Last-Minute Baby Sewing Binge (Before Being Stuck in Bed) — With Tools and Robots!

Up until last week, the only item I had actually finished for Baby Wood was a single pair of Better Than Booties baby socks (the green ones shown above, Raveled here). Then I looked through my stash of newborn and tiny baby items and completely panicked, because I have almost NO gender-neutral clothes for tiny babies (what if we have a boy?!), and very few warm winter clothes (Z was a summer baby).

I made a thrifting expedition and scored 15 cute little second-hand gender-neutral baby things for $26, but dressing baby in store-bought clothes isn't as SPECIAL or FUN as putting him/her in something me-made, now is it?

So I ramped up my baby knitting queue... and last Sunday, while the four-year-old was visiting her grandparents, I went on a bit of a mad sewing binge, tracing, cutting and sewing seven little itty bitty baby garments in one day--more than I've sewn in one day ever, and more than I've sewn for months total. AND all the fabric and patterns had been in my stash at least four years, or were secondhand, so—SCORE FOR STASHBUSTING and CUTTING UP OLD CLOTHES TO MAKE NEW ONES.

Mainly, I wanted to make some cute, snuggly, special baby outfits for the new one to wear home from the birthing center.

Set #1: Orange overload: A little cotton kimono knit top with contrast ribbed bands and cuffs in an orange tool-themed print with matching pants and hat, plus an orange merino wool side-buttoning cardigan and little wool booties (in progress).

• The kimono top and pants are from the wonderful New Conceptions Baby Essentials layette sewing pattern set. Kimono tops are great for pulling over big wobbly newborn heads, and I love that the sleeves and pants are finished with cuffs instead of hems—I highly recommend this easy and versatile pattern. The main fabric is a soft cotton interlock with a tool pattern I bought ages ago from the Fabric Fairy, and the navy and orange ribbing were from a Sew Baby ribbing color assortment. I made the newborn size, and sewed everything but the top hem and the pants waistband on the serger.
• The super-simple hat pattern is part of Kwik Sew 2433, another great knit baby clothes layette pattern for rompers, jumpsuits, hats and booties.
• The side-buttoning cardigan is the Beyond Puerperium cardigan pattern, a fun and simple raglan sweater (the newborn-size Puerperium is free, but I bought the version with more size and yarn weight options). The yarn is Malabrigo Rios in the color "Glazed Carrot", a soft, washable, squishy worsted-weight merino yarn. (Cardigan raveled here with full details).
• The in-progress booties are knit from the free Gansey Booties pattern in the same yarn, and I have an earflap hat in progress (the free Aviatrix hat pattern) as well to finish off the ball.

I just love the tool pattern on this fabric—perfect for a little girl or boy from a family of makers, crafters and builders!

And aren't these buttons pretty? I do not want to talk about how much they cost, but I got them at La Casita Yarn Shop Café, an awesome local Brooklyn yarn store:

Next up:

Set #2: Gray and red and blue with a robot: Another knit baby set, plus a red cabled cashmere cardigan hoodie.

• The kimono top and pants and hat are from the same patterns as set #1. The main fabric is a super-soft cotton/rayon rib knit I cut out of a top from a giant bag of second-hand maternity clothes I bought for a song from a local mom (I have plenty of things to wear for the next 6-8 weeks, don't worry). Immediately after it was done I decided it was too boring and needed an appliqué—my husband suggested a robot would be just the thing, and I think he was right.
• The red cashmere cardigan hoodie is my TNT baby hoodie from Kwik Sew's Sewing For Baby—this is my fourth version. I cut it from a super-soft designer thrift-store sweater that had some stains and snags. The best part was I didn't have to attach any sleeve cuffs or bottom waistband—I just cut the pattern to include the original ribbing. I stabilized the front facings with bright turquoise petersham ribbon from Pacific Trimming and applied blue snaps from Sew Baby. I was going to put an appliqué on this piece too, but decided it didn't really need one.

