Project Run & Play Week One: Pokemon!

Its that time again!  I’m so super excited that PR&P is back with a new season and a new set of themes.  I always like to sew along and since my SewJo came back, I dove right into these themes.  Let’s get on with it…week one: Pokemon!

We love Pokemon around here. Well, we love the show.  We haven’t had a chance to play Pokemon Go because our phone is old and can’t support it…we’re soooooo out of touch.  But the cartoon is a big hit in my home.  When trying to pick the perfect character, I tried to incorporate my sewing style and personality with my daughter’s favorite color and there you have it!  Slurpuff!  To see this Pokemon in action, get your tush to the TV, turn on Netflix, select Pokemon XY and get to episode 27.  Its a fun one FO SHO.

Slurpuff is a fairy Pokemon that resembles something you’d find in a sweets shop-meringue!  They have very keen senses of smell and a body of puff.

For the patterns I used the Maggie Mae dress by Shwin and altered it to what I wanted.  I contoured the bodice at the waist, added an invisible zipper to accommodate that, added some lace overlay and ricrac and added a full double skirt with pretty scallops to make it all Slurpuffy.

When she’s in the dress alone, she’s more like Swirlix- Slurpuff before it’s first evolution.  Pretty super geeky of me, no?

I also added a little sash because sashes are awesome.  Dresses love sashes.  Give that dress a sash.

I wanted to add a little bright pink bolero because I love the bubble shape Slurpuff has.  Its playful and another way for me to incorporate the retro style that I love so much.

And the PINK.  Oh my gosh the pink.  Slurpuff is a pink poofball of PaPOW.  This pokemon was just the perfect inspiration for me AND my girl and we’re both super happy with the outcome.  

Thanks for reading!  If you’re sewing along, make sure to link up so everyone can see and get inspired.  I choose YOU, y’all!

-Crystal-

Project Run & Play Sew Along- Season 10: Week Two (Crystal)

It’s week 2 of Project Run & Play and the theme is “Hand-me-Downs” which translates to upcycling (essentially)…which translates to FREE (nearly)…which translates to WOO HOOOOOOOOOO (totally)!  Lets jump right in, shall we?

I decided to do a boy look this week since my little guy has officially grown out of all of the hand-me-downs we inherited from the wonderful male cousins that came before him.  Since 3T clothing usually doesn’t outlive the year of use because boys turn into filthy and crazy daredevils that destroy everything, I was so sad to know I’d have to buy stuff.  The death of a cheapo.  So sad. Luckily I can upcycle and BAM!  Stylish stud

Imma gonna go ahead and start with the fancy pants he’s wearing.  For this look I used a pair of MY old pants and a GIRL pattern.  I totally reused girly things for a boy look.  I bleach dyed the jeans using the preschool method of tie dying with random rubber bands all over.  It turned out just as I had pictured and worked like magic with the Sis Boom Katie pattern.  I forgot to get a pic of the jeans before I bleached ’em…whoops!  But I got a pic before I cut them, so points for me!

The vest was ALSO a “girl” pattern.  I used the Allspice by Paisley Roots without the pintucks to make it.  I added some length to get it to be manly and decided to go reversible because it’s just cool.  The peach side has pockets (the original pockets from the fugly shirt from Grandma- she wouldn’t even wear it) and the khaki green side has some custom stitching.  For that side, I used a pair of my husband’s old torn up shorts.  Seriously, I don’t even want to know what kind of bathroom issues cause a hole THIS GIANT to form in the crotch seam.  Gonna leave that one alone. All I had to purchase for this look was a reversible separating zipper.  That’s it for the WHOLE LOOK.  YAY!

The hat pattern is from Apple + Fig. and is SO COOL.  The size ranges from baby to adult, so it’s a good use of the dinero.  I used the rest of the mystery injury shorts to make it and added a little sea turtle reverse applique with the leftover bleached denim.  My boy loves sea turtles…it wasn’t just some random “I like turtles” moment.

The shirt was made from a shirt.  So clever, I know.  But I love the fabric of this shirt and my husband didn’t like the original, so yeah.  I made it better.  I used the Flashback skinny tee from Made by Rae.  It’s so cool!  Love this pattern.  Easy and comfy and the perfect fit.

That about sums up my look!  4 pieces that can be interchanged with the rest of his wardrobe.  They’ll blend right in with his other stuff….like a dresser ninja!

-Crystal-

Back To School with Maggie Mae!

I’ve spent a lot of time the past few months working on school clothes for my first child in kindergarten.  I was not ready for my BAAAAAABY to be in kindergarten AT ALL.  Not ready to not have her all day.  Not ready for her to be more independent.  Not ready for parent homework.  With all the things I wasn’t ready for, I was determined to be ready for one thing: that child of mine was going to look fabulous.  I combed  all of my patterns looking for ones with sleeves (there’s a 3” strap rule which is basically sleeves on a 5 year old) and got to work.  One of my go-to patterns for a successful sew is the Maggie Mae by Shwin.  I made two for school and I love them both!

The first I made was a tunic length.  There’s also a “no leggings as pants rule”, so I had to make sure it looked good with jeans.   Seriously…these rules.  SO MANY RULES.  I had a rule of my own- I had to use my stash.  We do not have any disposable income right now, so stash busters were a MUST.  I had some of this leftover Cherry Print that I’ve used for a bunch of stuff and I found an old dress I hated and used the grey skirt for the yoke.   BAM!  One top down and my awesome factor is UP!

I decided to make a dress version as well.  Kids grow up and need to be “cool” so quickly.  I’m DEFINITELY not ready for that, so I’m keeping her young as long as she lets me.  I was given this AWESOME gnome fabric that I’ve been obsessing over for a year and I knew I needed it for something.  I paired it with a sparkle denim and YEP!  This one’s for all my Gnomies. This dress started out as a different pattern, but my daughter complained that the bodice was “too itchy”.  Whiner.  (But it totally was itchy).  I decided to go back to Maggie Mae and it was better.  Muuuuch better.  The only thing I changed , really, was the skirt.  I made a wider skirt and gathered it, rather than using the slimmer and pleated version that comes with the pattern.  I also made  a white sash and a denim flower for that Papow!  My girl even wore it to picture day!  Maggie Mae saves the day!  But I’m, at the very least, her sidekick.  But like a sexy sidekick that everyone likes and invites to parties because no one wants to be Robin…

Anyway, I hope you like two of my school looks.  There have been a lot more and you’ll get to see at least 2 of them next week…ALLSPICE WEEK.  WOO HOO!!!

-Crystal-