Tag Archives: jumper

Guest Post for Vintage May!

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I’ve been looking forward to this day for so long!  I’m guest posting over at Skirt as Top for Vintage May!

I had the hardest time thinking of a project for this series, because there are so many wonderful vintage-inspired possibilities.  But I finally decided on a suspender skirt for my daughter based some outfits I found in old family photos!  Go check out my inspiration, the suspender skirt I made for Yuki, and a full tutorial HERE!

And if you like her vintage fabric sleeveless top, come back tomorrow for a little how-to for this remix of the Jump Rope Dress pattern by Oliver + S.

Thank you, Kristin and Jess for hosting a great series!  If you want to check out the vintage awesomeness, take a look at all the Vintage May posts on Skirt as Top and Craftiness is not Optional.  It has been so much fun!

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Mei-chan

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Yay, it’s done!  My “movie inspired” outfit is finally done – better late than never, right?  When Project Run & Play announced the challenges for this season and one of them was “Going to the Movies” it didn’t take me very long to decide what I wanted to do.  I mean, the options are ENDLESS, but I wanted to stick with something simple and make her an outfit I thought she’d be able to wear regularly.  And since the Totoro costume I made for Yuki last Halloween was such a huge hit, I knew something from the same movie would be appreciated.  So that’s how I decided to recreate Mei’s outfit from the movie “となりのトトロ” or “My Neighbor Totoro.“  It’s a Japanese animated classic by Hayao Miyazaki and I’m obsessed with all of his movies.  So uhh, if you haven’t seen this movie, I think you should just go see it right now.

ANYWAYS, Mei is a 4 year old and the character is such a perfect match for Yuki’s personality!  Even though Yuki’s not even 2 yet, she’s got a lot of Mei’s fun, rough-and-tumble, stubborn personality and even how Mei tries so hard to keep up with her older sister.  Yuki loves playing with other kids too, even though she’s such a little runt compared to them.  I’m not going to give you a whole synopsis of the movie, you can look it up or watch a trailer, or better yet, just go watch the film if you haven’t seen it already.

So here are some screen shots from the movie:

And our little Mei-chan:

One of the most memorable scenes is when Mei is playing by herself in the yard and she spots a little peculiar creature running through the grass.  She tries to follow the chibi Totoro, and it tries to run away.  We had fun recreating that scene during our photo shoot (and I had a little fun with photo editing too :) ).

Got him!!

So I made three pieces for this outfit.  The blouse and the shorts are from the Oliver + S pattern, Puppet Show Tunic and Shorts.  I don’t have a lot of experience making buttoned collared shirts, so I thought using a pattern would be a good way to learn.

The thing about a good Oliver + S pattern is that it is pretty tedious and takes a lot of time.  This, of course, results in a really high quality piece of clothing, but one of the things I love about making kids clothing is how quickly you can whip something up.  That’s just me being impatient though.  It’s really good that I’m learning how to do things the “right” way.  I made the shirt in 2T size which is HUGE on Yuki, but that means she’ll be able to wear it for a long time.  I used an embroidered white fabric just to make it a bit more interesting and added a button in the front just to make it look like the one in the movie.  I’ll probably take it off since it serves no purpose.

The shorts are so cute!  These came together very quickly and I want to make a few more of these for sure.  I made them white to match Mei’s bloomers, but I’m not sure it was a very practical move.  They make for some adorable summer shorts though!

The red jumper is a simple lined bodice that I adjusted from the Every Little Thing Tunic (recognize the lining fabric?) and a circle skirt.  I added some fun yellow flower buttons on the back.  This piece came together the fastest!

I also made the little white chibi Totoro right before our photo shoot out of some scraps of white fleece (from the original Totoro costume!) and tied little pom poms to her hair rubber bands to match Mei’s.

This blue Totoro is a stuffed animal – I didn’t make it.

Did you spot the creeper Totoro!?

And speaking of creepers, check out this paparazzi sneaking up on an unsuspecting girl.

Phew, that was a lot of photos!  Now that I’ve made a Totoro costume and a Mei outfit, all that’s really left for me to make is the Cat bus!  Haha, NOT!

Tutorial: Classic Jumper

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This post is long overdue!  I made this jumper for Yuki for Thanksgiving (along with the Herringbone Short Coat) and I’ve been wanting to share this tutorial ever since.  I hope you keep in mind that I just kind of make this stuff up as I go along, so I don’t know if this is actually the best way to make a jumper.  It’s just the way that I did it and in case you’re curious – here it is!

I’d been wanting to make a jumper for Yuki for some time.  It’s just such a fun and classic style.  And there is this super colorful plaid flannel (that I’m kind of obsessed with), that I thought would add a bit of a non-traditional, yet still holiday, feel to this piece.  Here is the sketch of the jumper I wanted to make.

You will need:
Main fabric
A little bit of fabric for lining
2 buttons

For this 12-18 month size jumper I probably used 3/4-1 yard of the main fabric and 1/4 yard of the lining material.

So first you need to draft your pattern.  I used a small jumper to get the pattern shapes, and a dress that fits Yuki to get the pattern size.  If you need help drafting a pattern, there are plenty of great resources out there like this one or this one.

The red lines are alterations I made as I was sewing, when I realized the size/fit was all wrong.  If you’re using this to get general shape ideas, make note of those changes!

The pieces you’ll need are:
Bodice front (1 main, 1 lining)
Bodice back (1 main, 1 lining)
Body front
Body back
Pocket (2 main, 2 lining)
Pocket edge (2 main)

Let’s start sewing!

First we’ll do the pockets.  Take one main fabric pocket and one lining pocket and pin them together right sides together.  Do the same with the other pocket fabrics and sew the curved edge together.  Keep the top (straight edge) open!  Flip them right side out and press.

