Sewing from Ottobre Design: First Time Ever!

Our little, three-person family hangs three stockings every year at Christmas. And every year Santa Claus generously fills all three. Among the goodies, we each get a magazine. Santa knows me well, and this year he hooked me up with my very first issue of Ottobre Design! I may have actually squealed when it arrived. Issue 2013/4, Kids Autumn, is filled with so many amazing patterns I want to sew them all. But I started with #14, The Princess Castle Tunic.

   

Couch Craft: Crochet Hearts

I get on kicks where I make one tiny crochet piece and feel the need to make many more! During February I fell in love this crochet heart pattern. Made one and just kept on going.

After-School Pattern: Sporty Redux

The Peanut’s wardrobe is mostly casual and her needs are mostly play clothes. So even though I’m drawn to the dress patterns, pants are always in need. I had just finished sewing the After-School Shirt & Pants by Oliver + S (with the Raining Cats & Dogs top), but I jumped right in and gave it another go. I considered the ruffles of View C in the pattern, but instead opted to sew a sportier look more in keeping with The Peanut’s personality. To achieve this I used lots of high-contrast top-stitching on the plum-colored bottomweight. I chose thread in a pale purple (over an even paler purple option) yet it looks almost gray-white in the final product. Top-stitching can be painful for a perfectionist like myself to sew; I can’t help but see every wobble and catch. It takes effort not to go back and re-do it until it’s just right.

  Still rocking the up-and-away model look.

TUTORIAL: Burrito Cuff PJ Pants

Making PJs for The Peanut is so satisfying. They are a quick sew and a chance to use the darling, seasonal quilting-cotton prints that greet me every time I walk into a fabric store. The first pair of pajamas I made for The Peanut were for Pajama Day at school on Halloween. I had just made a couple of pillow cases using the Burrito method. Inspired by that technique I decided to add an accent cuff to the bottom of her PJ pants. You can do it, too!