Beyond Naps : How do you sew with kids around?

I, like many others, got into sewing as a hobby when my first daughter was a baby. She was one of those majestical creatures who napped daily well into her threes. However, the days of pure unadulterated nap time are far behind me now, and it’s rare to have time during the day when everyone is sleeping.

my now nearly 7 year old in the first thing I ever sewed her during naps

If you’re just entering this phase in life, or if your kids are home from school for the summer, you might be wondering how on earth to get any sewing done while maintaining some semblance of control. I’m not going to pretend that my house is always pristine with a 5-star dinner in the oven on really productive sewing days. If you aren’t already aware, I’m in the final month or so of pregnancy with three kids at home – on unproductive sewing days it’s rare (like how unicorns are rare) for my house to be pristine with a 5-star dinner in the oven at the moment. However, I can share with you a couple of tips on how to sneak in some sewing.

1) Food Prep

Wait, don’t leave! I love you! I promise I’m not hijacking you! I’m dead serious here. If you follow me on instagram you already know I’m a big fan of this. Whether it’s meals or snacks, I like food prep. Well, I like the results of food prep. Whether you go full on freezer meal mania like I tend to, dump some stuff in the slow cooker, or simply slice apples or pop some popcorn before getting to business, having some sort of a plan as to what to feed the munchkins can do wonders.

2) Simple Activities

You can search Pinterest for ideas, but some of the best ones are the classic things your kids already gravitate towards. Playdough, colouring books (yes, enjoy my Canadian spelling), sorting buttons, putting stickers on paper. Choose things that your kids will do for longer than it takes you to set up and clean up, this is always a stipulation for me on the ‘worth it’ scale. Upon occasion I’ll do something that takes me an hour to their 15 minutes of fun but only if it makes them think I fart glitter and burp rainbows, and I get to watch them enjoy it. For sewing time, stick to what you know your kids love so you can know in advance how long you’ve likely bought yourself.

3) Take it Outside

This is one I haven’t done myself this year, but if you’re blessed with a backyard and have a table available, consider parking it outside. You can do your cutting/prep, your hand stitching, or even haul out an extension cord and your sewing machine.

4) Do What You Can, When You Can

I have a child that I love and adore with all my heart, and I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her. She has on and off days (today she got into nail polish and motor oil both by 9am, and once stuffed our Jack Russell Terrier into the front loading washer and tried to turn it on.) and while she’s getting old enough now that I can upon occasion take my eyes off her, I’ve spent a lot of the last 3.5 years trying to maintain eye contact. So, sometimes I pull my sewing machine to the kitchen table to sew, but I’m not hauling up that and my serger and all my other tools too, so often I just do all my prep work. In fact, my giant cutting mat is stored behind our living room couch, not in my craftroom, and my good rotary cutter is kept in a special little high-up cupboard in the kitchen. I work with pdf patterns a lot, and as many of you know sometimes only 20% of the project is actually done at the sewing machine. I’ll get my pattern pieces together and cut my fabric and have everything ready to go when bedtime rolls around.

In case you thought I was kidding about the motor oil

5) Give Up

What?! Yes. Sometimes. Sometimes, especially during summer holidays, the best thing you can do is give up and go to the park, the splash pad, the beach, or grandma’s house. If it’s just not happening, you’re getting frustrated and the kids are getting into trouble, go have fun with them instead. Wear them right out and come back the next day and your kids might just be in a quieter mood. They’re only going to be little for so long, and if the project is important and has a deadline then you may just have to either hire a sitter or burn the midnight oil, because you committed to them long before you likely committed to that project, and I’m willing to bet they give better hugs.

I would love to hear your tips and tricks for sewing (or getting things done period) with kids around! Please share in the comments below, and if I get enough I’ll do a follow-up post with your tricks. Also please share if you have any tips for removing nail polish or motor oil from clothing.