Now we’re going to gather the top of the pocket.  If you need help with gathering, here’s a great gathering tutorial.  I do it the way Dana calls the “proper” way, except I usually only do 1 line instead of 2 or 3, like you’re supposed to.

Sew a straight line across the top edge of the pocket with your machine set to the longest stitch.  Do not backstitch at the end or beginning!  Pull on one of the threads to gather the top edge of the pocket.

For the pocket edge, fold it in half along the long side with the right side in.  Sew up the short sides and leave the long edge open.  Flip it right side out and press.

Then fold the edge in about a 1/4 inch and press.  Now you have this little pocket to stuff the top of your pocket into :)   Confusing enough?

Slide the top of the pocket into the opening and sew around the edge.

(why does one pocket look bigger than the other in this picture? :( )

Position your pockets onto the front body piece and top stitch around the pocket.  Make sure to leave the top of the pocket open and also sew back and forth several times at each end.  The top corners of pockets get pulled the most, so these extra stitches will make sure the pockets are securely attached.

Now lay the front and back body pieces together with right sides together and pin up the sides.  Sew up the sides and then press these seams open.

With the side seams opened up, serge or zig zag stitch along the arm hole.  Fold the edge down a 1/4 inch, press and sew.  If you can’t serge or zig zag, just fold the arm hole edge down a 1/4 inch and then another 1/4 inch, then sew (like you would a hem).

Now we’re going to gather the top part of the body piece.  Just like before, set your machine to the longest stitch and sew a straight line across the top of both the front and back of the body piece.  Pull one thread to gather the fabric (both front and back).  Set the body of the dress aside while we work on the bodice.

Pin the bodice pieces together: main fabric and lining of the front bodice piece and the main fabric and lining of the back bodice piece, right sides together.

Sew around bodice pieces, leaving the bottoms (straight edges) open.  Trim excess fabric, corners and clip curves.  Turn right side out and press.

(I also added a label at this point, in the center of the back bodice piece.  I just used an iron on transfer that I printed on my inkjet printer).

Turn about a 1/4 inch of the bottoms in (the same way we did with the pockets) and press.

Now you’re going to slide the gathered edges of the body into the bodice pieces (just like we did with the pockets)!  Make sure to put the front of the jumper into the front bodice piece and the back of the jumper into the back bodice.  Pin and sew along the straight edge and continue top stitching around the entire bodice piece (both front and back).

You’re almost done!!  Sew button holes in the back bodice piece and buttons onto the front bodice piece.

Hem up the bottom by folding up a 1/4 inch and pressing, then folding another 1/4 inch, pressing again and top stitching.  You’re done!!!

I hope this wasn’t too confusing.  I’m still learning how to write and photograph for tutorials, so I know this wasn’t perfect, but I’m working on it!  In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!

I love the jumper style because it’s so versatile.  Depending on the fabric and how you layer it, it can be appropriate for pretty much any season or occasion!

(It is getting harder and harder for me to keep this one still for photos!)

Pair it with a little coat and she’s all ready for the holidays!

Are you all done making holiday outfits?  I’m not!!  I only have 2 days left, so I better get sewing!

Sew & Tell: Herringbone Short Coat

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!  I hope you are all able to spend some time with loved ones and remember all the things you are thankful for.  As for me, I have so many things that I am grateful for.  I feel extremely blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing, loving, and inspiring people and feel so lucky that I have everything I need and more.  I’m thankful for my beautiful, healthy and brilliant daughter and my too-amazing-for-words life partner who gets me, accepts me and loves me though anything and everything.  And I’m so grateful that I get to do things that I love like sew, take pictures and blog and that people are encouraging me to pursue one of my dreams.  Thank you!!

I have been able to be super productive recently because I’ve had some rare time to myself (another thing that I’m thankful for!).  After working on a lot of things for other people, I wanted to take some time to make something for Yuki.  I’ve had this image in my mind of a simple coat and I finally had the chance to try it out!!  I’ve never made a jacket or coat before because it always seemed so intimidating.  I’m glad I finally gave it a shot and I learned A LOT from this experience.  Although I’m pleased with the way it came out, I’d definitely do a few things differently next time.  Anyways, here it is – the Herringbone Short Coat!

It’s lined with some super soft flannel.

This is my first Peter Pan collar and it did NOT turn out as I expected (more on that later) and a random button that I found in my button jar that I LOVE.

I used a wool blend herringbone fabric that I picked up out of the remnant bin at Joann’s.  It was only 1/3 yard!!  So I didn’t have much to work with.  I love the slightly dressy look, but it isn’t very practical since I can’t just throw it in the wash.  It’s also a very loose weave so it unravels like crazy!

The original design for this jacket had a hood, but I decided to nix that for this coat.  Yuki has so many hooded jackets and she doesn’t even like wearing the hood (plus, I probably wouldn’t have had enough fabric for that anyways).  I’m glad I went for the Peter Pan collar, but it sure was harder to do than I thought.  The collar turned out way smaller than I’d hoped and I didn’t know how to attach it, so that resulted in some creative (sloppy) sewing.  If anyone can help me with attaching a collar to a lined jacket/top, PLEASE share!

The other problem with the jacket is that it’s SNUG on her!  Which means that she’ll grow out of it by next week!  And you better believe she’s going to wear it every day until then!  I definitely want to make this coat again, but with some adjustments.  What kind of fabric should I try next?

Here’s some pictures of the coat in action.  She’s wearing it with a jumper that I also made so she’d have a complete outfit for Thanksgiving.  I’m going to share all about the jumper in another post.

Oh, how we love the fall!  I hope you all enjoy the long weekend filled with delicious food and good company!  Happy Thanksgiving!