Happy Birthday, Clifford!

I'm a sucker for a theme.  I really, truly am.  When I have to answer those "What three words best describe you?" questions, I usually put something like "enthusiastic", or-- perhaps more appropriately, "ENTHUSIASTIC!!!!!!" :) 

So Riley's preschool teachers didn't know what they had in store when they asked the kids to wear red today in order to celebrate Clifford's birthday.  See, we don't wear a ton of red in our house, so what's a girl to do but to rush out to Jo-Ann's and buy varying shades of red fabric?!

When I started making Riley-girl's outfit, I had no clear vision except that I wanted a variety of fabrics, some ruffles, and sweetie-bell sweats in red.

We ended up with a tunic top, featuring two ruffles at the neckline (one with puppy prints-- woohoo!) and a big piecework ruffle at the hem.  I like how the grey tones down the red/black theme.

 I even got to use a little more of my Riley Blake chevron for the straps and one of the piecework panels.

 And we are going to get a LOT of use out of these sweetie-bell sweats.  They're so ridiculously comfy.  I may need to make some for myself.  I'm not kidding either.

 Happy birthday, Clifford!  Thanks for giving us another excuse to go fabric-shopping! :)

Mermaid Tail... the tale of a mermaid pants!

A lot of the clothes I make are inspired by the little people in my life, like the butterfly shirt...

 

 ... and the owl jumper...

And when the owl jumper didn't cut it, the giraffe jumper...

But it's not just my little people who inspire me.  These pants are made with our little friend, Gracie, in mind. Gracie LOVES mermaids.  Loves 'em.  So I thought it would be fun to whip up some mermaid pants.

As I was brainstorming, the only issue I could see was the fact that I would be making pants and mermaids do not have legs.  That really is the only problem with mermaids; am I right?! :)  But I think we got around that pretty well... I think. 

 Happy swimming! :)

Remember Me? The Pants Still Fit!

 

Remember those reversible cuffed pants I made for Brooks?  You don't?  Well, then, why don't you venture here first.  Here's Brooks, wearing them when he's roughly 7 months old.

And here he is yesterday, verging on 10 months.  They still fit great and, uncuffed, he still has some length to grow into.  If you've ever experienced the crazy rapid growth of infants, you know that a piece of clothing that lasts more than 3 months (sometimes even ONE month!) is pretty awesome.

Oh my goodness... My little man is getting so big!

You should probably grab some of your cutest fabric and whip some of these up now.  After all, you'll get to put 'em on your kiddo for awhile! :)

Boys' Reversible Cuff Pants

Brooks was feeling kind of left-out in the sewing rotation, so here's my latest sewing project for boys-- the Reversible 'Raffe Pants, a reversible cuffed pant that should last him awhile!  Have I mentioned how much I love clothes that can be worn for longer than a few months (or even years)?  I do.  Love them, that is.  With the cuffs, the length on these pants are easily adjustable, so as long as you make the waist wide enough, Little Man can sport them for quite some time.  Woohoo!

 The whole family is going to the zoo soon, so the kids (naturally!) need to be dressed appropriately.  Brooks got some 'raffe pants that can also turn into joker-esque pants. :)

Materials:
1/2 yard of two coordinating fabrics (for size 6-12 months)
1/2 inch elastic
sewing stuff

Instructions:

Create your pattern off of a pair of well fitting pants.  Trace, leaving 1/2 inch for seam allowance.  Also extend your leg down 3.5 extra inches. 

Your back crotch line will be deeper than the front.  See-- here's the pattern for my back pieces and the fabric is cut for my front piece.  Make sense?

 

I cut through four layers of fabric at one time by folding them both in half.  I'm all about efficiency. :)  Here's the selvedges, too, in case you dig the fabric.

Pin the back pieces (of the same fabric) together and sew the crotch.  Do the same with the front pieces.

Then pin and sew the outer seam and the inseam of the legs.

You'll have two pairs of pants now.  Flip one right side out and stuff it (nicely) inside the other pants.  Pin and stitch at the waistline.

