Sailboat shorts and cape tee

Kids Clothes week lives on here. Yesterday I fussed and prodded at my O+S sailboat pants pattern and came up with something useable, even if it's not entirely functional. They are a hybrid of the 12m size with 2t rise and converted to shorts.

Violet also has a cape tee of her own now, much to her delight. BTW, that red on her legs isn't blood. It's raspberries from breakfast. 

 This kid is often smeared in blood and bruises, but today it's just a mess. 

Violet is now the height of a two year old with a 17" waist. If you weren't aware, 17" waists don't even chart on a lot of patterns, which is why I have to sew for her if I want anything to fit ok. 

The sailboat pattern from oliver and S is totally adorable, and has great instructions, but isn't particularly great for adjusting in my experience. There are several pieces that work together in certain ways and I'm just not great at making them all turn out right when I frankensize them. 

In the end it all worked out fine, despite a major blunder of some sort in my converting the pants to shorts. The front wound up a lot shorter than the back.

Fabrics are Kaufman essex linen (LOVE) and Alexander Henry (also love!).  I'm imagining pairing some essex with the new Briar Rose from Heather Ross.....yum.

And the cape shirt. Version two is less customized than the first, but Violet enjoys running around in it. 

I used a thrifted London tee for the front, striped jersey for the rest of the shirt, and some of one of my husband's old Gap slub knit shirts for the cape. 

It's like a weird combination of the American flag and a tribute to England. 

My good sewing machine has been wonked out since the last kids clothes week, and it's finally been fixed and is ready for pickup today. Thank the Lord. I'm grateful to have this Brother machine here as a backup, but it's infuriating a lot of the time. 

Time to get this cute little thing ready to get mommy's sewing machine back.