Duck Soup Jacket

I have no idea why this jacket was named Duck Soup but I liked the pattern and had to make it for one of my children. And who wants to knit a big jacket for a six year old when you can make one for a two year old? So I got my yarn and started working on it in October. Yes, you read it right. October.

The pattern is easy and not complicated at all. It's worked from top and is all one piece. But it took me five months to finish it. The thing is that I ran out of yarn. Twice. Ha. Living overseas makes everything a little more complicated. I had to order online and wait for a month. Twice.

So I finally finished knitting the jacket and all I had left was making toggles. I looked outside my window and saw it was Christmas and too cold to wear the jacket. I put it away and decided to finish it later.

Last week the weather became very nice and warm. I suddenly remembered about the unfinished Duck Soup jacket. Finally I made myself sit down and finish the toggles and sew them in place. That took me an hour. Talk about procrastination.

I am very glad I finished it though. It looks very cute on and Katelyn seems to like it a lot. It is a little on the short side. I should get used to the idea that all the things I make are short for my kids and just start making adjustments. XXL for extra extra long.

Geranium #2

Made another Geranium dress by Rae the other day. I was itching on sewing something and decided to make K a dress. I noticed that she had a growth spurt and doesn't fit in a lot of her dresses lately. And so I decided to fix that problem.

Made it out of the corduroy I had laying around for a while. I love the pink polka dots all over the fabric. I think it's so very cute. I had only a little bit of this fabric and had to change the skirt part of the pattern. Instead of cutting out two separate parts of the skirt I just cut from selvage to selvage thus omitting two side seams. The skirt is not as full because of that but I like it this way too.

And I had to show you the big pink buttons on the back because I really like how they look with this fabric.

Loved making the dress again. It is such a quick project and turns out so cute every time. So satisfying. What I like the most about the pattern is that it's so versatile. There are a couple more versions that I want to try. So you'll see more of this dress in the future.

And here's the K's reaction to me trying to take a couple of pictures of her wearing the dress. Even bribing with candy did not help. I think she likes the dress though.

Knitting Phase

This winter I've been on a big knitting kick. It is so much easier to just sit on a couch and knit something warm and soft. That's why I gravitate to knitting during winters. I've knitted a lot of things but I tend to forget to take pictures of the things I make. Most of the knitted stuff are gifts so not all of them make it on this blog for different reasons. But I did happen to snap some pictures of the last things I made in January.

So let us start with a hat I made for myself.

The pattern is Cabled Tam by Tree Frog. The yarn is Merino Melange by the same Tree Frog. It was an easy and relaxing knit. I enjoyed making the hat. The only thing is that it kind of looks wonky on me. It looks great on Emma though. She modeled it for me for the pictures.

Emma also modeled the cowl for me. The pattern is from Ravelry and the name is Gap-tastic Cowl. Made with a bulky turkish yarn that I bought from the local yarn store. I made this cowl for a friend of mine. Now I need to make one for myself too.

This Rapunzel Doll was made for one of the daughters of a said friend. I don't really like making toys like this because I am not very good at attaching a billion of pieces together. But because I don't make toys often making this doll wasn't bad. I actually almost enjoyed it. I found the pattern in the Knitter magazine (issue 53). Used whatever yarn I had on hand. Omitted the nose because it made her look like an ugly sister.

And the last thing I made in January was another one of those Owl hats. It was a gift too. Used a free Ravelry pattern again. It came together very fast which I like about these hats.

So there's all the things I made in January. You can tell I spent a lot of time on my couch which I am not proud of. And I think it's taken care of my knitting itch for this year.

On The Roll

It is me who's on the roll. I keep sewing and knitting like a crazy person over here. Maybe winter is to blame. I get super crafty during winters. I was working on another Geranium Dress this time for Katelyn. For some reason in the middle of it I decide to sew another thing for her. So I made her a peasant shirt.

The pattern is from the book Intemporels Pour Bebe. This is my first thing made from the book. It is in French and good thing I took French in school, because the book lacks illustrations. And explanations too. The author just listed things that need to be done in numbered sequence.

I made size 2T but as always it seems a little short. I am telling you, my kids are gigantic. The fabric is from Ikea.

And now I need to go make that Geranium Dress that I started. :)

Party Dress

Approximately two weeks ago as I was sewing something Alyssa came to me and said:"Is this my 'party dress'?" Sadly, it wasn't. So I promised her that as soon as I finished whatever I was working on I would make her a dress for her birthday. So every day after that she'd come up to me and ask the same question:"Is this my 'party dress'?"

Alyssa picked out the fabric, Matt picked out the pattern. All the decisions were made for me and I got to work.

The pattern is a darling Peplum Bubble dress from the StraightGrain blog. The dress was very easy to make and it took me around two hours to make. I stumbled upon a problem when I didn't find an invisible zipper long enough in my stash. So I had to make it work with a tiny little zipper. Oh well. It worked. Also, the bodice came out a little long so I had to rip it off and cut of an inch and sew it to the skirt again.

She loves it and I love her in it! Win win. And I made it right on time - she turned four today! :)

Yet Again

Emma grew out of her pj's. I haven't bought any for her for over a year now. I keep making them or using a random shirt/pants combinations. I've been meaning to make pajamas for every child before Christmas, but it never works out the way I plan it. Sooo… I cut out these couple weeks before Christmas. And only got to them a week ago. Yay on finishing things!

Yet again Sleepover PJ's pattern by Oliver+s. I keep returning to this pattern and the sewing part gets easier and easier with each time I make these. Made size 6 hoping they will last till next Christmas. I am sure I will be making more pj's for this girl as the summer rolls in but she's set for now. Used some flannel I had in my stash that I bought five years ago at a Black Friday event at JoAnn's. Crazy, huh?

We've reached a point when it is not enough to have two yards of fabric to make things for Emma. Sadly, I realized this when I was cutting out the pj's. I had to sew a random piece to a sleeve to make it work. You can see it on her left sleeve. So from now on I should hoard more fabric make sure to buy enough yardage to make things for Ems.

And I am leaving you with this staged picture of Emma in her new pajamas. That is how she thinks things need to be modeled. With a flower and a purse.

Last of 2012

My friend had a baby girl a couple of weeks ago and I just could not decide on what to make for her as a gift. I love making tiny little clothes as gifts. I have a lot of neat patterns for babies but I just wasn't excited about them. Then Rae announced her new Geranium Dress pattern. I was smitten. I bought it on a spot and have so many plans with it in mind. Each of my girls need a dress like this.

So with this dress came my inspiration to sew after a month of drought. I got to work and came out with this little cute dress.

Made in size 0-3 months. It was very easy to sew. The bodice part is lined so it would not be irritating for the baby. I also did french seams on the sides for the same reason. Too bad the neckline notch is hard to see on this picture but there is one and it adds a little charm to the dress.

At the back I decided to go with snaps so the baby wouldn't mind laying down in the dress as that's how babies spend their first months pretty much.

I think it turned out very cute. I am happy with the pattern and as I said before I will be making many more of these dresses for my girls and as gifts. The pattern has many options and very versatile.