Emily Elizabeth Ensembles

This post originally appeared on Nap-Time Creations for the Sew Many Books series in August.

***

Well, I am super excited to be a part of this sewing/reading series! As summer winds down, and thoughts of school come to mind, I turned to what I consider the perfect little school-girl look to replicate for my daughter. Clifford's best friend, Emily Elizabeth, is adorable in her simple, classic outfits. My daughter LOVES Clifford books, so picking Emily Elizabeth as my style guide was easy. But once I started looking at her outfits, I realized she had more to choose from than I originally thought (a peter-pan collar dress was going to be my plan). I found two outfits to sew that I thought would be cute AND versatile. But this was the first outfit that caught my eye:

Cute, right? I thought a jumper would be very practical for my little girl. I already had the stripy fabric, but went to Joann's and picked up the soft, blue linen along with some piping. The white buttons I found in my stash. As for the striped leggings, I decided to skip them for two reasons: 1.) my knit fabric is on the heavier side and I'm pretty sure it would've gotten saggy pretty fast; and 2.) I didn't want my daughter to look like she was wearing a costume. Ok, one more reason: I also thought too many stripes would detract from the cute factor. 

So as most of you know, there's the old-school Emily Elizabeth, and the modern-TV-one. I chose the classic Emily. Not only are the stories and drawings better, but so are the clothes.

Emily Elizabeth is a good friend/owner to Clifford. They have fun together. I like how EE is a pretty happy gal. She also is outside a lot with her dog (there aren't too many stories of her inside, are there?). So outside we went to take pictures. Living in a condo, in the city, we make sure we get out every day. But man, sometimes going down the elevator, past the concierge, outside past the fountain, around to the grassy area behind our building in handmade clothes makes me sweat! At least the day I took these pics it was hovering around 75, so not so bad. But still. (Please don't trip and skin your knees was what I was thinking. Oh, and Tiger better not jump on your dress! I'll show you the outtake soon.)

But back to the clothes. I love the fact that Emily Elizabeth owns a blue jumper! Sure, there's also a pink stripy top, but I was more than happy to sew up something blue for my girl. I started by drawing a basic jumper pattern and then cut out my front. When I couldn't decide how to fashion the back (we never see it in the book), I turned to Pinterest and found this great tutorial. Instead of printing her back pattern piece (it'd be too small), I freehanded the back design based on the photos and then followed LiEr's tutorial fairly closely. 

But rather than sewing the panel on top of the front piece like she does, I cut mine into three pieces, adding the piping to the top and bottom of the middle piece. I did use her pattern piece for the straps, but lengthened them about an inch or more. My jumper is about a size 5 (my 3.5 year old is tall). 

As we all know, Clifford's "too big," but he's so sweet. Kind of like this big dog that crashed our photo shoot...haha

(Tiger lives on our floor and is a big softie!)

Anyway, the other thing I noticed about Emily Elizabeth is that she does a lot of running in this book. A dress isn't going to stop her! (My daughter got a kick out of running around and getting her picture taken.)

Her top, by the way, is the awesome Flashback Skinny Tee, enlarged a bit from the size 5. It's a little big on her now, but won't be this winter (see? I'm thinking ahead for the colder weather. I'm all about being practical around here.)

And that's that! Now my second dress was a lot quicker and a lot easier. But still, super cute. The inspiration came from this book:

See how tattered it is? Both my kids have loved Clifford. But my daughter is the only one who actually insists on sleeping with the books. Yes. The books. Anyway, Clifford's First School Day is another classic Clifford tale, but this one goes back to his puppyhood. (I find the puppy stories rather endearing.)

In this story, Emily Elizabeth wears a simple {knit} dress with knee socks. Perfect play dress! I knew the perfect pattern to replicate it.

The Anywhere Dress. A recent sale finally helped me get my hot little hands on this pattern that I've wanted for a while. And it certainly didn't disappoint. The instructions were very easy to follow and though I sometimes scoff when people call things a "quick sew," this one really was. I added cuffs to the sleeves and an extra band for length at the bottom. This is the size 5 (which my daughter regularly wears) and it fit perfectly. I used a basic pale pink knit from Joann's to replicate Emily Elizabeth's look.

I have to hand it to my daughter. She was real amenable about going back inside, changing from the first outfit and coming back out for more pictures. 

In fact, she relished it. Thank goodness. 

Clifford might've caused Emily some trouble at school, but our Clifford behaved rather well.

Even when smooshed.

Anyway, I had a great time sewing for this series. And my daughter certainly loved "being" Emily Elizabeth for the day.

And to the real Emily of Nap-Time Creations, thanks for asking me to join this fun series. We had a blast!
~Mary Jo at All This for Them

Sewing Inspiration from Clifford ~ Sew Many Books

Sewing for my kids and reading to my kids are two of my FAVORITE things to do. Today, I'm over at Nap-Time Creations participating in a fun, summer series called Sew Many Books. 

 Anybody else like Clifford?

I made two outfits based on clothes worn by Emily Elizabeth in the books. And my daughter loved "being" EE for the day. (Can't you tell?)
 
So are you ready? Head on over and check out my full post. I promise there will be lots of pictures.

