Christmas Garb: 2017

Every year I make matching outfits for my kiddos for Christmas.  Right now they enjoy it.  I know that someday, they will definitely not. I'm soaking it up before they start rolling their eyes and writing the forwards to their autobiographies that have a main focus on how their mother ruined their lives.  I think they're cute, though, so I'll just start saving for some therapy or chocolate or something.  But look at how adorable they are!

Let's start with the boy.  He looks so dashing, after all.  I pretty much just made a vest and a bowtie.  He apparently LOVES bowties...even though he HATED them at Easter time.  He was insistent that he get one: non-negotiable.  I decided to make and actual tie-able bowtie instead of my normal slide on tie. I used this pattern. I would make it longer and wider next time.  It juuuuust barely fit him even though I made it even larger than the pattern calls for. He may have called it "chokey"...but he still wanted to wear it!  At a young age, he's learning that beauty is pain.  His vest was a super easy sew and  I really love the fit.  It's the Schoolboy Vest by Sew Much Ado. It comes with the option of real or faux welt pockets and a back tie, but I made a really simple version since my fabric was so busy.  His shirt and pants were already in his dresser, so they were REALLY simple to make ::wink::wink::

The girl's dress turned out better than I had hoped for.  I made a version for this dress (The Nori by Paisley Roots) when I tested it in August.  My girl is very picky about what she'll wear and she chose this pattern straight away.  She just wanted it long, so I obliged.  I just made a gathered maxi skirt instead of using the circle skirt that the pattern comes with.  It's such a lovely dress and she told me that she felt like a princess.  WINNING!

The fabric used is by Michael Miller and it's the Glitz confetti border in Navy. It's actually a much deeper navy in person, but it wanted to be photographed with a blue PAPOW.  It's gorgeous, though.  I'm so glad I had some on hand.  I bought it a few years ago.  My New Year's Resolution for 2017 was to buy no fabric all year.  I actually only bought a total of 7 yards this year including Halloween fabrics. I think I can call that a success.  I'm glad I finally finished these.  The next 9 days are going to be a festival of crazy requiring copious amounts of spiked coffee.  The kids got to see Santa today as well (and I finished these LAST NIGHT).  So I barely met my deadline.  WHEW!  These may be my favorite Christmas outfits so far.  Can't wait to see what next year holds!

Merry Christmas, Y'all!

-Crystal-

Fiesta Fun Blog Tour

*This blog post was sponsored by Art Gallery Fabrics*

I am so excited to be finishing off the Art Gallery Fabrics "Fiesta Fun by Dana Willard" blog tour hosted by Paisley Roots.  It's been super awesome seeing what everyone's sewn up so far with this really festive line.  When Karly asked me to participate, I was SO EXCITED.  I am a huge fan of all things colorful and happy and what better to represent what I love than a line called "Fiesta Fun"?  It's just perfect for me.  And I decided it should be for ME.

 

Everyone knows I love rainbows and unicorns.  And although I'm sure there are very few unicorns at fiestas around the world, I try to bring the magic with me wherever I go.  When I saw this Happy Streamers print, I knew I wanted it.   Just to make sure I was making  the right choice, I asked my husband, my best friend, and my mother-in-law which fabric THEY thought I'd choose.  They all chose this one...because apparently, I'm really that obvious.  

 

Art Gallery fabrics are always high-quality.  I've never been disappointed when I get fabric mail with their products inside.  This fabric was no different.  It's wonderful to work with as always.  

 

I chose this dress pattern (Simplicity 1755) because I adore retro style. I feel oh so Jessica Day in this. The center seam was begging for me to turn a "stripe" into a "V". It turned out just as I'd imagined it would and I think it adds a cool dimension to an already cool print.  

 

The fussy cutting was really important for this look and thank goodness the fabric all lined up just right.  Sometimes fabric is printed all wonky and can make me batty, but Art Gallery is on point!

It's also super easy to accessorize!  With every color of the rainbow present, you can pick almost any coordinate and it's gonna rock.  

And my favorite part of the dress (besides the color PAPOW)?  POCKETS!

Basically, at the end of the day, I'm saying this fabric is seriously sweet.  It works for adults, kids, dogs...whatever.  It's awesome stuff.  There are 16 prints with something for every taste.  Happy Streamers is my fave though...obviously.

 

Make sure to check out all of the amazing work done during this happy tour. 

Everyone is so talented and each has a unique style, but they've all been able to use this line beautifully.  Check 'em all out!

Have sew much fun, y'all!!!

-Crystal-

Crystal's Kinda Crappy

Haha!  Made ya read!  But seriously, I'm crappy at having time to do fun stuff and blog about it.  I'm still fabulous in every other way and don't you forget it.  I haven't blogged at all since December and I wanted to just do a little roundup of what I've been up to creatively.  Mostly small projects here and there.  We had some issues with a "light" kitchen/living room remodel and 14 months later, we're not done yet.  We could be, but the heat came before we could finish and 110+ degree temperatures are not worth working in.  Needless to say, I've been preoccupied trying to get that done and not cry every time I have to reach into a cupboard with no door.

