Well Dressed Man Onesies and Shorts

The practice onesie that I'll be hanging on to for my little guy.

 My brother was married last month, and I decided to take on the responsibility of making some little outfits for  two of my sweet nephews.  I found some men's dress shirts on clearance at Old Navy, and thought that they would make some darling, and lightweight,  little wedding outfits.

The tops have an appliqued tie, and a vest that is attached at the side seams of the onesie.  I ended up using interfacing on both of the vest pieces to provide it with a bit more structure.

The shorts were designed by me, and made to match.  They feature a faux fly, and some decorative tabs on both the side of the short pant, and on the back pocket.  The vests and shorts have several yellow buttons to pull the whole outfit together.

I love that the men's dress shirt's provided a lightweight material for the shorts.  Who wants to make a little baby suffer in the summer heat?  I was able to squeeze both outfits out of the two shirts, but I did have to be very careful when laying out my pattern pieces.

I don't have a tutorial or pattern prepared, but maybe in the future. I was really pleased with the fit of the shorts, and the overall appearance of the outfit, but these little cuties could make anything look good.

Apple Picking Vest and Tips Tricks and Techniques

This year my dad made an early request for a Christmas gift.  I explained that he'd like to have a vest with deep pockets that he could wear when picking apples.  I've mentioned before that my parents have a small apple orchard on their property, and having such a vest would definitely speed up the apple picking process.

I made the vest out of a gray denim that I picked up at Joann's.  I used a double fold extra wide bias tape to finish off most of the raw edges.

I made it so that the vest was sewn together on one side, and snapped together on the other.  If I were to make another vest like this, I'd probably have it snap on both sides.

Obviously I wasn't in the mood to iron out the vest for the photo shoot.

The pockets were designed so that they'd remain open.  To create them I added extra material width to the pocket.  I created a pleat at the base of the pocket to account for the added material.  I then applied boning to the top of the pocket which made it free standing (or opening).  I figured that the boning would make for easier apple picking.  I added some reinforcement stitching in the upper corners of the pocket.  Without the reinforcement stitching, the pockets would sag down and empty their contents.  The stitching helps the pockets stay in place, and support their load.

There is a pocket on either side of the vest.  With the one side sewn shut, I am guessing that it is going to be rather difficult to flip the vest around when one side is full.  However, if my parents are picking apples together, my mom can just load her's into the back side of the vest.

Milton, NH Mackenzie Farms

Hopefully it will prove helpful next apple harvest.

Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

Tips, Tricks, and Techniques is a little segment that I plan on starting.  It may happen on a weekly basis, or maybe randomly according to my posts.  It is a segment that I am starting in an effort to become a better sewist.  I feel like I'm learning everyday.  Most of my learning comes through trial and error.  Whenever I start a project that involves techniques that I haven't before attempted, I provide myself the opportunity to learn a bit more.

I would love to share the little bits of sewing knowledge with you.  .  My plan is to occasionally post tutorials on sewing techniques. I'd love to know if there is a specific technique that you'd like me to post on.  I'm open to suggestions. Some examples of techniques that I am referring to would be: sewing darts, creating pleats, sewing French seams, creating a blind hem, applying facings to a garment, ect.   Please let me know if there's a sewing technique that you'd like to explore together.

That being said, with this apple picking vest I worked with boning for the first time.  Boning is a wonderful thing.  It is often used in creating corsets, and fitted gowns.  It can be used to provide stability to everyday garments as well.  I've also seen it used on nursing aprons, which allows for the apron to stay open so that you can sneak a peak at your nursing babe.

I found a great video tutorial online that helped me apply the boning to the vest.  I thought that today I'd share that with you, rather than creating a tutorial of my own.  

Another great reference point is this article from Threads Magazine.

Thanks for reading.  I'll be linking here.

Hip for the Holidays: The Toddler

Hip for the holidays is winding down, and I hope that you've enjoyed a few of the things that I've shared.  I'll pop in tomorrow with a tutorial for a simple hair accessory, and Friday I'll feature some of my favorite projects from the Hip for the Holidays link party.  If you have any projects that you want to share, please feel free to link them up.

This is somewhat of a repeat from yesterday, but I am pleased with the results so I thought that I'd share.  Before I made the newborn baby cords, I made this pair of black cords for Clark.  He seems to be growing like a weed, and his Sunday wardrobe is seriously lacking.  I decided that he needed a new pair of pants, and that I was going to make them for him.

I had some medium weight black corduroy that my mom picked up at a garage sale earlier this year.  It was a very nice weight for a pair of pants, and should hold up well.  I picked out Clark's best fitting pair of pants from his closet, and used them to draft a pattern.  I'm not very experienced in sewing pants, so this was a whole new experience.  I had to make my guest guess at creating the fly, and the pockets, and the belt loops, but these are all details that I feel "make" a pair of pants.