Here's who is joining in the fun this month:

Nap-TimeCreations - Buzzmills - All This For Them - Wild Wandering - CocoaPie Creations 

Sunny Stitching - Bless by Tone - Coles Corner and Creations - Nap Time Crafters

Threading my Way - Welcome to the Mouse House - Sewing like Mad - Sews NBows

Simple Simon and Co- iCandy Handmade

Be sure to stop by Nap-Time Creations on these days forsome great giveaways

August 6th- $50 to fabric.com& free Personalized kids book from iseeme.com

August 13th- Pattern Pack from Peek-a-Boo Patterns 

August 20th- Pattern Pack from Coles Corner and Creations& A Remnant Surprise Book

if you are interested in sponsoring a giveaway orparticipating in NEXT years Sew Many Books series e-mail Emily atnap-timecreations{at}hotmail{dot}com

Everyday Tee for Me

This top was born out of need. I really needed a new top. I was tired of wearing the same ones all the time. This summer, I've been wearing this top from last fall a lot. It's just so comfy and fits so well. I figured I should just replicate it. I started looking through my stash for some suitable fabric. Part of what makes my first Everyday Tee so wearable is the fabric - it's so soft. And stretchy. And just feels great on. This black/gray striped fabric that I chose for round two is very different. I mean, I like it: it's light, airy, and striped. All good things. But unlike the April Johnson fabric for the last top, this one doesn't stretch as much, and isn't quite as soft. In hindsight, I should've enlarged the pattern a bit. But seeing that I didn't, I decided to add a binding to the sleeves and a band at the bottom to give myself a little more room. 

I kind of like the band. But maybe it's too much band? Still on the fence about it. Anyway, I wore this top out and about today and I was really comfortable in it and will definitely come back to this pattern by iCandy Handmade again. 

I always learn something new when I sew. And this time I learned that all knits are not the same, and won't fit the same way with the same pattern. I guess that's common sense. But for me, it took a couple tops to figure it out.

The black/gray striped fabric is from JoAnn's. The bird's nest necklace is made by me. 

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll be linking up with some of these fun parties.

Tankini Time with the Coco Cay Color Block Tankini!

After finishing up my Modest Swimsuit with the circle skirt for my friend's daughter, I had enough fabric left to make a suit for my own daughter. This is the Coco Cay Color Block Tankini (minus the color block) by Peek-A-Boo Pattern Shop.

I was really excited to try this pattern and it didn't disappoint. (I love the look of the racerback top and the briefs are so cute.) Doing the shorts for the other swimsuit wasn't too hard because I'd sewn shorts before. But I'd never made briefs. I love trying and learning new things. The pattern had clear directions and very helpful pictures. For the lining, however, I didn't want to fill the entire bottoms, so I spent a while (an embarrassingly long amount of time) figuring out how to do the lining like the brief in my daughter's Old Navy tankini from last year. I'm really happy that I was able to crack the code! I think it looks good this way. (Never mind my stitches around the waist - I had some crazy trouble with tension doing that part).

I think the suit turned out super cute. I liked Amy's pattern very much and would definitely buy from her shop again. My daughter really liked the suit too. She tried it on for these pictures in the late afternoon, and wore it through dinner and IN her bath (she was going "swimming."). I was thrilled she liked it! Next time, I would go up a size for her as I think this size is a little too snug, although she didn't seem to mind one bit.

Sewing a swimsuit was definitely not as scary as I thought it would be. I used a new ballpoint needle to help with the stitches and took my time. If you've sewn with knits before, sewing with 4-way stretch shouldn't be a problem at all. Plus, you don't have to fold the edges under so that's a time-saver. 

The hardest part for me about doing a swimsuit was inserting the elastics around the legs and arms and keeping the openings even. For some reason, I did have some tension issues too, but I didn't with the other suit I made, so the reason is a mystery. Anyway, I definitely wouldn't shy away from making another swimsuit if the opportunity (and the fabric) presented itself (end of season fabric sales, perhaps?).

Looking forward to putting this suit to use with some real (outdoor) swimming this summer.

I'll be linking up with some of these fun parties. Thanks for visiting!

A Modest Little Lady Swimsuit with Circle Skirt

What a cutie, right? This is my friend's daughter, Caitlin. She is now the proud owner of my first-ever handmade swimsuit! Her mom said she'd been having some trouble finding a more modest suit, one with a longer skirt with shorts that were a little longer. 

So she asked if I'd be interested in sewing one for Caitlin.

I just happened to have the perfect fabric waiting in the wings.

Yes! I was so excited to start.

I thought about it and researched the blogosphere a bit for patterns and ideas. I emailed with Amy, the owner of Peek-A-Boo Pattern Shop a bit and finally settled on the new Coco Cay Color Block tankini pattern for the shorts. The boy shorts were definitely short so I lengthened the pattern about 5".  I also knew Caitlin's mom wanted a twirly-type skirt, so I cut a circle skirt (having MADE's pattern in mind). Amy suggested I consult this pattern for attaching the two and that's exactly what I did.

 Now Caitlin can do many fun things in her skirt/shorts while maintaining a bit more modesty.

Oh yes, she is a karate pro too!

For the rashguard, I again went to Peek-A-Boo Pattern Shop.

I loved both patterns I bought from the shop and am looking forward to sewing another suit really soon for my own little girl.

Caitlin was so cute modeling her new suit for me! (Even in the rain - see the ground?) I am so happy it fits and that her mom liked it. :)

A few sewing notes:

- I found this recent advice from Rae very helpful with securing the seams.

- The shorts are fully lined. I wish I knew how to line, say, just the underwear or crotch area, but don't. 

- I bought my lining fabric at Joann's and used a coupon to score a good deal.

- The suit fabric source is unknown, sorry.

- Any questions? Just let me know.

I'll be linking up with some of these fun parties!