Owl Sweatshirt Tunic

Hey, you know what I thought might be fun? Giving a blog post a shot after a multi-year hiatus!

I made this simple sweatshirt tunic as part of my daughter's back-to-school wardrobe, which included exactly three things made by me: a top and skirt she wore on the first day back, and this little number, which didn't make it out of the closet until today (6 weeks after school started, for anyone keeping track.)

I like this pattern a lot.  It's the free Lena Dress from WenSJwe.  The directions are in Dutch, but, it's a pretty self-explanatory pattern so I figured it out! I made the long-sleeved version and did end up needing to make the sleeves a little wider, because my daughter has very specific ideas about what feels comfortable. We also decided to shorten it into a tunic, and I love the look.

The owl print is a thin sweatshirt fleece that I got from Girl Charlee years ago--I actually used it to make a dress for Little Sis when she was three, and this is what I've had left over for all that time!  I confess, the fact that the striped fabric she picked for the cuffs and yoke is cream while the owl print is on white drives me a little crazy, but I've learned to pick my battles on fabrics.  Just squint and pretend they match, ok? The stripes are a french terry that I picked up on the knits floor at Tomato in Nippori when we lived in Tokyo, for less than $1 per yard. I bought a ton of it so it just keeps showing up in new projects!

Lest you think it's so great how my kiddo will put on her handmade gear and swan around in a delightful photo shoot, I will make sure to show you all of the lovely outtakes, which make up most of the time we're taking pics!  She is currently watching cartoons, the bribe for finishing the photos with at least a handful that I can use.

Last Year's Halloween Costumes--Minions

Last year, we had fun making/adapting our own halloween costumes, but I never got around to posting them.  I intended to take some good pictures but never did it, and here we are a year later with still no post about what ended up being a really fun set of costumes.

So, here's the rundown:  The kids wanted to be minions.



Thrift store overalls (luckily found in close-enough sizes), thrift store yellow turtlenecks (adult sizes that I cut down), goggles made from empty duct tape rolls and those rounded masks you wear to keep from breathing in dust, and stocking caps ordered on Amazon.

And then the most amazing thing happened.  We were eating an early dinner, getting ready to go trick-or-treating, when we joked about how great it would be if the hubs had a Gru costume.

Then we realized...it wouldn't take much.  He had a black wool car coat and scarf.  He had a pair of pants that he bought in Tokyo not realizing he had accidentally purchased very skinny skinny jeans.  I stuffed a long, narrow decorative pillow into his jacket's shoulders, and Voila...



Is that amazing or what??

Since hubby had not originally planned to wear a costume, I planned my outfit separately and therefore don't fit in at all, but that's ok.  I was Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service, a charming Miyazaki movie that you should watch this Halloween season if you've never seen it!



So that's it!  This year, we're not doing homemade costumes (sniff)...the kids wanted to be characters from Harry Potter, and it just didn't make sense to make Gryffindor robes when I could buy them so easily.  But there will be some surprises in store (if I get around to posting them before next year!)

Strawberry Tap Dance Togs

You guys, Project Run and Play is back!  I get so inspired by sewing with a group of people and seeing everyone's take on a theme, and frankly having a specific project that I know will end up in front of more than my average number of eyeballs is very motivational to me.

When I saw that the theme of the first week was knitwear, I knew immediately what I wanted to make.  Little Sister just started a fun tap dance class at a community center, and although there is nothing strict about it, we did notice that there was a dress code sign hanging up that specified tights and a leotard.  Well, Little Sister didn't have a leotard but I thought it would be fun to make one.  My first try was an awkward fit in pale pink stripes that gave me enough information to draw a new pattern and start designing a full knitwear look for Project Run and Play.

I'm getting down to the last bit of the awesome realistic strawberry print knit that I bought in Japan for less than $2/yard (I made this newborn set using it, and this tee for myself), and I instantly knew it would be a perfect leotard.  I could picture black and white accents for a graphic pop, and once I got started I couldn't stop!

The leotard was the no-brainer (I started with the free 24 month pattern from Shwin and Shwin and adapted it--added sleeves, and made it fit an almost-6-year-old), and I wanted to make a cardigan inspired by ballet wrap tops to go over it, but with a bit funkier vibe.

I love the black and white stripes against the strawberries--so fun!  Actually, all of the fabrics I used except for the black ponte knit in the cardi came from the fantastic Knits floor of Tomato fabrics in Nippori (Fabric Town in Tokyo).  I decided to add a little accent on the waistband (well, rib-cage band, I guess, since it's well above her waist!)--a bit of the black stripe gathering the band up a bit.

Sorry for the washed-out photo--it's hard to get the details to show up in black knit!

But the strawberry leotard is definitely the star of this look.  The fabric is a 4-way stretch, and the legs and neck are bound with foldover elastic.

