Sewing with Knits
The Cultivate Blog Tour
Wheeee! I am so excited to be today’s stop on Bonnie Christine‘s Cultivate Blog Tour! Have you seen the beautiful fabrics that she’s designed for this collection? (And, do you know what a great name she has?) Continue reading
Hooded Ninja Tees ~ RB Knit LOVE
It’s my turn on the Riley Blake Knit LOVE Blog Tour! If you’ve been here for any time at all, you probably already know how much I love working with RB’s stretch jersey knits. They wash and wear beautifully. The weight is perfect. They’re easy to sew, and the selection of prints and basics has grown so large, you’re sure to find something that you love! (Check them all out right here: Riley Blake Knits, and purchase them at your favorite local quilt shop!) Continue reading
The Seesaw Dress Is Coming Tomorrow!
There’s a new Fishsticks Designs pattern coming tomorrow! Update: It’s available now, right here: The Seesaw Dress! The Seesaw Dress in sizes 12 months to 7/8 is an all-knit dress that is a great choice for those of you who are new to sewing knits, as well as those who already love knit sewing. This casual, modern dress features two options: the Basic Dress and the Pocket Dress.
Because of the dolman-sleeve styling the basic dress has only four pattern pieces and a quick, easy finish. It’s a comfortable dress that can go from the classroom to the playground with ease. 
With just a little bit of extra work, you can add interest and POCKETS to this sweet dress!
The pockets and inset are perfect spots to feature small pieces of favorite fabrics, and what little girl doesn’t need a place to keep the treasures she collects through the day?
The instructions for the Seesaw Dress walk you through two different options for putting the dress together. Each method has different advantages, but both teach you a simple way to get a finished edge on the neckline and sleeves. The PDF version of this pattern includes all the latest Fishsticks Designs updates – nested sizes, individual sizes and a full-size pattern option.
The PDF version of this pattern will be available tomorrow at noon eastern in the Fishsticks Designs pattern shop. Look for the paper version at your favorite local quilt shop beginning next week!
The Casual Straight Skirt Tutorial @ Cutting Corners College
I’ve got a brand new tutorial up at Riley Blake’s Cutting Corners College! The Casual Straight Skirt is a stylish and comfortable skirt that sews up in no time at all.
The skirt is made with stretch jersey and takes advantage of those great curling edges in some fun details, and you can make it to fit from toddler to misses with just a few measurements!
Find the tutorial right here: The Casual Straight Skirt in Jersey Knits.
Kids Clothes Week April 2014: The Second Half
My spare sewing time ran really short over the weekend, so I cheated a bit and wrapped up my Kids Clothes Week sewing this morning! Shhhh … I didn’t do the Easter sewing that I mentioned in my last post. Instead, I opted for two really quick Charlie Ringer Tees! I finished shorts for my two little guys to go with these a few weeks ago, but since the shorts are from a not-yet-released pattern, modeled pictures will have to wait just a little bit.
The Ringer Tee from the Charlie pattern is my go-to when I’m in a hurry. Because I serge most of it, it’s so fast! I only pop over to my sewing machine to hem the bottom of the front and back and topstitch the neckline. Everything else is done on the serger. (Of course, you don’t have to have a serger to sew this pattern. You can totally make it using your regular sewing machine!)
Kids Clothes Week netted us five pairs of boxer briefs and two tees. That’s not too bad for seven-ish hours of work, is it?
Kids Clothes Week April 2014: Tuesday & Wednesday
I’m squeezing in time this week for Kids Clothes Week! Usually, when I join in, I plan what I want to sew and just do it, but this time, I’m working on new patterns and prepping for Quilt Market so I’m really just doing the suggested hour a day. I’m excited, too, to see how much I can do in just that much time! Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s hours combined were enough time for me to sew up all five pairs of the Undercover Bottoms Boxer Briefs that I cut out on Monday.
I had a little company this morning while I was working. I posted this picture on Instagram of Charlie and his “guys” hanging out on my sewing table:
My kids don’t just have to be in the same room with me. They need to be as close as possible to me! It’s a good thing that it’s a big table.
I used the plain front option without a fly opening on these. It’s not as cute, but it’s faster and my boys don’t use the opening anyway. I also did the no-elastic waistband following the instructions that I added when I updated this pattern last month. Basically, you use a cotton/spandex blend fabric and cut the waistband a size smaller, then just stretch it to fit when you attach it. Voila! Super comfy undies that stay put – easy peasy!
I was going to do a couple of tees for the boys with my remaining time, but since Easter is in less than two weeks, I think I might change my mind and sew up some Easter clothes instead!
Kids Clothes Week April 2014: Monday’s Prep Work
Kids Clothes Week starts today! Are you sewing along? There’s a theme this time, but you don’t have to follow the theme. My creative juices are all tied up in new pattern work right now, so my boys are getting some handmade basics this week, starting with Undercover Bottoms Boxer Briefs for Jamie. My first KCW hour was spent cutting out five new pairs!
If you’ve followed me for a little bit, you’ll probably recognize these fabrics from PJs and tank tops. I love how easily underwear uses up all those little knit pieces in my scrap pile!
The Updated FREE Tank & The Red Carpet Awards!
