2018 Completions

2018 was a year where aggressive buying in the first half the year turned to aggressive sewing in the second. Mostly, I suspect, because I started to run out of space for my stash. I continued last year's trend of really embracing knits, and this year I discovered a number of new "go-to" patterns, including the CKC Haven Hoodie, the Peekaboo Violet, the Peekaboo Bodysuit, and the MegaMax Raglan.

2018 was also exciting because got my first Serger (a gift from my parents) in May. It was closer to September before I finally got confident enough to actually start using it on garments - and then in October a broken stitch finger sidelined me for a couple of weeks -  but having the serger has definitely made me more enthusiastic about sewing wovens again. This year I made a custom woven shirt for my dad and a quilt-shop cotton dress for my daughter, and I'm looking forward to WAY more trips to my Favorite Quilt Shop in 2019.

Overall, it's a little weird to scroll back through 2017 and realize I'm only really 1.5 years into embracing knits as my preferred medium, especially since woven is now *re*entering the fray thanks to my new-to-me serger. For 2019 I hope to work through my (now sizeable) knit stash, and I plan to continue exploring woven as a medium for garments. Another year's worth of experience has me feeling a lot more confident now, and it's fun to see how I've grown as a seamstress throughout the year!

Scientific Seamstresses (link)

Completed: Jan 2018

Fabric: Geek Chic by Studio E

Pattern: Isla by Simple Life Pattern Co

A gift for the Daughter of a friend who'd had a rough year. 

Long Live Having Fun (link)

Completed: Jan 2018

Pattern: Haven Hoodie by Create Kids' Couture

A fun hoodie dress for my Descendents-2 loving daughter

Care Bear Kimono & Footie (link)

Completed: Feb 2018

Fabric: Knit solid & Jason Yenter Shark Print

Pattern:Baby Kimono & Footie by Brindille & Twig

For my nephew/Godson W

Care Bear Dresses (link)

Completed: Feb 2018

Pattern: PeekaBoo Violet

Matching Dresses for W's Sisters

Cuteness Report! (link)

Completed: Feb 2018

Pattern: Explorer Raglan by Made By Jack's Mum

A quick sew for my Growing Son!

Rainbow Mermaid (link)

Completed: March 2018

Pattern: Haven's Hoodie by Create Kids' Couture

One good turn like that Descendants dress deserved another!

King of Pop Cardi (link)

Completed: March 2018

Pattern: Women's Fairy Jacket by Ellie & Mac

A gift for my MIL, the ultimate Micheal Jackson fan!

Jack's Back for Spring (Dress & Shirt)

Completed: April 2018

Pattern: SLPCo Isla & Made By Jack's Mum Raglan

A "spring" dress made with fabric my daughter picked, and then a Raglan for her brother from the scraps !

Cinderelly Mash-Up (link)

Completed: May 2018

Pattern: CKC Haven, PaB Violet, and SLPCo Isla Mash-up

A short-sleeved sew for spring! Originally this was *supposed* to be a dress, but Daughter prefers it as a nightgown.

All in the Ohana (link)

Completed: May 2018

Pattern: PeekaBoo Violet

A sister set for a friends' 2 girls

Cute Dress Countdown (link)

Completed: June 2018

Pattern: Sofilantjes Solis

Dress inspired by a stikeoff in Kammie Lou Lou's Custom Fabrics FB group

Rockin' the Aurora (link)

Completed: June 2018

Pattern: Stitch Upon a Time Aurora

JoJo might be a little "of the moment," but my daughter went crazy for this dress!

Gone to the Dogs (link)

Completed: June 2018

Pattern: Cole's Creations Jerry's Raglan

A bowling shirt for my dog-loving brother

Zany to the Max (link)

Completed: July 2018

Pattern: Candy Castle Patterns Bubblegum

Another (slower) sister set for the Ohana family

Mario Memories Sleeper (link)

Completed: August 2018

Pattern: Spencer Sleeper by CKC

A trip down memory lane for my nephew/godson

So Awesome! (link)

Completed: Sept 2018

Pattern: Tie Dye Diva Easy Peasant Dress

A gift for a newborn girl and her MLP-loving big sister

Lego My Batman! (link)

Completed: October 2018

Pattern:  Max Raglan by Max & Meena Patterns (hooded version)

A fun new hoodie for my sewing-neglected son

Spooky Dinosaurs (link)

Completed: October 2018

Pattern:  Max Raglan by Max & Meena Patterns (plain version)

Trying the raglan version of this pattern - it fits better than Made by Jack's Mum did

Another Selfish Sew (link)

Completed: October 2018

Pattern:  Shirtzie by Stitch Upon a Time

Sliding a Halloween shirt in for myself, and learning so sew for my postpartum body

Always Serendipitous? (link)

Completed: November 2018

Pattern:  Shirtzie by Stitch Upon a Time

A gift for my Dad, who loves his first Harry Potter shirt made by me

Power Up Onesie (link)

Completed: November 2018

Pattern:  Lullabye Line Bodysuit by Peekaboo Patterns

A shower gift for a Gamer SIL & my nephew due in Feb

Gone to the Dogs II (link)

Completed: November 2018

Pattern:  Huntsman by Stitch Upon a Time

A second shirt for my Disney Dog loving brother

A Grinchy Love Story (link)

Completed: December 2018

Pattern:  BubbleGum Dress By Candy Castle

Made to match a kindness from a stranger, with a panel my Daughter adored last yer

A Ginger Beauty (link)

Completed: December 2018

Pattern: Ginger by Violet Fields Threads

Fabric: Princess Heart by Camelot Fabrics

An impulse sew after my daughter found Aurora fabric at our Local Quilt Shop

Watercolor Mario Onesie  (link)

Completed: December 2018

Pattern: Lullabye Line Bodysuit by Peekaboo Patterns

A Christmas present for my SIL & Unborn nephew

Stats:

Garments: 30

Woven vs knit: 2 vs 27 (1 is both)
Dresses vs. Shirts vs Other: 17 vs 7 vs 6
Kids vs Adults: 26 vs 4

WiPs without any progress in 2018: Star Wars II, Christmas Traditions. Quilting is shelved while the kids are little, sadly.

