Sew All 26: Wrap Up!

It was so interesting to round up all these photos.  I definitely have my favorites, but I didn't realize how much I really stick to a color palate until I rounded all these photos up from the beginning of the school year.  

I'm deciding whether or not I need to branch out and so more blues and perhaps a bit more yellow and red,

Or if this is just a good representation of my aesthetic. Thoughts?

Either way, I loved doing this series through the whole alphabet.  Well.  Minus R.  (Remember? That was my get-out-of-jail-free card.)  Recently, when Divine and I were in Utah, I was explaining to someone what Sew All 26 was.  She said, "so, it's like a is for apple, b is for bear..." I had to interrupt her and felt slightly defensive.

I wanted her to know that this was more like an art project than a cutesy...whatever.  Divine happened to be wearing her M outfit, including her bow tie, so I had a visual.  Even though I'm wrapping this up (we will see if there will be subsequent seasons!), I find myself continually thinking of letters that would work for Sew All 26.

It's a bit addictive.  An addiction that I don't want to break.  I DO want a bit of a break from the stress of sewing something every single week with a deadline, but I have some other things that I'd like so help see to fruition in this space, but I think Sew All 26 will always be in the back (or middle, or front!) of my mind.

I've loved all those who participated, both the guest bloggers and those of you who have linked to your projects.

I feel like I need to have virtual fireworks to end this! Kaboom! Pow!

Sew All 26: X & Pattern Anthology

We've had a whole bunch of rain here lately.  Last night was especially stormy.  There was just enough lightening to light up the room, but not close enough to bring the baby dills running from their slumber.  About 11 Mississippi's away.  And the whole garden is vibrant and sprouting.  Rain is good.

Except when you're trying to take photos for a post, in which case a few cloudy days makes a simple task difficult.  It finally stopped this morning so I could get some photos of my new Parisian top from the new women's collection Pattern Anthology just released!  They've got 4 women's tops "Just add jeans" (or sequined stretch pants, as the case may be ;)

It sewed up like a dream.  I wondered if there would be an issue using a woven collar with the knit shirt, but it not only works, it fits like a glove.

The only changes I made were to make it a high-low hemline instead of a band and I cinched up the arm bands with a bit of the woven fabric.

Nice job, ladies on a great collection release!  Pattern Anthology.  Go.  You'll want to check out all the designs.  And then sew up half a dozen of each.  SO comfy.

Earrings-Jacaranda Designs; Pants-La Cité from Zulily; Bracelets-made by me; Boots from New York.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sew All 26: W

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Have you been pinched yet?  I have a bunch of little munchkins around here with a bunch of little pinchers, so I rolled out of bed to find anything green to adorn. ;)

I have lots of mottos.  Like, When all else fails, sneak into the closet and eat the rest of the girl scout cookies before anyone catches you.  Or, If worse comes to worse, just sprinkle cheese or glitter on it, depending on the appropriateness of the situation.  I should write a book. A book of mottos by Katy Dill.

My latest motto is, When in doubt, make a circle skirt. Obviously there was no doubt here.  Pencil all the way. Actually, I bought this fabric with the intent to make a circle skirt, but as I began the beading (before I cut it out) I realized that it's just really heavy fabric.  I'd be sweating and weighted down trying to manage the whole 2 yards of it.

I bought it at an upholstery shop that was changing locations for a nice discount.  I kind of get giddy with home dec fabrics.  Just ask...well, you could ask Drummer, because he's usually the one with me, but I'm sure my mom and my sister could vouch for such giddiness. 

I had planned to bead every single moth (butterfly?), but after several hours on one, I figured I probably just ought to sew it up and maybe work on it a bug at a time, here and there (read: probably never).  But I do like those googley eyes staring up at me.

I have very few pencil skirts in my wardrobe because they take so much more fitting than a circle skirt.  I am not symmetrical, so it's not a case of taking my measurements and sewing something up.  In fact, my waist and hip measurements are 2 sizes apart, so it's always a guess as to how a pattern is going to fit.  More information that you probably wanted to know. ;)

Oh, and there's a backside, too.  This is my did you get a picture yet? look.  I didn't match the side seams because the repeat in the pattern was about every yard, but I did match the back seam.  You know.  In case anyone looks. ;)

An InLinkz Link-up

Sew All 26: U & V

Hey!  Lookee here!  I'm all caught up!  The brilliance of doing U is for upholstery and V is for velvet came to me in the shower this morning, when I got the two weeks mixed up, and also where many of my great ideas come. The shower and while I'm trying to go to sleep at night.  My quiet moments, I guess, is the common denominator.  

I don't know what it is, but I love to put ruffles around the neckline.  Maybe it's my signature?  Or maybe it's because I love to use my ruffling foot because it looks so hard core and it sounds like something is breaking, but really, it's just putting these perfectly placed pleats in the fabric with little effort on my part.  Yes.  That's probably it.  Have you ever used one?  If not, I think a tutorial is in order.

The fabric is a curtain panel that my sister-in-law gave me when they were getting ready to move, practically giving away their entire earthly possessions.  I lucked out with a few bits of fabric, two of which were these curtain panels: one in green and one in red.  Fortunately they are big enough to make a whole dress for a little person! (Thanks, Olivia!)

