In Stitches: Scout Tee

I love a good tee. Who doesn't? But I'll admit I'm a little picky when it comes to finding the *perfect* tee. It has to be comfy AND stylish, never tight fitting because... just no. Cause then I'm not comfy. I'm too worried about my muffin top spilling over my jeans. AMIRIGHT? *ahem*

Enter the Scout Tee by by Grainline Studios. This loose fitting tee fits the bill perfectly. It requires very little fabric (think stash busting!) and is very easy from start to finish. It's stylish in that it manages to look a bit fancy but is sooo so comfy. So much win!


This pattern is actually designed for woven fabric and I have big plans to make some fancier blouses but it also makes a killer knit tee. This pattern is masterfully drafted and has very clear instructions that are easy to follow. PLUS, it's very easy to modify! I lengthened the Scout Tee to a more flattering length for me and made the neckline binding thinner to give it a more polished look.


I have plans to try and alter the pattern into a sheer peplum and a longer baby-doll tee dress.

Now BRB while I make ALLLL the tee shirts! x

In Stitches: Yellow Floral PJ's

Part of the In Stitches project means that we're not buying any new clothes for the girls (or for me) this year. This means that we've run out of things for Audrey in her size and we have no winter clothes. With Autumn upon us, Audrey can no longer just sleep in a T-shirt. I needed to make some pajamas that are warm, but not too warm. The result is great! Now we have leggings and a matching Tee in a lovely floral knit fabric. The fabric was gifted to me by Louana in the Sew Sweet Swap. And I love it! What's more. Audrey loves her new pajamas.

The project was really quick to sew up. Phil left a bit before 5:00PM and by the time he came back just after 6:00PM I had dinner prepped and brand new pajamas. FIST PUMP. How's that for productive? ;)

It's hard to tell in the photos, but the neckline binding on the T-shirt is just the main fabric turned inside out so that it's a lighter yellow. Quite effective!

Fabric: knit fabric, gifted by Louana
Pants Pattern: Go-To Leggings
T-Shirt Pattern: Self drafted

I'm so pleased with how they turned out! I have some leggings cut out for Margaret and will draft up a matching Tee for her in an appropriate size so that the girls can match. HELLO! I've also already got plans to make some long sleeve Tees as well.

Easy Peasy pajamas!

In Stitches - 2014

Personally, I don't do resolutions. I'm of the opinion that if there's something I need to change, stop, or start doing then there is no time like the present! No need to wait for a New Year. That said, I love a good challenge. I'm often thinking of ways I can challenge myself personally. I would never call myself a competitive person. I'm pretty useless with board games because of my lack of desire to compete; however, I love competing with myself and trying to achieve and beat my personal best. Constantly. I find it incredibly rewarding to beat my personal best or learn to do something more efficiently than I did before. I'm invigorated just thinking about it! So yeah, I love challenging myself.

Last year I challenged myself to dig deeper and learn how to sew things more properly. I wanted to "wing it" less and learn how to make garments that actually looked decent without that tell-tail "handmade" look. I took it to heart and I learned a lot. I didn't blog about my journey as much as I had planned to but I'm still learning all the time.

This year I have decided to take my newfound knowledge to the next level. I want to put it to good use and there's nothing so good as a challenge to motivate me. My challenge is to not buy any new clothes for either myself or the girls, but to sew things as we need/want them instead. And I love this idea. I love the idea of providing for my children with my own hands and putting my sewing machine to work! What if we need a new jacket? I'll have to sew it. Undies? Yup.

In Stitches - 2014

Let's do this.



Interested in playing along? You can cheat and buy new clothes if you want to, I won't tell ;) but I'd love to see what you sew for the year! I'll figure out how we can share our projects and link them up together. x

In Stitches: What I've Been Sewing

I've had a major sewing bug lately. I've been sewing lots for myself and the girls, partially born out of necessity and partially because lately things have just CLICKED for me lately and I feel confident in my ability to produce beautiful quality items of clothing. Like... FINALLY! It's a good feeling.

Ever since I announced I was going to start sewing for my new project: In Stitches I've been busy behind the scenes researching and trying and learning and growing. I've been slack with blogging about it but I finally have some items to show for it. I have more that I need to properly document but I'll save that for another time as I want to go over the techniques I learned with those pieces.

First up, I've got two Wiksten tanks. I've made this pattern before and it just doesn't get old. I'll happily make more for myself. I also have plans to modify it into a knee length dress with a wide ruffle at the skirt hem. and a knit dress that I made for Audrey out of an old knit skirt of mine. For the dress I modified a pattern and drafted up a new portion of it to make a cute dress. I love how it turned out!

Resource: The Wiksten Tank

Next, I've made some undies for Audrey. She's super tiny and I've had a lot of trouble finding any undies that fit her. Every time she jumped up and down her undies would fall down and she would cry, because... annoying! hahah So I KNEW I had to make her own. I was pretty nervous about it but I found a great pattern via Mend and Make New and it's really easy! They fit beautifully! They don't gape when she climbs on things and forgets to keep her skirt down. They stay put and they are super modest. This ticks all my boxes when it comes to kid undies. I'll be making these for a good long while in several different sizes. (And maybe upsizing them for me? Cause I need some good comfy undies. Who doesn't. AMIRIGHT?)

