When patterns procreate...

We've been making an obscene amount of Bimma's for the kids thanks to grabbing the pattern on one of Crafterhours friday fivers, and we have been getting just a tad jealous of the awesomeness that the kids are getting to wear.......  Then it hit me that if we combined our favorite Union St Tee pattern and the Bimma's cowl neck, we could have our very own adult size. 

GENIUS people... even if I do say so myself......

The amazing part? The size 12 cowl from the Bimaa fits the small Union St. Tee.

Perfectly.

Jess wants one now and I'll see if the x-small is the same. I just couldn't wait to show this one.

This fabric is from Joann's. It is luscious. Dots on one side, stripes on the other.

If it were to ever get actually cold here, I can cover my face.

Next up? Maybe a hooded version.....

Hey June - Union St Tee

Remember the year you bought that T-shirt and when you realized how awesome it was, you went back to get more and they were all gone.  Then you spent the next five years searching for the same cut and fit and you couldn't find it, so you cried?..... C'mon I cannot be the only one this has happened to. 

The Adrianna half of Crafterhours (hi Susan) has come out with one of the best staple item patterns I have seen. She did give us this pattern to try but the gushing about it is all my own. If you have a yard of knit, a couple of hours and you love a great T-shirt, you will want this pattern. I liked it so much, I may have gone a bit crazy. M kay, I was crazy to start but crazy likes comfortable clothes that fit.....

Jess and I have not had a ton of time to spend together lately so our "small window of time photo shoot" ended up being as chaotic as our lives are. There was chasing and shooing of kids and dogs. Then we got silly, but only because we love Hey June patterns.

If you're over it you can stop now.

I love that this pattern fits all sizes and body types. Jessica requested a more fitted top. I found this stripe knit for her at JoAnn. The red I had in my stash. I want to make one like it in my size, mother daughter twins might be awkward though.....

 

I made my version from some rayon knit I had in my stash. I loved one of Adrianna's versions, that I think only showed up on IG, where she used a woven fabric for the neck line. I had to try it and I decided to add cuffs on the sleeves. Cutting the woven fabric on the bias, allows for plenty of give and I thought it was a fun addition. As you can see, I chose a less fitted cut. In fact I did a FBA for my shirts (Full Bottom Adjustment) to accommodate my, ahem, fuller figure. 

I also had this silk/rayon stripe knit from Fabric.com in my stash. I love the way this fabric feels. It is super drapey and if you get caught in a torrential downpour will in fact have a life of its own where it tries to escape off your body, but if you stay dry, you're good. 

I gave it a vee in the back because I could. Jessica may think I went too far with this one....

I really was trying to use what I had in my stash, but I saw this at JoAnn and decided three-fifty for a shirt was too good to pass up. It looks kinda of slouchy here, but to be fair, the humidity at this point, was at about 300% and I was getting slouchy too. I chose the longer sleeves for this version. It'll be a good addition to my work wardrobe. What's going on here you ask?  I think Jessica told me to step on Micah. Not sure why I did, but its ok, cause he likes it. 

While at the afore mentioned store trying to resist more fabric, I found this piece of lace and thought a half yard would not be splurging because it was for Jessica. It's not a splurge when it's for someone else is it?? I did use this blue knit that I bought years ago in Germany (miss you Kelly). I really love the way it turned out. 

For this next one, I cut the front neckline about an inch lower, left the sleeves off (I may be too old for sleeveless, but I live in Florida) and added a lighter shade of strips to the neckline.  That part didn't turn out as planned but I still like it. I purchased a top that is cut like this and now I can make my own. Dear Adrianna, sorry about the purple, but thank you for a versatile pattern.

I promise, I'm almost done with my adoration of this pattern. I will be making more but I won't torment you with them, except maybe on Instagram. This was more Fabric.com knit that had been waiting for the right pattern. 

This last dark blue version was the first one I made. I thought it was black. Apparently I am a bit color blind at night. I decided to curve the bottom hem and I will be doing more of that in the future. 

Anyone ever have any trouble with their remote? I cracked myself up when I saw these pictures. Why. Won't. It. Work. I thought maybe some of you would like a laugh too. 

Thank you Adrianna for such a fantastic,  pattern. You know which one Jessica and I want next.

Our friend Jennifer at ParrishPlatz has her version up today too! Go see her. She's a very clever girl. 

If by any chance you haven't seen all of the other amazing people who have made The Union St Tee, go on over here and check them out.

&

We Are In Fact Alive

Apparently the only thing that motivates us to blog again is a new Hey June Pattern. Adrianna of Crafterhours just released her Union Street Tee. Click on the button to see her shop and the tops she  made.

Jessica and I will be showing off our versions of her fun pattern June 27. 

You will want to get this pattern. 

We promise!

Knit Bandana Bib

Is there ever something you want to do, you think about it for awhile and no solution comes? Then one day you may be doing something you think is totally unrelated, the answer is there and you actually say AH HA out loud to yourself?

Our Bella drools. A. Lot. No worries, we still love her. She wore bibs all day but some were more for the time when she's eating, very cute but way too big. Some were a thin stretch terry that lasted for about three seconds before being soaked through, they weren't cute and they weren't functional.

