PR&P Season 6 Recap

Hello faithful friends and dear readers.  As you probably know I won THIRD this season in PR&P!!!  I could not be more excited and have both my supportive friends and the awesome judges to thank for it!!!

There are a few very special people that I need to thank before I move on:
First, my husband - he has been supportive beyond words, has eaten the last minute meals I've thrown together without grumble, and hasn't said a word about the state of the laundry.  He has given me huge hugs and always told me my look was his favorite - he is the best!

Next is my mom.  Although she was gone for the last two and a half weeks of the competition, she was my personal Tim Gunn, my voice of reason, and my source of any random thing that my children decided to 'misplace'.  Hand sewing needle at 10pm, check.  Ribbon for baby girl's dress, check.  Provided of serger to use through the entire competition, CHECK!!!  My mom is always my loudest cheerleader and probably responsible for a large percentage of my public score each week.

Last but not least or my three angels of the blogging community: Heidi, Shannon, and Max.
Heidi was my constant source of tips and tricks to stay afloat.  She would comment on early ideas and images I sent her to make sure I gave it my all in a way that the judges and voters could appreciate.  Every week she told  me I deserved to move on - and did it in a way I actually believed ;o)
Shannon, oh where do I start with Shannon - she is honestly a God send.  As another mom of twins, she not only was going through the competition with me, but could also share life experience and encouragement.  She always has words of wisdom and truth to share with me when I was feeling down or overwhelmed.  And on top of all that, her talent is AMAZING!
And then Max/Ari - we 'met' when I started blogging, and quickly made a pact that we would audition for and make it to the final three of PR&P season 6 - HAHAHAHAH, neither of us ever thought it was actually a possibility.  She is such a light, an inspiration, and just that 'no nonsense girl' you love having in your corner.  I could not be happier that she won it all - YOU GO GIRL!!!!

Ok - and here is the season recap:

The Audition: Puttin on the Ritz

Tutorial found HERE

Week One: Winter Wear Wolf

Week Two: Collegiate Cool

Week Three: Elephant Shoes

Week Four: Butterfly Kisses

Week Five: Mo-Squish-Le

Week Six: Gabba Ga!

So which was your favorite look of all??? - any guesses as to what my highest score outfit was, you might be surprised!!!!

Throughout  the following weeks, I'll be posting tutorials from the different looks - if you have something you really want a tutorial on, leave a shout out and I'll make sure it gets included!!!

Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll be posting a break down of what I spent on each look... I want people to know that sewing can be affordable for anyone!!!

PR&P Signature Look: Gabba Ga!

VOTE HERE!!!

 First I want to say thank you to everyone here for helping me make it to the finals, I really never thought I would be here with all the amazing talent this season and I am humbled and honored.

Ok - Signature style - I'm going to tell you a little secret here, but you have to promise not to tell anyone ok? I still don't know 'exactly' what my signature style is.  I know that I love classic lines, that I want clothes that are wearable, and that if I am going to spend time making clothes for my kids - I want them to LOVE them.  I hope my look is always a little classic, a little cool, and always evolving!!!
A few weeks ago, my husband asked me to make Yo Gabba Gabba shirts for the boys for their 2nd birthday (which is the 25th) because they are a wee bit obsessed with the show - which they call 'Gabba Ga!'.  I looked at him with a scowl, I am not a fan of 'character' garments - NOT my style.  But then I looked at my boys, dancing and singing along with their favorite show, sighed, and told my husband the following: 'If by some miracle I make it into the finals of PR&P, I will use YGG as the inspiration for my signature look'.  Well, here I am ;o)

I present to you my version of Muno and Brobee - in a non-character/costume way.  This week I was working entirely in real time - oh how fast it flies by!!! Each look has three pieces. They go together but are different - just like my boys!

BREAK IT DOWN!

Muno:   B's  pants were my first 'A-ha' moment and I love the way they turned out.  They are made of an old sweatshirt that my mom donated to my stash.  The two round pockets have functioning zippers - I wanted to create bumps without them being all over. 

The bum also has a curved seam that is top stitched that ties in the whole circle/bump theme that make Muno who he is.

That circle motif is continued with the half circle pockets on his hooded vest.  The pockets are made and lined with vermilion knit and match the lining of the hood and trim of the arm holes. (I honestly had to look up what color Muno is - Red or Orange, my husband is the genius who said he was in fact 'Vermilion' or Red-Orange).

