A Simple Project - Daphne Knickers

I don't know why I haven't completed more pairs of the Daphne Knickers by Violette Field Threads, as it really IS a great, simple pattern!  One can doll it up with the ruffles, but I kept things simple by leaving them out (read:  laaaaaaazy/ain't nobody got time).  The first pair, I made a MILLION years ago here.

Anyway, f'real, there are technically three pattern pieces, I think, so, they sew up insanely fast, if you leave out the ruffles.  The only thing that DOES slow a person down is the binding at the cuffs.  That can get a bit fiddle, as it's a small area, and I had to fix the first one after my first try.  I'm sure there was much cussing at the sewing machine (side note:  as a kid, I firstly NEVER cussed...and secondly, we didn't use that term in northern Michigan; we said "swearing"....anyone else??!).

I had originally purchased this fabric for an All Spice Dress by Paisley Roots, but I knew I NEEDED it for the capris when I was looking through my stash, so, I'll need something else for the All Spice (first time I made it here)!  I just love me some cute florals - also, this fabric is a RARE Joann Fabrics purchase.  :O  Speaking OF, I do plan to make a Paisley Roots Saffron soon, as that is, hands-down, one of Camden's favorite dresses EVER (also, I SWEAR I blogged the first version, but I can't find the post).

Anywho.....short enough post for a simple enough project!!!

Days in the life of....

It is rare Matt gets to hang out at Shevlin with us!

Photo time for this year's Mary Poppins

   Blast-Ended Skrewt, LOLOL

It is rough waking up in the morning....

Summer Prep! Two Modkid Patterns

Dudes.

I accomplished a lot over the past three-ish weeks!  I whipped out three dresses, one pair of shorts and one pair of capris!  One dress, the Roller Skate, is already blogged up.

Top #2 for the day...the first one was immediately stained

The two dresses will be written about later, but for today, I am featuring two Modkid patterns - the Grace and the Hannah.  Sadly, for both version, I only did the bottoms.  I didn't have enough of any shirt fabric to match ANYthing I was able to use for the shorts, and I didn't want to make the top for the Grace, because the last time I made it, I had a horrible fit on Camden, though it may have been that I used a heavy fabric in the top portion.

So!  Nothing too grand to say about the Grace pattern.  I have made the capris once before, though I had wanted to make them last year and never got around to it.  There are only TWO pattern pieces, peeps.  I LOVE that.  I mean, there IS a ruffle, but I'm not into ruffles, so, no, thanks ;)  This pattern doesn't require much fabric, which is also great!  I may have lengthened the size I made, just to get a bit more wear out of them, but otherwise, they're great!!!  I am awesome, too (LOL), and used stash left-overs from Camden's Sunday Brunch outfit I sewed two Christmases ago.  Yay me!  These'll work great with any camisoles or tees.

She LOVES these Princess in Black books!

As for the Hannah shorts - I am so excited about what I did with them to jazz up the pattern.  I didn't use buttons at the cuffs, but I knew they'd be pretty lame if I added NO interest.  So, the easy way for me to do that, in this case, was to cut against the grain for the inner pocket piece and the back pockets.  As for the back pocket trim, I then cut on the bias - and made sure to use interfacing to get a crisp finish! - to add extra spice.  They fit super well, and I smile every time I see Camden wear them, aha!  I used a blue shot cotton for the cuff facings and the pocket lining, and that's important to ME, though nobody else can see that, LOL.

Those pockets!!

That blue shot cotton!

As for the Hannah shorts - I am so excited about what I did with them to jazz up the pattern.  I didn't use buttons at the cuffs, but I knew they'd be pretty lame if I added NO interest.  So, the easy way for me to do that, in this case, was to cut against the grain for the inner pocket piece and the back pockets.  As for the back pocket trim, I then cut on the bias - and made sure to use interfacing to get a crisp finish! - to add extra spice.  They fit super well, and I smile every time I see Camden wear them, aha!  I used a blue shot cotton for the cuff facings and the pocket lining, and that's important to ME, though nobody else can see that, LOL.

Anyway, I am getting closer to finishing summer projects for Camden.  She is crazy lacking in dresses, though, and I hope to sew up a few of those after I complete a shorts outfit for her.

Family times of recent....

Watching Camden at BMX

Silly dad, making the wrapping paper....

Camden's birthday books!

What she made at the Art Station

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....