Vote for My Top

My top made it through to the first round of voting for the Spring Top Sewalong over at Made by Rae.  If you get a chance today, head on over to her site and vote for the Portfolio Blouse by Margaret.

KCW Spring 2011 - Days 1 and 2

I've decided to take part in the Kid's Clothing Week Challenge put on by elsie marley, which involves spending one hour each day this week sewing for your kids.  I have a huge amount of cute fabric that's built up in my closet, so I figured this might be a good chance to destash a bit.  Since I sew far less for Henry than anyone in the family, I decided that a project from "Celebrate the Boy" month would be a appropriate.  He has a slight Lego addiction, so I thought the Lego Playmat/Storage Bag would be a great fabric buster.  He was so excited this morning when he could close up the bag all by himself (unfortunately, about 100 Legos are still littering the carpet).
   

On day two I whipped out a mini mod skirt for Anne in about 25 minutes.  Not too shabby for a first attempt.  She seems to feel comfortable playing in it, which is key.

unhemmed

Hero's Pose

 

Lisette Portfolio Blouse

It's official.  I have finished something for myself that fits moderately well.  I always tell people that I only sew for people who haven't hit puberty yet.  I picked up this Simplicity Lisette Portfolio pattern set the other day, and was struck by how much I liked all of the pieces in the collection.  Turns out they are all designed by Liesl Gibson who designs the Oliver + S kids patterns.  I'm a huge fan of hers.

 

I was in Arlington about a week later and found this great fabric from Anthology's Mod Charm collection, and setttled down to sew.   I decided to make the blouse instead of the dress or tunic first, just so I could get an idea about size.  In retrospect, I see that the top length is listed as cropped, which I had to account for by making a bias binding for the hem.  I also ripped off the cuffs that I created for the shirt and made a simple rolled-hem cuff.  The cuffs would have been cute, but unfortunately I was running out of interfacing, so I used a slightly heavier facing, which ended up making the cuffs feel like shackles.  Anyhow,  here are the results.

Sleeve Detail

Placket Detail

Neckline

Sunshine Detail

I think I'll keep it!