Don't you love a pretty piece of petersham or grosgrain in a sweater? (And no, I haven't finished applying the inside snaps yet).

Here was the original sweater... there is something SO satisfying about cutting up ruined garments to make pretty new ones, isn't there? Not to mention that cashmere knits can cost $60-$175 a yard if you can even FIND them or that new cashmere baby sweaters run $100-$300... whereas this one came to less than $5 in materials:

Here's the robot appliqué in progress—it's just a scrap of bright turqoise ponté, applied with fusible webbing, then stitched down around the edges by machine:

The eyes and heart I embroidered by hand. Which is something I'm really into lately:

And that's good, because yesterday my midwife ordered me onto scheduling resting (basically part-time bedrest) due to some severe swelling in my legs and feet and other assorted reasons. I need to spend half my days in bed lying on my left side, and minimize time standing/sitting. So... I sense a lot of embroidery and knitting in the next weeks, and not so much the sewing machine.

Anyone else been through this? The thought of lying down so much is driving me crazy... I'm a doer and a maker and I've got a demanding full-time job to do and a four-year-old to chase around! And my apartment is so NOT baby-ready, and I know I'll be too exhausted once baby actually arrives to do much of anything but nurse and sleep (when I can).

Bonus photo: my four-year-old came with me to the yarn store to buy the buttons for the orange cardigan, and she insisted we had to make a list first to remember we needed 6 buttons:

Taking a Mini Sew-Cation!

Between one thing and another — work, pregnancy nausea followed by pregnancy exhaustion, chasing my four-year-old around Brooklyn, taking an intense hypnobirthing class,* cooking overly elaborate allergy-free meals from scratch, life, the universe, you know — there hasn't been a whole lot of actual sewing going on around here. Knitting, yes (because that's what subway commutes are for). And even darning:

But not sewing.

And these summer and fall weekends have been too beautiful to justify making the kiddo stay inside and play Legos while I sew. I got myself a beautiful used Gazelle Dutch bike — that very serious type of 50-lb Dutch granny bike with the high handlebars, skirt guards, fenders, baskets, and so forth... and we got Ms. Z a Weehoo iGo Pro trailer bike to attach to my husband's bike now that she's outgrown her bike seat, and we've been taking family rides around the city:

But you know I'm a sewing gal, and you know my sewing machine and I have been missing each other, and that is why I am taking the next two days off of work to sew while Z is at school.

Things I will be doing on my sewcation:

• Tracing patterns.
• Cutting fabric.
• Sewing.
• Eating tacos I did not make myself from scratch.
• Drinking mocktails.
• Taking excessive numbers of Instagram photos.

Things I will resist doing on my sewcation:

• Reading blogs. (I know I need to catch up on all the amazing things you all are doing, but if I start diving into blog-land, no actual sewing will occur.)
• Watching moving pictures on screens (unless done while paying half-attention at the sewing machine).
• Cleaning, cooking, tidying, scrubbing, folding.

Things I hope to sew (or at least cut out or plan or SOMETHING—I doubt I'll get to all this in just two days):

• 1 maternity dress (Simplicity 1360, pictured at top of post)
• 1 pair maternity-ized Cake Espresso purple jeggings
• 5-6 pairs maternity panties from my TNT pattern (see middle of this blog post).
• A baby gift for a friend
• A going-home outfit for my own baby — a matching knit kimono-style baby shirt and pants.
• 1 nursing dress (Simplicity 1469, pictured at top of post)
• 1 nursing top (Simplicity 1469, pictured at top of post)

So that's the plan. Ms. Z is only in school from 8:40 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, so we'll see how much I actually get done — but maybe it'll kickstart me back into finding a few sewing moments here and there going forward.

Wish me luck! It is also entirely possible I will end up napping the entire time and sewing a lone baby kimono shirt, but let's hope not.

