All Spice from Paisley Roots - Traveling With the Blog Tour!!!

So!  About this All Spice Blog Tour for Paisley Roots....What a fun dress!  

But what a hot mess I am about being a destination on this blog tour, aha!  I have NO action shots this blog post....because I made a dress in a size or so too small for Camden :O  And I find this incredibly devastating - in a first-world problems kind of way.  I made the size 4, as I thought that would work for Camden's chest size, as the finished measurement is 24 inches, and HER chest is 22 inches....or so I thought, LOL.

Camden's sad face at not getting to keep this dress!

I love how the dress turned out - and I completely ADORE the fabric....which is why I'm bummed it doesn't fit - but whatevs.  it's all my fault.  Camden's chest is 22.5 inches.  The next one I make - because YES, there WILL be a next one! - will hopefully use the same fabric (please, Joann Fabrics, do NOT run out during this holiday weekend!  I beseech you!  And if you are a close reader, you are noting that I did, indeed, buy fabric at Joann's!)  I do not have quite enough of the shot cotton I used to line the bodice, so, I will need more of that.

The dress, running AWAY to it's new owner!  (that....and the crazy wind!)

And speaking of wind....this is Camden's "it's windy!" face

The directions seemed super easy to follow, though I did change some things up.  I didn't extend the buttons into the skirt, and I ironed interfacing on the wrong side of the pintucks - to stabilize the fabric for the buttonholes themselves, but also to hold the pintucks still so there'd be no pulling when I added buttonholes.  Lastly, I never like exposed seems at the end of a sleeve, if I can help it, so, I sewed my sleeve side seams before I hemmed the cuffs.

This dress will be sent off across the country as a fun gift for somebody else's little girl, so, I can't wait to see action shots!  For now, please just enjoy the fun buttons and pretty fabric - and sad face of a girl who cannot wear this dress, aha!

Look at those pintucks!!!

There is a giveaway and a link-up, so, make sure to check out the links below!!!

But WAIT!  There is MORE!  Karly is doing a Black Friday sale - 25% off with the code "blackfriday2014" - remember that, y'all!  That's tomorrow!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

Tender Is the Hat....and Cowl??? Cabernet Time!

This girlie can officially be WARM this winter!!!!  Seriously, isn't it beeee-yoo-tiful???

Can I also say that I'm glad it's DONE???  Aha!  Neither of these projects is lengthy/difficult.  Naturally, though, I made them more difficult - because that's the sort of ship I run.  The first time I made the hat, it turned out too small, because I failed to read the directions and left out the first several rows I was to knit after the ribbing.  Such is life.  This first version will head off to a cousin - naturally!  I didn't want to rip it out, because I figured a finished hat is a good thing - as long as it fits someone and I have enough yarn to complete everything else, which I DID.  Whew.

Gonna get ya'!

I used Colour Adventures (the FB page link), base Dia Merino DK, colorway Tender.  Elena Nodel, as always, dyes up a gorgeous yarn.  And it needs to be known that after blocking this yarn out, it softens up super nicely, not that it's rough to begin with, but you get me??  The patterns, Cabernet Hat (in DK weight) and Cabernet Infinity Scarf (which covers several weights of yarn, though the link says it's DK) are written super well - easy to understand and no issues at all.  Monika Sirna, the pattern writer, includes a tutorial to help peeps out with the cabling, but it's not something an experienced cabler needs to look at.

Always have to do a sad face

With that hat, my gauge was trying to trick me, as usual.  I didn't want to go down a needle size, and I didn't actually do a gauge swatch IN pattern, which the pattern calls for.  I winged it, and I found the right size needle I needed for the ribbing.  I cast on for a small but did the length of the medium.  And naturally, after blocking, it's a bit bigger in the ribbing than I'd like it to be, but thankfully, the hat is a teeeeny bit slouchy, so, she'll grow into it just fine.  And as you can see, the cowl is a great fit, so, I'm pretty happy with the set.

As a bonus, it SMELLS awesome, aha!  I used Eucalan in the grapefruit oil scent...which for some reason, really stands out this time :)

Love this!

And bonus:  I love that I made two hats AND a cowl out of two skeins of yarn!  Yay to me!  One day, when I have TIMETIMETIME on my hands, I will whip up one of these sets for moi.

One day.

School Photo Dress - Minus the "School" Part???