Nicole’s Bohemian Babydoll Top

I had the pleasure of pattern testing the Bohemian Babydoll Top (6m-9yr) for Elegance and Elephants a few weeks ago, and wound up making a top for Nicole. It wound up being part 2 of a coordinated set of pretty tops for my girls that they wore on Easter.

Nicole thinks its a very pretty top. She does ‘feel naked’ in it, which makes me laugh, because lately it seems if it’s not a jersey knit tshirt, she “feels naked.” So she wears a tank top under it so she feels covered – this one she feels naked with because it’s loose and flowy and after a long cold winter of tshirts and sweaters that feels strange to her.

As you can see here, the armscythe was a bit generous in this version but it has been modified since then. As to a general quick review of this pattern, here goes:

I found it a relatively quick sew for the most part. It is a loose fitting top with a lined bodice and no buttons or anything, it just slips over the head. I found attaching the little sleeve ruffle fairly easy, although I did find sewing together the lining and bodice at the armholes a bit finicky and time consuming compared to the rest of the pattern. I wouldn’t say it was hard, I would still rate this as an easy pattern. Just that one bit was a little fussy to press and sew, but not challenging to understand. I want to try this method by Colette Patterns blog for a clean finished lined armhole next time I do it. It’s a similar principle done differently. Everything else is pretty much long easy lines and smooth sailing. I like that the pattern is faced instead of hemmed; it’s the second top/dress pattern with a facing instead of a hem that I’ve tested recently and I love the clean and fast finish that facing provides. It also means you can eke just that much more out of a precious fabric.

Much like the name suggests, this top is fun and fancy-free. I can definitely see myself sewing more of this top in the future for my girls, I’m sure once it hits 30 degrees Celsius my darling daughter will find a sudden appreciation for clothes that make her feel naked, ha. As an added bonus, these cute little ruffle sleeves make this top fall under Approved Dress Code for her school, without being stifling. I think it would be fun to do the sleeve ruffle in a lace or sheer as well, perhaps a lace sleeve with a bit of lace on the bodice seam? Or with pompoms in between the facing and main fabric at the hem? There are plenty of playful summery possibilities here. I bet it would pair beautifully with another favourite E&E pattern, the Bubble Pocket Shorts which I sewed up last year for Olivia and blogged here. It is high up on my summer sewing to-do list to make some more of those!

$5 Off Sewing Patterns

Hey guys! Things have been a bit hectic around here since my hubby broke his finger, and I haven’t found any sewing time, but I’ve been living vicariously through others and planning my next projects. I was just browing over at Go To Patterns (affiliate link) and saw that for the month of February, you can get $5 off of a $40+ purchase by using the code FEBRUARY5 at checkout. If you use bundles especially you can get a really good haul that way! If you’re curious what exactly I was looking at, it was the new patterns, especially the purses. I’ve been considering giving that a go. If you do purse/bag sewing, let me know your recommendations for an intermediate sewist who is a bag beginner!

If you’re interested in becoming an affiliate for Go-To Patterns & Co yourself, click here.

Bond, Jackson Bond

 

I’m always excited when I get invited to play with a new pattern, whether it’s testing or pattern tours or just trying it out. And I adore Stacey for her dry humour and luscious eyebrows, and her boy-centric sewing always inspires. But for some reason I hesitated a moment – just a brief moment – when she invited me to the Bond pattern tour. The Bond really struck me as a reflection of Stacey’s fresh, modern style, and I wasn’t sure I was could do it justice. I mean we all know I am hip with the times, lol to my homies and all that, but I wasn’t sure if I could keep up to the pack. But I decided to go for it anyways, and try make it Jackson-flavoured, and man in the end it was more Jackson-y than I could have imagined.

I was very excited to sew my first garment for Jackson since the wee shorts I made when he was too small to fit in most store-bought clothes. I decided to go with a warm brownish-grey Riley Blake diagonal plaid pirate themed fabric paired with a dark brown tissue knit. I wouldn’t really recommend tissue knit if you’re not super comfortable with knits, I am and I still cringe a bit because if you mess up or the sewing machine starts to gobble it up, kiss that ish goodbye and start over. After I was finished I found an almost identical thicker brown knit on my desk and had words with myself about cleaning my craft room.