*In case you're wondering why I am taking childbirth classes as a second-time mom, well, let's just say I had a rather long and challenging (as in 87 hours challenging) birthing time with my first child for which my basic childbirth education class left me completely unprepared. This time I am taking Hypnobabies and hiring a doula and I am quite positively set on hypnotizing myself into a much more comfortable — and less prolonged — birthing experience.

**Disclosure: Actions you take from hyperlinks within this blog post may yield commissions for polkadotoverload.com (quite likely to be spent on yarn or fabric).

Tri-State Area Casting Call for The Sewing Bee (American Edition)

I'm sure you've seen this on other sewing blogs, but just in case... The Sewing Bee (American edition) has put out a casting call for the tri-state area, looking for applications ASAP--click on the the above flyer for details.

I loved the British version of the show—it was fast-paced and competitive, but still KIND (as opposed to cutthroat) and focused on home sewers, not aspiring fashion designers.

The American one is going to have a somewhat different format that actually makes it easier to participate—each episode will have a new set of competitors, so filming for each person chosen will only be for a few days.

Anyone else planning to apply?

P.S. In other not-sewing news, just a gentle reminder to check out my new recipe blog, Safe & Scrumptious From Scratch. It does have a food-allergy-free focus (no dairy, nuts, sesame, eggs, or mustard), but the recipes (like my no-nuts Nutella substitute or black bean, potato and pepper tacos) should be tasty enough for EVERYONE to enjoy.

Sweater Surgery Success (Or How To Tighten Up a Baggy Sweater... With Your Sewing Machine!)

I cut into my sweater with a big scary set of shears... and it lived to be worn again!

Few things are as terrifying for a knitter of delicate constitution as approaching a painstakingly handknit sweater with a sewing machine and a sharp pair of scissors. That delicate garment into which you've poured your knitting heart and soul—building it gently stitch by stitch over weeks, months, maybe years—could all unravel in a matter of moments if you muck it up.

Many knitters would rather frog the entire thing themselves and reknit it at a smaller size.

I am not one of those knitters.

Instead, I am here to tell you that Baggy Sweater Repair Surgery (BSRS) CAN be done—and to encourage you to make an attempt at refashioning before tossing your too-big knit (or using it for a car cozy).

DISCLAIMER: Polka Dot Overload is not in any way responsible for any sweater runs, tears, ravels or other yarn injuries, minor or major, that may result from the application of scissors or sewing machines to handknit garments.

Yes, I came. I saw. I altered a hand-knit sweater... by MACHINE (I'm serious, you can do that—Eunny Jang says so!). And here's how I did it:

Supplies & equipment used:

• Unwearably baggy hand-knit sweater.
• Sewing machine with zig-zag stitch function
• Ballpoint needles for machine sewing
• Thread to match sweater color
• Thread in a contrast color for basting
• Darning needle for hand basting
• Sharp shears (I use these)
• Pins

Step 1: Assess the Magnitude of the Problem. This is a somewhat risky surgical procedure, so I wouldn't necessarily advise performing it on a frequently worn sweater that is ALMOST perfect. It's probably best reserved for the most critical of unworn sweater cases.

Now I originally knit my Flutter Sleeve Cardigan to the correct gauge in a size 36" bust (that's 2.5" of negative ease). However, because the yarn was a cotton-silk blend, it bagged and stretched over time, so it was even a bit too big back when I was pregnant:

Which means I haven't worn it in THREE YEARS. An ideal candidate! (Plus I needed it for Me-Made-May.)

Step 2: Pin Out the Excess Ease. I tried my sweater on, and determined that the biggest issue was in the length over the bust—it had stretched out there by about five inches. I put the sweater on inside out, and carefully pinned out the excess ease over my shoulders while looking in the mirror:

I determined that I needed to take out about 5" total of length (seriously!) vertically, about 3" from the front shoulder and 2" from the back. I tapered this out to 0" at the end of my sleeves.

Note that some baggy, stretched-out sweaters may also warrant taking in at the sides (at the side seams if they exist, or by creating side seams if they don't). And baggy sweaters with set-in sleeves might even require removing the sleeves and sewing them back on—but be sure to secure with a few careful rounds of zig-zagging near any areas you plan to cut (zig-zag set to 0.5 mm width, 1.5 - 2 mm length).

