Number 9 Trousers

Happy Easter!  I hope that you all are enjoying your long weekend with those that you love!  Here's a little peek at our egg-painting session from this afternoon!

We've had a busy few weeks here at the household, mainly because we've tried to do a few things at the same time as having two sick kids.  Yuck.  Thankfully they're both over the nastiness and are happy as can be!  :)

I did manage to get some sewing in before they were sick...some sweet little pants for Elliott from the pattern by Shwin&Shwin.  Here are the Number 9 Trousers:

I love the look of these pants - the material used is Essex Yarn Dyed Denim which was shipped over from Sew Mama, Sew.  LOVE this material: it's light and perfect for Spring (which, hint,hint, should be on its way soon)!  

The back welt pockets took up the bulk of the project time but they add so much to the pant, they are a necessity!  Elliott LOVED the fact that i added special Superman fabric to the pockets (Thanks Shwin&Shwin for the idea)!  And seriously, he looks uber cute in these pants.  I cut him a size 5 based on his waist size but added 1.5 inches to the length...which wasn't enough!  The hem was completed with only 1/4 inch turn under because they would have been too short any other way!  

Loved the pattern, loved the outcome.  I think I'll add a button to the front to give it some more detail, and next time I'll add some interest to the side front pockets as well.

~Karina

Patch it up!

Does this look familiar to you?

I'm not sure if it's just a boy thing, but Elliott seems to get holes in EVERY single pair of pants that he wears.  He's had his newest pair of jeans for about six weeks and the knees are getting so thin that they're gonna go at any moment!  I really should be proactive about this, but here's what I've been doing to be completely REactive on his other pairs...

PATCHES!

This project took me about 45 minutes in total which I think is pretty 'top shelf' for getting a pair a pants out of it that Elliott can actually wear in public that don't make him look like a little ragamuffin.

Supplies?  Patch material (I used some vintage leather that I had previously purchased), oval pattern (I used a mason jar lid to make the curves), seam ripper, scissors and sewing machine.

 Steps:
1) Pin patches in place over holes (or if you're being proactive, where kneed will wear out material)
2) Rip out the stitches from the outside pant leg (of whichever side does not have the decorative stitching) so that you can sew the patches on using your sewing machine. I left the side hem intact at the bottom so that I didn't have to deal with resewing the bottom hem.
3) Sew patches on using a zigzag stitch with coordinating thread.
4) Sew the seams back together and you're done!

I have a few cute pictures of Elliott modelling the pants, but I noticed (after the fact) that he was flying low and decided to make the most out of my crop function! :)

Testing out his knee-bends with the new patches!

When I showed Elliott his new pants he exclaimed that they were 'AWESOME' and wanted to put them on straight away!  Then at bedtime he told me that I should make purple patches to put on my shoulders...I guess in case I wear them out somehow?  :)  He's too cute not to love!

A Fishing Vest for Jack

We went home for a few days over the weekend and into March Break, and were able to celebrate my nephew's 5th birthday.  I'd been thinking for a few weeks about what to get him and, of course, decided to make him something!  I picked out some Fish in The Sea a few months back, and have been waiting for some inspiration. Then I had a brilliant idea.  Summer is on it's way...cottage season...boats...and fishing!

I used the explorer vest pattern from the Oliver + S book that my sister gave me for Christmas, and came up with this:

The fish material worked perfectly for this project!

I added some grommets and little fishing lures (removed the sharp hook before fastening them on)...

and attached them using Velcro so that Jack's mom can throw the vest in the wash!

I really liked the idea of the back pocket from the pattern...though it might be a little hard to access without taking the vest off (I guess that's what moms and dads are for).  :)

I'm pretty sure that Jack liked it...even though it was on the small side (kids keep growing so darn fast)!

So, now that I've made one I MUST make some more...well, at least one for Elliott.  He's been asking me when he's getting his fishing vest, so I better add it to the list!

~Karina

Baby Boys...

I've been up to a few different things over the past week that I'd love to share with you.  In fact, I think I'll do that right now!  :)

I bought a box full of knits at a garage sale last summer for $10, and then I came across this tutorial from Omi Creates last week.  What a great little project to get my feet wet with sewing knits!  I'll be the first to say that my little number ain't perfect, but I can't resist posting it because it's just too darn cute!

I broke two snaps in the process (one because I put it on backwards and had to rip it out), but it was worth it!  Luckily for me a have a cute, little, three-week-old nephew to try this little onesie out on...maybe in a month or two.  On that note, I FINALLY got to meet my littlest nephew this past weekend and he is so precious. Silly me forgot my camera, but I'm sure Joey's mom would love to send me a photo or two!

To add to the baby boy craze, I had the option of making one of three projects for my Curves Class from Rachel at Stitched in Color and chose these little bibs...

I've lovingly dubbed them the 'lumberjack' bibs and have my eye on a little lumberjack who could make good use of them!  These bibs were made out of flannel and are so soft and I imagine will be wonderfully absorbent.  Sewing curves is a little daunting, but I've managed to get some practice in the past few weeks!

Oh, and I've started cutting my material for a throw quilt for my living room!  I was originally going to attempt the Retro Flowers pattern but thought maybe I should wait on that until I'm a bit better at sewing a curved seam.  Since I haven't ever made a simple patchwork quilt, I've decided to give that a go instead.  I feel like it may be some sort of 'right of passage' to become a real quilter.  :)  I've got about 750 2.5" squares to cut out, but I'm already half done so I'm on my way!

And for those of you wondering, no, I haven't given up on Elliott's quilt (nor have I finished it)!  With all the excitement of placing another fabric order online I didn't buy quite enough backing fabric.  Oops!  It's been kind of nice to have a break from it for a couple of weeks, but I think I'm ready to jump back in to its enormity!  Don't worry, when it's completed you'll know about it (because I'll be shouting it from the rooftops while jumping for joy).

I hope you are all having a LOVEly day. 

~Karina