Wednesday, 27 September 2017

Back to School with Gracious Threads


I am so excited to show off the outfit I made for the Back to School with Lulu and Celeste and Sprouting Jube Jube Productions! In case you haven't figured it out yet, Jess from Gracious Threads is local to me. Her Lazy Days lounge pants are one of the first PDF patterns that I purchased when I first started sewing clothing. The first pattern test I ever did was also for Gracious Threads when she re-released the Starfish Shorts a couple of years ago.When I saw that Gracious Threads was on the list of pattern designers for this Back to School blog tour, I just had to jump at it and make an entire outfit using her patterns!


Of course, we had to take that one step further and make a colour pallette and take photos of our kids together. Jess decided to sew for her 4 year old too so we got the kids together for photos, a tour of the dairy farm, and then for some playtime! For this tour I made 5 different pieces to create a Minnie Mouse inspired outfit. 4 clothing pieces from Gracious Threads and 1 lunchbag which I will show you below. For the clothing I made the Raindrop Tee, Henday Zip Up Hoodie, Lazy Days Lounge Pants, and the Puffin Vest. 


The vest is actually an upcycle from an adult vest and is full of down feathers! What a mess that project was. I'm planning a blog post entirely dedicated to how I upcycled the vest because i do have a few pointers for anyone wanting to take on that project. I made the tshirt and hoodie according to the patterns without any changes. For the pants I used this amazing stretch woven that I found in a clearance area for $3 per meter! My skinny mini probably needs a size 3 pants with size 4 length but I did a straight size 4 for her since I was using the woven. They are plenty big and should fit all fall/winter no problem. I used my coverstitch to put some fun detailing on the seams to make them more sporty.


I think it is officially fall in Alberta. On the drive out to Jess's farm my car was reading 6 degrees celcius, the leaves were starting to turn, and we saw some geese flying south. Needless to say, in Alberta, back to school means that Winter is fast approaching and the kids need long sleeves, pants, and lots of warm layers. (We've even already had snow but luckily it melted right away). The Henday Zip Hoodie paired with the Puffin Vest are perfect for fall layering. Jacket weather is fast approaching but I had to pack up my entire sewing room as we started house renovations so I didn't have time to make one. I absolutely love the Whale Softshell Jacket that Jess made for her little man (pictured below) and it will definitely be on my spring sewing list. 

 

We didn't get too many photos of the kids together. The kids were cold, shy, and getting two 4 year olds to pose together when they just met doesn't exactly lead to the best photos. Luckily we tend to go for the close-ups since we dont show any pictures of my daughter's face online. And how cute is that calf! During our tour of farm we found out this little girl is only a few days old! Go check out Jess's post for today to see all about her little man's outfit and to see a few more pics of the kids together.
I also got to test this pretty awesome Hobo Style Lunch Sak from Gingercake Patterns and Design. I used Insulbrite for the first time and really like how this bag all went together. I used a stiffer fabric that I already had on hand that I had bought for another project and then never completed so I didn't need any interfacing. For the liner I used the same ripstop from the Puffin Vest. Unfortunately I didn't
get any "modelled pictures" with the lunch sak because I forgot to bring it with us - but that's okay! This lunch sak is for me anyways. My little's food for pre-k and daycare is entirely supplied by the daycare facility. When she starts Kindergarten next year I will probably have to at least pack her a snack so I will get her to pick out her favorite character fabric and sew something she will adore! I started a new job the same day that school started here so I think I deserved a little something new!


















I hope you enjoyed the post. As always check out some more projects on Instragram and also stay tooned for my post all about the vest upcycle - coming soon!

Cheers! Michelle

Monday, September 25, 2017
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Friday, September 29, 2017
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Thursday, 14 September 2017

Sew Long Summer Metro Hoodie Review

I want to introduce you to my FAVORITE hoodie. (well technically it's a pullover because it has both an option of a hood as well as a cowl, but you get the idea...) I was planning to review the hoodie here for the SewLong Summer Blog Tour but honestly, the Metro Pullover is well drafted like all SS&G patterns, I love all the options, and i've made a tonne of them... so instead, I present you my Metro timeline.



I pattern tested the Adult Metro Pullover from Sew Straight and Gather back in December 2015. I absolutely love the first cowl version that I made out of birch organic interlock and a soft cotton lycra french terry. Since it was almost Christmas, I decided to give that version to my soon to be sister in law. I love how the pattern test turned out and I even managed to get a pic featured in the pattern!


Well, I was pretty sad to give away my first version so I splurged and bought some gorgeous soft bamboo french terry in a deep purple and light grey from my favorite local fabric shop - Marshall Fabrics.  I made up this version pretty quickly after Christmas (my Instagram post is Dated Jan 3, 2016). I absolutely love this version and still wear it. Often.


Fast forward to a fabric strikeoff from Black Rabbit Fabrics. When this strikeoff arrived, it was just asking to be made into a Metro Hoodie. Since I hadn't yet made the hooded version I decided it was time to make myself one. Unfortunately I used a lower quality solid french terry that I bought at fabricland for this once since it was all that I had on hand and there really wasn't any stretch to it. It knew it would fit my soon to be sister in law better than me so she got yet another Metro for Christmas. Incidently, I love these wintery sunny photos!


Next up I decided to try my hand at the kid's Metro. I actually bought it at the time it was released since it was 50% off (The kid's release coincided with the adult release). Fast forward to December 25th of 2016 and I finally got one made. I did an unlined hood with a binding around the opening. This Sky hoodie was waiting under the tree for a Sky obsessed 3 year old to open up! I also made the superhero one below. in March 2017 This one was a birthday gift for a dear little boy who turned 6!



Lastly (and most recently) I made another Metro Hoodie for myself. This one was made in a gorgeous wintery cotton lycra strikeoff again from Black Rabbit Fabrics. I paired it with a navy solid and left off the pleat in the back (on accident but luckily it all worked out)



So in summary, 6 Metros's (4 Ladies and 2 Kids), 4 different fabric types (organic interlock, cotton lycra french terry, cotton lycra, and bamboo french terry) and 1 very satisfied customer.

Go grab it, what are you waiting for?

Cheers! Michelle
(As always, come check me out on IG)

Check out the Sew Long Summer blog tour lineup!!!
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