Step 3: Even Out Your Alterations. I laid my sweater down flat and carefully adjusted the pins on each side for symmetry:

Step 4: Baste and Check Fit. There's really no going back once you sew into a handknit with a machine, so I wanted to make sure I was doing it right. Using white thread for contrast and a darning needle, I sewed a loose running stitch along the pin line, removed the pins and tried the sweater on again to be sure it fit (which it did!) At this point I also used my darning needle to close up the button holes quite a bit—they had stretched out so much the buttons were just falling out.

Step 5. Take a Deep Breath and Machine Sew it. VERY CAREFULLY. I sat down at my machine and very cautiously sewed a line of zig-zagging (0.5 mm zig-zag, with a 1.5 — 2 mm stitch length as recommended for sweater knits in my trusty copy of Sew Any Fabric) right next to my line of hand-basting stitches. Then I sewed a second line just for extra security. I made sure my stitches were well fixed at each edge, because even one unzig-zagged knit stitch could start a dropped stitch unraveling chain reaction of DOOM.

Step 6. Take an even DEEPER Breath and Cut Away the Excess. This part was hard. I kept checking and rechecking to make sure I wasn't cutting too close to the new seamline... EEEK:

And then moments later, it was all over:

I'm happy to report the sweater patient is recovering well and is quite wearable now, though still a bit less snug than I prefer. (And I'm still recovering quite well from my own actual surgery, as you can probably guess from the steep increase in activity on this blog).

I told you I was a RECKLESS sewist!

So tell me: would you ever sew and cut up a handknit — or would you rather reknit it from scratch?

No Stash Fail: Books, Pattern, Magazine, Notion AND Fabric Acquisition

It doesn't count as stashing when you're supporting independent pattern companies and your local independent yarn/quilting shop... RIGHT?

Since all my projects -- my wide-legged trousers (now cut in fashion fabric), Z's corduroy overalls (pattern traced) and striped sweater (past the armpits now!), my Franken-Colette-dress (pattern alterations in progess), my wardrobe domination -- were proceeding along just fine this week (albeit at a SNAIL's pace since Z is on a no-sleep strike)... I decided to throw a wrench in the works and completely fail at my "no stashing" New Year's resolution.

But ladies and gentlemen, I couldn't help it!

I mean, is it my fault that Z's FAVORITE playground is just a few (well... ten) blocks from Brooklyn General? And is it my fault that they sell Oliver + S and Colette patterns and vintage buttons and super-cute Japanese cottons? Image of the patterns and buttons is above--here's a poor-quality fluorescent-lit inaccurate photo of the beautiful soft Kokka Trefle floral I bought to make the Family Reunion Dress for Z:

And is it my fault that the internet sells sewing-related books that can be purchased by me with my debit card? I told you all before how much I loved Kwik Sew's Sewing for Baby, but now that Z has outgrown those patterns I told myself I just HAD to get the toddler version...

Which was a big disappointment. Sewing for Baby is full of versatile timeless baby classics--rompers, dresses, bloomers, shorts, sleepers, pants, onesies, T-shirts, etc--and all kinds of wonderful advice on how to play with those patterns (add puff sleeves, trims, ribbing, hoods, snaps, etc.). Here's the basic pattern overview, with the Polka Dot Seal of Sewing Approval:

Sewing for Toddlers on the other hand... well, it's basically a bunch of oversized 80s drop-shouldered color-blocked T-shirt and sweatshirt variations. The instructions and tips are excellent as in all Kwik-Sew books, but I just can't see myself making anything based on those master patterns for Z, with the possible exception of the hooded raglan sweatshirt.

