Aloha Birthday Pajama Top with Lots of Good Feelings

Free time is running in short supply these days, and my goal is always to reduce my self-induced stress.  So for my birthday this year I decided to sew up my Aloha pajama top using a McCall's pattern that I've used a million times (slight exaggeration).

The fabric is from the Robert Kaufman "Aloha Flannel 2" line (yes, 2) in the color of Sunshine.  :)

And I really love the color.  It is a bright, warm, happy yellow that generates good memories and good feelings.  I purchased it at Kaimuki Dry Goods while in Honolulu this past May.  I picked it up while shopping with MushyWear, and we went there based on SunnyGal Studio's recommendation.

Here's when I bought it!


I decided to take loving shots of the pajama top like it was an epic piece of work, like jeans or a lined coat.  Kind of a like a little joke to myself.

This is the first pj top I've sewn since learning how to use my serger (I know!)  All raw edges were serged.


I actually sewed the side vents--never have before

I actually drew the stitching line on my V-neck using the blue Chakoner (and um, yeah, it hasn't, um, come off yet, but I'm thinking it will come off in the wash).

I know it's big and shapeless and has no detailing, but I love it.



I wear my pj tops with at least one layer underneath.
It's just how I roll.



And I actually ironed the flannel all during the process.  Ironing flannel, I don't even know who I am anymore.

So this pajama top took me three weekends to sew--that shows you how short my free time is lately.  I finished it about 2 weeks after my actual birthday....close enough in my world of "less self induced stress".

Also yellow for my birthday: the last of the Princeton Farmers Market flowers:

These lasted two weeks! Gorgeous.

Yellow yellow yellow.

Happy happy happy.

Relieved relieved relieved.

I have a big adventure coming up this week.  It's a work trip....with some sewing fun at the end.  You'll see!

Be well!

McCalls 3006 done, and New Look 6034 muslin

It's been weeks since I've sewed. I wanted to pick up with an easy, guaranteed success, my TNT pj top pattern, McCalls 3006.
I was basically recreating this pj top I made 4 years ago, which has been worn so much, it's pretty much worn out:


I had thought about daisies:


but went with roses instead:









I like to wear pj tops with a t-shirt underneath. The turquoise is stash flannel; the rose trim was from Joann's clearance; it came up 10 cents a yard!

I used the feather stitch for the hem.


Then I made a muslin of New Look 6034, view E:

Look at how close the leggings are to the model's body.
I went with the 18 because it matched what I thought were my hip measurements.
They came out looking like carrot pants:

I measured my hips and will make the 16 next time as the 16 more closely matches my hip size, as it turns out.

Here's a closeup of the rouching on the pant legs:

And I decided, after 23 years of sewing, it's time to try the "cut-on waistband with topstitching" technique as it securely sews the waistband down (unlike the casing/stitch in the ditch method which still sometimes results in waistband flippage). Someone recently had a tutorial on her blog about how to do this; I thought I remembered who it was but I was wrong. So I used the directions in the Singer Complete Photo Guide to Sewing book instead.

Lesson learned: You really want the elastic to go to the edge of the fabric when first sewing it on to the fabric, otherwise when you flip it to the inside, you will see the elastic.


So the leggings are too big and too long so I will wear them as sleep pants and possibly take them apart next weekend to cut them down to the 16.

Ok, eating.  I made chicken tacos from Cook This Not That 2011:

I said "made", not "cooked". The chicken is a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket. The salsa verde is from a jar; the tortillas from a package. But the cilantro was fresh chopped and the lime is fresh. It also has feta cheese.

As for the rest of my vacay, I visited my great-aunt; had the worst back flareup since November; saw my chiro; was really, really tempted to buy a dress in a store (something I haven't done for years) but ultimately decided not to because I felt it wasn't well made; went walking a lot; had my ab/kidney get better, then worse, then stabilize; have some new problem with the pad of my foot/middle toe feeling weird/numb which comes and goes; slept for 7 blissful continuous hours two nights in a row, then reverted back to waking up once a night; had a really bad headache; but as you know I sewed finally and that was great!

It's back to work tmw; good night!

Sewalong PJ top done! Plus more Christmas stuff

Yea, I'm done with the shirt for Ann's sewalong! Currently I'm the only person modeling her pjs in the Thanksgiving Weekend 2010 Pajama Sewalong Flickr pool, though some pinned theirs to their dress forms. Did I miss a rule somewhere?

