Tag: fabric

Bloomer Sewing Pattern Comparison

On By iswimlikeafishIn sewingLeave a comment

This was supposed to be finished in time to be posted this past Wednesday, so there will be two posts this week! No excuse, just spending as much time outside enjoying my family and the nice weather as I can.

Full disclosure: I don’t know how many pairs of bloomers are too many pairs of bloomers. It has come to my attention that I have made our daughter bloomers from 3 different patterns and I’m starting to have my favorite. Not necessarily a hard and fast favorite, but a favorite never less.

The first bloomer pattern I ever used was creative by Ashley Nickels for her CreativeBug class. Though I dislike the effort it takes to make this pattern, I do like that they’re on the larger size and I’ve gotten two summers out of all the pairs I made while pregnant. The weirdest thing about working this pattern is probably that it looks like you’re going to make a pair of women’s underwear until you’ve added the elastics in.

The second pattern I’ve used, and probably my favorite, is the Wiksten bloomer pattern. I like this pattern for several reasons:

  1. It’s not as finicky as Ashley Nickels’ because the shape is on the square side.
  2. The sizing goes up to a 3, bloomers for all!
  3. They look like shorts.

That being said, it’s super hard to find this pattern because it’s not being printed anymore. It looks like Oh Me Oh My has a comparable pattern?

The last pattern I’ve played around with actually comes in two styles and is made from knit fabric. Bummie Shorts Pattern wears like a cross between shorts and bloomers and take like, 3 seconds to whip out. Though I like both designs, the elastic version seems to be the most practical for hot summer days. Fair warning on Oh Me Oh My patterns though, they run large!

Superhero Germanium

On By iswimlikeafishIn clothing, patterns, sewingLeave a comment

It’s hard to believe that two years ago I made my first Germanium in an online sewing class hosted by Notion Fabric. Harder still to think that the pieces I traced and cut for my niece are now the right size for our daughter. Time is a funning thing, it just keeps going.

I was originally going to add ruffles to this dress like I did with my niece’s, but then I realized I couldn’t bother finishing the edges and things fell apart from there. That being said, I think the sleeveless version of this dress looks a lot better than it would with a ruffle. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself to justify the decision.

It’s so fun, I cannot stress that enough, the final result of this dress is so fun. It’s long and loose so she’ll probably get two summers out of it, and rugged enough to keep up with her. Plus, she loves wearing it. From the colorful masks to the skirt having enough room to twirl in, our kiddo is all about this dress. Which is definitely motivation to make another one.

There’s also something to be said about the fact that I’m a better sewist than I was the first time I made this dress. I have more patience with the finicky parts (minus the ruffles) and understand the overall construction. I snagged fabric to make another one using the expansion pack during the same trip to Affordable Fabrics, it’ll be interesting to see how my gathered sleeves skills are these days. If my previous Emery Dresses are any indication, I definitely need the practice.

Lua Sleep Sack

On By iswimlikeafishIn sewingLeave a comment

We had to stop swaddling cold turkey earlier than many sites predicted because our little overachiever taught herself how to roll early. We had a few hand-me-down sleep sacks to get us started, but the more I looked at the construction the more it felt like a missed opportunity to make something. Funny how quickly your brain takes you there once you start crafting. Surely I can make this and surely someone has thought about how to improve the store-bought design.

Dark blue sleep sack with forest animals riding in hot air balloons printed across it.

Enter the Lua Sleep Sack. Originally written to be a wearable quilt, the buttoned straps and side zipper (which as a bonus also means you’re not slicing a beautiful design in half) make it so easy to get little ones in and out of. Plus, it was so easy to use knit fabric instead of woven so that the sleep sack wasn’t as heavy. Combine that with the fact that I made two in less than an hour, it’s hard not to start buying fabric simply to crank them out.

Faux patch quilt sleep sack.

I have a third sleep sack in the works using a gauzy hand-me-down swaddle blanket. With any luck, the mod I used to make the knit sleep sacks (only the upper area is lined) will work for the gauze fabric and we’ll have a light/airy sleep sack to throw her in. If nothing else, it’s more invisible zipper practice.

Real talk: I don’t have a lot of time to sit down at my sewing machine these days and I don’t have the headspace for a lot of complications in my crafting. This isn’t to say that I don’t like to challenge myself, it’s more so that whatever I’m working on needs to be a project that I can pick up, work on for 3 minutes and then put down again. Generally speaking, knitting fits the bill because there isn’t a lot of setup time. Sewing projects tend to sit cut out on my craft table because so much prep work goes into getting ready to sew. The Lua Sleep Sack is the perfect project if you find yourself in this situation and wanting to sew for a little one. I cannot recommend it enough.