Even the dress pattern is just instructions for a lengthened T-shirt:

Overall, it's the toddler equivalent of the Kwik-Sew Sweatshirts Unlimited book. So I had no choice but to wash away the disappointment with this:

Metric Pattern Cutting for Children's Wear and Babywear by Winifred Aldrich (found via this helpful children's pattern book roundup)--a black & white pattern drafting textbook with clear instructions and line drawings on how to draft flat (simplified and somewhat loose-fitting) and form (more fitted) pattern blocks for children from birth to 14 years. It is AWESOME and has basic blocks and variations for knits, wovens, bodices, pants, outerwear, you name it. A sample spread:

Seriously, it's really hard to find cute basic toddler patterns (Oliver + S being the exception). The big 4 pattern companies have very limited selection--mostly just fancy dresses. Ottobre Design magazine is awesome and inspiring, but I have a very specific idea in mind of some of the fun things I'd like to make for Z, and they're not all represented in the six or so issues I have. Plus I think I'll feel like a superstar designing and drafting some of her clothes from scratch, no? I should be able to do it in Adobe Illustrator easily enough.

And while we're talking books, here are some of the other books that jumped off various bookshelves in the Garment District into my arms back in 2010, right before my blogging/sewing hiatus... I'm excited to try them out now!

I bought Grading Techniques for Fashion Design to get some tips for grading my vintage patterns, and Draping for Fashion Design because I am deluded--I don't even have a proper dress form to drape on (more on that later).

Making Beautiful Bras and Making Beautiful Swimwear I ordered from author Lee Ann Burgess in Australia, along with the accompanying DVD at the same time as I ordered a Pin-Up Girls bra pattern and a host of supplies from Bra-Makers Supply. I had had some encouraging success making soft nursing bras and wanted to get to the underwire level of serious bra-chitecture.

Which reminds me--is it my fault the new issue of Threads had an article on bra-making and insisted on coming home with me while I was buying petersham, elastic, zippers, buttons and other notions at Pacific Trimming during my lunch break?

Almost finally, another drafting book acquisition from 2010 at some Garment District shop or other:

Patternmaking for Fashion Design, a huge and quite comprehensive pattern drafting textbook for women, men, children and teens (but not for toddlers or babies). This thing is huge and full of detailed instructions, illustrations, ideas and exercises to make every possible type of garment... but I will warn you that some of it is quite offensive from a body-image perspective--particularly the section on figure analysis, which pits the "ideal," "perfect," and "pleasing" model-type figures against the rest of us in a pretty ridiculous and judgmental way--Fit for Real People or Fantastic Fit for Everybody this is not!:

Maybe I'll just tear those pages out? It is coil-bound...

Don't you just love reading sewing books and imagining all the amazing things you'll do with all those ideas? It's half the fun of sewing itself without any of the actual work. And I do think it really helps inspire me and help me better understand garment design and construction, though it's no substitute for actually MAKING things.

And yes, I have a book problem. My husband and I have over 4,000 books in our little apartment--several walls are just floor-to-ceiling shelves with books stacked two or three deep.

Finally, is it my fault that TEN Simplicity patterns jumped into my online shopping cart during the SewingPatterns.com 99 cents Simplicity sale? They haven't actually arrived yet so I'll share my shame assessment later.

So... what sewing books have you been digging lately? (Besides the Colette book that we ALL seem to have now!)

Baby surprise!

No, no, I'm not having another one just yet, it's just that I finally photographed Baby Z (asleep) in her Baby Surprise Jacket:

She's fitting better into her February Baby Sweater, too:

How most of my sporadic posts have become about knitting, I do not know. Someday I will rectify that, but I'm still cutting myself slack in the sewing department. I'm not even beating myself up about running out of time to sew a baby Halloween costume last month, and that's the one thing I ALWAYS sew for every year.

Luckily my Aunt Elissa and Uncle Damien came through with a cute RTW lion costume. I wore her out in a carrier but she wasn't allowed any candy:

GRRR!

I do still make a point of wearing something handmade every day, even if it's just my boring purple hat, shown above, or this old Simplicity 5914 skirt I sewed with some $2 polyester polka dot woven from a discount store (shown here in 2005, since I haven't photographed it lately):

OK, bonus photo: Farmer Z!