The main body of the hoodie is made of grey fleece, but the hood is made of the same grey knit as the shirt yolk and sleeves, so the sleeves tie into the hood when worn together.

Brobee:  For this one it was always all about the hoodie.  The main green is made from an old maternity top of mine.  The dark green is the only purchased yardage used in either outfit, sadly I was a little last minute in making decisions about this look so I didn't have time to order any fabric and was limited to what my local fabric store has in stock - not so much, but it all worked out in the end.  The horizontal seams are top stitched with contrasting thread to tie into the lining using a twin needle.

The middle stripe forms a pocket for all sorts of treasures. The hood is lined with the same vermilion knit from B's Tshirt to allude to the horns and large mouth that detail Brobee's character.

His pants are so cool, they have double drawstrings that go up both legs so that they can be shortened in the spring for puddle jumping.  One side has a cargo pocket, and the other has two tabs for a stripe-y detail.  The bottoms of the legs have stitched on stripes to follow through with the main visual element of Brobee.

I wanted both boys to have matching T's and I created the piecing based on the head shape of both characters - I draw a lot of Munos and Brobees for the boys and I always start with an upside down U for their heads. The pieced seams are top stitched with the twin needle.

 (back)

(front)

Roll the Credits:

Shirts - adapted from my basic long sleeve T pattern

Brobee Pants - I used the same pattern I created for the elephant pants, I added the side pocket, tabs, and stitching detail along with the super cool leg drawstrings.

Muno Pants - same basic pants pattern adapted to gave a separate waist band and  the bum seam.  Added the circle zipper pockets.

Hoodies - Both are variations on my basic hoodie pattern, the Brobee one adds the shoulder yolk and stripe pockets along with a zipper closure.  The Muno one becomes sleeveless and adds the half circle pockets.

More Photos!!!

I almost thought our photo shoot wouldn't happen as 3 inches of snow fell Wednesday night.  Luckily they are really quick at clearing sidewalks and streets downtown, and that was where this amazing mural is located - I KNEW this was the perfect 'Gabba Land' location!  B of course took off running and wiped out on some ice about 2 minutes into the shoot, but you can't tell too badly.  

(showing off his dancy-dance skills)

'Animal crackers want to go to the Party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy'

 'You take some baby steps, baby steps... little tiny baby steps'

("Run run run, it's fun fun fun" - still running - yeah photographing 2 almost 2 year olds is fun ;op)

Running off side by side ;o)

Goodbye from all of us here in Gabba Land!!!  And don't forget to VOTE!!!

PS - thank you everyone for your well wishes, we are finally a healthy family again!!!

PR&P Week 5 : Mo-Squish-Le

VOTE HERE

OK - lets start with the name ;o)  Within hours of holding baby girl in my arms, I had nick named her 'squish'.  You see I don't really find brand spankin' newborns to be  'pretty' or 'gorgeous' or 'beautiful', at least not mine.  In those first hours and sometimes days, they are just kind of squishy - thus Squish, and it stuck.  Now my husband is a movie buff and within the first week started calling her 'Mo-squish-Le' in reference to Million Dollar Baby where Hillary Swank's character is called 'Mocuishle'.  The term translates from Gaelic to English to mean 'pulse of my heart' - and that is simply what she is for her dada and I.  Using this name for this week's look fits not only the celtic undertones of the outfit, but also the fact this this baby can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'.

Now on to what we are all really here for... the SEWING!!!

REFASHION WEEK!!!!  To say that from the moment I learned what the challenges would be this was the one I was the MOST excited about would be an understatement.  Most of what I sew is a refashion of one kind or another, quite often I use cast offs simply as yardage; but I love the fun of incorporating existing elements from existing garments in fun or unexpected ways.  This outfit (along with Elephant Shoes) were the only two I had completely drawn and planned before the competition began that came into fruition the way I planned - well mostly.
You see this week has been anything but what I planned.  It started with A getting the stomach bug on the way to church on Sunday, followed by baby girl getting her first tooth knocked out and having her first trip to the ER on Monday night, continued with the entire house (save my husband - THANK GOD!) getting a worse version of the stomach bug on Tuesday.  Which lead me to Wednesday, scrambling to finish my cute little ensemble that sat wondering if it would see the light of day while the stomach bug still wages war on all of us.

