PR&P Signature Look: Gabba Ga!

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 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

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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:

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Project Run&Play Week #4: Love is in the Air

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Butterfly Kisses: Past and Present
First, WOW, just wow - I am so thankful for all the amazing comments, love, and support you have all been sending my way... I am so happy to still be here and to be sharing with you again today!

All right - on to the design...

This week was a week of realizing that just because an idea seems awesome in your head doesn't mean that it will translate into practical clothing for kids.  Part of what I struggled with in attempting to realize my original idea was the fact that I had no personal connection to it, it was becoming borderline costume and that wasn't what I wanted.
I am not a huge 'holiday-wear' sewer, but I fell in love with the theme of 'love is in the air'.  Once I scrapped my original plans of WWII airplanes, I stumbled upon this gorgeous butterfly material while organizing my stash to make room for my best friend to come visit for the weekend, and the light bulb clicked and my 'AhHA!' moment made me smile.

You see, my grandmother always called me her butterfly and I never doubted her love for me, my daddy always gave me butterfly kisses before bed and I knew he loved me, and the material came from a skirt my mom passed to me for my stash - and there will never be a person who loves me in the same way as my mom.  My husband has recently taught our boys how to give butterfly kisses, and at night they will not let us leave the room without calling out 'fly, fly' as they ask for a butterfly kiss.  To me this is love; wrapped in one word, in one action, this is what I want to remember -  my cherub cheeked babies calling out for one more 'fly' and closing their eyes comforted in the sweet blanket of love.

This design is a nod to the past and present to represent these generations of love.  The base is a sweet empire waist dress with heart keyhole back, french seams, and flutter-by sleeves; and bloomers with bitty bows and hand stitched flying butterfly.  The 'past' look is a jacket with a nod to vintage patterns, fully lined with triple pleating in the back, gathered sleeves,  and little bows that echo the butterfly theme.  The 'present' look is a more modern cropped wrap sweater with fluttering butterflies on the shoulder.
This is my first look of the season that uses all 'upcycled' fabrics... and this too feeds into the 'past and present' nature of this week's design.

Layers of Love:
The Dress-  I loved the idea of Loving The Mommyhood's Sweatheart dress when I saw it on FB a while back (when I first noticed it, there was a  tutorial, but they have since created a pattern and there is a whole group of people showing off the pattern in the blog-o-sphere),  I will probably buy this pattern down the road for baby girl, but for now in her crawling baby stage, I'm not sure I want that much of an open back.  As I sew for and dress my insanely long baby (she is currently over 31 inches long at 9 months old), I have discovered that high waist lines just look best on her, they also giver her the ease of all the wriggly-giggly movement she does on a moment by moment basis.
So, I created a very high wasted empire dress with  a square neck line and a small keyhole opening in the back in the shape of a heart with a gathered skirt and flutter-by sleeves.
The bodice is fully lined and hand sewn on the inside to create a beautiful finish with no visible seams.  I cut the bodice on the bias to allow it just enough give to make it easy to get on and off baby girl, I also love how it changes the flight pattern of the butterflies.  The key hole closes with a hook and thread eye - it didn't pop open at all during our photoshoot so I think we are good to go, I didn't want anything to distract from the heart shape.  The skirt has french seams and a rolled hem.  The sleeves are what I am calling 'flutter-by' sleeves, because as a child that is what I called butterflies - they are simple flutter sleeves with a slight gather and a squared edge and they make me think of spring and sunshine.

The Bloomers-  If I didn't love the dress so much, I would say that these bloomers are my favorite thing ever.  They are made out of a very soft, light weight knit Tshirt and are comfy and breathable.  I added casings to the leg holes made out of the butterfly material to tie back to the dress and then couldn't stop myself from adding a little bow on each side.  The waistband is elastic and is finished with the twin needle.  The leg holes are also finished with a twin needle, for the top stitching I used light thread in the needle on the butterfly side and dark thread in the needle on the knit side - I know no one but me will ever notice these details, but they make me happy.

The Jacket-  For the jacket I started with Schwin and Schwin's Black Bird pattern because I could see the lines in it to create the vintage inspired swing coat I had in mind.  I looked in my stash and my hand landed on this beautiful velvet sleeveless top.  Mmmmmmm velvet, lush, rich, vintage-y fabric.  But velvet, my friends, is the mean nasty Siren of fabrics.  She lures you in with her pretty 'pet me' pile, and then laughs in your face as she slips and moves and frays and CAN NOT BE PRESSED!!!  Wait, what?!!?!  OK, she can be pressed, if you have a pin board or want to risk the towel method.   But since I was cutting this out of a SLEEVELESS fitted women's top, I had no spare material to potentially scar.  In the end, I love this jacket, and I love the velvet, but it may be a long long time before I touch the stuff again.
Ok - the jacket has puff sleeves with velvet casings.  For the back of the jacket I really wanted a detail that fit into the butterfly theme, and landed on a triple pleat.  The lining is gathered to give fullness that forces the pleats open.  I added a bow just above the pleat to lighted up the darkness of the velvet and to tie in to the sleeves.  The front yolk fastens with two snaps and has another bow detail.  The jacket is fully lined with the butterfly fabric and hand stitched at the hem.  I chose to top stitch around the front and neck since I could not press the lining flat (whyohwhyohwhyvelvet?!?!?!?).  I really do love this jacket, it is so cute!!!  But beware the call of velvet my friends!

The Wrap Sweater-  I knew I wanted a simple knit sweater for the 'present' version of this look.  Looking at the dress I realized that a cropped wrap sweater would be perfect.  I drafted a basic pattern that wraps across the front and ties in the back.  The hem and neck line are finished with the twin needle.  The tie of the under layer of the wrap feeds through a button hole so that both ties are on the outside in the back.  This sweater brings me back to my days of dancing as a child and again in college.  I added the subtle butterflies to the shoulder as a small detail to give the sweater some texture (they are made out of heart shaped pieces and there are 5 in all - smooshed together they look like flowers which also works perfectly).  Now I just need to make one of these for me ;o) *the hem on the sleeves is a re-use of the original hem on the shirt.

Credit:
*The Dress and Wrap Sweater are my own pattern designs.
*The Bloomers - Once again pulling out Simplicity 0291 as a basic bloomer, adapted to add the fabric casing, bows, and hand stitched detailing.
*The Jacket - I used Schwin and Schwin's Blackbird Tunic as a base for this jacket.  I enlarged the yolk and adapted the pattern to have an asymmetrical closure down the front, full lining, added sleeves, incorporated a triple pleat in the back, and added bows.

And here is more of our 'Past and Present' photoshoot - I love my baby girl so much!

Dada's hands will always keep her safe 

(I think this is my favorite picture of all,
one guess as to who she is looking at in such adoration!)

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