For pyjama day at school

So, on Wednesday afterschool the children inform me that Friday will be pyjama day at school since it will be a half-day, plus it will be a pancake breakfast with Santa. They wanted new PJs. So, I obliged. I used Kwik Sew 3042 for all 3. Joshua and Katerina are size M, and Isabella is size XS. All three are made from flannel.

Joshua's has snowboarders on a blue background. Katerina has skiers on a pink background. Isabella has puppy (teddy bear?) with presents on a red background.

A Kindergarten Christmas

For your listening pleasure, here is Isabella (and class) singing 3 Christmas songs from this morning's "concert".

Jingle Bells


There was a Little Baby


We Wish you a Merry Christmas

The rink is OPEN!

Joshua and Isabella still have colds so they aren't on the ice but here is Katerina on her first backyard skate.

Yoga Pants

Much to my dismay, Katerina had a major growth spurt recently and all her yoga pants are too short. Here is a pair I just made for her using Kwik Sew 3498, size M. I added 1 inch in length.

School Christmas concert

The twins had their Christmas concert this afternoon, and Isabella and I went to it. Joel will go this evening. Here are some clips that I took on my point-and-click camera. I was in an awkward position and zoomed in so the quality isn't great and the footage is shaky. The Grade 2 classes (3 classes) are combined and they are singing about bells. Katerina has a short singing solo, and they both have short speaking parts.

I've also included a clip from the Grade 5 classes. They are "chimney sweeps."

The musical director, Mrs. McCoy is very creative and makes these concerts fun for both the children performing and the audience.

Later tonight, they go back for an evening performance. Joel will be taking some footage with the camcorder. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some better footage a bit later.

Here are the clips from this afternoon in chronological order.

Parent Watch Week at Ballet

Here are my two lovely ballerinas:

Christmas Costumes

Isabella's kindergarten class wants to put on a little play for Christmas this year, so her teacher asked if I could make some costumes. I made an angel, a donkey, and 3 wise men. I used McCall's 2340 and as is typical of McCall's it ran big. I had to alter the pattern in length 10 inches! I'm not really happy with the over-robes for the 3 wise men. I said I would alter them this weekend so they aren't so big. The donkey is made from a combination of the pattern for the over-robe and the pattern for the hood from Katerina's Hallowe'en cheetah costume. I self-drafted the ears and attached a tail (which isn't visible in the picture).

Dolls for Kindergarten

These dolls are for Isabella's kindergarten. Her teacher asked me to make them because she wants to explain skin colour to the kids. She picked out the fabric and gave me a sketch of what she wanted.

Hallowe'en at Isabella's Kindergarten

The Huskies in action

Here is some video of the last couple of minutes of last night's game.

Hallowe'en

Here is the group that went out on Halloween. There was one more boy that joined up with us a little later and Isabella and the other little one only lasted about half an hour. The other little girl's dad took them home.

So, from the back L-R we have a Men In Black agent, Batman, Elf, Singer, and Snow White. In the front L-R we have a Princess, Yellow Power Ranger Spirit of the Cheetah (Isabella), a cheetah (Katerina), and White Power Ranger Spirit of the Rhino (Joshua).

The children had great fun and brought home copious amounts of candy. They kept some candy but are trading the remainder for a wall poster (each) of their choice. We will go pick them out this week.

Here is a closeup of the cheetah costume. I used Simplicity 2855, size M. She loved the costume and because I made it a little larger, she will have a couple of years of play out of it, too.

Choices. Choices. Choices.

A day at The Prairie Gardens

It was a perfect day for a field trip. All the kindergarten children from Isabella's school went on a field trip to The Prairie Gardens in Bon Accord.

Coming off the 1-hour bus ride:


From the bus, we went to a puppet show:


After the puppet show, we went through the haunted house. Isabella ended up a little too scared but she perked right up on the hayride.


As we were traveling around on the hayride, we saw this ship in the distance. For a couple of dollars (proceeds to charity), a person could shoot a pumpkin towards it out of a cannon. We didn't partake in this activity.


Following the hayride, we went to the petting zoo. We saw sheep, bunnies, and alpacas.






After a good hand sanitizing, we played in a ball pit constructed from hay bales and had a great adventure in the corn maze. On the way to the pumpkin patch, we rocked out with the skeleton band:


The prize of the day was being able to pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.


We all had a nice picnic lunch and some playing in the playground to burn off a bit of after-lunch energy, and then back to school. It was a gorgeous day and lots of fun!

Isabella in hockey gear

Hockey time is nearing so we had to see if Joshua's gear fits Isabella. Ayup.

Pants for Katerina

I finished these on the 17th but I haven't had time to post them here. The pattern used is Jalie 968, size 8. The colour of the corduroy is actually a lovely wine purple.

I had a bit of trouble with the buttonhole because I had sewn the belt loop on first and it kept getting in the way. I eventually tacked the belt loop down with some hockey tape (the Canadian staple) and then it was nice and smooth.

The pattern is a really good fit. She has growing room (done on purpose). The leg is a straight leg, boot cut. I know the style is more towards skinny leg now, but I don't want to put that style on her as I think she is too young (6 yo). This is a good compromise, I think.

I will say that the construction order for these Jalie pants are a hell of a lot better than the Ottobre pants I made Joshua. I will be following Jalie's instructions next time, instead.



Here is a closeup of the front of the pants:


Here is a closeup of the back of the pants. The belt loops look like they aren't aligned properly but they are (weird angle, I guess):

8-gore long trumpet skirt

The pattern is the same pattern as this post, but the long version. I had to do careful cutting because there is a crosswise vine design so I had to make sure I aligned the pattern properly.