There's Nothing Like Handmade

As I'm sure you'll agree, there's nothing like a handmade gift. I've mostly been featuring handmade items made for Baby Z by me or my amazing mom, but our friends and family have been generous with their knitting needles and sewing machines as well!

The above sweater and hat set is a gift to Baby Z from her Great Aunt Becky. There's a story behind the little bears labeled "Maine Doggies"--when I was a toddler, I used to visit my grandparents on their farm in Maine. One day I was walking with my grandmother Melba and saw a bear--I thought it was a big dog and wanted to go over and pet it.

My Aunt Becky also made her this stranded hat and mitten set:

And here's Z a few weeks ago in a diaper soaker knit by our friend Sonia, lying on a gorgeous patchwork baby quilt made by my department head Debbie (note the ballet shoes in the quilting pattern):

Speaking of diaper soakers, Z's already grown out of the smallest one I knit for her, the Green Goblin soaker. Here she is in the soaker her first week home, when she was just over 8 pounds...

And here she is in that same soaker a month ago, at 5 weeks old:

Now at 2 1/2 months old and 13 pounds, she's outgrown many of her 3 month clothes and is mostly in 6 month sizes. And her feet barely fit in the booties I knit for her that I thought were so huge:

Knitting and sewing aren't the only crafts in town, of course. My mother-in-law Gail makes beautiful handmade soaps and jewelry that she sells at conventions and fairs, and she put together these gift bags for Z's baby shower in March. She made the soaps and magnets, and Masheka's cousin Laurie made the lollipops (I've whited Z's name out in PhotoShop for her privacy.) You'll note the soap features a mold of a pregnant woman.

Tip: Digital Stash "Management"

I've left my knitting days behind me (mainly) thanks to carpal tunnel, but one thing I really miss about knitting is Ravelry's yarn stash management function. For example, here's my neglected yarn stash, with photos and details of remaining yardage, weight, color, fiber, etc. Every time I acquired a new yarn, I'd photograph it:

I've been spending much more time on PatternReview these days, of course. Now, PR does have a fabulous pattern catalog function that lets you directly link to all the reviews of the patterns in your stash and see how other sewists have made out with those patterns (similar to Ravelry's "projects" feature). Here's a peek at mine:

But how to manage the fabric stash?

Well, I'm a digital girl, with a digital camera, and I like being able to use fabric images for my digital sketches. I have only a few small cramped drawers in which to hold my modest apartment-dweller-sized stash (which is why half my fabrics are in my "sock" drawer), and it's hard for me to see or remember what I have or dig it out.

So before I started sewing again, I took an evening to photograph, measure and catalog EVERYTHING in the stash using Flickr, and as I acquire new fabrics (or use up existing ones) I've been updating my digital fabric catalog fastidiously. I note yardage, fabric type and content, where I purchased it and for how much (if I remember), any descriptive or fabric care details I have available, and if I get a sudden idea, what I might use it for. Here's a sample individual page from the stash:

For now I've split it into four categories, but I'm thinking of giving the quilting cottons a separate area away from the apparel fabrics:

• Cool Wovens
• Warm Wovens
• Cool Knits
• Warm Knits

I've mainly shoved the blacks, whites and grays in the "cool" category, and when a fabric has both warm and cool colors I've sometimes put it in both places.

I find all this organization bizarrely satisfying, but then again, I'm the same girl who once decided to make Library of Congress catalog labels for all my books (though I had to give up, since I have well over 1,000 books). And I find watching slideshows of my stash very inspirational (and guilt-inducing)! So while I'd like to call this digital stash management, I fear it may be more like digital stash self-enable-ment.

Oh, and although I love the PR catalog feature, I do also catalog my patterns in Flickr, mainly so I can also see the back views and flats. Some of the categories I've broken them into:

• Babies & Children
• Woven Pattern Stash-Dresses

How do you "manage" YOUR stash?