Swimsuits for Fall 2014

Why make swimsuits in fall,  you ask?  Eh - thats just the way the chips fell this year.

At the start of summer the suits we had in the drawer all looked good and fit fine so I decided that last year's suits would be fine for this year as well.  Fast forward through two sessions of 10 swimming lessons each, plus going to the pool at least once a week and those same suits look pretty pitiful right now.  Grace's is completely stretched out and tent-ish looking because that kid cannot resist pulling dresses over her bent knees when she's chilly.  So, sitting on the side of the pool waiting her turn in swimming lessons, she tucks her knees under the dress of her suit to 'keep warm'.  Twenty swim lessons later the dress portion of her suit looks like it could hold an elephant!  All that chlorine really does a number on the fabric too - its getting quite pilly and thin.  Leah has grown a lot this year and rotates between her purple Olympic swimmer wanna-be suit and some garage sale suits that are almost threadbare.  As I don't have anything particularly pressing to make at the moment I decided to make new suits.  I'll think of it as getting ahead for next year!

I love my self-patterned modest dress-style suits (here, here, here, and here), but also wanted to try my hand at a tank suit one of these days.  I have a KwikSew pattern I picked up on sale and have never used so I thought I'd test it out.  First I made a mock-up to check for sizing and modesty standards.  My string bean, tall-and-thin girls usually need things lengthened around the waist/chest and this was no different.  I ended up using the KwikSew x-small size and just adding length to the torso for each girl.  I lowered the arch on the front and back leg holes to keep their little buns tucked in properly.  Those drafting changes went smoothly.  I also raised the neckline a bit, which ended up causing me a bit of grief.  I made the racerback style, and raising the neckline meant that the 'head hole' got smaller.  We had to do some contortionist moves to get arms and shoulders through the too-tight head hole until I did a round of alterations.  It was a bummer, but after the alterations I've saved them so they are wearable.  It annoys me that I had to hack at them and mess up my nice seams/finished but I guess I'd rather have less than perfect finished edges than start over and waste the suits entirely.

Overall, the suits came together very quickly.  I put a ruffle on the front of each for fun.  The girls LOVED the frills so I'm glad I took the extra few minutes to add ruffles.   I used 4 way stretch swimsuit lycra from my stash.  (I bought the lycra more than a year ago - that makes it 'free' now, right?)  I used a double layer for all the parts of the suit - one layer just seemed too thin.

Here is suit number one:

This one is suit number two.

I love it when chests are well covered and buns are well tucked in.  :)

I did the straps differently on the second suit, after discovering the too-small-head-hole problem on the first one.  I was hoping this would fix the problem but it wasn't enough of a change.  

To alter the head-holes at the very end, I ended up trimming the straps so they were thinner, cutting the 'V' in the racerback deeper, and rebinding the front necklines to lower them about a half an inch.  Those three little trimmings made the hole big enough that its not quite so difficult to get the suits on.  Not easy, mind you, but not quite as difficult as the first go-round.  

Before:  

After: 

Before: 

After:  

Overall, I'd give myself a B on this project.  Length and leg hole pattern alterations went well but the neckhole issue was a frustrating bother.  Next time around I'll try and get that right on the first try.  Also, I messed around with the clear plastic swimsuit elastic for a while before remembering why I don't like that stuff.  I should just chuck it so I'm not tempted to use it again.  I find it too stiff and too hard to stretch (ie it holds too tightly).  Regular softer knit stuff is much better.

As long as I had all the lycra out and my sewing machine all set up for stretch stitching I decided to whip up two dress styles as well.  I've made these so many times it only takes about an hour per suit, start to finish.

Now the girls have two suits each for this winter and next year.  I hope the lycra holds out on the tank style suits - I'm a little disappointed in how they are pilling/fraying after only two trips to the pool in them so I don't have high hopes.  I'll have to keep an eye out for some higher quality lycra - its so hard to find in stores.

Little Purple Handbag

I love to make bags and this is the second time this summer I was asked to make one on commission for someone.

A few years ago I made this one for a little girl and now, apparently, her friend needs one as well.  I am more than happy to oblige.

I used the same pattern, and it came together just as easily.  I tried the two-strap version this time just for fun.

Hand embroidered name tag, which was then machine stitched onto the bag

What little girl wouldn't want to play with a purse this cute?!

P.S.  I really must do a better job of pressing/getting rumples out before taking pictures... this one looks like its just been run over by something... its not that bad in real life, I promise.  

Blue Star Handbag

A while ago, I made this bag for myself.  I love it and it has garnered many compliments.  One of those compliments recently came from a relative who then asked me to make her one just like it.  My answer: "Sure, I'd love to!"  She requested a few specific things such as more interior pockets and a shorter strap.  I worked on it for a few days and then sent the bag off in the mail.  As this is my second time making this particular 'pattern' (my own design) it went together pretty smoothly and I am very happy with the way the bag turned out.

This bag is the same overall shape as my personal one, just a few tweaks here and there.  I did a color-blocked band at the top, for starters, which moved the pleat down a bit.   This tweak had the added bonus of giving the bag a bit more structure at the top.   I think I like the color-blocking better, so if and when I make another bag I hope I remember that!

I think this little pleat might be my favorite part of the whole bag!  

I always love piping on strap edges and I like how the strap connection turned out this time.  I find sewing around hardware to be challenging - it never seems to turn out as crisp and neat as I'd like it to.  On this bag, I left out the metal hardware altogether on the straps and attached the piped strap with the rounded blue fabric piece.  It stiffens the area a bit to give the strap some sturdiness and I was able to get all those seems nice and crisp and polished looking. 

Three interior pockets on one side and an elasticized pocket on the other.  

The closure is a magnetic snap - I really like those.