So at the beginning of January I had my fabrics picked out, I printed out my pattern, taped it, cut it. Then the closer and closer I got to the placket, the more freaked out I became. You see, when I was a newbie sewest sewer when I was a sewing baby, I did not know what was supposed to be scary. I’ve used knits from day one because I didn’t find out they were hard until after I’d already been using them for ages. I’d added a collar onto a shirt that was absolutely terrible but the collar turned out just fine, no problemo. I always assumed it wasn’t them, it was me, when I had difficulties, so I just kept trying. But I never got a chance to try a placket before I got wise enough to taste fear. And taste it I did. I sampled and nibbled and procrastinated actually sewing this top until two days before the blog post was due. Thus effectively not giving myself very much time to start over if I did mess up. Clever.

 

Early this week I read and re-read the instructions for the placket, then went and read a few other placket tutorials I dug up on the internet. When I had read enough of them that they started to make sense and I could see the steps coming together and a bit of the what and why, I was ready to try. Later. So on Tuesday, I went to my sewing machine and iron, put on some Katy Perry, and Roared.

And here’s a secret. It wasn’t so bad. I’m a huge baby. And I wish I’d tried one before. I feel like trying this pattern will open a whole new world of placket-y goodness for me, which is totally awesome, because I absolutely adore a good placket. I instantly instagrammed my placket, and my IG sewing friends rejoiced with me. Then I went and showed my husband my placket, and he glanced at it for half a second and grunted acknowledgement. I was taken aback.

“No, dear, it’s a placket,” I gently explained. “It’s awesome. I did an awesome thing. Look at my placket.” He did not look at my placket, involved as he was watching a Disney Princess movie with our girls. I decided to forgive him and maybe eat crackers on his side of the bed.

In his favour, he did admire the finished shirt, even if he thought it was for Olivia. In his defense, though, she did declare it hers the next morning, and then insist that I immediately make her an identical one when I put it on her brother anyways and pointed out the sizing.

In the end, I am so so glad I said yes to the dress. I mean, to the pattern. It is so completely perfect for Jackson. This shirt, like Jackson, looks Serious Stuff but is in reality playful and fun. He took a hissy fit when I shoved it on and buttoned it up, then stared solemnly at me for a moment after he was fully dressed. After deciding I wasn’t going to change my mind and let him be naked and free, he jumped onto the bed to roll and tumble and play with his dad in his new cute but very tumble-friendly shirt.

I do have to hem it yet – I put it on him to check and wasn’t able to take it off. I also made a few tiny mistakes, including topstitching the collar upside-down, which wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t had white bobbin thread. D’oh. And initially I put the placket in facing the GIRL way, and almost left it, but it was a super duper simple fix and considering how particular I had been thus far, really worth fixing. (And then the white topstitching on just the collar. Again, d’oh! I will probably pick that out and redo when I manage to pry the shirt off of him.) But I’m even happy with it as it is, and keep swooning over it and its perfect match to my playful sweetheart with the serious packaging.

Be sure to check out Sabra of Sew A Straight Line’s version of the Bond Top (and she is a way more experienced boy-sewperson than I am so do check hers out!), as well as the rest of the tour. If you hadn’t heard already, in honour of Kids Clothes Week and the pattern tour, you can use the code BONDTOP here to get $2 off this $8 pattern. Whether your style is fresh and modern, fun and funky, or a bit more subdued like Jackson’s here, the Bond Top is probably right for you. It’s definitely an advanced beginner / intermediate pattern, so if you are just starting on kids clothes I could probably suggest a few other places to start. But then again if nobody tells you this is hard, you might just try it, and it might take two tries to get something you’re delighted with, but you could totally do it. Just go for it!

2013 DIY Roundup Video

I briefly considered rounding up my projects from 2013 into a regular blog post. The thing is, many of my favourite projects are yet unblogged, as awful as that is, because I never got or made an opportunity to take photos I felt justified them. Instead I opted to create a quick round up video to share.

