Another set from the Spring 2009 Ottobre (1/2009) – Taiji leggings #32 and the Orvokki jersey blouse, #18A. Both in size 128.

Things went much more smoothly with the cover stitch binder attachment this time. I tacked the shoulder seam down on the connecting side of the neck binding and it sits pretty nicely.

These are from the Spring 2009 issue (01/2009).

The top is the Orvokki jersey blouse. The print is a lightweight jersey and the solid is a cotton/lycra very fine ribknit. Both are a size 128. The top is a little short in the body and I’ll add an inch or so to it next time if I hem it with anything other than a rolled or lettuce edged hem. I’m trying to play nice with the binder attachments for my coverstitch machine, but it’s rough going. There’s a little gathering to give the sleeves a bit of poof and also on the top where the two pieces meet.

The leggings are the Taija leggings, in the same soft cotton/lycra knit as the top. The 128 is a little long, but Zoe’s growing so fast these days if we are lucky she’ll be able to wear them through the spring.

There are a couple variations for the top, and I may make another one or two since Zoe seems to be pretty happy with them. The slightly silly look about her is because she’s trying to show that her bottom tooth is missing and I’m wanting her to just smile.

Paul is taking the kids to see a play today, Jack was looking for something nice to wear with his pants. Please note, we have a loose definition of nice around here. When you’re four, nice = not sweatpants. His nice pants were in the laundry pile and the washer was already running a load of towels. Since they were planning to leave in two hours, there was not enough time to get his pants through the washer and dryer.

Luckily, I had enough corduroy on hand to make a pair of pants. These are a bit of a repeat of the pair I made before, Kwik Sew 2918 in a 4T. I added an extra 1.5″ to the length and took an inch off the top. I sewed the corduroy completely and then sewed each leg in flannel. I put each flannel leg inside the corduroy, right sides together and then pulled them through and sewed the flannel leg pieces together at the crotch. I folded over the waist about 1.25″ and zigzagged it down with the elastic loop inside.

One pair of pants, ready to go!

I’m still questioning whether this was a good idea, but I didn’t have the right color red to match the skirt I made Zoe for Valentine’s Day, so I went with the white.

This is the tunic length version with a hood and without the cap sleeves. Size 122/128 without a seam allowance added. Since she’s wearing it with a skirt, I think the shorter length might have been better.

This was the first time I’d done machine applique and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It’s a bit fiddly, but other than that, not terribly difficult. Applique is from Lynnie Pinnie, I left out the circle in the middle of the hearts. A layer of Sticky+ with tearaway underneath it for the applique. Lots of ric-rac and lettuce edging for “curly” hems as Zoe says.

This is one of those patterns that looks a lot more difficult than it is. It sat on my shelf for months before I finally tried it. This is a size 122/128, with 20.5″ of 3/4″ non-roll elastic in the waist. The pattern calls for 5 panels, but if you use two fabrics, you’ll want to add a sixth panel so you can alternate them around the skirt. A simple rolled hem completes this cute twirly skirt.

This tunic length top is from the Winter 2009 Ottobre. The neckline is pretty wide on it, if I make it again, I’ll bring that up some. It’s a little bit wide, but not overly so. It fits like a comfy top. Other than that, size 128 is a good fit on Zoe. This pattern might work well with sweatshirt fleece, though I’d probably widen the sleeves just a touch.

Here it is with the stabilizer washed off.

I think he likes it…

Kwik Sew 2912 in 4T. This is before washing out the stabilizer on the front.

This has two layers of water soluble on the top and a layer each of solvy sticky and cut away on the bottom.

Colors as follows –
1. C&C Black
2. Sulky Yellow
3. C&C D8-543
4. C&C C9-300A
5. C&C G8-256
6. C&C E7-57A

Jack needed black pants for his holiday program. (He still needs a white shirt and red tie, but that’s another story.) These are no fuss elastic waist pants in a fine wale cord with a flannel lining.

These are Kwik Sew 2918, size 4T. They have a 1 3/8″ allowance for the elastic casing, so I took 1″ off the top of the flannel lining to reduce the bulk there. The colors in the photo are a bit off and I keep crashing GIMP when I try to adjust them. The corduroy is black, and the kitchen island they are laying on is also much darker than it appears.

Now, I have to admit to doing the dumbest thing. I sewed the corduroy into a pair, then sewed the flannel as a pair. I then put them inside each other and proceeded to connect them at the leg hems. Trying turning that back right side out. It doesn’t work. I picked apart one leg hem, then realized that what I really needed to do was take apart the crotch seams on the flannel. That wouldn’t have been too bad had I not sewed those first and then sewed the inseam as one length. Seam ripper, seam ripper…


Note to self – line pants as follows:

Sew outside pants.
Sew each leg of inner layer separately.
Attach inner and outer at leg hem.
Sew crotch of inner layer.
Sew waistband.

Zoe is Mama Snowman in her class holiday play. She is to wear a white top in case it shows when she stands behind the cardboard snowman she’s pretending to be. We’re stretching “white” to include shirts that are white with silver snowflakes. The plan is to dye this after her program’s over as I’ve learned that white is just not a color my children should wear.

Pattern is just a basic top, Ottobre 1/2001, #21, size 128.