But here they are - both baby girl, and outfit - maybe missing a tiny piece of what they had/had planned, but perfect just the way they are.

Piece by Piece:
The Top: 

 I went with a traditional men's white dress shirt for the top.  I've been wanting to create a bib front top with pin tucks since November when a bib front top caught my eye as I was searching for inspiration for Heidi's 'Knock Off' series.  Of all the gazillion choices out there, I went with a white shirt for two reasons.  First, I just think it is a great staple neutral that you don't see enough of on babies and toddlers - and I love white on baby girl (*I know people think it will just get disgustingly dirty, but white can be bleached and cleaned without risk of color fade).  Second, I had a few white shirts as options already in my stash.
As I designed and created this top, I really wanted to use as many details as I could without ending up with a product that was obviously a men's shirt originally.  I used the pocket, button hole placket, shirt tail hem, and cuff plackets from the original.   My husband encouraged me to include the pocket when I was second guessing myself, so it was carefully removed from the original and attached to the new front.  The button hole side of the front placket was removed from the shirt and re-attached to the bottom of the front section of the top.  There it became the perfect ribbon detail edge after new button holes were added to increase the amount of ribbon weaving - I added an extra button hole between each of the existing ones.  The great thing is that the ribbons can be changed out for different looks, but I really wanted to keep this a clean and sophisticated white on white.  I discovered when making my mock up that the original shirttail hem gave me a slight Hi/Low hem, and I loved it.   And the detailing on the top of the sleeves is the original cuff placket - maybe my favorite detail of the entire shirt.

The back of the shirt ties back from the sides- this allows the top to grow with baby girl and gives her an easy range of motion.

The bib has five pin tucks on each side of the new front placket.  The three buttons are from the original shirt as well. The neckline is bound with bias tape created form the original shirt as well. The side seams are serged and then top stitched for that finish of a men's shirt.

The Shorts:  I have been in love with Heidi's pocket shorts tutorial since I first saw them on her blog Elegance and Elephants.... and I have just been waiting for an excuse to make them.  Now I knew I wanted these shorts to be a bit more tailored, so I wanted an elastic back and flat front.  I then stumbled upon a great basic short pattern from  Angela at Crafting Zuzzy that uses a box pleat in the front, and with some careful finagle-ing, I figured out that I could Frankenstein the two together.
I went with a flannel men's shirt in plaid - yes plaid!  I've been trying to stretch myself in each challenge, and pattern matching is something I either avoid or try to make easy for myself.  Ummmmm, this was not an easy plaid.  For one thing, it was already cut into this shirt, so it was hart to line up the plaid to cut duplicate pieces, I might have saved time just cutting every piece one at a time.  Then I went to cut the pockets, and realized that if I wanted to use the button placket for the top I would have to add in button holes (unlike my plain flannel shirt mock up where I just cut two pockets with the button holes in the same alignment.)  Then it hit me that the way the placket was sewn on changed the pattern of the plaid, so I made the executive decision to make sure it would match at the top.

But oh those pockets, I am actually a little in love with them not pleated - they become bucket pockets and have such great dimension, but a little overwhelming for baby girl at this stage.  I used the same ribbon as on the shirt to gather the pockets through 4 button holes into box pleats that flow perfectly with the box pleats on the front of the shorts.  The final silhouette is much more appropriate for this little girl on the crawl.

(overhead view so you can see the pleating)

The bottoms of the short legs are finished off with cuffs inspired by the original cuffs of the men's shirt.  My plan was to use the original cuff, but on careful inspection I noticed that they were starting to fray in a few places and that just wouldn't do.  So I cut new cuffs and added two buttons on each to match the main button.  Which match the buttons on the...

BOOTS:  I fell in love with Shwin&Shwin's Little Red Riding Boots just for the name.  I almost made red flannel ones for this outfit, but then remembered that I have LEATHER.  Not pleather, not some other thing, but genuine suede leather in the form of a bomber jacket of mine that my mom held onto since middle school for me.   It is a nice navy blue that plays perfectly with the blues and greens of the flannel.  I had to size up their pattern since baby girl has the longest feet ever and then I lengthened the rise of the boot so that it could come further up her leg and have a little bit of fold over to show off the flannel. I then added elastic loops to the straps to make the button functional and the boots easy to get on and off.

And a couple more of baby girl:

Thanks for stopping by!  Head on over HERE to see all the other entries and vote for your favorite!