KCW Day 4: Pompom Poncho

Woo-hoo!  An actual completed project for KCW.  I'm not counting costume sewing, since nothing I've made will be worn other than for Halloween. [Edit: I just saw that the KCW blog featured costumes today, so I guess that was a made-up-by-me rule.  LOL]

I noticed the other day that E's poncho for the car was getting too small, so a new one was my first priority.  I've made so many of these from the Sew Baby Poncho Pizazz pattern that I've completely lost track of how many exactly.

I made my usual modifications for this one: adding elastic to the center front of the hood and overlapping the hem of the hood when sewing it on, which seems to make it sturdier.

I also added a fleece pompom from this tutorial to jazz it up a little, since it was made from a plain stash fabric.  I am desperately trying to sew down my ginormous fleece stash!  My camera has issues with blues and purples (or I am inept, whatever), so I tried to color correct it to close to the right color.  It's actually a really pretty cobalt leaning slightly towards purple.

I think she likes it.

The Girl's Birthday Dress -- and a Poncho

There was much agonizing over E's dress for her third birthday.  I'd decided weeks ago to make a Modkid Kyoko, but after several shopping trips, I couldn't find just the right fabric.  Hate it when that happens.  On to Plan B, which involved some turquoise velour and my handy-dandy collection of Ottos.  I settled on the "Pine Green" Jersey Dress from Ottobre 6/2008, in neither green nor jersey -- although I did line the skirt with jersey.  E. is in a 3T in RTW, but really only for the length, so I traced a 92 for the width and 98 for the length.

Skirt lining

It went together pretty quickly and easily, which was fortunate, since I sewed it up the night before her party -- of course.  It does seem to run a bit short, but it's hard to tell for sure, since she can't stand independently.  If I were to make it again, I'd add 2-3" to the skirt portion.

I may or may not have made the dress just to go with these tights.

I really like the shirring detail on the bodice.  I was intimidated by shirring for much too long.  It's so easy!  Don't fear the elastic thread.

I tried to match her bee cake to her dress and came pretty close!

She was also in need of a bigger poncho, so that was one of her gifts.  The Sew Baby Poncho Pizzazz pattern is easily my all time most-sewn pattern (excluding diapers).  As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of the poncho as outerwear.  This one is made from some yummy Windpro -- love that stuff! -- with my usual mods of adding elastic the hood and overlapping it at the neckline.  I made it a size too big, but it's still wearable, and I know she'll outgrow it soon enough.  *sigh*

Fleece Poncho for L.

The next finished project from KCWC is a fleece poncho for my nephew, who is turning one.  Ponchos are my favorite outerwear for babies and toddlers, since they're so easy to slip on and can be put over the car seat straps, which is safer than having a bulky coat between the child and the straps. 

 

It's size 18 months from the Sew Baby Poncho Pizzazz pattern, modified to have a curved hood and elastic around the face.  The fleece is Malden Mills 200 wt Polartec.  Whenever I sew with it, I wonder why I even bother with fleece from JoAnn's.  This is so much nicer!  I wish I could get it locally.

Next up is a dress for E, if I ever make up my mind about which pattern to use!