kzjo'studio

The only handmade gifts I managed to get finished before Christmas...

I only managed to get a few handmade gifts done before Christmas and they were literally made/started and finished in about the 3 days before Christmas Eve. After the crazy flu/cold/hold-me-up-on-all-my-holiday-game-plans illness of early December, I really had to narrow down what were the most important and what I could actually get finished in the few days before Christmas. Let's face it, I had to be on real-sewing-time not fantasy-sewing-time. So here's what went down:

Fleece Infinity Scarf for S:

This was the fastest of all the projects and I found a remnant of this zebra print lace at Jo-anns. I think the cost was around $3.00. It was a winner and went in her stocking. It's soft and she is getting lots of wear out of it, plus it is zebra print (her favorite of all time).

The next thing that I knew I needed wanted was to make a Christmas Eve present! I knew that pjs were a must! Along with some fun pillows and a movie for them to watch on Christmas Eve night. So, in all my years of hoarding, I remembered that when I was a kid one year I made my cousins some really awesome felt pillows and lucky me my mom saved the patterns. I proceeded to hoard hang onto them for years. I made S a pair of sunglasses and I made X a surfboard.

 They turned out awesome and lucky me I had all the felt in my stash. These came together in just a few hours.

Next up were Christmas Eve pjs that coordinated but not necessarily matched in style. One girly and one boy-ey (if that's even a word). First of all I had scored a major deal on some sweater knit at Jo-anns, I bought all the had left and made an "Eleanor" cardigan from it and still had several yard left. I knew it would make for great Christmas Eve pjs, and would work year round.

Christmas Eve pjs:

I made X some really simple shorts from a pattern I had in my stash-- I can't remember who it's by but the size I made for him I really had to make quite a few adjustments because once I made them they were huge! Otherwise they were a straight forward and really fast short pattern and I will probably try and make some more for him to wear in the spring and summer.

For S, I used the Greenstyle Girls' Everyday Yoga Pant in a size Medium. I did make a few adjustments to the pattern, I tapered the legs in to make them more like regular leggings and I added cuffs to the bottoms. That turned out to be a great addition because they would have been to short if I hadn't. 

Here's a better picture of the cuff and the foldover waistband:

They ended up to be perfect and the sweater knit isn't see through so these have moved up from the pj world and she has been wearing them with some tunic style tops. I already have requests for more and hopefully I can get a few more pairs made this month.

For the shirts I took the quick and easy way out and picked them up at Old Navy. I think that they worked out really well and all the handmade items are in heavy rotation around here. I call that a win!

So there you have it, all the gifts I managed to get made before Christmas. This year I plan to start much early, probably like July!

The Ballard Top from Straight Stitch Designs

 

Somehow, I missed the testing call when it was first put out, but luckily I made it just in time to still be a tester for Kimberly's newest pattern, the Ballard from Straight Stitch Designs. The Ballard top turned out to be a lovely addition to my fall wardrobe. It really is business in the front and party in the back as you can see in the photos below.

After a quick trip to a local fabric store, where I scored some awesome burnout gray jersey that was on a remnant table, I pictured it making a fantastic Ballard. I was off and running. I cut a straight size 16 and began sewing the afternoon away.

This is seriously one quick sew and I ended up finishing it in that same afternoon. It's always a huge plus when I can come away with a finished garment in just a few hours. Some of my favorite details include the gathering at the neckline, the length, and the band on the bottom hem. Overall, this is a great pattern and would be a wonderful addition to your wardrobe.

The Ballard is easy to wear, the length is just right, and the band finishes on the sleeves and bottom hem are terrific. I can't wait to pair it with leggings and my knee high boots, too! 

I can already see making a few more to add into my ever growing handmade wardrobe.

Make sure you grab your copy of the Ballard from Straight Stitch Designs over on Indiesew!

Be sure to check out the rest of the pattern tour to see all the other amazing Ballard tops that these awesome ladies are rockin'!