Resource: Children's Undies Downloadable PDF Pattern by thatdarnkat

Lastly, I've been making these cute dresses! Let me just stop and say I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pattern. It's the Olivia Top & Dress by Craftiness is not optional. I LOVE IT. Have I said that? It's a great basic pattern that is easy to modify or add a lining to. I've made three so far and plan to make a few more in different patterns and variations.

Resource: The Olivia Top & Dress


Next up on my sewing list is:

• More undies for Audrey (I have made 5 and I have 6 more cut out ready to start working on this evening)
• A Wiksten tank modified to a knee length dress
• The Aubépine by Deer and Doe (CANNOT WAIT!!)
• Zinnia by Colette Patterns
• The Roxanne by Victory Patterns
• Some bathing suits for the girls (I plan to draft some patterns myself. Eek!)
• A triangle quilt
• An ironing board, sewing machine, and overlocker covers for a swap with Gertrude Made. (SO EXCITED)
• Some simple t-shirts for Audrey
• Leggings for the babies
• A winter jacket for Audrey
• A couple knit dresses for Audrey (SO easy to wear in the summer)

Project: In Stitches

Lately I've had this growing desire to get more serious about sewing my own clothes. I've made a few pieces here and there, I've even made a skirt or two from scratch, and I've definitely altered a lot of store bought clothing. But I've had this itch lately about wanting to take my sewing to the next level. I want to challenge myself and learn new skills. I actually want to be able to dream things up and sew it and make it happen. The thought of it is daunting to me but I'm ready to give it a try.

Welcome to 'Project: In Stitches'.

This series will follow my journey in sewing more clothes for myself. I'll attempt to fatten my wardrobe with minimal costs by sewing things myself. I'll challenge myself to grow and learn new skills (Hello to invisible zippers and mastering knit fabrics!). And I'll strive for quality and ending up with a wearable piece that doesn't... y'know. Look homemade.

I plan on sewing a few dresses, a few tops, revisiting some patterns I've already made before (to get more mileage out of them), and will alter some clothes that just don't fit quite right.

I'm kind of really excited. And a bit nervous?


Join in with me!

Quilting and dilemmas

I have a love/hate relationship with quilting. I've only just realized this. It's sooooo teeeedious but SO rewarding.

I've started this special quilt for Audrey ages ago. It was going to be her baby quilt, and I guess it still is (SHE'S STILL MY BABY RIGHT?!). I'm only just dusting off this forgotten project and finishing it now and so far it looks stunning. The problem is, when I resumed work on the project I didn't know whether to give it to Audrey (as originally intended) or give it to the new Baby. Audrey has a little patchwork play quilt that I made long before we were married or Audrey was even a thought. It's a little worn and stained and is sort of like a hand-me-down. Baby is getting a beautiful handspun merino/silk knitted blanket and Audrey got a teeny tiny little one. As a first time Mama I had no idea what size baby blanket was appropriate and made one that was entirely too small. It's nice and snuggly and would make a nice little keepsake, but it's basically useless. I'm thinking to go back and make Audrey a nicer one... but I don't know. The bottom line is, it feels like Audrey was getting jipped a little bit (in the way of handmade things) so I've decided to give her this quilt as I originally intended.

How far do you go to make sure things are even and fair between the kiddos? I know Audrey doesn't understand but I want both girls to have nice things to keep and look back on. It feels really important to me and kinda silly at the same time. Do you stress over this kinda stuff too?

Easy DIY Bedspread

Audrey is officially in her big girl bed! To celebrate the occasion I made a special new bedspread for Audrey as a present for being such a big girl now. The bedspread matches her bed sheet which she is particularly fond of. It's simple and lightweight. Since it's not too heavy it's easy enough for a toddler to cover herself with it at night.

Quick instructions to how I made mine after the jump:

My New Dress

Remember this dress I found at a garage sale?


I got this dress and a handful of other things for 5 bucks! It was a major score.
Upon closer inspection, the vintage dress I had found was definitely handmade! Bonus!
I love that someone chose the fabric for it and made it from scratch. I like the fact that it lives on and is still appreciated.



Because the dress was far too big and needed to be resized, I planned to take in 2-4 inches on each side. I loved the neckline though and decided to leave it alone. The dress was also a bit too long so I decided to shorten the dress and hem it to give it a more modern look.
With my plans set and scissors in hand, I jumped into action.





The dress only took about 15-20 minutes of quick measuring and sewing to make it fit the way I wanted.

I love the way it turned out!




It fits really well and looks great with a belt!
I think I found my new favorite dress--just in time for Spring.

xoxo
Talia Christine

P.S. - I'm falling in deep love with my new fringe. It has taken a bit of getting used to, but I am a huge fan now.

Sneek Peek!

Here's a sneak peek (as promised!) of my latest project!



I'm trying my hand at quilting. Let me tell you, it's trickier than I thought! I thought it would be smooth sailing and it requires some thinking! It's alot of fun and I loooove love love this project! More pics soon!

xoxo
Talia

P.S. -- He is on his way!! He is officially on a plane to come see me. I am the happiest girl. Ever. Right now. I love him!!! The countdown is coming to a close.