Finally getting the chance to sew a little more! But the time is short, and I'm still fairly tired when I'm at it, so I've been working on clothing for Mara. It's nice to have a specific pattern to follow sometimes.
I would love to sew up most of her tops for layering this fall and winter.
A couple weeks ago I came across a few online pattern companies with super cute little girl clothes. This first one is called Little Lizard King, and the adorable top is named Fly Girl. From a couple outfits I already had, I knew the flutter sleeves were cute on Mara. And this pattern is awesome for quilters! I have So. Much. fabric, but its all in smaller quilting amounts. This bodice top and sleeve take almost nothing, and the bottom part of the shirt is relatively narrow and only cut wof for the smaller sizes. See, I even used a bit of my hoarded oranges!
The only thing I wasn't fond of when making the top, was the huge amount of bulk inside the bodice - the top stitching was kind of a bear, trying to keep it nice and even. Since I'm not selling the tops, and nobody but Mara and I will see the inside finishes, I'll probably skip a couple folds next time. Although the finishes are super beautiful and professional looking, a simple serged edge will keep the fraying away and reduce some bulk.
My next try at the top was in all knits! The thing I have the most trouble with for knit is to get a nice collar or arm... and the way this pattern is constructed, neither of those things are included. Hurrah.
And. Well. BACON.
I made a few changes to go this with knit. The first being eliminating the back cut and snap. It seemed like there was plenty of room to get the top over her head, so I went for a single piece instead of two. Fit was perfect! I'm considering doing the same thing for a woven, but I do like how neatly the split and buttoned back lays and moves.
This little top is adorable. And in the knit, it makes for wonderful play wear.
Especailly hunting birds and bugs. I changed up the pattern directions for the arm holes, as the woven calls for a small bit of bias that beautifully covers and turns.... lazy, I didn't want to make any knit bias tape.
You can see that the knit fabric under her arms also lays very nicely, and I think that is partly due to a cool trick I came across.
You use this clear elastic. Pull out a piece and give it a good stretch, like youre blowing up a balloon. Then, lay it under the folded seam. Top stitch, going through the sandwiched elastic. That elastic keeps your stitches smooth and beautiful, and the folded edge nice and stable. A very cool trick!
The one other thing I changed was on the sleeves. If you can see at the top, the flutter sleeves are beautiful, with a contrast lining. Again, not worried about fraying, I went with only one layer of sleeve fabric. I turned down the top edge the needed amount for adding elastic to make a casing, and that's it. I considered doing a rolled edge finish, but I don't have thread that matches well enough. I think it was fine to skip.
So, that's it with the Fly Girl. I have plans on making one fore October with some of my hoarded Ghastly prints. I think it will be super cute.
And, totally rationalizing here, I figure I can hack up her dresses once she grows out of them to get back some of my quilting fabric. Ha!
Peeks at a couple more things I've finished. That cute little dress above is the Blue Ribbon Winner dress, also from Little Lizard King. That's a cool pattern that has info for doing either flutter, short or long sleeve knit tops, then a knit or woven middle sash, and a ruffled woven bottom. I love that they include a cut point for upcycling a store bought shirt. This is a knit top I got from Target - elminating once again my need to sew up a knit collar or arm. I'll have to takle that some day.
Finally, Strawberry Fields knit triple ruffle shorts/capri/pants pattern from FooFooThreads. They are sooooo cute! And the fit is amazing. There is a mod within the pattern for adjusting rise, which was perfect for covering little miss's fluffy cloth diaper bottom.
(Full on girl mom now - surrounded by fluffy, ruffly sewing and I turned on the Frozen iTunes station the other day. Super girly fun!)