So here's the stuff I never got around to blogging in 2015 and so far in 2016:

I made myself a few fun things:

A star wars top made from an altered version of the Uptown/Downtown Women's pattern from Sew Straight and Gather.  This just happens to be my new favorite shirt. I wear it ALL THE TIME.

A LBD from the Lady Skater Pattern by Kitschy Coo

A Patterns for Pirates Grandpa Cardi that I can't wait to use again!




A Coraline hoddie from the Patterns for Pirates Women's Relaxed Raglan pattern   

 

A cute polkadot Pumpkin Spice Dolman from Patterns for Pirates. Another shirt I wear a ton.  In fact I'm wearing it as I type this.

And finally, a pretty Desert Breeze dress from Striped Swallow Designs that was inspired by Pocahontas's "Colors of the Wind".  It was my first official Disneybound! I modified it to have an elastic casing underneath the bust for a more flattering fit.  I also made it a maxi because I LOVE maxis.


Yep!  I spoiled myself a wee bit....ain't sad about it!


Here's the stuff for my girl!

 

A bit of Scotland in an Uptown Downtown Girl's dress from Sew Straight and Gather

A Very hipster modified Saffron Twirl from Paisley Roots

A Modkid Arianne dress

 

A few Hourglass dresses by Rabbit Rabbit for the holidays

And most recently I made her a little princess's dream come true with a modified Town Square top from New Horizon's patterns and some Bonny legs from Made for Mermaids.

She made out pretty well, too!

Now for my son!

A TIE! ...in December...and nothing else.  Poor kid.  But if he wouldn't ruin clothes so fast, he'd have more!  He's a maniac, people.  Oh well, he rocked that tie!  Before he puked on it.  No seriously, he did.

I hope to be more productive these last 6 months of 2016, but promises like that just can't be made.  I can promise Halloween costumes, though.  I kill it with Halloween costumes.  They are my happy place.

Thanks for reading y'all!!!

-Crystal-

"It Offin"- You don't know what that means

My title confuses you.  It should.  You are normal, don't worry (well, maybe some of you should, but that's a topic I don't get paid enough to cover).  My title comes from the 2 series I am sewing along with as a butt kick to keep me sewing.  Paisley Roots is having a "Shake it Off" competition and link-up on her blog and Scientific Seamstress/ SisBoom is having a "Knock it Off" theme for their "Just for Me January" challenge in their Facebook group.  Click on my links and take advantage of the opportunity to win free stuff.  Otherwise, we can't be friends.  If you don't like free stuff, you're not my people.  So here's my look!

We'll start with the Paisley Roots competition.  She challenged us to make SOMETHING inspired my the "Shake it Off" video by Taylor Swift using a pattern from one of the sponsors' patterns.  She had a bad 2014 and wants to shake it off and I'm with her.  EFF YOU 2014!  Anyway, I chose the cheerleader look as my inspiration.  It's peppy and fun and YES!  Perfect for shaking things off...like this awful cold I have.  I look like a damn fool in the following picture. I'm "dancing".  God help us all.

Along with the color scheme, I decided to pleat my skirt to mimic the pleats in the cheer uniform and chose some colorblocking to bring it all together.  The dress pattern I used was the Angie by SisBoom- More on that below.  The cardigan was made from Simplicity 2125.  No, Simplicity is not a sponsor, but I made it anyway since cardis are more like and accessory. (Yes I definitely look sick in this picture.  And my head is exceptionally round.  I blame the tripod...it can't argue back).

My dress is sooooo comfy.  I used interlock knit because I realized that nearly ALL of my store bought stuff is knit.  If I'm BUYING knit clothing, I should be sewing it.  The problem I faced was dealing with knit bias binding.  LORD NO. So I took the construction technique from the SisBoom Tortola and made a woven neck/arm facing to limit stretchy wonkiness and keep is nice and sturdy.  I Win!

Since this was a knock-off look, I clearly took inspiration from somewhere...here's where:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/151715081173501165/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/151715081173495164/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/151715081173499902/

Anyway, there you have my "It Off" looks.  PLEASE go make your own and enter them!  If for nothing else than motivation and Sew-jo creation. 

-Crystal-

Project Run & Play Sewalong- Season 10: Week Four (Crystal)

It's Signature Style time over at Project Run and Play, and I totally decided to go nuts and have fun with this one.  Maybe a little too much fun...almost got myself into trouble with the amount of fun.  But don't worry, I was Saved by the Bell.  Smooth intro, Crystal.  Smoother than Mr. Belding's Balding head.

Now, I know what you're thinking:

"This is wilder than than one of Jessie and Slater's fights" 
"This is sparklier than the Zack Attack blazer."
"Holy Hot Sundae, this is bright" 

But, dude, it's so me!

