Eos Tank

I promise I'm not turning into a one-trick pony.  I had to give it one more shot, though.  A while back Alexia (one of the Eos Dress designers) posted a picture on Instagram of a tank version and I just had to try it out.

I'm so happy with it!  First and foremost - I got bold with color!!!  There is NOT A STITCH of yellow in that main fabric but look at me throwing on some big yellow details!  ha!  I know this isn't a big deal for a lot (most?) people, but it is for me, and I'm pretty proud of myself.

Since there are no sleeves and I needed to enclose the arm opening, I had to rework almost all of the construction steps, but it didn't turn out to be as complicated as I worried it would be.  If anyone is interested in the steps I took, just let me know - I'd be happy to share them.

For that fabulous yellow bow I used knit left over from a t-shirt I had previously cut up for a different project.  I just used one layer and didn't hem the edges and it's extra droopy and I love love love that about it.  I'm really into the feminine aspect of the bow on this top, but don't want a super girly structured bow (does that make sense?) so I'm really happy with how this turned out (obviously).  I just cut up some squares, scrunched them up, and hand stitched them to the front to carry a little color and interest over to the front, too.  Lisi Loo kept whipping herself around in front of the mirror trying to decide what she liked best - the bow, or the "flowers".

The main fabric and the lining came from an old skirt of mine.  The skirt was cut on the bias so I didn't really have a choice about this top being on the bias.  Unfortunately, despite my adjusting the pattern to bring the shoulders in and using the 18m size, I think the loose weave and bias cut resulted in a stretched out garment that...womp womp...won't stay on her shoulders.  ARGH! 

Oh well.  She now has three lovely Eos tops, only one of which she can wear now, but two of which I will gaze at periodically in her closet and wait patiently for her to wear next spring.  

As for the pattern, I am putting it to bed until next year as well.  My sewing has picked up again a bit lately with the warmer weather (= dresses!) and I have two projects completed and ready for pictures (minus one hem).  I really needed a win after these near misses, and I got it.

Eos - Takes 1 and 2

I've been wanting to make the Eos Dress & Blouse since I first saw it previewed.  Finally got around to it...twice...  Explanation forthcoming, but first - I present my second Eos blouse!

Adorable, right??  Even better on...

The bow totally sells it, but the pin tucks on the front are such a sweet detail.  I wasn't sure how they'd work with this eyelet, but they weren't a problem.  Actually, this fabric holds creases really well so they were even easier on this top than the first one I made.  The only change I made to the pattern was to pleat the sleeves instead of gathering them.  I like the link between the tucks at the front and the pleats in the sleeve.  Plus gathering sucks...so there's that.

Now for why I made two...and why I'm showing you the second.  According to the measurement chart, my daughter should be wearing the 2/3.  She wears a 2 in store-bought clothing but I was skeptical because I think I've only ever once before made a pattern in her actual size - always at least one if not two sizes smaller. But she was pretty much an exact match for the 2/3 chest measurement so I went for it.  I'm sure by now you realize that I shouldn't have been lazy about fittings, but I was.  Now I have a lovely top sitting in her closet waiting for next year.  As you can see in the picture above the 18m size (the smallest for the pattern - I made it 2/3 length) is still a little wide, but it's not falling off her so I'll take it.  A shoulder width measurement on the chart would have been really helpful on this pattern, I think.

Here's my first, just 'cause I love it so:

The other problem I ran into with this first version was with the bow.  The construction instructions for the bow start out with separate instructions for handling a single sided or a double sided fabric, but then just sort of left you hanging on the double sided halfway through so I had to work it out for myself.  For the second I used some crazy sheer crepey fabric that was a pain to work with, and probably could have been used in a single layer, but I doubled it up and it worked out just fine.

It's hard for me to publicly critique a pattern - especially one that I really do love - but I wanted to be honest and give a couple hints so that, if you want to try this pattern out as well, you can tackle from an educated starting point.  I really do love this design and look forward to making more in the future.

A Headstand Shirt

First thing: the time has come for a nickname for "the kid" aka "the boy" aka "big brother" - and online alias to make discussing him on the blog and instagram a little more personal.  His sister is known as Lisi Loo, which is also her nickname in real life, but we normally just call him by his name.  So my mom suggested "Magnus".  When I was pregnant, I teased my husband by insisting we name him Magnus.  I was (mostly) joking, but it was a joke that still comes up from time to time and so we're going to give it a go.

Now, on to the good stuff.  If you follow along on instagram you'll know that Magnus (this is going to take some getting used to!) has recently mastered his headstand.  He worked so hard and is so proud of himself, as he should be.  I thought the world should know, even when he's on his feet, that he can stand on his head, so I made him this shirt:

I finished it up last night and left it outside his door.  He can read, but I wasn't sure he'd get the joke right away.  He's a very by-the-book kind of thinker.  I shouldn't have doubted him, though.  He thought it was hilarious and wore it to pre-school today.

I used a plain tee from Walmart and made a freezer paper stencil.  Easy as pie.  And certainly easier than a headstand!

Way to go, Magnus!

Spring Sunki

Once I made my first Sunki I couldn't wait for inspiration to strike for my second (because my fabric speaks to me - doesn't yours?).  But then I forgot about it...until a couple weeks ago when I pulled that first Sunki out of the closet and discovered it still fits!  I little shorter in the sleeve and length, but add leggings and boots and she was looking totally cute in her perfect-for-almost-spring-weather outfit.  But what about when Spring really does decide to show up?  It was time to have a chat with my fabric - and she was ready to gossip.  A blue piece from this bin had a crush on a green piece from that bin and a lavender zipper was ready to stretch her matchmaking muscles.  (Am I taking this too far?  I just finished a large cup of coffee...so if I am, blame the caffeine...).

Anyway - here's our happy result:

The blue is a chambray with minty green dots printed on it that I picked up at Joann a couple of months ago (That's right - I bought NEW fabric - from a STORE!  ha!  It's by Lisette but I couldn't find it listed online.).  The green was part of a stash my aunt passed on to me a while back.

I used the same size as last time but with short sleeves and intentionally kept the length on the shorter side to be worn with leggings through the spring.

I following the sleeve directions more closely this time.  I did still wing-it with the pleating, but matched it closer to the directions than last time and I do like the results.  The one change I'll make next time will be with zipper insertion - I think an exposed zipper would have been nice here to really show off the contrasting color.

The leggings she's wearing are the ones I made here - but I took them in some more...again.

Stretch, we'll call her.  All legs and curls this one.

New Favorite

I have a new favorite top (for this week anyway!).

It's the same self-drafted pattern I made up during Kids Clothes Week.  This time I used a floral I picked up at en estate sale recently.  It has an interesting texture that was a little tricky to photograph - kind of like a seersucker - but no stripes.  There is probably a name for it, but I clearly don't know what it is.

 I pictured orange buttons down the back but that's pretty much the only color button I don't have.  I DO have about a million loose white buttons.  A lot of them probably are sets but I just don't have the patience (or the time!) to sit down and sort them all out.  So I just grabbed five two-hole buttons of similar size and sewed them on with some golden yellow thread.  Subtle, quirky, cute.

The only change I made was to the length.  I added two inches when I cut it out, and increased the hem from one inch to two which increased the total length by one inch, which I think is just right.

I do think it could use a little something extra on the front or the shoulder - a bow?  a fabric flower?  I'm still mulling it over.  Perfectly wearable in the mean time, though.