The back of the leotard dips down a bit, and I cut the legs pretty low to avoid that awkward underwear-under-the-tights bunching.  And then of course we needed leg warmers--essential for dance class!

And while I was at it-- a headband too!  Why not?  I mean, when you start with that strawberry fabric, you go big or you go home.

This hairstyle cracks me up.

Next I added a pull-on french terry skirt to throw on after class.  The pattern is free, from Craftiness is not Optional--wonder where I got the idea to use this fabric?

Is it a bit much when you put everything together?  I don't know...I just can't get enough of it!

Little Sister prefers to wear just a few of the pieces at a time, but so far she has been excited about mixing and matching them.

I love all of the options!  And now I want to go eat a strawberry!

Upcycled T-Shirt

I got a new serger this weekend, which is so exciting!  It has gotten me in the mood to sew knits, so I went digging through my "to upcycle" box and found a mens t-shirt with a fun red stripe woven into it.

The Boy's turn for something new for school!

I found the original shirt in a free box in my neighborhood ages ago, and I didn't get around to making it into anything before we moved to Tokyo.  Now that we are back, I was ready to cut it up!

The Boy just learned to whistle.  Can't stop won't stop.

I wish I had taken a picture of the shirt before I sewed it into it's new form.  The side seams were SO crooked!  If I had owned that shirt it would have driven me crazy. I had planned on just folding the shirt front and back in half, lining up the side seams, and cutting out my new pieces, but lining up the side seams proved impossible so I cut the original shirt into pieces along all of the seams.

Turned out, because of the steep angle of the side seams, I wasn't able to fit my pattern pieces onto the fabric.  But I didn't give up!  I pulled another old t-shirt out of my upcycle bin and cut some black pieces to fill in the gaps.  I was using the existing hem on the red shirt, but since I had to hem the black patch at the bottom, I decided to use contrasting red thread in my double needle just for fun.

The patches could still use a pressing though!

I also used the ribbed neckband from the black t-shirt to create a new neckband for this shirt, bringing  more of the black into the look.

I think the angled blocks add a fun element to the shirt!  My son said the triangles are cool, so that's all the endorsement I need.

He's so sweet--he wore the shirt to school the next day since I made it for him.  I used one of his existing t-shirts to make the pattern--he's so long and lean in the torso, so I love being able to make shirts that fit right!  Seems like a lot of RTW shirts are too wide and short.

He's wishing he never taught Little Sister about the art of the photobomb.

I'm really looking forward to my shipment of fabric arriving from Japan--there are so many awesome knits in there along with everything else, and now that I've got an awesome serger I am so excited to start turning them into things!  

Double Gauze Desert Rose Dress

I love this new dress I made for Little Sister so much!

I don't have a lot of time left for sewing projects while I'm here in Tokyo (we move back to the US in less than 2 weeks!), but I knew I wanted to get this one done so that she could wear it in this hot, humid summer climate.

This dress is the Desert Rose pattern from Caila Made, and I just loved it from the first time I saw the pattern.  Of course, I am a cheapskate, so I just admired the pattern without buying it.  In this case though, it paid off, because eventually this pattern was featured as a Friday Fiver, and I was able to snap it up for just $5!  However, this was months ago, and although I printed the pattern out right away, it still took me ages to get going on it.

The main fabric for the skirt is a beautiful double gauze by Nani Iro (called Fuccra).  When I lucked into finding a 2-meter cut for less than $10 because of a small print error, I knew it was perfect for my Desert Rose dress.

See that little white stripe?  That was the only error in the whole 2 meter cut!

And I had a lovely lightweight coral batiste that matched perfectly that I could use for the bodice--I wanted the whole thing to be floaty and light and comfortable for the humid heat of a Tokyo summer.

The breeze really does pick it up--it's a good twirler too!

I wanted to make sure the bodice didn't gape, so I made a size 3 bodice based on Little Sister's measurements (her chest measurement matched the size 3 exactly on the chart, even though she's 5 years old) and it fits perfectly.  Since my bodice fabric was so lightweight (semi-sheer, actually, so it's nice that it's lined, and I used the same fabric for the lining), I interfaced the button placket on both sides and it feels secure.

I thought I would be clever on the skirt--I used the angled tunic skirt with a size 3 at the top but a size 8 in length, thinking that would get me to dress length without printing the dress skirt pattern pages, but I wasn't thinking about the fact that the size 3 bodice is shorter than the size 5.  So my dress was shorter than I wanted.   Next time I'll go ahead and assemble the skirt pattern pages to make sure I get the length I want!

However, I was able to cut it perfectly to avoid the print error!

Fortunately, I really like the look of the 4" panel of the bodice fabric at the hem.

How pretty is that Nani Iro fabric!?

 I really liked the way this pattern came together.  It all looks so professional inside!  I used french seams on the skirt since double gauze frays pretty easily, so there are no raw edges on the inside anywhere.  AND no hand-sewing on the bodice lining, since you topstitch the outside of the bodice instead!  I loved that.

