By Brienne

We Won! Plus a Humble How-To: Embroidered Kitty Tee

I still have quite a bit to share from Kids Clothes Week. Getting pictures of everything has been a bit challenging, being that we were so desperately in need of new clothes that they were being worn hot off of the machine AND my trusty photo backdrop (which, incidentally is also our camper) was dropped off at the repair shop to get ready for our camping trip. It's been gone for more than a week and I still step outside with garments and camera in hand, ready to use it and realize that there is nowhere outdoors in our weedy, jungled yard to safely snap a photo these days:) 

Anyway! Last week, in addition to sewing for KCW, I snuck a couple of entries into Papercut Patterns' Anima Pants Competition.  I actually made myself two pairs and one pair for my girl. The pattern only comes in adult sizes but I really thought that the pattern would lend itself well to kids too. 

I really love converting an adult pattern to kid size, like when I made a tiny super tote for STYLO. I didn't know how it would work out with clothing, but I am stoked. To get the pants pattern in my daughter's size, I did some kind of fuzzy math. I wanted to get a percentage so that I could reduce the size of the printed pattern. So... I measured my daughter's height and waist and then divided those numbers by my height and waist measurements. According to these measurements, she's about 60 percent of my size. I printed the pattern off at 60 percent and then proceeded as normal. It worked! And even though we didn't win the grand prize (so many FABULOUS entries!!) I was surprised and thrilled to be included as a "highly commended" competitor. 

To go with the little girl Anima Pants, I made this Flashback Skinny Tee and embroidered a kitty face on it - heavily inspired by Made by Rae's DARLING kitty-faced-baby set from last spring.  

Now, I hesitate to ever call anything a "tutorial" because I am such a novice myself. Just the same, embroidery can be tricky and in case knowing how I did this inspires you to make something yourself, I'll share what I remember about doing it:) 

First, I cut out small shapes using knit stay tape and fused them to the front of the tee to use as a map for the embroidery. This step is fussy but the embroidery will look way better of the shapes are already outlined. If you were embroidering on a light-colored fabric, you could just draw the shapes using a dissapearing ink pen. 

 I used the satin stitch on the eyes and nose. And a split stitch for the whiskers. 

I didn't fuse anything to the inside of the tee to cover the knots but they are holding up well to washing and not feeling scratchy to her either. After the tee was embroidered, I assembled it as usual. Have you embroidered on knits before? Any tips?

Joining Frontier Dreams readers today. 

Stitching Softies ala Posie Gets Cozy

This is Miss Dandelion Doe. She is one of four new kits available for sale from Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy. 

She is being called by her full, formal name in our household and is, according to the boy, in desperate need of a brother/husband (he makes no distinction between the two). 

I've gotten softie kits before, not many but a couple and never actually pursued them to the finish. Alicia's kits, though, well there's some kind of magic in the little package. No detail has been spared. The head, ears and limbs were all so carefully drawn. The nose is just the right, slightly rounded shape. The legs are springy and long - just as they should be. 

The project comes together relatively quickly but I wanted to take my time. It was important to me that the shapes not be compromised by greedy, bulbous knots at the ends. And the little creature captured the hearts of my littles almost immediately. I wanted them to join in the fun.

I did all of the stitching this time, although my daughter was desperate to get the needle in her hands and next time I will relent. She did all of the stuffing. And after doing so, unable to wait for me to stitch limbs to the body, the kids played with her undressed and with one leg for a whole weekend:) 

The instructions provided with the kit are complete and easy to understand. But my experience with the blanket stitch and with sewing softies together by hand is limited. Plus it always helps me to have a couple of references to use when I'm trying something new.

Wool Foods Mama's  Toy Maker University Series includes a three part tutorial dedicated to making felt toys using the blanket stitch, starting with a simple project and working up to a very cool playscape at the end. I referred to this a couple of times while I was making Miss Dandelion Doe, particularly the part about beginning, ending and going around corners. 

The most difficult part of the project, for me, was the tiny clothes making.The kit came with a beautiful Liberty Lawn, which I waited to cut into. I wanted to make a muslin first. For this dress, I used Riley Blake's Swiss Dots in Gray, leftover from some the sewing that I did for the Squam sale.

The reason that the sewing is difficult on the tiny hems is that because the pieces are small, the machine has little chance to gain purchase. If you start sewing the seam too close to the edge, the fabric might get eaten up. I staystitched the curves and hems to get a good pressing line and worked slowly and carefully throughout.  I held onto both of the needle's threads when I began a seam and even tugged a bit at the fabric on both sides of the presser foot as I sewed.

I made her boots out of scraps that I had leftover from this tote and others like it. 

Her shawl is not perfect - a friend once told me, though, that each project should contain a "spirit stitch". That is, evidence of the human who made it. So I finished the shawl anyway and tied it on:) There was enough yarn in the kit to make one that was maybe even double the size - I may make a larger one next time. 

Once she was done, the kids and I thought that Miss Doe needed a quilt. Quilt making is also on my list this summer. I've now made three tops but have yet to finish any of them! So I used this opportunity to make a sort of swatch quilt out of some catnap scraps that I had left over also from the Squam sale. Plus a bit of Nani Iro fabric from my daughter's dress in STYLO magazine. 

Best project ever! And the most loved by my littles project ever. Longest post ever...

Joining Nicole and company over here today:)

Joining the Small Things readers and knitters today too and in honor of that - a brief plug for one of the best books that I have ever read, ahem listened too... Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward was the National Book Award winner in 2011. The book is about a family in the weeks before Hurricane Katrina. The subject matter is dark but the story is so beautifully written. I could not stop listening to it. And although I chose it in order to better acquaint myself with contemporary southern authors, I soon forgot about that and became completely absorbed in the beauty of the language and in the pure, whole-hearted relationships between the siblings. In my opinion, it is a must read.