Pascha finery

Pascha (Orthodox Easter) was May 1 this year, which gave me a lot of time to sew festive clothing.  I did not have to make anything for my daughters, as they were gifted luxurious hand-sewn silk Fairytale dresses by our sewing fairy godmother (photos to come tomorrow).

For Gabriel, what else but another Art Museum set?

Having learned that the vest runs very short for my taste, I sized up to a 4 and added 2" of length. This time, I slashed the pattern at the side notch and spread it 2" to add the length. I did not alter the dart or the welt pocket placement.  I'm thrilled with how it turned out.  As cute as this vest is on the little guys, I really love to see it with a long row of buttons.  I managed to fit five onto this one.

I had been salivating over some light gray pinstriped suiting at Mood.com, but in the end frugality won out and I decided to make the ensemble from stash fabric.  For the vest front, I used a gingham linen/cotton that has been in my stash a couple years.  The back is a lovely Japanese shirting from FabricMart.  It had been earmarked for a Negroni for my husband, but it was a) much darker than it appeared in the photo and b) it is a cross-weave fabric, like shot cotton, and gorgeously iridescent.  J thought it was way too shiny.  So it was back on the market.

I have never stitched down my welts before, but they didn't stay put very well on last year's linen ensemble.  This time, I tried stitching in the ditch around the welts but I just could not get my stitches to be truly invisible.  Finally I decided to just stitch down the sides of the welts, and take a couple of tacks in the ditch at the bottom of the welt.  It's not visible, and hopefully it will help them stay put.

We've been going through a bit of a sulky phase lately ...

So, the pants. Blarg.  They are made out of a stashed cotton pique.  I realized after I sewed the two pant legs together that my back welt pockets, while executed to my satisfaction, are completely uneven.  They are uneven from the back seam, from the waistband seam, and they aren't even set in at the same angle.  I have no idea how this happened, and by the time I noticed it, I had put too much time in to start over.  I was pot-committed.

While contemplating the lopsided pockets, I reflected on what kind of seamstress I am.  I know many would have thrown those pants straight into the bin.  But that's not me.  I think I'm much more a practical crafter than a perfectionist.  There is the occasional garment that I will slave over, but I am one who will often deem something to be "good enough" even with glaring errors.  G needed Easter pants.  He needed lightweight summer church pants.  My sewing time is limited.  And it would be quite a rarity for him to stay still long enough for anyone to notice his lopsided pockets anyway.  I hope.

The pants are crazy long.  I chopped 2" off the hem and still had to sew a 2" deep hem.  Because of the taper of the pants, my blind hem is a little puckery in the back.  I decided to leave it that way because I know I'm going to need that extra length if these pants are to last until it gets cold again.  Last year's Easter Art Museums also had a 2" hem and they were high-water by September.  This kid tends to grow a lot in the sunshine.

I sewed a little bow tie using this tutorial.  I altered the main bow piece dimensions a little bit from the tutorial because I thought it was kind of big (instead of 8.5"x6.5" I cut it 7.5"x6.5").  Other than that I did it as written.

For Niko, I sewed a pair of Oliver+S Lullaby Layette pants using a stashed remnant of cotton sateen from Joann's.  I sewed the size 6-12 months but they are a bit baggy; I should have sewn a lengthened 3-6 months.  He wore them with a thrifted shirt and a 6-12 month corduroy Art Museum vest that I actually sewed for my nephew two years ago, which was handed back down to us.

I took dozens of photos of him but the weather has been awful and the light correspondingly terrible, so these are the best I could do.

Wedding sneak peek

Way back when my sister-in-law got engaged, I volunteered to sew the ring bearer and flower girl outfits for the five littles in the ceremony (my offspring account for 60 percent of said littles).  I had planned to sew during the end of April and first half of May, but then my mother passed and I went home for the funeral, and honestly I didn't feel much like sewing for awhile.  I finally got started about 12 days ago and after some seriously furious sewing, I am done.

I'll be double-posting this project to provide modeled pictures after the Labor Day wedding, but for now here is a sneak peek.

The ring bearers will be wearing Oliver+S Art Museum ensembles.  The vests are gray-and-white gingham save for the back, which is khaki twill to match the pants.  I really love the effect the gingham has when turned diagonally for the welt pockets.  The shirts are store-bought (I really need to be packing), and I made snap-on bow ties for them.  This was necessary because the shirts have mandarin collars, but I think it is more comfortable for little boys than a band that goes all the way around the neck.

The flower girls will be wearing dresses made from a mishmash of the Oliver+S Music Box Jumper and Bubble Dress patterns.  I used cotton batiste for the outside and voile for the lining.  There is also a tulle layer in between the two  I made up the pleated cummerbunds as I went along (you can see I was not exactly consistent among the dresses) and added knife pleats at the hems.  The cummerbunds become sashes that tie in the back.

Whew!  I am beat.