Here it is being modeled by a six year old in her jammies.  

(The bag is for an 80-something year old who won't wear it with jammies!)  

Quick Knit Skirt

This skirt was a one-day whip-up.

Earlier this spring, I found a few knit skirts at GoodWill and I have been enjoying wearing them.   I had this rather strange waffle-like textured knit in my stash so I thought I'd try a comfy skirt.  If it worked, great.  If it didn't work, it wouldn't be a big loss because the fabric was a bit odd to begin with.

It is self drafted - those skills come in so handy now.  I made the skirt and then, after trying it on realized that one layer of the knit fabric was practically see-through so I went back and added a second layer to the skirt.  After reattaching the waistband it was much more appropriate, but still pretty lightweight and not too bulky.

I've worn it a bunch and it wears (and washes) well - a nice comfy, everyday running errands and playing with the kids kind of skirt.  I should make more.  :)

Teal Crochet Bag

This is a recent crochet project.  It was supposed to be a pencil case, like this one, and then it just kept growing until it became this over-the-shoulder bag.

It's all single crochet.  The main part of the bag goes vertically, seamed up the sides with a single crochet seam.  Around the top I picked up stitches and did a few rows around horizontally.  I thought it might give the top of the bag more structure and look nice.  

I debated on how to do the strap, but in the end I made a separate strap and stitched it onto the bag.  I think it turned out okay, but not great. 

Here it is being worn.  

Things I like about the bag... 

1.  Color.  I love the look of the variagated colors. 

2.  Yarn.  I have decided I like smaller, smoother yarn rather than bulky hairy yarn.  The original pencil case was being made for the sole purpose of trying out thinner, smoother yarn.  

3.  The band at the top in the opposing direction - I like that it changes things up just a bit but the project still looks cohesive.  

Things I don't like about the bag...

1.  Its only useful for carrying light things.  I've found I can't even really use it as a run-around, daily-use purse because my regular stuff weighs it down too much.  In order to make it sturdier I'd have to either line it, or make a sturdier strap or something - not sure.  Maybe thats the nature of crochet bags?    

2.  The strap.  I tried to make it wide and sturdy but it still digs into my shoulder (almost painfully so) when there is anything mildly weighty in the bag.  I would also rather the strap was integrated into the bag rather than stitched on, but as I was flying by the seat of my pants I thought I'd do it this way in case I wanted to remove it later and try something else.    

Something tells me this bag will eventually get a makeover somehow, but it was fun to make.  

Crochet is a fun diversion for me right now - great for keeping busy while watching TV.  I am okay with experimenting on my own and learning from library books.  This project was all straight lines, no shaping.   The next thing I'd like to try will be practicing reading patterns and a bit of shaping - circles still trip me up sometimes.   

Sunhat - Times Three

This summer we found ourselves without a single fabric sunhat for all three women of the house.  I've never really had one I liked, and both girls have outgrown their princess hats.  I had seen these and thought they looked cute so I thought I'd give the pattern a try.

I intended to make one for myself and then see if I could scale it down for the girls.  Apparently I didn't read the description well enough because its actually a kid's hat.  So I made some for them and then scaled it up for myself.  All my experiments in pattern drafting of clothing have really come in handy. Scaling up a pattern involving three separate curves would have thrown me for a loop a year ago but now it was no big deal - got it right on the first try each time.

Hat number one (for Grace) is the largest size in the given pattern.  Its the same fabric on the inside and the outside, so technically reversible but not a very exciting switch.  :)

Hat number 2 (for Leah) has a wider brim and is a smidgen wider around the head circumference.  Hers is two colors - green on the outside, yellow flowers on the inside.  

My hat is made an inch or so wider than the largest pattern piece around the head circumference and the brim is also significantly widened for more sun coverage.  Yellow flowers on both sides.  

(I used up all that yellow flower fabric on these hats - bonus points for using up the stash.  I also used a quart jar to help hold the hat up on this photo because it kept squishing flat, so it looks extra pointy/tall.)  

We've been using them for a week or two now with good results.  The pattern is a keeper and they were a fun quick sew.  

Baby Boy Bibs

The rush of sewing for the end of the school year has passed I have enjoyed a little breather from sewing.  This summer will be filled with smaller, quicker projects - no big quilt plans and I'll putter on clothes as I feel like it with no real deadlines.   I have finished a crochet bag which I will have to take a picture of and post on here soon.  Today's post is something I whipped up this week.

Baby bibs are great fun to make.   I have a baby shower coming up at the end of summer and thought I could stay a bit ahead of the game and get these done now.  Its a pattern from a magazine I've used many times - I like the shape of the bibs and they sew up super fast and easy.

Its for a baby boy so I was able to work up a few ideas I've had floating around in my head and on pinterest for some time.  Its kind of a 'menswear for baby' theme and I am really happy with how they turned out.  So cute!

(Side note:  I've really got to get better at giving things a quick press before I take pictures.  Sorry about that.)

First up are a few mens shirt prints:

Then two grey cotton with hand-embroidered lines and an appliqued tie:  

My personal favorite is this one - a button placket: 

I reused the real placket from a mens shirt and then added extra buttons to get the scale right.

How cute will that be with little navy pants and a white shirt?!

And then the last one is a cute owl print.  It doesn't fit the menswear theme, but its cute nonetheless and I had just the right amount of fabric left to eek out a bib.  

They are all made from quilting cotton or mens shirts with a layer of batting or flannel in between for strength and better absorption of drool.  Velcro closures.  All machine washable, of course.  

Here's the collection (if you can call it that):  

My criteria for baby shower gifts (most gifts, in all honesty) are to be practical/useful, washable/easy care, handmade, and cute.  These fit the bill.  Happy baby boy!