Farbenmix Celina

Between getting ready for our Disney World trip, actually going on the Disney World trip, and recovering from the Disney World trip, I haven't sewn a stitch in 3 weeks. Disney was fantastic (if extraordinarily HOT! Good heavens, who suggested we go to Florida in August??!), and the kids made some memories that will last a lifetime, no doubt. Probably my biggest memory was waiting in line (or rather, baking and suffocating in line) for two hours to ride Harry Potter: the Forbidden Journey at Universal. But to a HP fan like myself, it was absolutely worth it. If we hadn't had assorted hot, tired and miserable children with us, I would have turned around and done it all over again. In fact, I did do it again later that evening, leaving the hot and tired children at home this time!

Anyway, we're back, and I was very happy to be reunited with my sewing machines. To celebrate, I decided to make a Farbenmix Celina. I was quite inspired by this one (her sewing is always just breathtaking!) and was all gung ho to get started. I was initially flummoxed by how to put the thing together, but iveyc95 has a wonderful tutorial on her blog.

Here is mine. I made it with my lone 1/2 yard of strawberry fabric from Holland Fabric House on Etsy.

Pattern: Farbenmix Celina

Embroidery: Tinimi

In other news, school started last week for my elementary kiddos. Hurray! My oldest requested a Mario shirt for the first day of school. Of course it could not be one of the dozen or so he has in his drawer from Target. However, I was somewhat flattered that he preferred to have a mama-made shirt for the first day of school!

Pattern: Farbenmix Hilde

Embroidery: applicakes on Etsy

For my daughter, I put a stack of Farbenmix patterns in her lap and asked her to choose one. Naturally, she chose the Encinitas, one that I had never done before. This is usally not a problem, but you have to imagine my highly stressed, slightly hysterical frame of mind in the days leading up to our trip. Adding a new pattern that is NOT written in a language I can speak on top of the heap was a highly volatile combination, but somehow I managed to survive.

The hem trim nearly did me in, however, I kept going back to the fabric store (even though I REALLY did not have time to do so) because I didn't like the fabric I picked out, or I didn't buy enough, or whatever. In the end, I didn't use any of the fabric I had bought for said ruffle because I simply ran out of time. I used lace trim instead. Not exactly the look I was going for, but good enough!

Pattern: Farbenmix Encinitas

Embroidery: Huups

Fabric: well, several different places including Holland Fabric House



That Magical Mouse.....Times 6

There is much excitement around our house these days, as we are going to be taking a trip to Disney World. Our kids have never been to a Disney park before, as it seems I've been either pregnant or wearing an infant for much of the past eight years, so you can imagine how hotly anticipated this trip is.

My husband (whose excitement is as great as, or possibly more than, that of the children) thought it would be a great idea if all the kids wore matching shirts. Of course the cousins would need matching shirts as well, so I found myself making six shirts featuring those famous ears.

For the fabric, I used some exquisitely soft bamboo french terry. This particular roll had a defect - very faint striped lines in the dye - so I don't sell it on Bamblue Fabrics (although I do have a very similar color, perfect in every way, here). Despite the color defect, it is such a wonderful fabric to sew with, and it takes embroidery very well.
Here are the boy shirts:

And here are the girl shirts:

Pattern: Farbenmix Antonia

When I was deciding on the girly shirts, I must admit that I was thinking more about what my six-year-old daughter would like rather than the fashion preferences of her 10- and 12-year-old cousins. I had a panic-stricken moment when I realized just how girly these shirts were turning out. It's been a long time since I was 12, but I'm pretty sure I would not have worn such a shirt at that age (but then, I was well on my way to being a goth at 12, so I'm not the best judge of these things). Well, they can wear them or bury them in a dark corner of their suitcase, never to be seen again. I'll try to redeem myself with their Christmas presents.

Anyway, as long as I had fabric to kill, I also made myself a beach cover-up. I made it in approximately 20 minutes after pancakes this morning. My husband had to physically restrain me from embroidering something on it (well, that's being a little overly dramatic - he really said something along the lines of "it's fine the way it is.")

Pattern: McCalls 6347

Now that's a dress - a Mamu Katrin

It's no secret I love big, bright, bold colors in my knit fabrics. Finding prints like this is a little challenging, but when I do come across one, I feel like I've won the lottery. I found this print a few months ago and just stared at it for a few seconds, not quite believing my good fortune. And then I snapped it up so fast my movements were a blur.

With such a large scale print, however, I needed to be careful of the pattern. I didn't want anything with too many pieces, so I chose the Mamu Katrin pattern, one I've done many times. Once you get over the fact that it runs too wide, it's a terrific pattern - certainly very easy. I was able to whip this up in just a few hours. And if anybody wants some, I do have a few more yards left of the Floral Splash fabric!

Pattern: Mamu Katrin

Fabric: Floral Splash from Bamblue Fabrics

Sewing in summer time....not a great idea

I am most definitely a summer girl. I HATE being cold. Even our relatively mild Northern California winters are too much for me, and come January I start getting very impatient for July (makes me really fun to be around for six months out of the year - just ask my husband!).

Despite my fondness for summer, there is one thing about it that just does not work for me, and that is sewing. I have 3 kids, and when they are all around sewing is pretty much an impossibility. I've been pretty disatisfied with most of the stuff I've sewn the last few months, and it finally dawned on me why: when I sew, I need to get into the groove, or all hell breaks loose, sewing-wise. When I am constantly interrupted by children who are bored, hungry, thirsty, irritable, need a diaper change, or are fighting, my sewing pretty much goes into the toilet.

