Sewing's a Rainbow

My friend has two Spongebob Squarepants loving kids who've received previous dress sets from me. As they've grown the girls' aesthetics have diverged, but their love for Spongebob has remained a constant. So when I saw this, I had to jump on it! 

Advised that the oldest sister preferred shirts but the youngest still loved dresses, I embarked on a quest for complimentary-but-not identical plans for clothing. I lucked out when the oldest girl (who usually likes her stuff plain) looked over the styles page of the Sew By Pattern Pieces  Girls' Fun tee, and decided she like the one with the ruffle shoulder... ruffles were a unifying element I could work with!

Here's the proof of concept for the shirt:

And here it is completed with its sibling piece, an Simple Life Pattern Co Isla. Isla has its own shoulder ruffle template, but I used the same one from SBPP to keep them looking similar. 

Overall, I really do enjoy putting together sibling sets with a unifying element - and I'm getting better at doing it quickly. These went to the girls right before Christmas 2020, and I was pleased to get a set of thank you texts that showed 2 happy faces.

Love those smiles!

Christmas Blankets for my fellow 80s kids

Earlier this year a beloved Fabric host ran a blanket-themed round for Christmas. Having recently discovered my love for Double-sided (Luxe) Minky, I got brave and decided to participate - and I'm so glad I did! 

With Christmas staring down the barrel at me I took a day off from work and knocked out not one, not two, but THREE Christmas presents in a day - toddler toppers for the Care Bear Lover, the Strawberry Shortcake Lover, and the Rainbow Brite Lover in my life. 

The Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bear blankets went to a friend and my SIL respectively, but I'll admit the Rainbow Brite lover in my life is myself. Hey, it's a comfy blanket, and it'll keep my feet warm when the house gets cold!

Miraculous Pair

Is there anything more fun than sibling sets? Perhaps matching friend sets - or as my daughter calls them - "twinsies." Still on a quest to make my daughter some shirts she would actually *wear,* I lucked into this amazing Miraculous Print, and bought 2 yards. 

Wanting badly to make something that would actually get worn, I refrained from all my favorite patterns, and consulted with my daughter to come up with the Peekaboo Bonnie Knot top. I figured if I made one for her - and one for her friend - they could have fun wearing them together.

As it turns out, the knot top is kind of a page-heavy pattern to print, tape and cut, because it's asymmetric and cannot be cut on the fold. The ties also make it a little harder to use fabric efficiently, (they point downward), and I wasn't a big fan of the rolled-up sleeves look. But on the balance these were pretty small nit-picks for a pattern that was straightforward and turned out *very* cute. I did size up from the recommended size chart size again (2x for my daughter, once for her friend), because when Peekaboo says a pattern is "slim fit" they MEAN it. I Also added my own contrast cuffs by putting a 1:1 band around the sleeve. 

My daughter - a consummate Cat Noir Fan - got the green sleeves and tie, while her Rena Rouge-loving friend got the orange accents. 

And me? I got two smiling faces, and a pair of shirts that they wear at least every other time they get together. That's a win for me!

It's a Jolly Holiday

It's hard to shop for my little brother - his tastes have remained consistent through the years, so he's amassed quite the collection of things he likes - but handmade clothing using custom fabric does seem to do the trick. Our whole family is Disney fans in general, and he's a HUGE Mary Poppins fan in specific, so when I saw this fabric I could not resist.

Cole's Creations Jerry Raglan is my go-to Men's raglan pattern - not for any *particular* reason, other than that I've already printed and assembled it - but it's been a reliable and trusted part of my arsenal for years now.

For this shirt I paired the featured fabric with a red "oil paint" print from Kammie Lou Lou's Texture Collection. I was pleased with the result! and I was also pleased to learn he was wearing it when my parents went out to visit him for Christmas. A Jolly Holiday indeed!

Oh, Baby Princess

I have lost count of the number of times I've made the Simple Life Pattern Co Isla, but it's a favorite for a reason. This one was made to be given at my husband's coworker's baby shower.

I lucked out that they were putting together a Disney princess themed nursery. and that I had the perfect "ensemble" princess fabric to go with it. This is the elbow-length sleeves, natural-waisted, circle skirted Isla in 6m size, and I'm hoping it will make a little girl (and her parents) very happy early next year!

