since it is not applied directly to the ladybug fabric.

This time I made the 24m size, in hopes that it will fit later.  (The dress was actually sent to them in August, so plenty of time to still wear it during the warm weather.  Plus it can be layered for more use.)

The instructions have you turn up the bottom hem 0.5 inches, then another 0.5 inches, and stitch.  The trim pieces are applied separately to the skirt pieces, and they are sewn together when the side seams are sewn.  I would rather stitch the trim pieces together, turn up and stitch the hem, and then stitch the trim to the skirt once the side seams are sewn.  And I prefer to do a one-inch hem by turning up 3/8 inch, then 5/8 inch, then stitch it in place at 0.5 inches.  In this case, because of applying the ribbon, I sewed the trim pieces together on one side, then turned up the hem as I described.  I then used my stitching line as a guide to pin and stitch down the ribbon, lining up the lower edge with the stitching line.  After I stitched that edge down, I then carefully stitched the upper edge.  (Then I realized I'd stitched it on upside down, and I had to unpick it all and start over.  But it was lined up great!)  Once I had the ribbon on, I sewed the other side of the trim together, matching the ribbon edges carefully, and then I stitched the trim onto the skirt.

This is a better picture of how the colors look in real life.  I really love how it turned out, and I hope that my sister-in-law loves it, too!  Hopefully I'll get a pic or two of my niece wearing it soon....

The last of the pants!

These were the last of the post-op pants!  Hooray!  (They are definitely useful, but they were getting a bit boring by the end.)  There were no changes made to these from the last set.  The navy and grayish pants were from stash (deep stash, even!), so hooray for getting those out of the stash.  The dark brown and khaki were both from thrifted sheets.  

And I have to thank some of my online sewing buddies for sending me a few snaps so that I could finish these without waiting for a KamSnaps order to come in!  The navy, gray, and khaki pants all have snaps that came from friends who generously shared out of their stashes. ;)

At this point, Dad has two "fun" pair of pants for around the house, plus eight pair of work-appropriate pants.  (And the original hunter green test pair - hopefully Mom shortened those so that they are also in the mix.)  I think that's enough for quite some time.

And still more pants!

Another installment of post-op pants!  This is the last pair of "fun" pants - as in, not to be worn outside the house.  I found this set of plaid sheets at the thrift store, and I just thought they'd be hilarious as pants, especially since my dad is really not a plaid pants kind of guy.  They're not very substantial, so good for the warmer weather (when I made/sent these), and they have a silky feel to them, so definitely not work wear.  But they were fun.  And I'm in awe of how the plaids matched up!  I added red snaps and a red drawstring to play up the thin red lines in the plaid.

And I put the pocket and flap on the bias, so that I wouldn't have to deal with trying to match it at all.  The fabric isn't terribly stable, so I fully interfaced both the pocket and the flap, and then I also self-lined the pocket (though not on the bias).  It seemed to work out pretty well.

And now for some more work pants.  I was told that my dad wouldn't be able to tolerate regular pants for quite some time, but he could wear my creations to work.  So these are solid colors.  The brown (which is actually darker in real life) and the black pairs are thrifted sheets, and the blue (more of a navy) is long-time stash.  I'm thrilled to have found a use for it!  These all have faux flys, drawstrings, and two cargo pockets.  I have another four pair of solid pants in the works, and then we'll call it good....

More post-op pants

So the protoype pants came back as perfect but 5 inches too long.....Well, that's an easy fix!  So here are the first installment:

The national parks fabric has been in my stash for a long time....as in, I don't even know how long.  I believe it was a WM purchase, at $1/yd.  At any rate, I was happy to get some of it off the shelves!  Then the mossy green pair was from a thrifted sheet.  As per request, I continued the drawstrings, but went to a faux fly instead of a functional one.  (Works for me - that cuts out a few steps.)  And I did two pockets on the solid pants instead of one.  (The print pants will not be worn to work, so they only needed one pocket.)

Instead of trying to match the print for the pocket - an impossible task, I'm thinking! - I used some leftover brown broadcloth for the pocket and flap, and I appliqued one of the pictures onto the pocket.  I think they turned out pretty well!