 

Some of my favorite but unblogged projects are the topsy turvy quilt I created for Olivia, the Penelope Peplum Top I tested for See Kate Sew (my husband and I rarely seem to be in the same place at the same time during the limited daylight hours Winnipeg has in winter, but I am bound and determined to blog that yet, even if I have to use my dress form.) and the quilt (and matching set of gifts) I made for my little Heart Warrior buddy Maverick (the fabric bundle I used for that pictured below.) For knitting, there was Shannon’s Dreiecke Hat and Mallory Cowl – which is pictured partway through, I never even photographed it finished on my iPhone. Pfft.  Not to mention my girls matching winter dresses! It seems like the only time I actually get a photographed blog post up of a sewing project is when it’s for a guest post or blog tour, partly because I don’t want to be shmuck and partly because I have a deadline. I need to treat my own stuff like it’s deadlined! I am still hoping to blog all of those things, if nothing else.

This, my friends, is what prevents me from even aspiring to be a Big Blogger. I’m so unprofessional. Maybe in my 30’s I’ll be a grown up. Don’t tell my kids I’m not. They probably suspect it already, I’ve missed a birthday party and a school deadline for Nicole in the last three days alone. But we also had family time, and ballet, and I helped out a friend for a day, and got baby snuggles. I try not to let myself get too wound up in the balls I’ve dropped, there are so many and it’s not possible to keep them all in the air all the time, especially if I’m too busy bemoaning what I’ve messed up when I should be keeping things flying as best I can. All I can do is try, and I can change the future but not what’s already done!

I have a pretty big project in the works right now and I’m definitely dropping a few balls because of it… but it will totally be worth it when Baby V #4 arrives in August! I’m feeling back in good form again already so I’m hoping to get caught back up on home and blog front! Nobody reads blogs anymore at Christmas time anyways, right?

Gifts for my Sewmies

Where my sewmies at? Hollaaaaa!

Okay yes, I can’t really pull that off, but I like to breeze merrily past Pulls Things Off and go straight for Clearly Beyond Help. But that aside, today’s round up is gifts for those who like to sew. We’ll go ahead and just call this my wish list, if you like, although if you’re really looking to get me gifts I should ask for Kobo gift cards because my hubby got me Kobo e reader as our one real black friday purchase even though he thinks ereaders are stupid and so he got me one that also functions as a tablet and I am stubbornly using it as just an ereader because we are both just goats in love. Did I mention I sent him the email I got that they were $50 off and he said no, e readers are stupid, use my tablet, and I may have said his tablet was stupid. Then he came home with the e reader and I was both sheepish and gleeful. And I won’t tell you the reading hours I logged this past week while sick because they are insane.

So anyways, clearly I’m not getting anything else for Christmas so this list is for all my sewmies out there. 

We’ll actually start back at the e reader thing. I do totally recommend an e reader or tablet if you have a sewing or knitting person who is most beloved to your heart, because it’s a great place to put instructions for all those pdf sewing and knitting patterns, which is 50% of the reason I was keen on one. I like the Kobo for black and white and the Kobo Arc, which is what I have, for colour. It’s more of a tablet and its an android, which I normally like to screech at like a Macaw, but for some reason I’m having very little trouble with it. (Possibly related to barely venturing out of the Library section.)

And speaking of pdf patterns, one of my favourite pattern sites is (affiliate link) Go To Patterns. Right now you can use the code DECEMBER10 for 10% off your purchase, or DECEMBER15 for 15%. Now, if you sew yourself, then you know that nobody, NOBODY will appreciate the time and effort that you put into a sewn gift than one of your sewmies. So first of all, you can buy patterns and make some gifts. For example, the Commuter Cowl pattern (pictured above, and is anyone else thinking they need to knock off that tshirt sleeve??) is less than $4 even before any discount code, and would make a great gift for anyone (and bonus gift to yourself, keeping the pattern.) However on the less time-spendy side of things, you can get a gift card for your sewmie in the Sale section. (And if I’m your sewmie then yes, please.)

