Clover shirt version 3

version 3

 

I got this cute polka dot fabric at Joann's and used some leftovers of the Valori Wells wrenly stuff from making quilts

 

one would question the wisdom of giving the kid carrots and then trying to get a decent facial expression out of her

 

I've defected to snaps. the learning curve has been a little steep for me, but they end up being better for me than buttons, which I can't seem to attach well to save my life. 

 

you never notice how filthy their face is until you start preparing to show it to the public

 

 

I would like to consider some hacks I can do with the pattern to change up the look, like maybe making it a shirt dress or changing the cuffs on the sleeves, or even replacing the collar with a hood.

Clover shirt, version two complete

I'm going to enjoy making different versions of this shirt, finding new ways to modify it, and maybe learning to do it without screwing everything up at least once. 

that's the bright yellow broadcloth I bought way too much of for the girls' quilts. it's really not the best quality, and the only solid I didn't buy in kona cotton. it's quite thin and fragile, but will at least breathe well for the remainder of this hot weather

 

today I discovered a love of snaps. mostly because I loathe sewing on buttons - translation: mostly because I am terrible at sewing on buttons. snaps are the way of the future for me. unfortunately Clover is missing two snaps from her shirt now because I did some "learning" when applying them to her shirt, had to redo them, and ruined a few in the process. now I need to get more. the girls were excited when I began furiously pounding on her shirt this afternoon. as I finished up, Tim's voice floated into the kitchen:

"since when does sewing involve hammers?" 

sometimes creativity is born of necessity, and necessity dictated these little patches. while making the quilts I frequently had to drag the fabrics across the kitchen floor while cutting on the dining table. something red got sucked into the fabric and I didn't notice it until I had constructed most of the shirt already. so.....on went the patches! it really only needed one but I thought more was better.

 

 below the shirt is the loaner machine from my friend Marci. it was used exclusively to make this shirt. poor Brother is in exile, unplugged, unloved. sew tragic.

sweet button down project: complete (not without trouble)

after a lot of waffling on what pattern I wanted to do next, and really wanting to order the Oliver + S sailboat pattern (which I still want to get badly, just want to wait till we are out of this crazy financial month to spend over 20$ on a pattern):

the top (not my creation, just an example of the awesome pattern)

  the pants:

I found this sweet pattern on Etsy and decided it was the perfect thing to get since I can mass produce them for both girls, and they can go with just about anything. 

so.....here is my first shirt. the pattern itself is super easy to follow since it is a PDF with detailed photo instructions, and good pattern pieces.

I love the ruffled collar. it would be fun to do another ruffle along the bottom edge of the shirt too. all of my problems stemmed from my sewing machine, as it failed to do the tasks along the way. 

I was losing my mind in frustration after I spent time carefully cutting my pattern pieces and over pinning everything because of the way my machine yanks the layers of fabric away from one another. tension issues and ripping and re ripping of seams abounded. once I was finally done and got one buttonhole partly done, the buttonhole function stopped working right, so I manually finished one hole and quit. a kind friend brought me her machine and I used the old kenmore to finish my buttonholes.

 

yes, the shirt is hanging from the arm of my aloe plant. this cute fabric has been laying around for a while. I got a yard of it on sale a while ago and saved it for something sweet for Clover.

 

I did the 3t size, but it is so loose on Clover that I think I will do the 2t next time. If she grows out of it semi-quickly it will just get handed down to Violet anyway. The pattern goes all the way from 12months to I think 8t, so we are set!

" 'good grief!' cried the ones who had stars at the first, 'we're still the best and they are the worst!' "

clover's sneetches shirt. one of my old Gap tank tops had a broken strap, so this is what happened to it. the lettering is more of the old Tim shirt that I have plundered for several things. the yellow is part of a shirt that I scrapped to make the pattern I use for Clover's tee shirts.

 

completed failure

one thing I learned this weekend is that I shouldn't make my own patterns. this was an annoying lesson to learn for myself. 

 

I had wanted to make this tunic that a blogger I like came up with, but wasn't in the mood to spend money on a pattern. what came of this grand experiment is something that looks almost nothing like the original, that took several forms before being stamped with a "so done with it" stamp, and gave me a headache. 

it was supposed to have sleeves. in fact, I made two different sleeves for it and one of the pairs even had piping around the edges. they both got tossed for being dysfunctional and so loosely even resembling a sleeve. 

 

so here is what came out of the end of the sausage maker 

originally I was going to do the envelope shirt style with buttons on the shoulders, but then it ended up seeming like a weird idea so I scrapped that and did buttons in the front part instead 

 

coincidentally, two things I made by drafting my own flawed pattern

 

Clover quilt: it aint perfect, but it's finished!

I finished it! 

pardon me while I deluge you with pictures

I didn't actually request that my half nude Coco puff pose in front of her new gucky, but hey - go with the flow

 "mama, you are so talented....and young"

here is the finished product. there are things I love, and things that I have to live with. still love the fabrics. I love the wonky yellow stuff. it goes well with the fabric choice for the backing I think. 

 

for lack of a working walking foot, I ended up with bunchy crap up around the bottom of the applique flowers. in reality, it's not that bad. I took these pictures in the glaring light of sunset and every wrinkle looks twice as wrinkly as it really is. in fact, I didn't even notice this issue until uploading the pictures and looking at them. still annoying though.

 

I used my free motion quilting foot for the stitches in the flowers/lollipops/whatever else they resemble (globes to Tim). that thing is not for the faint of heart. my hair was standing on end by the time I was finished with it. 

peekaboo, Dr. Seuss fabric!! we love Seuss here and this fabric is fabulous. actually, it is made by Robert Kauffman just like the Kona cotton I used for the solids

 

the story behind this hood: Clover LOVES her "gucky" but poor gucky is very very old and in very very poor shape. in order to preserve the essence of its guckyness while hopefully keeping her with a gucky for more years to come, I incorporated some of the best pieces of part of it into this triangle. it is all vintage fabric, thin and faded, which in some ways is really great and has a great aesthetic, but is also dangerous because it is fragile at this point. 

my design choice was to quilt the pieces together and then attach them to an underlying piece of the gray solid fabric, stitching around the edges and quilting it all on too. after that I made a piece of bias tape from the gray and bound the edge. 

I basted the triangle to the backing before I did the inside out binding method, and then turned everything out and top stitched it on to make it very secure.

 

Clover is really stoked on the hood. and she has recognized the triangle as being part of her "gucky gucky". I'm hoping this will ease the transition from one beloved scrap to a more sturdy piece of fabric that can be loved for many more years to come

 

I just love the fabrics that I plucked from gucky. the sweet vintage florals are great, and the striped one looks like ticking. the blue one with white flowers seems to be a canvas, but it's so old that it is pretty threadbare