So studious, LOL

So.  It seemed like the Oliver and S School Photo Dress took me days to finish - which is TRUE - but which feels even LONGER.  It's cute, and I like it more, sewn up and seen in real life, as opposed to on the pattern envelope.  I can't remember what compelled me to finally buy the pattern at the time, but I think I DID get it on sale at Bolt, LOL.

Not the hole in her only pink leggings ;)

I'm THIS close to being 100% happy with the results.  Partly, this is due to MY sewing, and partly, it's due to the directions.  It's funny, because I should have made note when I read the review by Lightning McStitch on the Oliver and S site.  She mentioned the pattern didn't include directions to finish seams, but I forgot that as I sewed up the pattern, though I did half-heartedly read ahead in parts.  I should NOT have finished the shoulder seams but DID on the outer material....and the seams should have been finished BEFORE inserting the zipper - on both the lining and outer.  Argh.  Anyway, my own personal issue with my sewing is that the back looks puckered, and I feel like that didn't show up until the collar was added???  Though it clearly seems to do with the zipper, so, I'm not sure.  I'm sort of bummed about that.

Besides the puckering, there are some wrinkles, LOL

Mostly, the pattern directions were lovely, and the front pocket isn't tricky, though I wanted to make sure it looked nice, so, I tried to be careful - and may STILL have some puckering there, anyway.  And I will admit I was a bit confused on how to have a clean, serged finish on all parts.  Ah, well.  Also - love my bar tacks????  More like bar COLUMNS, aha!  But I am sticking with them.  Maybe they add character?

I'm not a fan at all of the ruffle collar, so, you can see I went with View A.  I also chose to go with View A on the sleeve finish/cuff, though I did not stitch in the ditch, as directed; I just did a normal edge stitch finish.  I did use a plain 'ole pink quilting cotton on the inside - something from my stash, and I barely had enough...whew!

Also, does anyone have any magical cure for sewing linings into zippers by hand - and then having the zipper NOT get caught on the thread....no matter how well it's done?!  I thought I was safe this time, but I was NOT, LOL.

I sewed the size 5 with fabric I purchased specifically for this pattern.  I think I bought the fabric at Mill End last year - though I could be wrong, and maybe it was Bolt.  And holla!!!   Hedgehogs??!!  Love them.

Overall, it's super cute, and it will fit Camden better in the spring.  I am just trying so hard to pump things out quickly when I get a chance to sew.

Next up is a green voile blouse - a Japanese pattern I hope I can figure out by myself!!!! - to match her Sunday Brunch outfit that I sewed LAST YEAR.  It barely still fits.

And....this is what the little guy did while I took pictures :)

Warm for Winter....In Daphne Knickers!

Some sort of Peter Pan thing???

I think this is at least the second time I have mixed up my seasons recently!  My bad ;)  The Daphne knickers by Violette Field Threads are a project I wanted to sew a few months ago, sadly.  And rather than wait for warmer weather once again, I said, "eff it" and sewed them up.  We'll just pretend that it's warm out, of course, then Camden can wear them once again next Spring (as long as her crazy body doesn't get too tall!)

This is my first time sewing this project, and they were super easy.  There is that bit of bias tape to sew into the keyhole, but that worked out rather well, surprisingly.  These can be girlied up or played down a bit, and I took the middle road, I think.  I did NOT do the ruffle at the cuff (though I think it's cute), just to simplify things, but I DID do the ruffle at the waistband.  I LOVE that there are only three pattern pieces - and if you add in the ruffles, you simply have two more.  In fact, if you want to get crazy, you can add side pockets, but you'd have to do a bit of pattern hacking.

As always, it's COLD out

I just used a quilting cotton that was in my stash - and here is me, being lazy and not seeing if I still have selvedge lying around with the fabric line's name.  It is definitely a couple years old, though.  I did the size 5, and I will say the awesome-possum thing is that you can totally get away with not a full yard of fabric.  So....bonus for not needing to run out and spend money - as it's usually more likely you have random fabric in smaller yardage lying around.

One thing that I think is nuts is that the butt seems insanely roomy.  Camden has NO rear end, as I've mentioned, but these are definitely on the roomy side, so, if I was more interested, I would have figured out how to take that in.  Clearly, though, I wasn't that interested, LOL.

Lots of butt wiggle room???

I don't think I had four buttons of the style I used for the cuffs; otherwise, that would have locked the cuff overlap in place a bit better - and would have been cute, of course!  I love those buttons and used them HERE last year.