Or if your sewmie is more into the books (and who isn’t, my real touchable book collection is almost exclusively sewing books) a really intriguing looking book that is both the learning and the fun sewing time that I would love to get my own hands on is Sew Retro. I’ll link to it on amazon (affiliate) for both the Canadian amazon.ca and American amazon.com sites, because I feel your feels when you have to find something yourself because you get the wrong link.

Now this one is for the boys who want to be men. Listen up, fellas. If you know a sewmie and you’d like to woo your way into her heart, or perhaps you’re married to one of my sewmies and you’d really like to lower her presser foot, so to speak, then get your girl some Gingher dressmaker shears. If you’re a man then you may understand why if I explain that those orange-handled scissors she threatens to stab you with if you use them on paper, they are a nice little Sunfire. But the Gingher shears, they, my friend, are a Porsche. Yes, you feel me. Here you go, stud, follow the link to amazon.com or amazon.ca (and for the record my goodness does my local fabric store charge A LOT MORE than the amazon sites for these things, so you’re welcome) and get ready to have your muscles felt up a whole lot. And don’t worry, Gingher cares for her too, and will sharpen her scissors for her for a small fee when they’ve been used and abused. Her love for them, and you, will go on.

Coming back around to sewing patterns and things you can buy me your sewmie, meet the Esme Pattern from Sew Liberated. This looks so cute, and so flattering, and I just love it so much. It’s a bit of a splurge, which is exactly why it’s a fantastic gift idea, and the paper pattern comes with instructions and a code to unlock a full video tutorial, how fantastic is that? I for one could see myself making this in a few different fabrics and sleeve variations.

And lastly, here’s an absolutely charming little necklace I found on etsy that would be sure to delight any sewmie who found it in her stocking. I’m not always a fan of gold tone charms but it is just perfect paired with the vintage sewing machine, and totally reminds me of my own vintage Singer!

Sew, there’s a few gift ideas for your favourite sewmie. I’ve marked the ones that are affiliate links, and I truly adore every one of them. (I actually have the commuter cowl pattern, but haven’t made it yet and may just have to bust into it for Christmas gifts.) And thus concludes today’s edition of the somewhat-spotty-attendance Friday Favourites!

Craft Sale Recap

So, as I had mentioned, I did my first craft sale on Saturday. Thank you so much to all of you who offered support and encouragement! It wound up being a pretty slow sale, with a lot of browsers over buyers overall, so I think I did pretty well considering that. Enough to make my time at the sale and the table worth it for the items that sold, and I’m planning to list a lot of what was left on etsy. Since I went into it with the mindset that this would likely happen and it would be a good chance to stock up my store with ready to sell items, I’m not at all disappointed!

I’m just going to embed some pictures from instagram, because it was a hectic week and I didn’t get around to taking good pictures, and whenever I get a good photography day whatever is left will get it’s little photoshoot and wind up on etsy anyhow.

I was really intimidated when I got to the sale because all of my stuff fit on top of the one brown basket and one load in from my van. The tables were much bigger than I expected and a lot of people really had their tables just full! I consoled myself with the thought that a lot of those folks were out of the stage of their lives where they had young kids at home, and/or had worked with others to fill their tables. The table beside me had a lockbox and I had this tiny little nearly empty ziploc bag of change, and wound up being quite grateful to my hubby when he popped by partway through to drop off some more.

 

These bibs were a very popular item. I only sold one, but many browsers declared their love and wished for grandchildren. (Apparently not many people there had babies to buy for, but half the items I sold were baby items anyways, and it was the baby stuff that was exclaimed over the most. I personally also enjoy exclaiming over baby gear and pining for babies, even when I have no business pining for babies.) I plan on releasing a free pattern for the bibs after I double check that someone hasn't already done so. The first two-tone bib was a bit of an accident, I was piecing to make the most of the fat quarter pack I had of this freakin' adorable Cloud 9 fabric by Made By Rae. Then I fell madly in love with the look, made pattern pieces for it, and went to town.

