Josephines...and Flying Machines? Maybe Bunny Ears!

So...speaking of LATE.....if the birthday dress was posted several weeks after it was sewn, then this post is stepping out of line, LOL.  These Violette Field Threads Josephine dresses were sewn MONTHS ago...perhaps late November - maybe before that?  That's what happens when we ALWAYS have wind, and I forget and have other things going on, aha!  Thank goodness I knew I'd have a wee, wakeful baby boy and had sewn TWO.  Smart lady, that Autumn!

Ahhhh, the faces today....

Camden's last incarnation of a VFT Josephine involved THIS ensemble:

Easter 2013

I LOVED that outfit more than one can know!  I think it's classy and was super cute for Easter last year.  The pants are the VFT Whitney trousers, naturally - and I'm actually whipping up a pair of those again tomorrow (holla at my first REAL sewing opportunity in weeks and weeks!) - to go with a Josephine blouse - just as flowery as the one pictured above.

As for the pattern itself, it's super easy to understand.  Directions are lovely and not tricky at all.  There are a couple things to consider when doing this pattern - especially if you over-think things like I always do:  One is that the collar doesn't necessarily come all the way around - like, it clearly isn't supposed to, but one should plan for how close she wants the collar to come in to the ruffle/button band.  Shorten or lengthen, as needed.  Also, adding the ruffle DOES obviously add bulk - which can be HIGHLY ANNOYING when doing button holes ;)  Of course, right??  I was smart this time around, and I measured out carefully/did my button holes before attaching the collar so there would be no seam-thickness issues.  That definitely helped, but with those ruffles, there is a sort of cavern created where the button holes go, which is not cool.

The weight at the top is NUTS!

You can barely see it, but the bias tape at the collar is contrasting fabric on both dresses

Then, speaking of the button band, the ruffles add to the weight, obviously, and the top pulls away from the blouse, which doesn't look awesome, in my humble opinion.  I could add a hook and eye to help alleviate that, but eh.  Guess I'm lazy ;)  I tried getting that button up high enough, but it clearly didn't work out well.

Someone tells me she can no longer smile....

I DO wish I could think of another way to take out some of the thickness in that spot.  Lastly, I'm a weirdo and like the front/back to be specified if the sleeves are created to have a difference, and it's not marked with this pattern.  This likely means I should make sure to just remember which side means front and which means back.

....Anywho...all this to say I'm a fan of this pattern and think it's super cute!  I didn't add the sash option, as it wouldn't look right on Camden, as she doesn't have a waist to speak of, LOL.  I did do the purple version in a size 3, I believe, with added length, and I did the green version in a size 4, with added length.  The fabric is Aneela Hoey, which I LOVE!!  You'll see her fabric again when I complete the Whitney trousers, aha!

Scowls!

I have magic tricks to get this girl to smile!

As always, Tiberius shot or two:

Scowls, also!

A Birthday Party Dress....but NO Party Pictures???

This little girl was excited for her second-ever Birthday Party Dress by Oliver and S.

Ignore the need for pressing!

I made one for her second birthday but skipped her third, so, it seemed another was due.

Sooooo long ago!

I definitely prefer the fabric choice this time around.  I like the fabric I used on the first one, but I think the print itself was too dark for this pattern...who knows.  I am way happy I did the tab this time around, as it was a big mistake to use satin ribbon on her first version.  Rookie mistake, that.  I didn't realize satin was lame, LOL.

I think I made the size 4 this time around (not sure if I lengthened), and I mostly followed the pattern, though I did a different way of attaching the shoulders...which was silly, in hindsight.  Doing it the way I did it meant I needed to topstitch to keep the openings closed.  I wasn't thinking at the time - then was sad I had topstitched at the shoulders/armholes.  I personally think it'd look better without - so....my bad  :(

Other than that, it's a relatively fast sew, minus the pleating that slows a person down - and the hem is naturally hand-sewn. The first time I made this pattern, I used a blind hem foot, and that did NOT look great, aha!  I did secure the pleats a bit on this, but I think they should somehow be more secure...?  Either way, I have a lot of pressing ahead of me, LOL.

Getting the right angle on those pleats at the bottom kills me.  Impossible.

Camden has worn the dress a few times, and sadly, the FIRST time she wore it, we were at the High Desert Museum, where they are cool enough to have a CONCRETE slide of sorts - which means the bottom two buttons are destroyed....oops.

Wrinkle, wrinkle!  I DO impress myself with quality of photos since this little guy was born :O

My pictures were taken, though, just the other day, in the wind.  I did try to combat the wind this time by putting her hair up, but that didn't work so well, and she wasn't in the mood for pictures - double whammy, LOL.  Besides that, I just can't seem to get a good angle on this particular dress.

These two were maybe after her birthday party on April 6?

This last photo is a gratuitous baby shot!  He's getting big, as they often do!  

