Sewing Slowly
Dear Baby Roo,
I like to sew. I like to sew fast. But, occasionally, it is worth slowing down and making something that requires a little more time and effort to produce a good result.
Your Mama requested an Oliver & S Puppet Show Tunic & Shorts out of some very cute Vespa fabric that we found at Sew Delightful in Tuscaloosa. The pattern looked easy enough and had very detailed and mostly well-written instructions. The one change I decided to make was to add piping around the collar and yoke.
Everything came together well, although it required slowing down and taking my time to make sure the collar met at exactly the right place, etc. The only problem I had was in understanding how the inside lining is attached to the sleeve. I don’t really care for how that turned out and next time will modify it so that seam looks better.
Multicolored buttons close the back and that was another little area where I encountered some trouble. There was not much overlap so the buttonholes had to be placed pretty close to the edge. I also would have preferred to have a buttonhole closer to the bottom of the yoke, but the bulk from the yoke, lining, seam, and piping meant it had to be a little higher.
One little item in the pattern was an error. The hem facing says to “Cut 4″. These are all on the bias, so use up a lot of fabric. The size 2 only needed about 1 1/2 lengths of bias facing.
The shorts were very simple to make. They came out much less “blousey” looking than on the pattern envelope. I cut everything according to the pattern because this outfit will be for next spring or summer, so guessing your measurements would be tricky! The bias edge on the bottom of the shorts is cute, but maybe needs to be cut shorter or elastic added to make the leg openings more fitted. The pattern includes sizes 2-5 and the cut of the shorts looks like they would not accomodate a diaper. This is a little tricky since you are already wearing size 12 months clothes and all new purchases are 18 month clothes and you aren’t even 8 months old yet.
While we were at Sew Delightful, we found one other bit of slow sewing to make for you – a kangaroo smocking plate to incorporate into an outfit! I can’t wait to pleat up some fabric for it.
Hooroo.
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