When you open it up, you'll have this, which is kind of funny, right?

Turn one side inside the other and press the waistline.

Stitch all the way around the waist, using a 3/4 inch seam allowance.  I used contrasting thread.  Bold, eh?

Now pick either side of your back seam, in between the top of the pants and what you just sewed.  Thread your elastic through.  

Stitch up the elastic, then blind stitch that seam shut.  I also ran two straight lines of stitches down the back to give it a "tag" of sorts, so I could easily find the back when putting the pants on.

Move on to those pant legs.  Press both into the center, 1/4 inch.

Pin in place.

 Topstitch as close to the edge as you can get.

You're done!  Brilliant!

 I think Brooks will easily turn a few giraffe heads. :)

Note: I didn't think it through, but when Brooks wears his pants with the giraffes as the cuffs, those little 'raffes are upside-down.  Oops.  Something to consider when making these!

Sweetie-Bell Sweats Tutorial

When I was in college, a girl on my floor described my style as "sporty chic."  I'm pretty sure that was just a euphemism for "Why the heck is Heather ALWAYS in her tennis clothes?"  One staple, for me, was the grey sweatpant(s?).  It was ludicrous to think of leaving without them.  I'm not sure how many pairs I had, but it was enough.

So now that we're into Spring, and we occasionally need a little more coverage than shorts give, I thought I'd whip the girls up some sweats that are comfy but also quite a bit cuter than the ones I sported during my college career.  Enter, Sweetie-Bell Sweats.  They have a fantastic big bell at the bottom and are made from ultra-soft knit material. 

Materials:
about 1 yard of knit fabric (depending on size you're making)
1/2 inch elastic
sewing gear

Instructions:
**Use a 1/2 inch seam allowance throughout.  You can also finish all the seams, which is not shown here.  It's knit and won't fray, so I chose the quicker option.  Hehe. :)

Grab a pair of well-fitting pants to make your pattern.  For the front pieces, fold the pants in half and follow the curve but only extend down to the knee area. Just go straight down on the outside of the leg.

**Note: give yourself an addition inch on top to account for the elastic casing.  I apologize for this misleading photo which is NOT showing that additional inch.

Flip your pants over and trace the back curve.  You'll see it goes a little deeper.

You'll have two pieces that look like this.

Cut two pieces of each, making sure they are facing opposite directions.  I fold my fabric and cut both at the same time.  Here are both of my front pieces.

Place your front pieces right sides together.  Now sew just the, er, crotch curve.  Do the same for the back pieces.

It might look funny to you because the bottom part of your pants is shorter than the top, but remember, you'll be adding the "bell" to the bottom of the pants later.

Open up both pieces and pin the outside seam and inside seam together.  Sew.

Flip the top over 1/4 inch then 3/4 inch and press.  Pin in place because knits can get a little finicky sometimes.  I also like to add a little ribbon for a tag in the back.

Sew around, leaving an opening for you to thread your elastic through.  Then go ahead and elasticize!

Close up the casing.

At this point, you have some pretty cute bermuda shorts, if you want to stop there.

But if you want that sweet bell, now cut two long strips.  The measurements are up to you, but here's what you need to consider.  You want them to be significantly wider than your current pantleg.  (My legs were 12 inches wide at the bottom.)  As for length, you're adding the length that will make them fit your little one.  So use those well-fitting pants to see how much longer you need to make them.

From the photo above, I needed to add 6 inches for them to be the correct length on Noelle, so I cut them 6.5 inches long and about 20 inches wide.

Sew them into a loop then run a gathering stitch along the top.

Gather until the width matches that of your pantleg.

Placing right sides together, pin and sew.  Repeat on other leg.

Flip and there you go!  Now you could leave them like this, or press them over to hem them.  

Or you could use the lettuce stitch (oh, I heart the lettuce stitch) like I did here.

Now you are ready to stake your claim on Spring!

Or run for the sheer fun of it!

Whatever you do, you're going to be stylish and chic. :)