Permanent grumpy face ;)

Spice Spring Up With a Double Dose of Saffron Sweaters!

Ahh!  See what I did there, with that post title????  I believe we can almost call that alliteration, folks ;)

I'm excited to show you, on such a gorgeous Spring day, not just ONE, but TWO, lovely Saffron sweaters, designed by Elena Nodel (I PROMISE the next sweater I knit is designed by someone else, LOL).  I again chose to invite someone else to knit right along with me, a friend who actually knit Camden her very first Saffron a couple summers ago:

The whole ensemble, including the Modkid Addison dress, was meant for a wedding

The pattern is naturally super easy to read/understand - and doubly so, as it's one of the patterns even I can't trick myself into double-guessing instructions.  I, of course, happen to stress myself out over the stitch pick-up, as it goes alllll the way around the sweater for the ruffle band.  I couldn't stop freaking out over not going down a needle size (you are NOT supposed to, by the way, but I thought maybe I SHOULD, in my case, aha), and did I pick up farrrr to many stitches????  I still have no idea about that one.  Who knows.  I do think, especially after taking photos, that something doesn't seem right about my ruffle band.  It seems loose, but not gathered enough/tight enough, if that makes sense.  So, smaller needle and MORE stitches???  LOL.

Vieve, over at That's What She Crafted, knit another lovely Saffron - this time for HER baby girl.  I love the purple colorway. Vieve used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Blue Violet Tonal (which comes in 220 yard skeins!)  She does still need to add a ribbon to her sweater, she says, but I have to say it's pretty stinkin' cute!

Anyway, I could have easily finished the pattern a couple weeks ago, but the baby is slowing down my knitting.  At least I'll be able to say it's the first sweater I completed literally over his body ;)  (...which makes for sore arms/shoulders, as a side note).  I could have also gone faster, just based on the fact that I had to tear the sweater out...as I was worried, as ALWAYS, that my gauge wasn't right.  I solemnly SWEAR I will do a blocked gauge swatch when I make a sweater for ME, aha!

Can't leave out the Bee skirt!

Used the leaf finish, as on the Silversage sweater by Elena Nodel

I used Colour Adventures (seems I often DO!) in Pirate's Treasure, which is an IT colorway right now, LOL!  I used Sweet Merino DK, which is a more slippery base.  I feel the pictures capture the color well, which is a gold-type color, a lovely rich yellow, almost seeming orange in a way...but NOT.

Below, she featured different "faces" - LOL

Weirdo face

Silly face

Sad face

Surprised face

Tea Party Sundress....Minus the Tea, Add the Sunshine!

Ahhhh...'tis a gorgeous day outside!  Yesterday was gorgeous, too, and I guess we're headed into a lovely week of sunny skies, which is awesome - yet I find I don't get to enjoy those skies AS much with a wee one.  We attempted outdoor time twice yesterday, after my daughter's birthday party, but this wee boy wasn't having it....and in the photo below, he wasn't having the SUPERFAST photo shoot from today (his poor big sister needed a little attention, eh???).

Saddddd baby

So, as with a few Oliver and S patterns, this wasn't my first go-round with the Tea Party Sundress.  Camden happens to super love this pattern, and I believe this is my third version.  If there is another, I can't at all recall it!

I did try to jazz this one up with applique, which I haven't done in MANY moons - and which I've only done once or twice, anyway.  (This is to say you shouldn't look toooo closely, aha!)

I love me some shot cotton, as many people know, as it has a depth, albeit a thinness (stick that size 70 needle in yo' machines!), that quilting cotton does NOT have.  I used it for the bodice and for the flat piping, which may be a smidge wide, but eh - who cares???  And as with the last pattern I blogged about, this one was sewn in the same few days before Tiberius was born....I haven't been able to sew since; he's a hostile baby and only likes his mom :O  Tough times, people, tough times.  But I digress....

This pattern is honestly a pretty quick sew!  I like to quickly get the flat piping attached with a long stitch, sew together all those skirt pieces, then do up the bodice.  It does mention in the pattern that attaching the bodice to the skirt portion may be tricky, because of the curve, but I didn't find it an issue this time...and if it was an issue the first and/or second time, it could be because I used flat piping there, also.  I opted not to this time.

I will say that even though I believe I lengthened this one, I wish I had lengthened it more - both in bodice and in skirt, but whatevs.  It'll work for now, and it's super fun and summery!  I hear Summer doesn't start in Bend until July, but hey - again....NICE outside today!

Camden wanted to include tomatoes in this photo shoot - and hey, if she chooses to eat anything healthy, I'm allll for it!

She was very into these photos today....THANKS, Camden!  (It made my life easier!)

And....a couple more....including the wee guy and his dad - similar grumpy faces, eh???

A rare moment when he RESTED QUIETLY with his dad...LOL