I’m nearly bubbling over with excitement here! I have several new things to share with you over the next week or so, and I can’t wait to hear what you think about each of them! Today brings the first two announcements on the list: the re-release of the FREE Fishsticks Designs The Tank pattern (now in sizes 12 months to 14) and two nominations for Fishsticks patterns in the PDF Pattern Designers Red Carpet Awards!
If you’ve never joined the PDF Pattern Promotion and Sales Group on Facebook, I encourage you to take a few minutes to head over right now and check it out. You’ll find over 10,000 sewists who are devoted to supporting independent pattern designers and encouraging each other in their sewing endeavors. Many of your favorite designers are there, too, joining in the discussion, sharing their latest patterns, promoting their sales, helping out with questions and more! This week, the group moderators have announced nominees for the first ever PDF Pattern Designers Red Carpet Awards in conjunction with a HUGE giveaway, and all you have to do to have a chance of winning is go vote!
Two of my patterns were nominated: the Charlie Tee & Hoodie and the Runaround Pants, and I’d love if you’d vote for them! To read more about the giveaway and to vote, just click the banner below:
As my little way of joining in the celebration, I’ve revised my free The Tank pattern, adding big kid sizes and incorporating a big change that is coming soon to all of my PDF patterns.
The Tank pattern is designed to be sewn with cotton and cotton blend knits — jersey, interlock or ribbed knits in the body and interlock or ribbing for the neckband and armholes.
The fit is narrower and longer than a standard tee, making it great for layering, but still perfect for wearing on its own. It also makes a great PJ top when paired with woven or knit lounge pants. (If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the appliqued tanks that I made for my seven-year-old last month!) Or, you can match it up with Undercover Bottoms Boxer Briefs for the perfect little boys’ undies set.
A little aside from the pattern itself, isn’t that the cutest fabric? My boys LOVE it! It came from a custom fabric group that you can find right here: Fabric Stache. If you’re looking for great knits with prints that you can’t find just anywhere, go visit! (They’re doing sew-alongs every other week right now with my knit patterns, too.)
Back to the subject at hand, to download the pattern, just click right here: The Tank Pattern. I’ll be back tomorrow with my next announcement, but if you’re already familiar with my PDF patterns, you’ll figure it out really quickly by scrolling through The Tank pattern!
I just have one, no, two last pictures to share before I wrap up this post. Because we live in Florida, tanks work well for us almost year-round. My little Florida babies, though, thought that they were going to freeze to death when I dragged them out to take pictures last week . . . in 65 degree weather!
The “freezing cold” weather, however, did not stop them from insisting that I follow through with the promise of frozen yogurt after our photo session!
Operation Pajama Drawer: Mixed & Matched Motorcycle Jammies
The month is over tomorrow! Are you finishing up PJs right now? You have until midnight eastern on 2/28 to add your photos to the Fishsticks Designs Flickr Group for a chance to win that $35 gift card to Simplifi Fabric!
This last pair of Operation Pajama Drawer knit jammies for Charlie is a mixture of several of my patterns. I started out with the Patrick Curved Raglan and added the Runaround Pants, but because I love the curled jersey edges on the Runaround Pants, I replaced the traditional hem on the Patrick with the raw-edge hem from the Downtown V-Neck. (I really should have cut the shirt a little shorter to make up for the different hem . . . it ended up really long! More growing room, right?)
Apparently, modeling pictures of pajamas with motorcycles require the wearing of goggles.
A strange thing happened as we were finishing up these pictures. Jamie asked to put on his dinosaur jammies and join in! Maybe he’s getting over his why-do-you-have-to-take-my-picture-all-the-time phase? Or maybe he just wanted to share in the post-modeling bribery reward of a lollipop?
I’ll be back with my last two pairs of pajamas tomorrow! I can’t wait to see all of your finished PJs!
Operation Pajama Drawer: Appliqued Big Kid Tanks
Oh, my! I had so much fun with these! I started with my free The Tank pattern, but since it only goes to size 5, I had to grade it up a bit to Jamie’s size 8. (Would anyone else like to have this pattern in Big Kid Sizes?) Once I had the pattern ready, I dug coordinating knit fabrics out of my stash, and then the fun part started — designing appliques to match the fabrics in the pants that I made a few weeks ago! I like the way that these came out so much, I’m a little sad that they’re pajamas!
These raw-edge appliques are really quick and simple to do. You just press Wonder Under or Heat N Bond Lite onto the back of your fabric, draw or trace your design on the back, cut it out, peal off the backing and press your applique to the clothing (or pattern piece). You can use a zig-zag stitch around the edges, but for these, I just used a regular stitch about 1/8″ to 1/4″ inside the edge. This way, those edges will fray a bit in the wash for a fun, casual, modern look.
Here are all of the tops with their coordinating Pajama Party PJ pants:
Since these all fit the same, I let Jamie choose which set he would model for me, and he was quick to yell, “FOOTBALL!!” 
Like I did for Charlie, I added a tiny bit of extra length to these pants so that Jamie has some growing room. (Why do kids always seem to grow up way faster than they grow out?!)
Taking pictures of Jamie is so much easier than taking pictures of Charlie.
He’s so much more mature, and silliness is really just not a problem.
Nope, no silliness here at all.
So, how’s your Operation Pajama Drawer sewing coming along? Friday is the last day to load your pictures to the Fishsticks Designs Flickr Group for a chance to win a $35 gift card to Simplifi Fabric!