 

This girly outfit sold, and I was pleased as punch and simultaniously mourning just a little bit at the loss of the ability to take it out and coo over it at random moments.

 

The little foxy onesie went too, along with a bib, for an impending baby. Glad to see I'm not the only one who appreciates a little hand stitching. (You can blame Kristie for my current hand stitching obsession, she has been instagramming and blogging all sorts of goodies with horribly perfect hand stitching all over the place.)

That's it for now for the craft sale stuff. I'll leave you with a tiny little sneak peek video of Nicole's little bedroom, which I also finished last week and have yet to blog about. I'll be doing some catch-up next week so you may get two days of DIY posts!

See you on Friday for a round up!

a nickel for my thoughts

You know, since the penny is obsolete here now? Although I guess realistically one would round down and I’d be giving it away for free. Considering how few rational thoughts I’ve been having this week you would think that would increase the value a bit, no?

I have some really fun stuff in the works and/or finished and ready to share, but I’m elbows deep in preparation for a craft sale this Saturday, and if it goes truly abysmally then I may need a few days to recover emotionally. Outside of that, I’ll be listing a bunch of stuff in my shop right after. But I digress; I’m busy in a tizzy sewing away in my own personal sweatshop. Since it happens to be full of cute prints I’m not exactly suffering, although someday my autopsy will read something about copious amounts of various fibres that seem to permeate every bit of my being. That’s right, I’ve been snorting faux furs and flannel dust again. Intervention may be pointless.

Meanwhile, feel free to peek at my Instagram feed for a sneak peek. And if the code worked right, below is embedded a picture that includes two reversible bibs. I made a pattern for the two-tone one and if I can’t find a pattern or tutorial that already covers it, I’ll share that pattern and tutorial soon.

Owl I Want For Christmas is Hoo!

I was pleased when I was invited to be a part of the Gingercake Holiday Gifts Sewing Series. Every year I tell myself I’m going to do handmade gifts, and every year is going to be THE YEAR. And I think this year, it actually may, because I’m on a roll and not nursing a baby or  going through morning sickness or nursing a baby or any of the other lame excuses I’ve had in the past few years. 

I’ve really been feeling the boy fabric lately so that’s where I started. Oh, did I say boy? I mean the NON-GIRLY fabrics. Not that a boy can’t rock the pink stuff, goodness knows Jackson has done it a lot and with total obliviousness confidence. I love me some frilly ruffley fabrics covered in bunnies and fairy tales and glittery unicorn farts, but I’m enjoying exploring the more neutral fabric world lately. Jackson deserves his time to shine, and I have 5 nephews just locally, so it doesn’t hurt to stock up on boyish handmade stuffies.

Of course, Nicole figured that this was for Olivia, since it’s Olivia’s birthday on Saturday, and Olivia loves green. (which works great, because Nicole wants the pink plate and with six siblings I’ve seen things get ugly over plate colors.) I gave Olivia the side eye and showed it to her. “Oh, it’s mine Howl, thank you!” and off she went with it. Olivia can be the worst kind of ruffian but she’s also the best kind, because she has impeccable manners and tends to leave you scratching your head and feeling bemused and potentially bested. “Oh yes, I eat your ice cream now, thank you, bye.” Wait, what?

The only problem I had was my own tendency to get excited and carried away. I missed the step that said HEY LAURA. MAKE YOU SURE DID EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU SEW UP THE OWL. I forgot the beak and wound up hand-stitching it on, thankfully before stuffing. And then that got me thinking. After I tucked most of my kids in bed last night, I peeked through a bunch of fabrics and pulled out lace, baby pink, some grey, and a bit of babyish yellow. And that’s when the magic happened.

