Signature Style

It's the final week of Project Run and Play. I started this blog so I could play along with PRP. And now it's Signature Style Week. In all the seasons I've been reading along, I've been thinking about this question. So I started this season with a list to define my signature:

• It has clean lines and few embellishments. It's the subtle details that make it special. And hopefully it's impeccably finished.
• It is easy to wear for everyday life. It’s not special occasion, it’s not for one-time use. 
• It’s not twee. It may be youthful, but it's not sentimentally cute.
• It’s feminine, but not girly. There’s not a ruffle, nor any pink, in sight. Perfect for The Peanut’s personality and you can tell because she lights up when she wears it. And that’s my ultimate goal.

Kids Clothes Week, Day 4

It Kids Clothes Week! In honor of KCW, and for just this week only, I will attempt to blog daily and document all sewing [through mostly cell-phone pics]. 

Kids Clothes Week: Sew clothes for your kids. One hour a day. Each day for seven days.

This afternoon I was able to complete an entire pair of cropped jeans for Project Run and Play. It helped that I had already cut them out on Day 2. 

 How fabulous is that green pocket-lining and top-stitching? Bonus view of my week old, sewing machine induced, thumb blood blister.

Elephant Legs? Put Me in the Zoo!

I was so excited to start blogging in part so I could officially sew a long with Project Run & Play. Season 9 is upon us and I was raring to go. And then they announced the challenges. I'm so very happy that I'm not a formal contestant because the Week 1 challenge stumped me right out of the gate. (I hate to jinx myself now by saying I had clear ideas for the remaining challenges early on, so I won't. But I did.)

Piggie, Gerald, elephant legs, an ice-cream cone, and a tribute to Robert Lopshire, too!

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!

No-School Sewing

Out of 23 potential weekdays for school in January, The Peanut has been, or will be, out of school for 10 days plus 2 two-hour delays, if not more (thanks, holidays & freeze days). How fitting that I had already chosen the After-School Pattern by Oliver + S to work on during this time. I shall forever remember it as the No-School Pattern.

There's a Hershey Kiss hidden in those pockets.