Oliver & S Sailboat extravaganza...

Liz, said I had something that would "blow your mind".  I don't know if I would have billed it so highly myself, but since she said I'd be here, here I am!  Maybe 2014 will see a great return to blogging?!!  Certainly we never stop making, but finding the time and the balance with the making, and the life living, and the blogging, it just gets so complicated!

Dear readers, as you will recall, 16 months ago I had my second set of twins, bringing my total kid-count up to SIX.  I keep myself busy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I dream of my bed and sleep, and sleeping for days on end, on a regular basis.  But these babies are killing me with their cuteness!  They serve as little toddling bundles of inspiration.  I knew that I wanted to find more ways to make them "matching".  It seems to amuse me to no end.  And, I've had a hankering to challenge myself in the sewing world.  To remind myself what my mind and hands really are capable of.

Enter, Oliver&S patterns.  I've sewn my fair share over the years.  Who hasn't.  But I will reveal, that I am NOT a huge fan of the investment of time that they require.  Liz and I have pages of texts back and forth when an O&S pattern is in the works, about how painfully long they take.  True, the finished product is always spectacular (if you chose your fabrics correctly).  True, the fit is always delightful.  True, the sewing instructions are clear and wonderful. True, if the pattern involves a zipper and lining, you will likely be forced to do some dreaded hand-sewing as your last step!  True, I swear off O&S patterns, only to come back to them again and again.  I hope that someday I will get so totally speedy that I can just sew one without lamenting the amount of time it will require!  So, that is why, in 2014 you may see me making them over and over again in an attempt to get faster!  I can only keep sewing in my life if in fact, making a dress does NOT take twelve total hours of time!

Without further ado, here's what I came up with for my Dynamic Duo this past week!

Whenever I make an O&S pattern, I do search online first for bloggers who are sharing any details about the fit, pattern, etc. they discovered as they sewed.  Since I am always searching for that info myself, I will add to the collective knowledge for a moment:

I did lengthen the pant pattern pieces.  I lined up my pieces along their ankles, then I cut them apart about halfway between the crotch and the ankle.  I inserted two inches, then pieced them back together.  It turns out that was the perfect amount to add for Wally.  They hit him perfectly across the top of his foot.  But, I had to hem them pretty tight, and they might become too short pretty quickly.  So, I will savor these pictures and have them wear these outfits again before too long.

That was the only alteration I made to the pattern.  Otherwise, Wally is wearing all of the size 2 pieces.  And Eleanor is wearing the 18-24 month.  There was a pretty good difference between those two sizes, and my babies are about five pounds apart.  The shirts are kind of hard to get on.  They are narrow, so to wiggles their little arms up into the sleeves, isn't exactly fun.  But once the shirts are on, I think they fit really well.  I might add another inch or inch and a half in length to the shirts, next time around.  But otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing.

Hope you like making button holes if you choose this pattern.  In case you were counting, that is 16 buttonholes, and 16 buttons!  I REALLY need to figure out how the Bernina will sew those buttons on for me.  That took way too long one night.

You guys!  I'm a huge fan of these ensemble.  I will make them again.  And, I am already contemplating turning Nora's top into a dress for the next go round.  That would be so easy, and so cute, and many a sewers have done it before me.  So I have lots of inspiration to draw from.

For the pant and skirt that is the Robert Kaufman railroad stripe.  It's kind of a canvasy type fabric, with a touch of stretch.  It's GREAT!  Wally's top is a solid Kona.  Nora's top is from the beautiful Waterfront Park line.

Hope I've been helpful!  Happy Sewing!!!

I couldn't resist...just one last one :-)