An array of completed and totally random projects

Lately, I have been completing all sorts of projects. It seems like I am on project overdrive and the list of things I want to make keeps growing. I figure as long as some get crossed off, it is fair to add a ton more. Here's some of the things that got finished up!

A $20 find that the boyfriend awesomely turned into this little gem! It is one of my favorite pieces in our home right now. He spent one afternoon, spray painting (it is a hammered bronze) and re-staining the top. It fits perfectly under the clock and now holds our fruit bowl, the family recipe book, a plant will be going in the basket, the dutch oven, and mixing bowls!

I finished up this pillow with some blocks that were made for me through quilt guild. I think that they were sitting on my design wall for a year. I love how the pillow adorns our bed. I am amassing a small collection of homemade pillows for our bed :)

I made this little random place mat for under my keyboard.

I also finished another pair of lounge pants for S! One of the best things is my cover stitch machine, it is a breeze to finish the hems. Now I suppose it's almost time to get started on making some lounge shorts for summer for both X and S.

An arrangement that hangs above the art gallery wall. It is very springy and I might even keep it up through the summer. All the flowers are from Michael's.

When I checked out our local thrift stores to see if I could find any hidden gems, I found some plastic plates that I knew that I could make into a cupcake stand. The two wooden candlesticks were from Michael's. I used some E6000 to glue them together and then the boyfriend worked his magic with some silver spray paint. It worked great for the party and I can't wait to use it many more times.

 

 

A Spring Capelet

Luckily, I have been able to fit in a little fun sewing in between all the pattern making and designing. S turned ten last week and I wanted to make her something fun, cute and very spring worthy. Thumbing through several of the sewing/craft books sitting on my shelves, I came across the Red Riding Hood capelet in the Oliver + S book Little Things to Sew.

I knew it was going to be a little bit of a risk and spent about an hour debating if I should make it or not. I mean your either a capelet kind of gal or not at all. Anyways, I threw caution to the wind and headed to the fabric shop. I picked out a very pink twill for the outside and a super fun white printed twill (what can I say I was a sucker for the foxes, flowers, and spring colors).

Overall, it was a very simple pattern to put together, the only real change I made was to edge stitch along every seam and around the outside. All the extra edge stitching just makes it look even more professional plus as an added bonus it really adds a little extra reinforcement to the seams. I adore how it turned out (I am a complete sucker for the capelet) and S really liked it, I think she is waiting for the perfect moment to wear it.

Details: Pattern // Red Riding Hood capelet Olvier + S Little Things to Sew

            Size // L

            Fabric // Pink Twill; White printed twill both were from my local Jo-Anns and neither are on the website

 

Another round of Lounge Pants for the kiddos...

I finally managed to get some time to attend to a much neglected aspect of my life... sewing time and my sewing machine! Sewing as really fallen by the wayside in the past year or so. Every time I have actually been sewing has been a more out of necessity or I really have to make something right down to the wire type of project. Over time, I realized that this was really starting to make me an unhappy camper since I truly love to sew and spend time creating things. Now I am able to make my sewing time back into what it should be: a huge priority. October and Halloween costumes really gave me the push I needed along with some other big changes around here to get back into the habit.

First up, the kiddos needed new lounge pants (I used this pattern I drafted some time ago and is a main stay in my sewing room. It's fast, easy, and not fussy at all). I made X 3 pairs and S 1 pair (I need to see how they fit to make some adjustments if needed before I start making a ton, I thought that would be the smart approach and hopefully save me some time in the long run!). Needless to say the X loves his like crazy even though I ended up making them insanely long (we have to roll them up a bit), but it always seems like I will blink and the pants will be too short before long.

This time around on the pants, I did a nice wide cuff to the bottom as an added touch and use up some of that extra length:

And for his birthday he requested this little number after he picked it out at the fabric store. (his charlie brown obsession is pretty awesome!) *these are fleece and the rest are flannel, I always prewash :)

It feels awesome to be back in the swing of things and I have a few more sewing projects in the works. Plus, the kiddos are ending up with some overdue new pjs to get them through the winter.