I started seeing bib bandannas around blog-land and thought that would be a super solution and with all the different fabric choices, they would be cute. Then my next thought was, they will NOT contain the drool. Fast forward a couple of weeks later when I was trying out a new knit wash-cloth pattern. It's started on point and when I was halfway through, I had my ah-ha moment. I finished it off as a triangle, put some velcro on as the closure and when Bella showed up the next day, put it on her. She wore it all day. The bib was wet, her clothes were dry. A serious success! (Can you tell I'm a wee bit proud?) She now has several in different colors to match her clothes. They still cover some of the cuteness that Jess dresses her in but, at least they look like an accessory instead of screaming baby bib.

It's been several weeks since she started wearing them and they really do work. Since they are knit and with the direction of the knit they stretch and move with her. She doesn't mind wearing them, so apparently they are comfortable.

If you knit, these are simple. You already know better than I do how to make these. If you don't knit, and you want one, I will be putting them up in the shop soon. 

The Greenpoint Cardigan

The Greenpoint Cardigan - Do you ever have one of those moments when you are looking for a particular something, and then that exact thing practically falls in your lap? This happened to me three weeks ago when Adrianna, one half of the Crafterhours dynamic duo, released her first pattern. Oh. My. Goodness. It is cute. It is adaptable. It is unisex. It is downloadable. You can find it on her new shop website, "Hey June Handmade". I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use for my first attempt. I've had a Michael Miller clown stripe in brown sitting around for a couple of years. Not a single time did it speak up and say, "make me into this!", til now..... Within two days of downloading the pattern, I had the Greenpoint Cardigan made up, it is that straightforward. Three weeks later, I did the buttonholes and sewed the buttons on.... go me..... Those buttonholes almost didn't happen, my machine and I had a mild disagreement over whether it would make them for me. It actually won, but I'm not going to talk about it. 

I could go on and on about the pattern but I'll post a bunch of photos instead. 

My grandson was my inspiration and model. He was a very good sport, even if he was bribed. 

The boy kills me and I love him so.

 

Buttoned up, it has a nice slim but not tight fit. The raglan sleeve makes for easy movement and this boy moves.

 Micah really got into modeling. He even turned back and forth so we could different views.

 Ahhhh blowing kisses?!

 NOPE! Eating brownies. You can see a bit in his right hand in the photo below.

Unbuttoned the look becomes cool and casual.

And then he was done!

Disclosure: Though this pattern was given to me by the designer the decision to make it, love it, write about it and make it again are entirely my own.

Dress For My Mom

So my mom came to visit. We only had her here for three weeks and I had to work, but I did get to accomplish one of her requests. She wanted this purple tank turned into a dress. Actually, she wanted me to show her how to do this, so I guess I only fulfilled half of her request. I kinda took over an ran with it. You've probably seen these dresses other places. I made one way back in 2010 that I still wear. Most just call for cutting the tank, gathering your fabric and sewing it on. Most people wear a belt or sash to give it a more fitted look because otherwise, frankly, it looks a bit droopy. To prevent that and yet make it comfortable I went back to an old favorite, elastic thread. I think I did 4 or 5 rows. Now it can be worn as is or Mom can throw on a belt for a second look. I chose a very bold print in a rayon challis that flows beautifully and feels great.

I was so down to the wire on this one, I only got one non blurry photo and no close ups.

 Hope it hasn't fallen apart Mom!

Love you!

Dresses for Bella

My Granddaughter is a cutie. She is three and a half months old. She loves talking and will wait for you to look at her, so she has your undivided attention, for a chat. Sometimes when she's very sleepy she will "sing" herself to sleep. It makes me laugh.

It's a good thing I started early on dresses for her because time flies and it's just hard to find moments for everything. Does that ever happen to you?

This of course is the hopscotch shirt pattern by Oliver + S. I was able to get all three of the smallest sizes from a yard of fabric. We got this Michael Miller knit from fabric.com. Thank goodness Jess is happy about having the same dress/top for Bella. They are just that cute an comfy for her.

I finished these with my serger and used a double needle for the hems.

Here she is modelling the smallest size. We were having a serious chat, as you can see.

Below is the smallest of the first trio I made. I made a bit long and she has already gotten so much taller!

I seriously could watch her for hours.

Hopscotch Top - Oliver + S

 When we found out that Jess and Uber's second was going to be a girl I decided it was about time to try the  Hopscotch Top by Oliver + S. I'd been looking at tops others have made for quite awhile, you'll find tons of inspiration if you go to that link. I was using my serger for the first time and didn't want to ruin the fabric Jess bought so I started with a soft old t-shirt of mine that had holes in it. I was able to avoid the holes and get a  6 months size. There were a few learning issues between me and the serger, so I'm glad I made that decision. The pattern is easy to follow and I was really happy with the way it turned out. Since it was my first try, with fabric I am not sure that will last too long, I decided to leave the hems with just a serged finish.

I picked out some fabric on Fabric.com and Jess ordered a yard which ended up being almost a yard and a quarter.  

I was able to get three dresses from 6 - 24 months.

If Jess decides she would rather them be tops, I can shorten them.

I simply love this pattern and can see making many more..... maybe I already have......