The top is McCall's 3006, a well-loved, oft-sewn pattern. I like to wear layers under my pj tops so I don't mind that it's such a roomy, big shirt. I lengthened it a little this time to be like a tunic and added side slits. In case you missed it, here's a closeup of the sweatshirt fabric:


Sewing time was only an hour and a half. I twin needle stitched the sleeve and shirt hems.

I made the PJ pants out of another pattern this past spring. So now I have a matched set, though I probably won't ever wear them together after the photo shoot!

So yesterday I showed you my tree and lights.
Today, here's my duck; she's wearing her holiday best:


I thought about making her new PJs and posting them in the sewalong, but I don't think it's going to happen with 24 hours remaining....(and yes I actually own a pattern for duck pjs and have made them previously...)

Here's the mantle:



Mushywear, you get to see some of my Hawaiianna! The framed fabric is from a craft shop in Lahaina, the Mele Kalikimaka stocking is from a souvenir shop in Lahaina, the two wooden puzzle boxes are from the International Market Place in Waikiki, the gardenia is from a craft fair by the Honolulu Zoo, the Santa hat-wearing Turtle is from Long's in Kehei, and the wooden postcards are from a gift shop in Kauai. The Aloha postcard is one Antoinette sent me!

Ok, I'll continue the tour of my other Christmas goodies during the week.

Oh, but here's the story with my solar lights. I've always wanted to put lights outside but never had an outdoor electrical outlet. Last year I found these solar panel lights at target.com. They charge on their own and turn themselves on when it gets dark and off when they run out of power (on rainy days, they're out by 7pm but on bright clear sunny days, they are still going strong even at 9 or 10pm). Then the next day they charge back up again! No timers, no electricity, no plugs. Just the solar panels. Each tree has one string of 50 and 4 strings of 25:

I took a walk around 4:10 and when I came back it was around 4:55, starting to get dark out. As I approached my house the strings of lights came on one by one! It was like a little ballet. Some strings came on, went out, came back on again, and I just watched for a while until they were all continuously on! Very cool.

Good night!

sewalong, lights, tree!

Today I went to the gym and had a massage and put up the Christmas tree and put the lights outside and cut out my PJ top for the sewalong and started cutting out something else.

Guess what this is going to be???


Here's my PJ top cut out for the sewalong. You can tell my pattern is TNT by the wear of the envelope.


Here's the fabric:


and here's a closeup:


It's Juicy Couture sweatshirt fabric that I bought on clearance from lucysfabrics.com (when she was selling off all her fabric). I *love* this fabric, it feels great. Thick, beefy, soft fabric.

I already made the PJ pants this past spring. LOVE them.

Here's my Christmas tree that I've had since I was little

And here are my solar powered Christmas lights that I've had since last year. I *love* them. They are paid for, don't require electricity, and turn themselves on and off. LOVE them.



It was dark when I took the photo but the picture came out as if some light was still around.

Mccall's 4261 DONE, plus new wall hanging

My den was in need of some new wall decorations. And I loved the yellow finches (officially, Alexander Henry "bird seed" fabric) I picked up in Austin last weekend at Stitch Lab. So I put the two together. It felt a bit Trading Spaces circa 2002 or so, when they would make padded headboards in this way. I used the cardboard that previously encased my Ikea tabletop, cut it to be a little less than the width of the fabric. I used my old mattress pad as "batting". At first I had the batting fold over the edges, but it was kind of bulky and messy, so I cut the batting to the cardboard size, hot glued it on, then taped the finch fabric to it on t5he back. I then hot glued some ribbon to the back so that I could hang it up.

I'm thinking it needs to be finished off with some black quilt binding or something, to create a "frame". But maybe it's ok as-is?



Its humble beginnings:


I also made McCall's 4261 out of the Lucy's Fabrics Anchors sweatshirt fabric


They are pretty wild, but they are comfy and will be worn in the comfort of my own home


I partially cleaned out the living room closet yesterday and found a stack of photos. Here's a shirt, Butterick 3217, I made for a boyfriend circa 1994 or 1995. I'm still impressed by memories of this shirt and how I lined up the plaid on the sides, front placket, pocket, and sleeves. I'm sure it was donated to Goodwill soon after we broke up, if not before then. I kind of wish I hadn't given him the shirt, as it would have fit me and I still would worship that shirt. Yes, it's a picture of a picture.

McCall's 5770 Cloud PJ top done, and memories

It's getting near end of time for the SPR stash contest. This time they are selecting one random entry to get a gift certificate. This will be my third entry into the contest. You know, third time's a charm!

So this cloud flannel stash fabric has got to be at least 5 years old. I used leftover white flannel for the cuff and v-neck, from another pj shirt I made years ago.




This was also my first time making a kangaroo pocket.