The second owl is done a bit bigger and better than the first (I’m a novice at making plushies and it shows) and I took it to a very girly place. Hand stitching, eyelashes, lace on lace, and pinky pink pink. I really, really love how this one turned out. I also love how Olivia (who napped late and partied all night) reacted to it. When she saw I was making a pink girly owl, she asked if it was for Nicole. My girls! They care so much for each other.

What I really love about this pattern, aside from the fact that it’s a super adorable owl, is how very versatile and easy to customize it.  Which makes it absolutely perfect for Christmas presents for any gender, and really, any age. The pocket on the back is adorable and perfect for slipping in a gift card. (The girly version I skipped the pocket and did lace, which in person goes straight across, scout’s honour.) The project is perfect for fat quarters and scraps, particularly for the embellishments, and easy to add your own personal touch to.

How would you like to make your own little owls? You can enter now to win the Max the Owl pattern from Gingercake! I’ll be drawing the winner on Monday. (And yes, I see that thread too. And the smudge my kids put on the owl’s face before I got to photograph it despite strict orders not to touch. These things are kid magnets.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway is open until Monday, November 18 at 12am Eastern Time.  Winner will be chosen at random, contacted by email, and will receive the PDF pattern from Gingercake.  One entry per person, void where prohibited by law.  This disclaimer blatantly ripped off of Skirt As Top. Spiderman E’er’day.

Strategizing for Kids Clothes Week

It’s Kids Clothes Week, Fall Edition! To be honest, it snowed a bit last night, so fall isn’t going to last much longer around here.

But fall, winter, no matter. Long sleeves, items that can be layered, and comfy cozy… those are the names of the game! Not to mention deeper, richer colours. Personally I’m putting a few dashes of dark purple and some golden mustard in there, for sure.

Right now I’m actually looking to my kids’ wardrobes for inspiration. I’m using items they already own and love for inspiration for shape and fit and making them new items to refresh their wardrobes while staying safely within the zone of stuff I know works. I’m planning on using a lot of knits for items like Go To Leggings, Bimaa sweaters, and self drafted peasant tunics and long sleeve t’s. I’m also planning on tossing in some woven dresses and possibly also some slacks. I’m not sure where I think I’m going to find all this spare time to get this all done in seven days, but the point is to work on it and that’s what I’ve been doing.

Taking a cue from Max California I’m planning on mostly cutting during the day, which is my least favourite task but easily one I can do with my kids around. Sewing and pressing require a little more focus and call for me to be in my craft room (or drag my sewing machine upstairs to the kitchen, which I’ve done in a pinch before.) but this will be a lot less disruptive to the flow of the family. Olivia is actually getting to a point where if I allow her to watch a show during Jackson’s nap I can sneak some sewing in there, too!

random speed painting of JackJack in lieu of relevant photo

I’m also planning on utilizing slow cooker meals or meals I’ve prepped already and frozen. I’m not sure if I mentioned it here but on Instagram I shared that two weeks ago I made between 2 and 4 of several meals and froze them so I could sail through the rest of the month and avoid rough days ending in pizza. Pizza has a time and a place, movie nights would be my preference! That plan has been going GREAT and I’m definitely planning on restocking my meal supply again next week.

Lastly, I’m giving potty training Olivia another go. This has nothing to do with KCW but I just wanted you all to pat my hand sympathetically, knowing that there is likely a lot of nasty laundry in my future. She’s being pretty obliging so far though, so maybe third fourth fifth who cares time is the charm. Her ‘digestive issues’ seem pretty settled lately so here’s hoping!

Bimaa Light

Get it? Beam-a-light? Beam of… Never mind.

When Sarah emailed me to see if I was interested in participating in the Bimaa blog tour I almost broke the internet with my haste in saying yes. I had already planned on obtaining the pattern and using and abusing it for my girls’ fall/winter wardrobe. There are a few fun variations (and in the next few hours or days I hope to share another that I made, and another fabric combo of this one) but my favourite hands down is the cowl-neck version. Sarah makes the cutest patterns, and how cute is her little girl? Hair for miles and such a good-sported little model! If you’re wondering why Olivia doesn’t model on here much, you clearly don’t know Olivia, ha. Granted, she did model a pair of leggings for me for exactly one photograph yesterday, which is 100% more than usual, but she was asleep so I didn’t even try.