I am ALL over color and crazy.  I'm a *bit* on the theatrical side when I sew and usually tame it a smidge for the sake of your eyeballs.  But since we're doing a signature style, I just couldn't leave it alone.  I let it flow, and I love it more than all of the Buddy Bands in the world.  I adore seeing kids dress in fun things because you can only do it for so long before you exit "adorable" and enter "institutional."  Kids don't need to dress as serious as a caffeine pill addiction.

.
This dress looks like something Kelly Kapowski's barbie doll would wear.  The fabrics I used were: An acid wash print cotton I found at Joann's a year ago, some sparkle 2 way knit of doom, and the pink stuff I'll talk more about later.  The biggest Papow is all those ruffles.  I normally don't "do" ruffles.  They're hell to sew when you don't know how to use the ruffler foot you spent $35 on and when ruffling on the serger is something you just never got around to attempting.  So yeah, I hand gathered those ruffles...all of them.  Over 160" EACH ruffle (4 of them anyway), but it was sooooooo worth it.  The pattern I used to get my ruffle measurements was the Francesca's by Create Kids Couture.  I really do love Create Kids Couture patterns and I love the ladies in their FB group page even more.  They're just friendly. My daughter FLIPPED over this dress.  She can't wait to wear it to school....which brings me to the bodice.

I needed something with enough coverage for dress code (3" strap minimum), but the Francesca's bodice just doesn't have that. I decided to make the bodice using the Saffron Twirl Dress by Paisley Roots for the front.  For the back, I used the Saffron back piece for the arm holes, but layered it over the back of the All Spice (same designer) and added a little extra to create a button placket to close it up.  Then I used the All Spice flutter sleeve to make the cap sleeve. The Saffron has deeper armholes than the All Spice, so I knew I'd need the width of the flutter instead of the actual cap sleeve...so confusing, but it totally worked as planned.  The fabric is amazing.  It was found at the same yard sale the My Little Pony fabric was at and then was given to me.  Most people wouldn't have been so excited to receive this fabric, but I SQUEALED.  And it totally looks like it fits in with the Saved by the Bell opening credits.

So there you have it: Bayside Barbie. I believe Lisa Turtle would wear this to prom making Screech even screechier.  She'll have to take a number, though, because I don't think my daughter will ever take it off.

 

-Crystal-

P.S. One child + Mommy's Heels = HILARITY

Project Run & Play Sew Along- Season 10: Week Two (Crystal)

It's week 2 of Project Run & Play and the theme is "Hand-me-Downs" which translates to upcycling (essentially)...which translates to FREE (nearly)...which translates to WOO HOOOOOOOOOO (totally)!  Lets jump right in, shall we?

I decided to do a boy look this week since my little guy has officially grown out of all of the hand-me-downs we inherited from the wonderful male cousins that came before him.  Since 3T clothing usually doesn't outlive the year of use because boys turn into filthy and crazy daredevils that destroy everything, I was so sad to know I'd have to buy stuff.  The death of a cheapo.  So sad. Luckily I can upcycle and BAM!  Stylish stud

Imma gonna go ahead and start with the fancy pants he's wearing.  For this look I used a pair of MY old pants and a GIRL pattern.  I totally reused girly things for a boy look.  I bleach dyed the jeans using the preschool method of tie dying with random rubber bands all over.  It turned out just as I had pictured and worked like magic with the Sis Boom Katie pattern.  I forgot to get a pic of the jeans before I bleached 'em...whoops!  But I got a pic before I cut them, so points for me!

The vest was ALSO a "girl" pattern.  I used the Allspice by Paisley Roots without the pintucks to make it.  I added some length to get it to be manly and decided to go reversible because it's just cool.  The peach side has pockets (the original pockets from the fugly shirt from Grandma- she wouldn't even wear it) and the khaki green side has some custom stitching.  For that side, I used a pair of my husband's old torn up shorts.  Seriously, I don't even want to know what kind of bathroom issues cause a hole THIS GIANT to form in the crotch seam.  Gonna leave that one alone. All I had to purchase for this look was a reversible separating zipper.  That's it for the WHOLE LOOK.  YAY!

The hat pattern is from Apple + Fig. and is SO COOL.  The size ranges from baby to adult, so it's a good use of the dinero.  I used the rest of the mystery injury shorts to make it and added a little sea turtle reverse applique with the leftover bleached denim.  My boy loves sea turtles...it wasn't just some random "I like turtles" moment.

The shirt was made from a shirt.  So clever, I know.  But I love the fabric of this shirt and my husband didn't like the original, so yeah.  I made it better.  I used the Flashback skinny tee from Made by Rae.  It's so cool!  Love this pattern.  Easy and comfy and the perfect fit.

That about sums up my look!  4 pieces that can be interchanged with the rest of his wardrobe.  They'll blend right in with his other stuff....like a dresser ninja!

-Crystal-