Handmade in the Wild: Red Chevron

One of the first items I made for E actually turned out to be a great to for JT, too.

I loved it under overalls this summer! Our town is known for the "World Famous Corn Palace" and this was the first summer that a local 5th grade classroom (with help of several organizations and businesses) set up a learning area in the upstairs auxiliary gym in the Corn Palace. We went often with friends :) It was a great way to entertain the kids during the hot summer months (and made the Corn Palace more exciting to visit for tourists!). 

Up, up, up!

Down, down, down!

(E still loves frilly-ness and JT learned how to go up and down slides!)

Post about the Skipper Top

Handmade in the Wild: Farm Fun

Welcome to my first edition of "Handmade in the Wild" where I share pictures of items I've sewn being loved and worn :) You see, I love sewing, but I also love seeing the items I've created out in public doing what they were intended for!

Here we are at the farm... I didn't make these items to be worn together, so it was a happy coincidence that they really went together well. 

No worries if the outfit gets dirty - that just means they are having fun! We are able to visit both grandparents a lot, since they both live about an hour and a half away in different directions. Summer visits mean lots of exploring and playing and having fun!

Patterns: Skipper Top by Sew Much Ado and Bonny Leggings with added circle skirt by Made for Mermaids

Fabric: Top - can't remember! Bottoms: textured chiffon from Hobby Lobby with solid cotton lycra from various sources

Another set of Matching Tops!

I recently posted that I made a shirt for a MOPs meeting. Well, before I used my "good" fabric, I wanted to make sure the pattern fit me correctly. 

Pattern: Seafarer Top by Sew Much Ado 

Fabric: Cotton Lycra Print and Solid both from Raspberry Creek Fabrics on Etsy

Pictures Taken during our Black Hills "vacation" that I'll post about later...

I added the color-blocking myself, and after creating this top, I wished I had added the color blocking to the back as well. So, although the size fit me fine on this practice one, I did learn from it and thus made my next one better.

Of course, E kept asking me if she was going to get one, too. Lucky for her, I had just enough fabric left over to make her a matching Skipper Top (also by Sew Much Ado). You can see on hers that I added the color blocking to the back and how much better that looks! 

So, while I'm not one who loves-loves-loves being matchy-matchy with my daughter, the fact that it's a great way to use up scraps of fabric and it puts a huge smile on her face made me give in :)

PS: James decided to photobomb our pictures. Fun times ;)

Birthday Presents for Lolo

My niece turns 1 today! I was very excited to try out a few new (and a few well-loved) patterns out for her birthday gift. 

 Patterns: M4M Talor (somewhere between dress and tunic length)... SMA Skipper Top... M4M Riley Racer Back Tunic... M4M Bonny Shorties

Fabrics: Riley Blake Vivid Fireworks (Raspberry Creek Fabrics on Etsy), Pink Ruffle Stripe from JoAnns, Riley Blake Idlewild Main (Peekaboo Pattern Shop), Denim-look Knit from Walmart, Solid Cotton Lycras from a local fabric shop

I love the combination of the Idlewild fabric with the denim-like peplum. I have no patience to thread a double needle, so the hem on the skirt is just two separate lines of stitching to make it appear like a double needle :) Don't you think the shorties will add a fun touch of pink under the skirt?!

I have used the skirt pattern of the Riley before when I made the Brooklyn/Riley mash-up for E's Christmas dress, but this was my first time making the Riley Racerback top. I may add a touch of length to the bands... and I will definitely pin/sew the bands on separately instead of pinning all of them and then trying to sew with all those pins!

I won the Talor pattern by participating in a month-long Instagram activity that Made for Mermaids organized. It is such a easy and simple pattern, but so perfect for warm weather!

I had a bit of fun and used a decorative stitch to hem it. I look forward to making more Rileys and Talors for E's summer wardrobe. The recipient of these lives in a much warmer climate, so I enjoyed dreaming of warmer weather while it was snowy and cold here :) 

Happy Birthday Lolo! We love you!

Family Pictures and another Skipper Top

We took family pictures with Dan's family last fall. We chose a color scheme about a week before everyone was coming to our house with plans on heading the park with a tripod and a camera...

