Pattern Review: Ottobre hoodie - Issue 1/14

Today we have a guest post from Kristi who blogs over at Kopykat & Kidz.  Her blog covers sewing for both kids and adults and various craft projects. She has a fun casual style that is certainly worth checking out.

Thank you Kristi for giving us another option for the ever popular hoodie!

Name of the pattern:

The pattern I’m using for this review is the Zip Up hooded fleece jacket.

Pattern Source:

This pattern is from the sewing pattern magazine, Ottobre, issue 1/14.

Sizes available:

Ottobre is a European magazine so it is published with European sizing.  This threw me for a loop when I first started sewing from it because using my kid’s measurements to figure out sizing put them all over the place.  Then I found out that the sizes roughly equate to their height in centimeters.  This made my life much easier!  The pattern comes in sizes 128 – 170 cm.  Abby is about a size 10/12 and I sewed up a 140cm based on her height and it fits her perfectly.  If I would have sewn her pants I might have based the size on her waist measurement and added length.

inside view

Special materials required:

The only special material I needed was a separating zipper, however if you want to make it just like the pattern you also need two zippers for the pockets, two grommets (and a little bit of interfacing) and flat cotton cord.  I don’t know if it’s a special material, but I did use a size 14 stretch/knit needle for sewing as well.

Skill level required:

I think this is probably an intermediate pattern to sew up.  The thing that makes it lean more toward intermediate is the zipper installation and the fact that Ottobre is catering to people who already know how to sew.  What I mean is that there are no pictures of the construction.  If you have sewed up a hoodie before you will not have any problems following Ottobre instructions.  Also the princess seams in the front and back mean that you are sewing curves together instead of straight lines which can be a little trickier.

back inside view

How you came to choose the pattern:

In the case of this garment the fabric came first.  Abby and I were at JoAnn getting some microfleece for a coat for me (I finally got it sew and you can see us pictured in our hoodies.  Mine is also Ottobre Women’s, issue 5/14, very similar but with no hood.  The sizing women starts at a European 34 which is about a U.S. size 4.  This could also be a great option for the older tween/teen) and she found this light blue microfleece.  Since I love to sew for my kids and she did need another hoodie for fall we bought some.  Then we talked about hoodies and I decided to make this one.  I love the princess seaming it has.  I think it elevates the regular boxy hoodie to a slimmer fit one for tween/teen girls.

Happy Holidays!

We are taking the holidays off but never fear, if you are looking great ideas, we have lots on our pinterest boards and in past posts.

See you in 2016!!

Sally, Stacy, and Major Moma

Swingset Skirt Review

I had the lovely opportunity to be a part of the Sew-a-long over at Oliver & s for the Swingset Skirt and what a lot of fun it was!  As a panelist I was asked to sew up the skirt and not only give it a go, but add whatever I wanted.  My plan was to sew up the skirt as part of my girl's holiday outfits...but then my youngest, Clara, got asked to help lead the Pledge of Allegiance for the Veteran's Day Program at the high school. I looked through her closet and realized that she really didn't have any 'nice' red, white and blue clothes (except for the Moto Jacket by Jennuine Designs, which I blogged about here). What to do? Why, give the Swingset Skirt a test run before hitting the fancy fabric, of course!

This is my finished 'patriotic' Swingset Skirt. I pretty much made it as is, except I added a couple of inches to the underskirt, because I wanted the red and white stripes to peak through and I used twill tape for the draw string instead of making my own.  The thing I learned by doing a run through was that I needed to disregard the instruction of putting right sides together to sew the over skirt to the underskirt...by doing this your seams will end up on the outside (the side that will be seen when sticking out) of the skirt, which is not what I wanted. But all in all, I love it, she loves it so it's a win/win!

Up next were there fancy skirts {insert disclaimer that these pictures are not my best...the only day I had to take pictures outside this week was the day it was raining cats and dogs. I put it off and was only able to get quick early morning before the mad rush to school shots} 

They do love how they turned out though and I can't wait to finish the shirts to go with them!

 As for the pattern: Swingset Skirt by Oliver & s  which now goes up to size 14!!!

It is a very straight forward pattern and is quite simple...but the possibilities are endless. People have added pockets, played with the under/over skirt combination, used interesting fabrics and much more. It worked well with the light weight wool I used in the patriotic skirt as well as the fancy fabrics for these 2 skirts.

Materials: Besides the 2 fabrics, you also need elastic...that's it! 

 I deviated a little from the pattern/instructions in that I played with the length of the skirts a little and I used ribbon instead of making my own drawstring tie.  I also added a little ribbon in between the two skirts to gather it up on one side...it turns out the my youngest daughter loves it and the other with the snow flake overlay does not, so it might be taken off that one. I also realized that shear fabrics would not work well with a casing...duh, the elastic would show through...so I had to deviate a little more by creating a pseudo waistband. I just cut the top 3 inches of the over skirt from my solid fabric, attached it to the over skirt and then proceeded as per the instructions...pretty simple fix, really. 

 The Good: Easy versatile pattern that you can buy in paper or pdf form from the Oliver & S website.

It does not require any super sewing skills...just a great beginners pattern. It is easy to make and doesn't take a ton of fabric. But with a little imagination you could make this skirt countless ways! 

 No bad or ugly to report, so I give this one 5 bolts for a great beginner pattern that is VERY versatile!

Pattern Review: SLPCO Saige Dress

Name of the pattern: Saige Dress

Source: The Simple Life Pattern Company

Sizes available: 2T - 12

Special materials required: Knit (about 1-2 yds depending on the version you make), elastic or cording

Skill level required: Experienced beginner

How you came to choose the pattern: I am a pattern tester for this company.

Did you deviate from the pattern?  Small deviation.  On the “bib” portion, I lined the black one since I used Perfection Fused Leather and it would have been hard to turn it under.  On the brown leather, I just left the edge raw.

Good:

This dress fit her great.  It didn’t have any ruffles and gathers, and was a great tween item.  She got tons of compliments on her SuperGirl dress.  I went with her measurements and graded between sizes (in this case I did 8W, 12L).  The pattern instructions were fairly straight forward, and this is a pretty easy pattern to make.

I made both versions with some leather additions (since I have a stockpile!), and it helped to make them look more mature.  The bib section was great for adding iron-on vinyl embellishments, which she requested.  The drawstring is cute, and I added some beads to the ends to give them some interest, and also to make sure they wouldn’t slip through the holes for the drawstring.

Bad:

I don’t really have anything bad on this one.  It was a fairly easy sew.

Ugly:

Nada.  It is cute and she loves it. 

Overall pattern rating:

Swingset Sew-A-Long with Oliver & S

Guess what I have going on...go check out the Swingset Skirt Sew-Along happening this month over at Oliver & s.

There is a fun sew-a-long going on for this very versatile skirt (just check out what the other panelist are doing) and it's perfect for the tweens because it goes up to size 14! There will also be some great prizes for some lucky sew-a-long participants...so what are you waiting for? Go check it out!