Originally, I wanted to add a matching green collar but didn't have fabric that was the same color, so that's when I decided to add another color to the scheme.  Yellow, which happens to be Olive's favorite color. And when I didn't have the proper color in the proper weight, I decided to just do ruffles.  Also, I made the tiny piping, but ran out of it for the bodice in the back and was too lazy to make more.  So it's just in the front. I didn't think Olive would really care. ;)

(Olive loved the fuzzy velvet.)

Sometimes my creative process lends more to the convenience of what I have on hand than the design I have in my head.  And apparently I tend to have a lot of light-weight fabric on hand.  So, perhaps it's not so much my signature as my fall-back?  ;)

I used the edge of the curtain panel with the sewn-in plastic stabilizer for the hem of the skirt so it would flare out a bit. We girls like a bit of flare.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sew All 26: T

Pearl has been so patient for her turn in the sew-me-something-new-mom line.  It was her turn, actually, a few letters back, but somehow there were people who cut in line.  I yelled "no cuts!" but nobody listens to the mom. ;)

I usually make Pearl full length maxi skirts, just because that's what she usually likes to wear to church, but I told her to pick out a skirt pattern and a top (from my Japanese sewing books) and this is what she came up with.

I picked out the fabrics.  Can you tell?  Linen, anyone?  And I knew the trees with a splash of Pearl's favorite color would go over well with her. It's a bit pirate-esque, especially with those boots, now that I review the photos, which also works for Pearl.

I free-handed the embroidered tree along with my signature with a few practices first.  My first tree looked like an evil claw.  And if T was for terror, that would have been perfect. I also used my silver/black variegated thread for the sleeve embroidery scallops.

Pearl is fun to take pictures of. :)

And then a little pantless photo bomber joined the shoot.  Luckily he was color coordinated, so I let him slide swing.  

And I guess I piqued the interest of those who love a good birth story because several of you asked on instagram if I would share the story of Pearl being born in the car.  I found the original post here.  Enjoy!  Or maybe if you're squeamish, you shouldn't click over. ;)

An InLinkz Link-up

Sew All 26: S

Drummer found this piece of car fabric in my stash and his eyes got wide as headlights as he snatched it up and ran off.  I was so pleased that my fabric-loving gene had been passed to him when he came wandering back in and threw it on the floor, announcing, "it's boken."

I'm not really sure what he was expecting it to do, per se, but I tried to rally his excitement once more by asking if he'd like me to make him a shirt out of it.  That was just the thing to bring back his smile before it was naptime.

I knew I wasn't going to get to it right away, so I hid it on my ironing board (that thing swallows everything!)  I got him up from his nap a bit later and the first thing he inquired about was the car fabric.

So.  My Square Sequin Skirt had to wait while Drummer got his new Sunday shirt with and accent of stars.

He was pleased about the shirt.  Not so pleased about having to model it after church.

It's a race to get Drummer dressed in the morning for Sunday.  Okay, maybe it's just a race for me because I enjoy it so much, but he is my first boy, after all.

It says all over the shirt in Hungarian "Don't be mad that I'm late" (thank you to instagram readers for the translation).  Which turns out to be very apropos for this post. ;)

I used Burda Kids 9505 for the shirt, which I really love because the collar isn't just one piece like most of the patterns out there for a button up shirt.  Having the two separate pieces is a bit more work, but folds so much more nicely that it's worth it.  Plus, I love the contrasting fabric that peeks out, and how nicely it finishes.

For the stitching, I went contrasting.  But just one row of the orange didn't show up as much as I was hoping, so I used the triple stitch.  On your machine it looks like it would make three separate stitches, but it just "traces" what it has sewn, making it look thicker.  And you can't see it in the photos, but the glass buttons actually have a holographic car on them as well.

What we do to make our kids happy, right? ;)

Perhaps I will have to make an occasion for my Square Sequin Skirt to be sewn.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sew All 26: P

I have been waiting for this since day A when I was in Virginia at my sister's.  I was helping with her kids shortly after she gave birth to baby number 3 and I was brainstorming with Ann and her husband, Brendan when he said I ought to make something out of paper. I don't think he thought I'd take him seriously.  But, well, you know me.  Which is to say, you never know.  ;)

I went to Paper Source with my mom while I was there and we found these big sheets of paper that were already crinkled and very pliable, but they only had 2 white and 4 silver, so I bought them both.

The paper is pretty sturdy, the white more pliable than the sliver, but it is still paper, therefore I decided to make it for Divine.  Although I found myself wishing I had enough to make something to add to my own wardrobe.  

I used flocking and Mod Podge to make stripes across the bottom, but thought it needed something more, so I just zig-zagged yarn on either side of each stripe.

I knew the placket would need to be reenforced so I used ribbon on each side so she could actually wear it more than once before ripping occurred.  I also added bias along the darts on the bodice, around the sleeve holes and encased the seam of the skirt.

Sewing on paper is an awful lot of fun.  In fact it's a bit reminiscent of my very first time sitting at a sewing machine in junior high when we had to follow lines on a piece of paper.  There's absolutely no forgiveness, however.  You sew it incorrectly and you're left with holes!

So, how does one accessorize a paper dress?  With a paper brooch, of course!!

And then the clock struck midnight and my Paperella Doll turned back into...

a gerbil?  

I think we all should dress in paper at least once in our lifetimes, don't you?