Underwear for Isabella

The pattern is the Jalie pattern as this post, but size 5, and also I used binding instead of elastic. I actually made 8 pairs of underwear but Isabella wanted to wear one, so only 7 are pictured.

8-gore short trumpet skirt

The pattern used is Jalie 2681, size 8. The pattern is super easy. You just cut out 8 identical pieces and sew them all together. Add an elastic waist, hem, and then you are done.

It twirls really nicely, too.

Denim jumper

This is the same pattern and size as this post. The fabric used is a light-weight, waffle-weave crepe denim. I embellished the dress with some hot pink vines along the neckline, the armholes, the bodice, and the hem. Following is a closeup of the embroidery.

Underwear

Just to see if I could, I made some underwear for Katerina.

The pattern used was Jalie 2564, size 8. The underwear was originally an old shirt of mine that I never wear anymore. It had the proper amount of stretch so I thought I would give it a go. Katerina thinks they are great.

Same style, next size up

This is the same pattern as the jumper Katerina is wearing in this post. It has the same modifications but is one size larger, size 8.

The fit is much better. I really like this pattern.

Jumper style #2 for Katerina

The pattern is Simplicity 3902, size 7. I made this one without a zipper. The pattern fits a bit snug for her so I will go up to a size 8 for the next one. The fabric used is a fine wale corduroy.

The first of the fall jumpers for Katerina

The pattern is Simplicity 5645, size 7. The fabric I used was a faux-suede. It has a beautiful drape to it but it is a bit hard to push pins through, so I did quite a bit of pinching of seams instead.

The pattern went together easily. I added top-stitching at the waist and I used the same fabric for bias-binding in the armholes. For the next dress, the only alteration I will make is a narrowing of the shoulders.

An autumn dress for Isabella

My poor little one is sick with a summer cold and even though she doesn't look all that thrilled, she really was very happy with the dress.

The pattern is Burda 9673, size 4. I added some top-stitching on the skirt segments, the sleeve cap, and the sleeve flounce. I shortened the sleeve flounces a little bit more as I know Isabella doesn't like them too long. She has a top with sleeve flounces that are too long and she always gets them all mucky.

The fabrics are brown medium-heavy wale corduroy and a flowery flannel. The brown corduroy was actually a 1-metre remnant I picked up at Walmart for around $1.50. One metre was too small of a piece to make Joshua some pants, and I became obsessed in finding a use for it.

This dress, paired with some thick leggings, will be perfect for the fall and winter.

Lots of top-stitching!

These pants are from Ottobre magazine, issue 4/2007, design #29, size 8 (European size 128). In tracing this pattern, I added a 5/8" seam allowance. I used a larger seam allowance because of the double top-stitching. This is my first time sewing an Ottobre pattern. It went reasonably well but the zipper placket gave me quite a bit of trouble.

Even though the pattern called for a 4" zipper, I tried using a 6" one, as that was my smallest zipper. In fiddling around, trying to get the zipper to fit, I must have screwed up somewhere. Also, I wasn't familiar in using a placket to attach a zipper. I wasn't pleased with the result. It ended up looking like I had sewn darts at the end of the zipper.

I ended up taking out that zipper. I also had a pair of Joshua's pants that were ripped and beyond repair. I took the zipper from that pair. As a bonus, that pair had a zipper placket, so I was able to examine the installation in detail. Once I put in the new zipper placket, with my new-found zipper placket knowledge, it looked like it should.

I also adjusted this pattern to have an adjustable waist using buttonhole elastic. Joshua has a skinny waist and without the adjustable waist, he would have to wear a belt. The boy barely remembers to zip up his pants (occasionally) and a belt would be a disaster.

Overall, I am pleased with this pattern. It was a lot of work, but next time it should go a little easier. I will be taking a break from making pants for a bit, though.

Burda 9641

These are for school in the fall for Joshua. The pattern used is Burda 9641, size 8. I left off the flap pockets on the sides of the legs, and the belt loops as the waist is elastic. I used 1.25" elastic and 22" in length. I attached the elastic with the serger, then turned and used the sewing machine to finish.

I tried using the coverstitch but the fabric plus elastic was a bit too thick for it and the stitching was messy. The elastic could easily go up to 1.5", and I could definitely shorten to 20"-21".



On the back, I left off the no-pocket flap and instead put a back pocket on. I might lower the back pockets next time. I like the pattern and I will definitely be making a few more for him.

Socks

They are the bane of my existence. There are always missing socks. I have a pile of singles. Every time I do laundry, some get matched up, but others join that pile. It changes yet it stays the same.

Then there are the girls' socks. It's so hard to tell them apart. I tried marking Isabella's with a Sharpie but that eventually washed out. Now, I'm trying sewing a zigzag of black thread on them.

First of the Back-to-school clothes

This is a pair of cords for Joshua. The pattern is Burda 9860, size 7. The following picture is the detail top-stitching on the back.




This pattern took a little while to sew. There is quite a bit of detail and I added even more. I also made the waist an adjustable waist so that required adding buttonholes and buttons to accommodate the buttonhole elastic.

The pants have a little growing room but not too much, so I need to start making size 8 for Joshua. This pattern is definitely true-to-size. I'm going to try a different pattern for the next pair.

UPDATE: Here he is wearing them.

Another summer nightie for Katerina

I was about to start working on some back-to-school clothes but Katerina pleaded for another nightie. This is the same pattern, Kwik Sew 3105, that I used for the previous two nighties.