So, last night after the kids went to bed, I decided to sew. Now, I know what you are thinking: why don't I just give up the whole sewing-while-the-kids-are-home-and-awake thing and sew at night? Well, the fact is that by then, I'm exhausted. Literally, just bone-weary. It's all I can do to drag myself into bed most nights. Even sewing a straight line is usually beyond me, let alone a whole garment.

But somewhat miraculously, I found myself with some extra energy last night, and decided to give it a try. My daughter has been begging me to replace a much loved but way too small Janie and Jack embroidered white french terry hoodie that she wore constantly when she was 4. Since I know stock bamboo french terry in white, I really had no excuses.

This fabric is such a dream. You really have to feel this stuff to appreciate it (if anybody wants a sample, just go to Bamblue Fabrics on Etsy and contact me). I am so much happier with my sewing this time around!

I love having the kids home so we can go to the pool, water parks and the beach, but my sewing is very definitely looking forward to the start of school!

Pattern: Ottobre 1/04

Embroidery: Huups

My first aprons. Some shirts, too.

Several months ago (I'm embarrassed to say how many, exactly) my sister had a simple request: could you please make myself and my granddaughter matching aprons for my birthday? No problem, I said. Piece of cake. Well, her birthday rolled around at the beginning of July, and still I had not done the aprons. Yikes!

Finally, about a week after said birthday, I decided I needed to get serious about this. I went through my fabric stash, thinking it would be easy to find something in enough quantity to make matching aprons for an adult and a 2 year old. No! I ended up having to go out and BUY fabric. I can't remember the last time I bought fabric for a specific project. I mean, I have a fabric store for heaven's sake - I have fabric coming out of my ears! Of course, you don't make aprons out of bamboo jersey, but still.

Anyway, it took forever to make these because I couldn't understand the Lila Tueller pattern directions to save my life. I must stress that this was NOT the fault of Lila Tueller, but rather my own preconceptions of how the bodice was supposed to go together. I was trying to make the directions fit my (mistaken) vision, and it just was not working. I probably lost two days right there.

Well, I got the apron sewn up and I think it turned out quite nicely after all was said and done. The little girl's apron is from Ottobre.

After finishing the aprons, I was eager to do some embroidery! Between the aprons and my serger being in the shop, my embroidery machine has been much neglected. I decided to try out the Mette pattern that I bought from Dawanda. Very cute pattern and would sew up very quickly if I hadn't done incredibly stupid things like a) made the elastic way too loose - and then way too tight - on the front panel and b) embroidered the back panel of the shirt instead of the front. Romper stomper sewing here, I tell ya! Anyway, I made it work. Sort of. I recut the back panel to make it a front, with the result that the embroidery is now placed way too low, but I am not doing that embroidery and all its 20-something color changes over. Nope.

Embroidery: Tausendschoenes.com and Urban Threads

While I had the green striped fabric out, my little guy came across it and said, "Is this my fabric, mama?" His favorite color is green, always has been, so of course he loved it. I just had to make him a shirt out of it too:

Embroidery: Urban Threads

Pattern: Ottobre

My poor, sick serger

I had just completed two Antonias, which I will show you in a minute. All that was left was to roll the hems. My serger has been acting a little iffy in the rolled hem department lately, so I was a bit worried about what would happen. Well, my worry was entirely well-placed. My machine made a total mess of the hem. And by "mess" I really mean "it tried to eat the fabric, which then became jammed in the machine, which necessitated me using brute strength to remove it, which resulted in the fabric getting torn." That kind of mess.

Well, after spending god only knows how long embroidering these two shirts, I was not about to let my serger eat them. So, into the shop it went for a tune up.

10 days and $100 later, I got my machine back. Oh, happy day! It was so CLEAN! It has not been that clean since I took it out of the box four years ago. I happily took one of the unfinished shirts and set about rolling the hem and....it was a total mess. My serger didn't try to eat the fabric, but it sure couldn't roll a hem to save its life. I threaded and re-threaded, changed needles, etc., etc. I even tried just a regular overlock stitch, and it couldn't manage that well either. Meanwhile, my shirts are getting totally chewed up, and the hems look appalling.

I called the shop and they said to bring it back in. ANOTHER 10 days without my serger? How will I survive? Ugh, I can't even think about it.

Anyway, I'm done with these darn shirts. The hems are ghastly - please don't look at them. But I do like the embroidery.

Pattern: Farbenmix Antonia

Unicorn embroidery: Tausendschoenes.com

Fairy embroidery: Kunterbunt

Double dose of Whitney

There are certain patterns that I am almost embarassed to admit purchasing. Not because they aren't wonderful patterns, but because they are soooo simple. Did I *really* need to purchase the Whitney? No, probably not. I know for a fact I have another racer back pattern, because I remember modifiying it to be a dress. But to be perfectly honest, I like having a ready-made pattern that I don't have to modify, especially if it is one that I am going to use over and over again, like this one. Saves me from having to sort through all my hundreds of patterns to figure out where I put my modification - I can easily locate my Farbenmix patterns, since they take up a rather enormous section of my closet.

Anyway, here are my Whitneys. I did find the pattern to run a bit short, so I added a couple of inches to the hem. Other than that, the fit is great, and this is a terrific summer dress pattern!

Pattern: Farbenmix Whitney

Embroidery: Urban Threads

Crochet Flowers: Annie Design on Etsy