Also, this pattern has pockets--I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of them, since pockets are usually my favorite feature.  I guess it speaks to how much I love this dress overall that the pockets are practically an afterthought, although they came in handy yesterday when my daughter had some drawings she wanted to carry around!

Now I've got to see if I can squeak a top for myself out of the remaining meter of that Nani Iro Fuccra double gauze!

Everyday Elsa

I have a confession to make--I am linking this dress up to this month's Project Run and Play, but I didn't make it specifically for that. Edited--I planned to link it up, but I was too late!  Just missed the collection. Boo.

As a matter of fact, I had been checking frequently to find out what June's pattern would be, and when I saw the Elsa pattern chosen by this month's host, Kiki from Kiki and Company, I laughed, because I had just finished an Elsa dress for Little Sister literally the day before.  I figured it was meant to be, even if I didn't use the actual pattern, so I'm linking up anyway! (uh...not so much meant to be after all.)

It still took me 3 weeks to get photos taken of it though, so I'm finally getting the blog post up.  And another confession--I started getting worried that I wouldn't get photos done at all, so when Little Sister chose this dress to wear on her first day of summer camp today, I told her we were going to take a few pics before school.

Luckily she was mostly game, and as a matter of fact she was inspired--she pulled the curtains back and told me we should use the white sheers and pretend it was snow!  We gave it a try, so these photos are her own idea.

The fabrics are knits from Girl Charlee that I brought with me when we moved to Japan.  The print on the white fabric has a slightly Scandinavian feel to me, so I thought it would be fun to make a casual dress that was inspired by Elsa.

The free Peep-Hem Dress pattern from Rock the Stitch was perfect for it--I just color-blocked the bodice (and did a lettuce hem on the top layer--something I've never tried before!)

I've had my eye on this free pattern for a long time, but it's finally a perfect fit for my 5-year-old, so the time was right!

I can see making this dress in lots of other fun fabric combinations--with the color blocked bodice, I could even see using wovens and keeping the top of the bodice in a knit.

The back--I just cut straight across to match up with the curved color blocking I did on the front of the bodice.

These particular knits from Girl Charlee are really light and soft, so even the two-layer skirt will be great for the hot summer weather.

I always love linking up to Project Run and Play, especially to see the other interpretations of the theme!  Take a look at this month's contributors here.

Also, take a look at this dress in action--perfect for our final visit to Tokyo Disneyland!  We made it there twice in our year in Tokyo, and really had great visits both times.

Random Never-blogged gifts

Looking through photos I found several little projects that I gave as gifts but never blogged about.  Thought you might be interested in seeing them!  I'll have to do another post like this soon--I just tucked some very special baby gifts in the mail so I'll tell you about those once they have been received!

1.  This cute little purse, made from the free tutorial from Seven Layer Studio for one of Little Sister's friends:

2.  A Totoro stuffie, for our little friend's first birthday (along with a bib/apron that I didn't manage to photograph).  I used this free pattern, but using the stretchy knit I had on hand made him pretty lumpy.  I recommend using something more like the felt in the tutorial!

Oh, and I don't think I ever blogged about the pajamas they have on in those photos either--bonus!

3.  I made 10 of these reversible fat quarter aprons as a custom order for a friend who used them as favors for her daughter's cooking theme birthday party--fun idea!

Little Sister was not happy about modeling this, so her grumpy face is cropped out ;P

4.  I made this purse with leather trim to donate to a school fundraiser.  First time sewing with leather, and it was pretty easy!

Adapted from the free Phoebe bag pattern

5.  Mother/daughter birthday outfits--my friend and her daughter have birthdays two days apart, so how could I resist?

The top is the Fun Summer Tee from iCandy Handmade, except that I added a woven insert for the shoulders.   The printed fabric is a Nani Iro double gauze--sooooo nice!  The stripe is a 100 yen per meter find.

And the dress is this free Caravan Dress patter from Dotta.  Since I used the same woven for this skirt, I cut the back pattern piece in half instead of having the same fabric top and bottom.

I thought it would look cute to have this little inverted pleat in the back instead of a gather.

Update--I finally got a photo of these lovely ladies wearing the outfits I sent!  How cute are they?

6.  A skirt from the fabric that my friend picked out when she visited in November--I finally got it made in April!  I'm terrible!  It's a Milkmaid Skirt, from this free Crafterhours tutorial.

It works better as a spring skirt anyway, right?  She wouldn't have been wearing it in the winter...

7.  The scarf I included with my friend's skirt as an apology for taking so long on her skirt ;)  Dimensions from this Imagine Gnats Circle Scarf Tutorial.

8.  Oh wow--this one is old!  I made this dog sweater out of a thrifted sweater sleeve as a joke for my parents' dog after my dad sent me a link to a similar idea.

Modeled by Maddie Dog: