Summer Sewing

Now that summer has seemed to have come to Seattle (with the exception of today since it rained), I realized the kids do not have much summer clothes and needed shorts.  Oliver + S patterns has published a nice little shorts pattern on their website for free.  http://oliverands.com/   The pattern is their sunny days shorts and it is perfect for making a quick set of shorts.  I was able to make one in about 30 minutes.  http://oliverands.com/free-patterns/sunny-day-shorts/

The first pair I made for Johnny, but he was not very happy since they did not have pockets.   So I basically gave them to Ava and she was happy and wore them to school the day next day.   I did make another pair for Johnny and made a quick pocket, however Wes claims they look like "mom jeans".  He wore them and was happy, although they are a little big.  They will probably shrink in the wash a bit since I was really lazy and didn't want to wash the fabric prior to making the shorts.  I also challenged myself and have tried to make as many shorts as I could with left over fabric I already have.   I have a ton of left over fabric- and it is kind taking over my closet- so the majority of the short I made were from remmants.

The first pair are in a really soft linen like fabric- plae blue with mint dots,  The 2nd pair are in knit- I tried to rolled hem function on my new serger for the first time this weekend.  I did a "lettuce hem" by increasing the differential feed.

The blue shorts are the "mom jeans" and kakhi are the pair that Johnny was upset didn't have pockets.

I have also made Ava a couple of dresses lately as well- you will notice the striped knit shorts was left over from the dress.

Ah!  Bad lighting doesn't do this dress justice.   It is in a very soft japanese double guaze and Ava absolutely loves it.  She told me she feels like she is wearing pajamas all day long.

You can see the true color here and see that the fabric is reversible.  I used the opposite side as the lining for the bodice.   I love this fabric.

This dress is another pattern from the japanese sewing book.   There are some mistakes, but I think it didn't turn out too and considering the directions are entirely in japanese with illustrations.