It Has Pockets

Lately my daughter has been very much a shirt-and jeans kind of girl, so even though I *want* to sew her the kind of tulle-heavy, puffed-sleeve masterpieces you see on Custom Collective and Club Pixieville (see here and here), as it turns out that if I want her to actually *wear* it, I am better off with simpler silhouettes and more practical designs.

Simple Life Pattern Co introduced the Zoe on August 25, and with its visually interesting/unique elements being  princess seams and useful pockets, it seemed like a good choice for my daughter.  Especially with those pockets. In my mind, I held off FOREVER on buying it. In actuality I held off until... 9/2, so *slightly* longer than a week (I checked), but in my mind I assure you it felt like forever. 

My first foray into the pattern was using a Sleep My Beauty print from the now-defunct Firefliez Fabrics. I added this amazing green flame from Kammie Lou Lou for the accents, and chose the peplum length with a regular back and circle skirt option. 

Even though I followed the size chart, double-checked my 1" square, and made it the same size as most of her favorite store-bought clothing, I found this shirt ended up just a *little* short on my daughter. It was still wearable, but I found her tugging it down quite a bit.

So of course, if you don't (fully) succeed, try, try again. For my second attempt, I realized I could add length to  the bodice by extending the lines on the princess seams and on the side seams, so I sized up one size, and added another 3/4" in height. This fabric came from Custom Knit Destash, and I ran it by my daughter before committing: she went crazy for it! 

She also asked me for a scooped back, which I was nervous to do since I was sizing up. But after some brainstorming, I realized I had the perfect excuse to purchase the Simple Life Shelby and steal a design element from it; namely, the straps on the back. In retrospect I had thought there would be a bigger trick to the strap design and there wasn't - I just had to muscle the fabric around to attach it between the outer layer and the lining - but sometimes it's just worth KNOWING, and I am sure the built-in capped-sleeve element will serve me well in the future too.

As for now, I'm just happy to have a top my daughter will wear, at least on the weekends. I miss when she was little and would don anything I made with gusto, but I guess I am grateful that her newfound taste is providing me with new challenges and opportunities to grow. I think at the very least, she is grateful for the pockets :-)

Care Bear Siblings

My brother and his wife were a happy (if tired) family of five, and then this summer they made an announcement: they were soon to be a family of six! After we congratulated them for this latest addition, my brother made a comment that "not everyone congratulates you on the fourth child" which just convinced me that *I* - Auntie of Great Handmade Swag - needed to not just congratulate but actually celebrate the announcement of my brother's newest soon-to-be-arrival, and PRONTO.

So how best to celebrate? With fabric, clearly. And not just ANY old clothing would do; what I really needed was a sibling set. For four children. Fortunately, I had the fabric...

Care Bears have been a constant theme for my SIL since before my nieces were born. First I made her a cat, then some dresses for the girls, and eventually a maternity shirt and a matching kimono footie set for kid #3. To be fair, this was interspersed with other non-care-bear creations, but still. It's a fun call-back to a childhood nickname, and I stocked up on this fabric a few years ago. Even their cousin (my daughter) has gotten in on the action with a Care Bear Solis. 

For the littlest cousin, who is still gestating at the time of this writing, I went with my go-to creation, the Simple Life Pattern Company Isla - it's cute, it's fast, and it's comfortable. 

For the older girls, I wanted a little more pizzaz. I've been dying to try the SLPCo Adelyn for a VERY long time now, and I thought its long, elegant lines would look cute on the baby's older sisters. I do so love the puffed sleeves of the Adelyn, but in this case, since little sis already had plain sleeves I decided to mash the sleeves of the Isla with the neckline of the Adelyn. I like that look, it reminds me of dancers in their low-backed leotards. 

For the eldest niece used the Adelyn scoop back and the wide bow; for the soon-to-be-middle niece, I used the modest back and some inspiration from the SLPCo Molly to adapt the largest Adelyn bow as a waist tie.

The only challenge left was my nephew - he needed something that worked with the set, but was maybe a little more masculine. He got a Max Raglan with my one remaining panel, and some coordinating rainbow sleeves. It might be a little big yet - he's growing at a much faster clip than his sisters - but hopefully it will fit when little sis is born!

Here all 4 creations are together:

And here my nieces are with theirs on! This photo stunned me with how big they've gotten, but those are definitely two smiling faces!

Now I can't wait until January when our littles niece comes, so brother will wear his (at least once) and all 4 will get some use!