A Grinchy Love Story

Once there was a little girl, who went through her Mother's stash. There, she found a panel that she LOVED.

She admired this panel. She drew a picture of this panel. She begged for a dress from this panel. Sadly, the panel that she chose was a Grinch panel, and the day was December 28th.

But the little girl's mother never forgot that panel. Always in the back of her mind was the way that little girl loved that panel, and how happy she looked when she held it up to her small frame.

And in May of that year, right after finishing some fun Animaniacs dresses for a friend, the little girl's mom received some inspiration: wouldn't this panel make a cute Bubblegum dress? The mother posted an ISO to Custom Knit Destash to see if she could get some coordinating fabric for the bodice.

Sadly, no-one was able to produce the coordinating fabric. BUT...

A very kind soul saw the mother's ISO, and realized she had a top made out of the same fabric in a different colorway, sitting in a pile of clothes her son had outgrown. That top was the perfect size for the little girl's brother.

That sealed it. Even though the mother did not have the coordinating fabric, she pressed ahead with the panel little girl loved.

So she took the little girl shopping, and at their local quilt shop, they picked out the perfect fabric for bias tape. The little girl had TONS of fun admiring all the fabric, and was quite excited to acquire a Me and My Sister Designs Hi De Ho Horizontal stripe that, when cut at a 45 degree angle, would "look like a candy cane!"

Other things were also acquired that day, but that's for a different post. When they got home, the mother went to work. She made the bias tape

Cut out the parts

And assembled a great, Grinchy dress.

And that's where this story takes its Suessian twist:

The girl loved the dress that her mother had sewed. And little bro matching? That never got old.  They wore their Grinch outfits when trimming the tree, and also to see the new Grinch movie.

Mom remembers that day long ago, when a girl with a panel began this whole show. 11 months later the girl is a much-bigger kid. But mom still delivered, and is happy she did.

The smiles are genuine, the kids coordinate, and "passing it forward" makes everyone feel great.

So if a little girl gives you a reason to sew - and the hinting starts in low, and then starts to grow. Go ahead and go for it, you'll be glad you did. Because this Grinch-y love story ends with one happy kid!

Gone to the Dogs II

After finishing the Always shirt for my Dad, I set my sights on a gift for my brother. When I'd bought the fabric for Gone to the Dogs I, I'd gone for a panels-and yardage set, but ultimately decided that the panels and the yardage were... a bit much together.

That said, the panel did make a pretty awesome front for a T-shirt by itself. This time I used the SUAT Huntsman pattern (a first) which I paid to have printed in A0 format by PDFplotting.com. I'm definitely becoming a huge fan of A0 patterns, because I like to transfer from a master pattern to tissue paper. I print all sizes at once  (it helps with grading) and having the pattern on one large sheet  eliminates the need for tape and speeds up the tracing process.

The Huntsman was an easy pattern to use - I stand by my wish that SUAT patterns printed in true one-color-per-size, and not just black & white with red options, though. At this point I can assemble a T-shirt without looking at the written instructions, so I have to admit I didn't really pay much attention to the tutorial as I went.

I do think the final product turned out nice, though; and my parents report back that the fit based on my brother's measurements is great.

Overall, this was a quick sew, but a fun one. Definitely a make-again!

Gamer Onesie (Power Up!)

One of the most exciting developments of this year has been the announcement of a new nephew! His parents are consummate gamers, and the mom-to-be (My SIL) has been admiring my clothing handiwork for years. Long before ever getting pregnant, she watched me complete a Mario Sleeper, a Pac Man Hoodie, and a Mario Dress. Of those, it was the Mario Dress fabric she admired the most.

So, I gotta admit even though that was 3 years ago, I've been hoarding the scraps for her ever since: "just in case." And luckily, babies start out small, so a onesie can be gotten from... not a lot of fabric, because that's what I had left.

For this project, I picked the Peek-a-Boo Lullaby Line Bodysuit. PaB is quickly becoming one of my go-to-pattern makers, and I'd seen (and admired) the promotions when it was released, so it was fresh on my mind. My nephew obviously didn't need the skirt option (which I think is pretty fun and unique) but I did like the lapped shoulders for ease sliding over big baby heads.

After purchase, I was pleasantly surprised to see how quick a make this was! I think I pretty much whipped the majority of the onesie out in one sitting, although it did then take me a couple of days to work up the nerve to put the snaps on the bottom. I used the same interfacing for this onesie as for the sleeper, since I had it lying around.

And, as with the original dress, I used bits of the brick for all the binding. My engineering heart is a little offended by the inefficient use of fabric when the featured scene disappears into a seam allowance like that, but I can't argue with the appeal of the finished product. I auditioned several solids for bands, and they... just didn't seem to look as sharp.

Overall, I have to say this pattern is definitely a make-again. It's fast, it's cute, and PaB is definitely on their A-game  here with a tutorial delivers a nice, finished product the first time around. I did mess up a little on the shoulder-binding (note to self, next time transfer the dots that tell you how far to stretch the neckband at the shoulder vs. neck, rather than forgetting until you've already pinned and then rationalizing that they can't be THAT important), but overall, this was a pretty time-effective project with good end results. I'm really happy with how this onesie looks, and hopefully my SIL will be too!