Baby robe and pants

Book:  Lockstitch baby, style #7 & #15

Size:  70 cm

Fabric:  Knit

What I love most about Japanese patterns is the simplicity of the design and construction.  The fit is usually good but in the case of the robe I believe it was a bit off so I had to make some adjustments.  Again I discovered that in these books any garment not photographed on a live human tends to have an fitting issue.  Here is what it looked like before the adjustment:

I believe it was way too wide.  Since I decided to line to the edge I simply top stitched through both layers and made a casing for elastic to pull in the sides.  And I think it looks quite pretty now.  Here is the back:

Since I made the pants before I know they are a great fit.  I just had trouble with the hemline stretching out a bit.  Also I forgot to reinforce the snaps and had to unpick them and fuse some squares of fabric underneath to prevent the snaps from tearing out of the knit.

And because I love cute Japanese design I had to throw in some cute little Japanese tights in with the outfit.

Easy little jacket

This jacket was inspired by one of our favorite Japanese pattern designers Iroha.  Unfortunately she has shut down her shop and is no longer offering patterns.  The pattern is really quite simple though, just two rectangles.

Marie' and I will work on our own instructions and recommended measurements if there is interest here.

This one was made out of a cotton/Lycra interlock from Yellow Bird Fabrics in Salt Lake City.  I'm offering a bunch of photos here so you can see how the jacket changes to the shape of the wearer (please excuse the awkward modeling and photo taking skills of my 5 and 7 years olds).

Back:

Side:

Neckline:

Drapes over the shoulder:

Closure:

Would love to make another one out of this from Emmaonesock.

Felt Food

Book:  Felt fruit and vegetables book

This was fun!  Most of it was actually constructed on the sewing machine using a blanket stitch.  The grapes were done mostly by hand by my 7 year old.  And the banana is so cute because it peels and actually comes out.....but I'm not showing that because the kids say it doesn't look really yummy like that.

We didn't use a pattern for the sandwich supplies below.  We just looked at the picture for the general idea.  The bread is fuzzier because we used the cheap felt from Jo-Ann fabrics, the rest was nice thick Japanese felt.

And the same for breakfast, we just cut free hand.  The bacon got crinkly from a piece of elastic inside.

This project was  not as painful as my first attempt last year.

Felt Animals

I purchased this kit from Superbuzzy for my 5 year old daughter to make for her younger sister.  It far beyond her skill level but she enjoyed the stuffing and beading.

It took a while to get my stitches neat and even.  I also used the blanket stitch on my machine for the long runs.  Despite my sloppines they turned out so cute!  More photos here.  The kit was $25 but we will use the leftover felt cutouts as a pattern for more deer.

Pajamas for boys

Book:  Children's lockstitch

Fabric:  Various knits from the Fabric Fairy

Sizes:  90, 120, 140, 150 (not included I graded up)

These were quick to sew up but I can't say the pattern was a sure go like most Japanese patterns.  Maybe I should have gone down a size for each child but I found the crotch lengths too long in addition to both the sleeve length and shirt length.  

It may be also I'm used to more fitted knit pajamas, the boys aren't complaining though, in fact I think they found them more comfortable.