Ballerina (Cleo) Skirt

On By iswimlikeafishIn clothing, patterns, sewingLeave a comment
A young woman wearing a black fitted t-shirt tucked into a long green skirt with ballerina's practicing at the bar printed on it.

The thing about sewing is that in many ways it’s not that different from knitting. Ok, in many ways it’s very different from knitting. In fact other than using your hands to make something many of the tools and techniques are different. All that aside, in many ways sewing is not that different from knitting. Like knitting, sewing projects have a way of jumping out at me when they’re ready to come to life. Like knitting, I go through phases of zero inspiration, and then suddenly a pattern that I’ve seen a million times needs to be given life immediately. Mostly, there’s a strong desire to grab beautiful materials because you know that at some point you’ll be able to use your hands to turn them into something beautiful.

We don’t make the trek to Notion very often, though a wonderful shop, it’s an hour away. When you combine that with there’s a record shop in town for my husband to patron and a delicious eatery down the street, it’s a trip that very quickly becomes a treat. So you have to understand when I say that this ballerina fabric literally jumped out at me from their clearance section, you have to understand that I typically go in with a budget and a plan. I check the clearance section as a means of sticking to that plan, not necessarily for the “OMGOSH I need this to make this and I’m going to start it tonight” feeling that ensued when my eyes made contact with this green cotton poplin fabric.

In addition to the fabric, I also walked away with a copy of the Cleo Skirt by Made-by-Rae. The plan, as I enthusiastically informed my husband over lunch, was to merge the two different styles so that I’d have a long skirt with visible front pockets. A plan that went into action as soon as I could wash and iron the fabric.

The Cleo skirt came together incredibly fast and I love the stiffness that using poplin brings to the garment. Though slightly more of a summer fabric, I do plan on wearing this with a turtleneck, tights, and boots through winter. Another project that I not only want to make again but honestly fits so well into what I tend to wear day-to-day. Perhaps a woolen version is in my future!

There’s about a yard or so leftover, so stay tuned for another ballerina project! I think I have enough to make a t-shirt using the 100 acts of sewing pattern?

Geranium Dress(s?)

On By iswimlikeafishIn clothing, crafts, patterns, sewingLeave a comment

I still remember the first time that I sat down at a sew machine (7th grade home economics if anyone is curious) and have made a couple of things over the last couple of years (a dice dress, a dog bed, some catnip toys, a pillow, a gnome bag and a chili peppers dress to name a few), but the last couple of months I’ve been revisiting sewing as a way to learn new things and hone existing skills. Some of this may be because I finally caved and bought my own sewing machine after working on a vintage one and a hand-me-down for so long. It’s fun to sew on a machine with settings and features that you’ve purposely selected for yourself.

During our winter break, I found myself taking a break from knitting to make an everyday bag out of some purposefully selected gnome fabric. Working with leather and rivets for the first time, I realized that sewing has the ability to provide me with something that knitting doesn’t anymore: feeling like a beginner.

It’s fun to be a beginner at something because you get the thrill of completing something while also needing to patiently work through mistakes and mishaps. You get to smile at your imperfection as opposed to thinking: I’ve been doing this so long it should be better. I’m more patient with myself as a beginner, something that feels good as we reach the final stretch of this pandemic.

When my coworker mentioned a local fabric store was offering virtual classes, the timing felt right. It was time to learn the whys around things and maybe be pushed into trying a few skills I didn’t think I was ready for. So I signed up for “Sewing for Baby” and ordered fabric to make a bib, burp cloth and a little dress.

Let me just start by saying, I think baby clothes are the perfect way to learn new skills if I haven’t said that on this blog before. The projects are small enough that you’re finished quickly, while being complex enough that you can learn some new skills. The burp cloth and bib force me to practice smooth (and tight!) round edges, while also diving into the land of hammer in snaps (which I’m still not 100% sure I’ve secured properly). I’m currently waiting on 3 fat quarters to make 3 more of each because practice practice practice. These simple projects have helped me get to know my machine and have shown me that slow is all well and good, but some speed can actually give you more control.

The baby dress, however, has been so fun to make that I want to make like eight more. Geranium, by Made By Rae, is considered an intermediate sewing pattern and is the cutest little dress. This pattern is so beginner friendly, while also having different options so that you’re not making the same thing over and over. Between the detailed instructions and Mary Margaret from Notion’s videos, I learned so many things while making my niece a little dress for her birthday. Sleeve ruffles, finishing seams, making button holes with my machine, sewing on buttons with my machine, correctly gathering a skirt — so many new skills leading to so many new what about this questions.

Isn’t that the best part about learning a new skill though? Discovering what you can do and learning all the things you didn’t know you didn’t know? I’ve signed up for a dress making class via notion that starts later this month and am looking forward to learning more about what I don’t know. I’m also already plotting my next Geranium dress, it’s safe to say that this “sewing thing” is going to start competing with my “knitting thing”!

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