I will say, also, that I did not follow the pattern as written.  I have no idea if what I did matches up with the directions, but I definitely did the bias tape first, then I sewed the main pants together and added the ruffle TO the pants before adding the waistband.  I wasn't sure about the elastic situation - maybe the directions laid out adding a row of stitching to make a smaller casing (I have NO idea, as I apparently didn't want to read yesterday), but I DID add a row of stitching to the back side to make for a snug casing.

Elissa, over at The Rarest Bird, taught her how to whistle with an acorn top!

Lastly, I sadly did NOT make this shirt.  It's one Matt and I picked up when Camden was - NO JOKE - a BABY.  We have a pair of wool pants to match, but they're still SOOO long (she can't help she's a shortie, yo).  Anyway, she'll outgrow the shirt first, and it was a miracle of miracles yesterday when I realized that we did, INDEED, have a shirt to match the capris/knickers.

Oh, wait!  Speaking of miracles....I organized my patterns yesterday - HOLLA!!!!!  (Honestly, though, this just means they're hopefully in the right binders.)

Also, we visited Portland a week or so ago, and Camden was able to meet up with her Vancouver besties, LOL....

Might as well leave off with a picture of the tiny guy....with his dad!  I'm finishing up his Anders sweater, but I sadly  will run out of yarn before I can finish the second sleeve.  I am a bit annoyed about this.  I tried checking through Ravelry stashes, but to no avail.  I will have to buy a full skein of yarn, though I only need maybe ten. grams, LOL.  Such is life.

This is what Tiberius was doing while the other kids were playing....

Twice the Fun! Oliver and S Roller Skate Dress

One thing I gotta say about this pattern - insanely easy and quick - and only TWO pattern pieces, if you really want to save time.  (Well, okay, that's more thank one thing.)

Last time I made this, I went semi-fancy (just go with it) and used my Heather Ross Dream Bikes (find it on eBay) fabric and added the neck trim.

Late Spring/Early Summer 2013

This time, I knew I just wanted to sort of get 'er done, so to speak.  I wanted some new duds for Camden, I wanted to use stash fabric - and I just wanted to be quick about it, honestly.  As for the neck trim pieces, I couldn't decide on anything that looked great with the main fabrics, so, that was that.

She needed brown bunny, pink bunny and leperly....ummm....

So, hey - cute AND simple.  Not a deal-breaker, right?  And funnily enough, Camden wanted to wear each one all day when she found them hanging on her doorknob :)  Works for me.

I was super happy to use the pink deer fabric I'd bought a LONG time ago, it seems...I'd had only a yard and had never know what to do with it.  But SCORE upon remembering/realizing I could make an Oliver and S Roller Skate Dress with ONE yard of fabric!  I did have to buy some shot cotton to line it - which was nice, as it was on sale at Bolt in Portland when I visited recently.  I am also not really into the bow detail that can be added, so, it's a pretty plain Jane result, other than the fun fabric and the cute kid, aha!  (And P.S.  It was NOT warm out during any of these pictures.)

Camden then informed me she needed the tunic version of this pattern, so, we went through my stash - and found enough yardage of this print I'd used before:

Well, ALMOST enough.  I thought I had enough for a full dress, but sad times when I cut the front pattern piece and then realized that when I folded for the second pattern piece, I did NOT have enough to cut it - not enough by a mere half-inch of so.  I guess I could have brought in the sides of the dress, but whatever.  I'm glad I cut the main fabric first, as opposed to the lining.  And I like the result as a top...which works out, as she wanted a top, anyway ;)  Anyway, I had on hand some green shot cotton - one of my favorite fabrics to use as a lining.

Anyway, I totally recommend the pattern - satisfyingly quick, and one day, I shall do something a bit more interesting with it, as it's a nice canvas for hand embroidery, etc.  I do have another one lined up, as Camden wants a reversible version, so, be ready for that blog post in a week or three.

For now, I leave you with some Halloween shots from 2012 up through this year....all in the same costume.  I wish I had glorious photos from this year, but whatevs.  I forgot my camera.  We had a good time at a friend's house - Lisa from Irons in the Fire hosted a wee get-together, and Camden and her friend, Elora, ran around like crazy, while I sampled strawberry after banana after strawberry, dipped in chocolate :)

2012, when I first made the costume

2013.....LOL....rough life

2014, getting ready

2014....pirate with glow sticks and velcro shoes