Oliver + S

+ Me

= gift for Abby's bun in the oven

I finally picked myself up one of these Oliver + S patterns from Liesel Gibson of Disdressed last week. I have been excited to make one of these dresses and finally had the perfect opportunity with Abby's baby shower this past weekend. The sundress pattern was fairly simple, although not without a few complications imposed on by myself, but it came together nicely and hopefully pleased the soon to be mama.

I must admit though, my favorite part about these patterns is the design. Simple, clean, and darling. And I can't not give a shout out to Brooke, who doesn't have a blog, although I beg her every day, for the creativity behind the packaging. The paper doll concept is genius, and I want to collect all the patterns if not just for the dolls. I even got to be a part of the Oliver + S process. I watched Brooke's kids while she worked on the packaging, and she even asked for my opinion on some of the details. It's great to have such talented friends.

I chose an Americana theme for this sundress. I love gingham and denim always compliments it well.

My favorite part of the dress is the buttons. Kelly taught me how to
make fabric covered buttons, and now I'm hooked. Matching buttons on
everything!!

Colorblocking

I think one of my first purchases from banana republic was a colorblocked sweater. I remember walking by the store and my eye immediately being drawn to two thick striped sweaters in different shades hanging faced out. I saved for one, wore it proudly longer than I should have, and since have had a love for anything with a stripe wider than three inches.

For this dress, I was mainly inspired by a dress I bought this winter at a Bird clearance sale. Clu makes really great colorblock dresses from different knits, I only wish I could make my own versions, so I mainly look at them for inspiration, or when they are 75% off.

For the bodice, I used very easy vogue pattern # 7871. The same pattern from the floral dress in this post. I changed it slightly, making the neck a little less boatnecky, and a little bigger (the floral one doesn't fit as well as it used to). The waist and skirt were trial and error. After a couple of attempts, I ended up using the simple skirt pattern in the sew u book giving it an extra inch and a half for gathers and a slightly less a-line shape. A patterning class would sure be helpful when I take on projects like these.

My favorite parts about this dress are actually the pockets and zipper. I love the trend of the exposed zipper and have wanted to try using one for awhile now. Lucky for me, they are much easier to put in than a lapped or invisible zipper, I usually avoid putting any form of them in if I can. And pockets, who doesn't love 'em?

And in other sewing news, I am thinking of opening up an etsy shop soon. No dresses yet, my 2009 goal, but most likely baby and toddler ties, and little dresses. You knew there must be a reason I post all of my makings, I'm trying to hook you in.

We're mad for plaid!

During one of my vintage plaid fabric crazes a few months ago I bought this very colorful fabric on ebay. Most of my plaids have been purchased for less than a few dollars a yard, which is why I have an abundance of them just sitting, waiting to be sewn together. I had a hard time deciding what to make with this particular fabric. I knew I wanted a shirt, I just couldn't decide on the cut. After combing through patterns, browsing my favorite sites, and debating on whether to use the old standby, I remembered back to a shirt I saw while visiting my dear friend Carrie in Chicago. Very similar to the one I made, it had a more feminine feel to the traditional button up, and could give some room for a possible expanding belly, something I hope to have a need for in the near future.

I used built by Wendy's simple shirt pattern in her book Sew U. The patterns in this book are so simple and basic, perfect for alterations and creativity. The only one I have never used, and will never use is the pants pattern. Just the idea makes me anxious. But the shirt, the only adjustments I had to make to the pattern were in the body, cutting it where I wanted the top of the yoke, and extending the body two extra inches to allow for gathering. I  also changed up the sleeve, giving it more room on the top and bottom for gathering and added the detail of the hem.

And the leftovers? used for yet another tie of course. I couldn't resist, I never thought I would be one of those mom's that wanted to match their kid, but here I am, loving it.

And for the record he posed himself, I just clicked.

Our weekend review

I am still recovering...many activities, sugar overload, late night sewing. But it was great and memorable. A little more sleep would have been nice, but thanks to my procrastination, I just powered through the fun. Poor me.

Tom took Luke off my hands for a bit, a friend of ours was visiting from NY. I had around three hours to get some sewing done and make the easter egg chocolates I had been procrastinating on all week. Very yummy though; coconut and peanut butter variations dipped in white, dark, and milk chocolates. We ended up staying up way to late, partly due to me sewing too long, and partly to us getting sucked into watching Deceived, a movie I have embarrassingly seen way too many times. Then Luke showed up and wanted to help dip the chocolates.

Saturday morning, our community hosted an easter egg hunt for the kiddies. We invited Luke's closest friend Chloe and her parents, and had a great time helping them find the eggs amongst the brush and shrubbery. We followed up the hunt with my favorite breakfast of German pancakes and cinnamon rolls. Why not start the sugar fest weekend off with a bang?

Being that Saturday was also our anniversary, Tom surprised me with an indulgent afternoon of kid free spa time including an hour full body massage, manicure, and pedicure. I have never been able to justify an hour massage the way I can a new top, so I have only had one other massage that I can remember, and I think it was only a half an hour. And ever since I heard about a report on 20/20 of the risks of pedicures and infections, I have avoided the jetted foot tubes, and have been to cheap to pay for anything better.  But I enjoyed every minute of it, and even spent some time in the sauna.

Tom picked me up in my lethargic state, with just enough time to grab some dinner before heading to my anniversary gift to Tom, tickets to see Jose Gonzalez. The music was perfect and beautiful. If you have never heard Jose Gonzalez, I suggest you click here and listen to his beautiful cover of Heartbeats, accompanying my most favorite commercial ever. Its kind of old, but I could watch it over and over.

The rest of our night was spent with me finishing up my easter dress, I had to do it, especially since the weather promised to be at least 60 degrees. But before I knew it, midnight came, and I was too tired to finish the matching tie for Luke. So I got up early.

After Luke's nap, we had our easter festivities, all revolving around him. He hunted for eggs hidden around the house, refused to put down his chocolate sucker, and enjoyed digging through the easter pale filled with as much as my mom could find from the dollar store.

Tom and I have started a month long diet of fruits, vegetables, and lean meats just to recover from the weekend, and way too many similar to it.

From this to this

I don't usually use tablecloths as the fabric of my garments, in fact this was the first time. It all started at Luke's birthday party. I wore one of my favorite A.P.C. dresses, actually sort of similar to the pattern on this tablecloth, and my friend Staci really took to it. She called me the next week to tell me about this tablecloth she found at TJ Maxx that she thought had the potential to be made into a similar shirt or dress. She didn't come out and ask me to make it, and I didn't volunteer either, but I recommended she buy it anyway in case she took up sewing.

The next week I found out her husband and friend were throwing her a
surprise birthday party, I knew I had to make the shirt for her. The problem
was I wasn't completely sure which table cloth it was or it it would
even still be there. The next morning I drove to TJ Maxx and picked out the most similar tablecloth to what she had described and what I had imagined. It was a bit heavier than the usual
cotton I use for blouses but I thought it could still work. The tricky
part was figuring out what pattern to use for the top that would fit
what she had wanted and work with the fabric. I finally decided on this
pattern, with a few adjustments.

I really like how it turned out. I love that it reminds me of my favorite book as a little girl, The Secret Garden.
Well maybe that's a stretch, but it does make me really want spring to get here, and quickly.

My favorite part about the shirt was being able to surprise the birthday girl. I think she went around the room and told the story at least six times, which I was happy with, but I had to draw the line at her wanting to try it on to model it for everyone. I couldn't take that kind of attention.