Overall, I'm pretty ok with it. I think the v could be better and the cuffs are a little wonky, but this is just for sleeping in. With the return of spring, my flannel wearing days are numbered (til October, that is).


A cluster of daffodils coming up at my house. Do you like my shadow there?

Today I had my Easter egg hunt, which is really just code for "picking up all the trash around my townhouse." You know, it's been two years since my last EEH, since I couldn't do it last year because of my back? For some reason, I really love picking up trash. When I was little, my mom offered my best friend and me a quarter to have an Easter egg hunt. I was really into it, but Maria knew what the gig really was.

I think it was 2 or 3 years ago that one of my neighbors asked me and Pete why we were picking up the trash. I replied, I don't see a sign that says "dump". Then he went inside and got a bag and started helping.

I'm excited that this year I am well enough to plant and maintain (i.e. water) flowers again. I can't wait!

One more childhood memory. So on Friday after Len I stopped at Lucy's for lunch, and they had some unlabelled sandwiches on the counter, and I thought they were tomato and mozzarella. So I said I'd have one of those, and they put it in the panini press. When I ate it back at the office, I realized it was tuna fish! I haven't had tuna fish since I was a little kid, and the smell of it and the toasted bread reminded me of how Mom would serve tuna fish sandwiches on, well, toasted bread. A nice food memory. Sorry, my little ocean friends, you were delicious!

McCalls 4664 and 5504 done!

McCall's 5504: DONE!



I could have made a simple summer dress in the amount of time I spent on the cuffs. To recap, I had cut the sleeves waaaaay too short. I thought about piping but I didn't have any green piping. What I did have, though, was a remnant of green double fold bias tape. So I sewed that on and then added the cactus cuff. Sounds simple, but really it took a lot longer than I care to admit. However, I already can tell this will be one of my favorite shirts to sleep in!!



It counts for the SPR stash contest. I've had the fabric for at least 2 years, and it might actually be 3. The sleeveless Jalie scarf neck top also counts for the SPR stash contest. That fabric is probably 15 years old!!

Now I'm ready for some Mexican food.

I cut out and made McCall's 4664, gym pants. I made the ugly gray muslin on New Year's Eve. The intention then was to make plain brown gym pants.

they start out looking pretty basic:


But there's a surprise I added on the side: reverse applique astericks!!!


another view


Closeup of the astericks


I did that because the gym had a vendor bring in some clothing and there was a pair of black pants with cut out flowers on the side. The cut outs were edged with white double fold bias tape! They were $94. So I decided to do my own take on that.

So for my cowl neck shirt with twin needle stitching: I looked up zig zag presser foot, and it turns out that is what my machine has. The instructions say to use cotton thread or "polyester span thread". I'm guessing they mean "polyester spun thread" which is what I'm using. So maybe it's a tension issue? I tried the twin needle again with the hem on my gym pants and had to rip it out. It only works for a few inches and then it gets jammed up. I don't know how to fix that. So tmw I might hem the cowl neck shirt with my standard zig zag stitch. Hrm. It's too bad because I love the way the twin needle stitching looks.

Jalie 2921 sleeveless done. McCall's 5504 in progress.

Decided to give another stab at Jalie 2921. This time I made size V instead of X.

I was going to go for the nautical look with a white scarf and navy blue shirt.

At this point, the white scarf was pinned on and I decided it was too "cub scout den mother".


So I cut the scarf again, this time from the same navy blue fabric as the shirt.

This is what step 10 looks like. The front and back are sewn together at the shoulder. Then you sew the scarf to the neckline. Here in step 10, you roll up the front and back of the shirt, and then pin the scarf AROUND that roll. It's pretty amazing and clever.



I decided to go with sleeveless. It's my first piece for my spring conference wardrobe (ha ha).


It has issues still with the back of the scarf looking all funny. I'm just going to let it be. It all sort of blends into my hair anyway. I didn't cut a center back seam this time. And I didn't do anything about the sway back.



Tonight's ooops shot


Then I started work on McCall's 5504, a raglan pajama top. I cut it out on New Year's Eve, ironed on interfacing shortly after, and it's been forlornly sitting around waiting to be sewn. I felt it was in danger of becoming a UFO. So I tackled it.

I cut the sleeves too short somehow. I'm thinking "opportunity knocks with piping and a cuff". But am I going to answer? Piping will just get lost in that fabric.



This is to show the lines on the sleeve line up with the bodice. That took some effort during the cut-out phase. But what it means is the lines don't line up where the raglan sleeve is sewn to the front and back. Oh well.


It's a bit large but I have plenty of room for layers!



Good night!