KCWC Day 7: Retro Captain Rex Tee

It turns out O had very specific plans about his tee.  Not just any clone trooper helmet would do, it had to be Captain Rex's, and he wanted to be able to wear it to his Star Wars birthday party next week.  I was thrilled.  He's so picky about his clothes being plain, I'd thought our days of special outfits for birthdays were long over!

Captain Rex's helmet has blue accents, and in my stash there are a few yards of super soft heathered blue knit that has a great vintage feel to it, just calling out be made into a ringer tee.  Yes, another one. This time I used the Fishsticks Designs Charlie Tee pattern in size 6.

This was my first freezer paper stencil attempt and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  There were a few spots I was going to touch up, but I was instructed to leave them, as Rex's helmet is scuffed up and stuff from battle.  My mistakes make it more authentic, I guess.

 
O usually loses interest in sewing projects soon after we finish the design process, but this time he was all over it.  I think the paint was a big factor, and perhaps some fear that I might screw up his beloved Captain Rex.  Ha.

I think the helmet could've been placed a bit higher, but O still said it turned out even better than he'd imagined.

And that's it for me for KCWC!  In each of the three previous challenges, I've sewn three things, so I'm excited that I managed four this time, especially considering how busy this week was.  A big thanks to Meg of Elsie Marley for hosting KCWC.  It's such a great motivator, especially seeing what everyone else is making in the Flickr pool.

KCWC Day 6: Girly Patrick Curved Raglan

No KCWC sewing yesterday; I was busy cleaning the house to make it respectable for the babysitter in the afternoon.  Oddly enough, the only room other than the bathroom that was reasonably clean was the sewing room. I did sew a gift bag for the wedding that we went to last night, but then managed to forget the present and not realize it until it was too late. This isn't the first time we've done that, so I put it in a very visible place in the living room to no avail. I'll be sending off a package on Monday, I guess.

The wedding had a baseball theme.

I got back to it today, though.  Regular readers (aka my sister and aunt) probably know that I can't get through a KCWC without using at least one of my TNT Fishsticks Designs patterns. I had a cut of interlock with an owl design embroidered on it from a few years ago when I'd gotten some PUL cuts embroidered for E's medium pocket diaper stash. The design was too long for a baby garment, so I set it aside and completely forgot about it until the great sewing room cleanup last week.

It was calling out to be made into a Patrick Curved Raglan, and in the middle of the night, I remembered this floral knit print on brown that I thought would coordinate. In the morning when I checked, it was pretty close.  I cut the usual 3T width/4T length and narrowed the neckband piece to 1.5" wide to girlify it a bit.

It needed a bit more of the solid brown, so I added ringer-style armbands, cut 1.5" wide by 7.75" long.  I also trimmed 1" off the length of the sleeve before sewing on the bands.

Only one more day of KCWC!  Not sure what's on the agenda yet.  There's been talk from O. of a tee with a clone trooper helmet on it. We'll see if he's serious about that request or not.

KCWC Days 3 & 4: Farbenmix Henrika

I just finished up a little knit dress, the Farbenmix Henrika.  It's the smallest size (98/104 or 3T/4T), but with an added inch of length to both skirt layers.  It looks a bit wide, but that seems to be typical of the Farbenmix patterns I've used.  E still wears the 86/92 Olivia I made for her second birthday as a tunic!

Henrika is written for wovens, which probably added to the roominess factor also.  The pattern suggests that you can leave out the closure if you use a knit, which is what I did.  I also added a neckband and changed the short sleeve to a cap sleeve by eyeballing one of E's RTW shirts.

The instructions on this pattern are very, very minimal, so while construction is fairly straight-forward, I wouldn't recommend it to a beginning sewist.  The pattern could be more clearly marked as well.  It took me a ridiculously long time to figure out that one of the lines on the bodice sections was meant to be for the neck facing (which I didn't use, since I made mine like a tee).

I used Wooly Nylon for the lettuce edge for the first time, but didn't think it looked any different than using regular serger thread.  Maybe it'll fill in more once it's been washed?

Have you been to the KCWC flickr group yet this round?  SO many cute things.

KCWC Days 1 & 2: Jalie 2806

This week's off to a bit of a slow start due to several commitments at O's school, so I began with a Jalie 2806, a simple tee with a few little extra details.  Since I've already made one for myself, it was a quick project. The most time-consuming part was trying to get the print lined up straight.  I got pretty close.

I traced a G/3 for width and H/4 for length, which looks like it'll be a good fit for Miss E. I'm sure I've mentioned before how much I love Jalie's size range, all the way from a girl's 2 up to a woman's 22 in one pattern!

Gathered Neckline

Tulip Sleeve

I'm especially looking forward to seeing how the tulip sleeve looks on her.  I didn't like the idea of it for myself, but think it will be a cute little touch for her.  It might be fun with a lettuce hem too.

Now I'd better get to tracing for the next project!

A Clean Start

In a shocking turn of events, my sewing room actually is spic and span -- more or less -- just in time for the start of KCWC! It won't stay this way, so I'm posting pictures as proof that it actually can be clean (and a reminder to myself that when I buckled down, it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would).

O. walked in this morning and asked, "Mom, how did you do this?" 

Posters of Dylan and The Beatles are remnants of Ray's and my college days respectively.

Now I need to decide what project to mess it up with first. I'll be sewing mostly for E. again this time, since O's taste in clothing leans towards solid colored tees, which I'd honestly rather buy than make.  I, of course, didn't do the tracing and cutting that I'd hoped to, but hey, look at that nice organized room!

Drawstring Lace Cowl

A little thank you gift for my cousin's wife, the drawstring lace cowl.  Knit in Vickie Howell's Sheep(ish) in Espresso(ish), which is a super-soft acrylic/wool blend.  I suspect it would pill quite a bit if it was use for something like mittens, but it should be fine for a cowl.

I really like the drawstring -- and pom poms! -- since I always tend to futz too much with cowls to get the top part to drape right.

Spring 2012 KCWC

The spring Kids Clothes Week Challenge hosted by Elsie Marley starts on Monday!  Will you be sewing? 

I plan to participate again, but first I need to clean my sewing room.  A few weeks ago, I swore off new projects until it was nice and organized, instead of its current scary mess state, but I haven't been overly ambitious on the cleaning front.  I never am.  But now I have a deadline!  Especially since I want to have all my patterns traced ahead of time for once.  I haven't finalized my to-sew list, but a Feliz for E. is definitely on the agenda.