Sailing

I’ve been making up some Oliver+S sailboat pants/top sets. I am completely in love with the pattern and would like several sets in my own size. Since that’s unlikely to happen, I’ve been indulging in sewing for small people. It’s a good break to have in between wrestling with other things (fitting is hard). Sometimes I need to be convinced that I do actually know how to sew, so this is helpful, plus they take less than a metre of fabric each, and it’s a nice excuse to use adorable prints. All the fabrics are from spotlight, and I serged everything together as far as was practical.

This first set is for the 1 year old son of an internet friend. I could not resist the pirate monkeys. The buttons on the pants were bought for my Kasia skirt, and then I lost them. Then I found them, the day after I bought new buttons. But nevermind, I really needed six for Kasia and I only had four – perfect for these pants. The stripe fabric in the pocket is leftover from Kasia, too, although I bought the drill new. I also made velveteen pantaloons for this kid.

Because what kid doesn’t need velvet pantaloons? I know I need some. I used the tute from Cirque Du Bebe, which was where I saw the pattern in the first place, and the pantalooning was the reason I bought it. (That and it is too freaking adorable.) I think next time I’ll make the cuff thinner, and it would have been nice to have an actual leg to measure but oh well. The cuff is a bit dodgy since it was quite thick, and really small, fiddly place to sew, but it’s for a toddler so haute couture is not really necessary.  I’m pretty delighted with the buttons, though, also from my stash.

Perfect.

This set is in the smallest size, for my best friend’s baby who is just on 8 months.

I wish I’d been more thoughtful about the placement of the dinos in the pocket. This one turned out pretty nice, by accident.

I didn’t want to do buttons, partly because my sewing machine can be a bit temperamental about them but mostly because who wants to button up a super squirmy 8 month old? NO ONE. And this kid is squirmy as all get out. I had a bit of a hissy fit about not being able to find snaps anywhere, since spotlight only had silver and pearl ones, each sold in packs of 6 with an applicator tool. It’s an expensive way to buy them, and anyway I wanted coloured ones. I looked into snapsource and a few other places like that but postage was just stupid, so I ended up buying them from Mr Walrus on etsy. They were super quick and helpful, I am planning another order because snaps are GREAT. So many colours – and I might need some of these for my own garments. So much easier than buttonholes, especially since my sewing machine only likes to do reliable ones on thick fabric. It was ok on the pirate top because I only needed one buttonhole on each side so I could get away with them being unpredictable lengths and heights, but that’s not so great down the front of a garment. I’ve ordered special pliers for them but really, I enjoy the opportunity to hit things with a hammer.

These outfits were really quick and fun to make – the first one I made of each took me a while, but once I figured out what was going on I am averaging about an hour on each garment. The Oliver + S instructions are really clear and sensible, and their printable pattern was nicely laid out, with a minimum of taping and cutting to be done. I definitely recommend them.

Last night I cut out a bunch more so that I have something to sew when I just have a few minutes. There are plenty of small people in my life to sew for.

I’m trying to be more deliberate with making, because I know if I don’t make something every few days or so I start to get a bit twitchy. I haven’t been knitting much, since my hand is sporadically a bit sore from a bung shoulder and I’m just not really feeling the urge lately, so I’ve been sewing more. It’s much easier now that I’ve rearranged my sewing room and I’m more likely to be able to sit down and get sewing without having to move piles of stuff.

There’s a moral in that. Unfortunately it hasn’t seemed to have any affect on the rest of the house.