Yes, that cowl is built right into the shirt. You can do it all in one fabric for your normal cowl-neck version, or you can do a contrast for a faux infinity scarf. Although a real infinity scarf seems more versatile, this one won’t pose a choking hazard so it can be worn for play. It won’t get dropped behind the couch, left at school, or pulled off 30 seconds into the day. I do own cute scarves for my kids, but for my particular children, I love them but they generally get left at home or worn for shopping trips.

Nicole loves this top, declaring it super cozy and that she can hide in the cowl. Sadly, due to two factors – one, I asked my hubby to print the pattern for me on his laser printer and forgot to specify to unclick the resize to fit to page button, two, my girls have long torsos for their legs – this one won’t stay hers. I knew I was taking a risk just making the pattern instead of reprinting it but I take that kind of risk when I’m sewing for Nicole, which is exactly why I didn’t bother trying to cut something for Olivia out of the resized print error. It’s a bit snug and definitely a bit short for her body. I shortened the sleeves at her request, and I’m glad I did, as it will make it more wearable for Olivia. She loves it so much that I’ll be making her the exact same sweater again and they’ll be twins. However, that was all my bad and I’m excited to reprint this pattern and use it again properly.

As for the sewing, this came together beautifully. If you’re just starting off sewing garments with knits, I really recommend something like this with bands for finishing hems. Confession time: since my laptop with the instructions was all the way upstairs and I was all the way downstairs, I didn’t consult the directions once. I had heard that the cowl was the most challenging part of this pattern, but if you think of it as another band like the wrist and waist cuffs it’s really simple. It’s actually the waistband that I put on inside out and trimmed down accidentally as a design feature to add a bit of texture and edge with the black and hot pink with metallic animal print design. The fabric I used for the cowl didn’t photograph very true to color but here it is online.

My pinkalicious girlie freaked out over this metallic pink goodness and it is right up her alley. Girly, fun, full of light, and a bit unusual but if you ask me that’s the best way to be.

Check out the other bloggy goodness on the tour, and if I get my other two Bimaas-in-progress done today yet I’ll let y’all know. And in case that leaves you with the impression I talk like a sweet southern gal, I just love the word y’all and recently discovered while travelling that I sound very Canadian. If we were chatting in person I would probably say, for example, “That photobombing Jack Russell is pretty cute, eh?”

Scarves for Maverick

These are the infinity scarves I whipped up this week for A Miracle For Maverick, an auction that will go live next week is now live. For more information about Maverick and the auction, check my previous post. I didn’t use any particular tutorial to make these, but if you are interested, most of the fabric (save for the first one) is from Girl Charlee, my favourite (read: only) source for knit fabric online. (Here is a referral link that will earn me fabric if you buy there for the first time.) Sadly, the grey moustache fabric is out of print, and while I am donating both of the scarves I made from it, I fully intend to bid to win one back.

Watch for one more sewing post this week, on Saturday I’m part of a blog tour! My house is such a mess this week, guys, seriously a disaster. Nicole is off school and as a bonus, sick. I’ve been sewing up a storm (not just these but a few other projects with deadlines as well, and one without) and also doing freezer meal prep / bulk cooking. It wasn’t a good plan to do it all in the same week, I’ve seen the error of my ways, but I had already bought the groceries and it will pay off big time for the rest of the month. And really, as saintly as that may all sound, I love sewing and cooking and I’m not a huge fan of the cleaning, so really in the end I just didn’t do the ‘grown up’ thing this week. The week isn’t over though, I have every intention of pulling on the big girl pants and having it all top shape within the next 48 hours. If only because it’s driving me nuts and I’m embarrassed to open the door. The downside of the open-concept home would definitely be seeing that sink full of dishes from the front door… just ask my Tupperware consultant.

I will outbid you for one of this scarf back, you won’t even know what hit you.