She already had the red skirt, the cream tights and the jean jacket but no shirt to go under the jacket. The Skipper Top by Sew Much Ado came to the rescue! Thankfully I had the fabric on hand and even had the lace in my old hat box of trims. She may not have worn it once since picture day, but it was a necessary make none-the-less! 

The weather was perfect on picture day! There were just enough cloud cover to defuse the brightness of the sun and there were still quite a few trees holding on to their fall foliage to provide wonderful backgrounds. Like I said before, we headed to a nearby park and just used a tripod with my camera. My brother-in-law used his graphic designing expertise to help set up all of us.

Gotta love this outtake... guess she was proud of her mommy-made shirt :) 

Repurposed Green-Striped Henley

I recently (um... this winter sometime?) took a shirt of mine that never fit me quite right and repurposed it into a dress/tunic/top/thing for E.

We started this photo shoot with a slightly poor attitude, but eventually she warmed up!

I believe I used the Skipper Top pattern to help me cut out the pieces. I pinned the pattern piece to the old shirt in just the right place where I could still use the original hem and still have some of the buttons (although they aren't usable because of the neckline). I do wish I would have a-lined the bottom half just a little bit more, but I may have been restricted by the original side seams (if I remember correctly... my goodness, Mommy-brain is such a real thing!). I still can't believe I had just the right shade of interlock knit fabric on hand to use for the cuffs and neckline. 

It is still a little big on her, but it still worked nicely with some leggings from her pants drawer :)

And with that, I'll leave you with some of E's crazy faces...

More Matching Cousins

Once upon a time, I was in 4-H and sewing 2-3 outfits a summer to enter in Fashion Revue. 

For the non-4-H-ers out there, Fashion Revue is a "Youth-in-Action" project. Participants sew an outfit, model it for a judge and answer questions about the construction and care of their outfits. A few weeks later, during the county fair (or in my county's case, 4-H Achievement Days), there is a public event where participants put on a fashion show and model their outfits while the emcee reads a script about the outfit, accessories and a few tidbits about the participant. 

Here I am during the public Fashion Revue modeling an outfit... I believe this was the summer after finishing 6th or 7th grade. One of these days I'll dig out my old 4-H book which has all of my outfits (and records about all my other 4-H activities, too) and I'll post more outfits as part of a Throwback Thursday series... someday :)

This past winter, Mom and I cleaned out her fabric collection, and I found plenty of this JoAnn's Tie-Dye knit fabric leftover from the top I made a decade ago. I had just enough to make matching Skipper Tops (pattern by Sew Much Ado) for Evelyn and her cousin! 

Since the knit fabric was a little older, it didn't stretch as well. I should have went up a size for Evelyn's top... she was only able to wear it a few times before I gave up fighting her to get it over her head. Thankfully, I guessed big for Anna's size and her's fits perfectly! Evelyn's top will just have to go in the box with her other outgrown clothes and wait there for the next baby girl in the extended family :) Besides, someday Evelyn will fit into Anna's! Haha, on that note, she will probably fit into my top someday, too... I'm pretty sure I still have every outfit I ever made!

Evelyn's First Skipper Top

Ever since I had leftover fabric after making Evelyn her Comfy Christmas Dress, I couldn't wait to sew it into a Skipper Top (pattern by Sew Much Ado). 

Let me just say, I LOVED how quick and easy this pattern was! I was able to sew it in a few hours one night after Evelyn had gone to bed (I already had the pieces cut out). I'm sure it would have gone quicker, but I'm still getting used to sewing on knits and setting up my double needle.

I had her wear it the next day!!

I already have another top cut out, along with a matching one for her older cousin. 

I was busy sewing them during nap time one day last week and broke my double needle, so those are one the back burner until I have time to buy another needle. 

As you can tell, Spring has arrived! Admittedly, this week we're suppose to be a bit on the cooler side, but last week was simply amazing! 

And yes, the baby calves are starting to arrive! We even have a set of twins. I look forward to taking more pictures of these little cuties soon :)