Tag Archives: cotton

Little baby blue

 

Check it out! Number and 1 and number 2 of my nanoSEWmo projects!

Quilt & Pillow

The pattern for this baby quilt and pillow is a Wonky Rail Fence, using the Stack-and-Whack method. The backing material is a solid light blue that I had on hand.  I also used a white/blue ombre rayon thread for quilting.  It adds some extra sparkle to the quilt, I think. The pillow has a simple ruffle around the edge and an envelope style back.

To be honest, I’ve had this quilt top on hand for a while waiting for the right time, the right baby and the right skill set. My free motion skills are definitely improving.  It’s tough to keep your loop-de-loops even, let me tell you. But it is so worth the effort. The look on the Mommy-to-be’s face made it so.

Free motion quilting

Congratulations Diana, Stephen & your little Rock Star Monkey! I can’t wait to meet him.

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Monster Work in Progress

Another To-Do list project: Monster Baby Quilt!  No, not an extra large baby quilt, a baby quilt with monsters!  I bought these monster “patches” from Jennifer of the Cotton Monster at Crafty Bastards last year.  I originally intended to make a new quilt for Caleb, but I can barely get that boy to sleep under a sheet these days, let alone a quilt.  I have about a bazillion friends who are pregnant or who have had babies recently, so Monster Baby Quilts just made sense…especially since Crafty Bastards is coming up again soon (October 1st) and I can’t bring myself to shop if I haven’t used what I bought last year! (OK, that’s a lie, I absolutely COULD bring myself to shop, but it wouldn’t be very “responsible” or “adult” of me. *natch*)

The blocks have been randomly pieced around each monster patch – there will be enough for 2 baby quilts when I’m done.  This kind of piecing goes quickly until the end when you start measuring & trimming.  For me, it also produces a lot of waste, there are lots of little edges that need to be trimmed and they pile up.  Still, I love the look.

Monster Baby Quilt - WIP

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Like Father, Like Son

My boys

I wanted to make a tie for Caleb for the wedding and then I thought to myself, why not make one for Bill as well? I’ve had this nifty Alexander Henry dragon print lying around for ages, and I thought it would make a nice tie. I like the scalloped design in the background.

tie close up

I already reviewed the Burda Osman Tie pattern I used for Bill’s tie in my post Holiday Gifts: Necktie.  I went ahead and left out the tie interfacing/interlining as I did in the last version, again this was quilter’s cotton, though not as heavy as the pirate ship cotton from the last post.  Bill commented that he really liked the way the tie tapered a little in the middle, it made tying it easy and made a nice looking knot.  All in all, the tie took me about an hour to make. Easy Peesy Lemon Squeezy.

tie close up  tie close up  tie close up

Caleb’s tie was even simpler.  For his, I used the Ottobre Designs Boys Tie Pattern. Once again, take the time to copy it out nicely onto pattern paper – you’ll thank yourself later.  Note that Ottobre Designs does NOT include seam allowances, you will have to add your own (don’t forget!), depending on what you’re most comfortable with. I added just a quarter inch, standard quilting seam allowance.  The toughest part of this pattern is turning the whole tie tube inside out after you’re done  sewing. I don’t know why I have such a hard time turning tubes. I have any manner of tools to help me with this task and they never seem to work right. I always end up picking the tube out with a pin! At any rate, that is really, really the toughest part.  I promise. If you have a little boy, I encourage you to make this tie!  The tail end sticks out because Caleb kept “adjusting” it. In truth, I think he liked it that way. The tail is a little short to put inside a keeper, I might lengthen the pattern next time so the tie will be long enough for a keeper. 

Burda Osman Tie Pattern: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ out of 5. Easy, free and yeilds professional results.

Ottobre Designs Boys Tie Pattern: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ out of 5. So easy and free as well, but it needs to be a couple inches longer.

Isn’t he a cutie pie? Yes, I’m biased.

Caleb

PS. Yet another To-Do-list project down!

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Captain New World?

This weekend, in a fit of argh-I-can’t-find-the-pattern-for-the-skirt-I-want-to-make, I decided to embark upon another project entirely.  Each year we make a point of going to the Maryland Renaissance Festival several times during the season.  Usually, we dress up at least one of those times.  And usually, I make new costumes for the whole family.  Last year, we didn’t get to go at all, what with me and the Broken Leg Drama.  The Renn Faire is not exactly broken-leg-on-crutches friendly. So this year calls for something epic, and possibly season ticket-worthy.

I went through my patterns, of which there are many.  I pulled out a few for each of us to choose from and showed them to Bill & Caleb.  Caleb pointed at McCall’s 5500 and announced that he wanted to be, “A knight!”.  I showed the pattern to Bill and noted that I had it in both Caleb AND Bill size.  With some further probing, Caleb decreed that he would be a knight, like Captain America, with a sword and a shield.  Notice I said “probing” not “prompting”.  He came up with that all on his own.

Mccalls Knight Pattern and Captain American equals

We packed up and headed to the fabric store and picked out some royal blue cotton poplin for the tabard, blue, red & white felt for the design, white rayon for the sleeves and, my favorite and the most expensive, royal blue corduroy with red and white embroidered stars for the pants.  When I showed Caleb the corduroy he exclaimed, “That’s just like my Captain America!” Bill had decided to be be Captain America Knight’s nemesis, Red Skull Knight, in an army fatigue green ultasuede tabard with a red skull in felt.  And just because I’m a follower, and I loved the blue corduroy, I will have a red on red stripe cotton/poly blend upholstry dress with a bodice made from the royal blue (with embroidered stars) corduroy.  No official superheroine title, but we have a little time to figure that out.

Speaking of “figuring it out”, anyone have a clever title for my little Captain America Knight? Captain New World doesn’t have that special ring to it.  

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Party Shirt & My Son, the Fashion Model

Simplicity Pattern #2907
Toddler Separates: Toddler Pants, Shorts, Dress, Shirt or Vest (pictured: Shirt, style D)
Sizes: 1/2 – 4 (pictured: size 4)
Material used: 45″ Commercial Cotton Print (7/8 yd)
Other Materials: 6 snaps or buttons, fusible interfacing, hook & loop (optional)

Caleb's party shirt

Doesn’t he make an adorable fashion model? OK, I know, he’s my son, so of course I think he is cute.

Simplicity #2907

This pattern went together like a dream. It is so rare that commercial pattern pieces fit together so perfectly. All of the markers lined up and the seams matched and the points turned; wonderful.  It yeilded very clean, professional, and of course, adorable results.  Because it was such a busy print, I didn’t feel it was necessary to line up the print in the front or on the pockets – I don’t think it made a difference in the end results.  I used snaps on the pockets and shirt fronts – I’m having some trouble with the buttonholer on my sewing machine and the snaps were an easy fix until I have time to get the machine serviced.  I think in the end they added a nice touch, too.

On the downside…the lap instructions were a bit over-complicated, as were the instructions for adding flaps to the pockets (making sure the two snap halves were lined up for the pokets was quite a pain).  The sizing seems way off.  The shirt looks a little small, no?  Caleb takes a 3T/4T in most clothing now, sometimes even a 2T still (40lbs, 40″).  I would say this shirt is a 2T, not a 4, which is the size I made.  Already, he can’t snap that top snap (not that you would on a bowling-style shirt anyway).  It’s a little disappointing, after having spent so much time on the shirt, that he will only be able to wear it for a short time.  On the other hand, I like the pattern enough, I am going to see if I can get it in a larger size. 

So, in conclusion, excellent pattern, but watch the sizing on this one.

[EDIT 7/14/2010: Added my review to Pattern Review right here.]

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