Sound + Vision cosplay

Sound and Vision is by far my favorite David Bowie song. If you're unfamiliar with it, the lyrics are basically: "Blue, Blue, electric blue, that's the color of my room where I will live..." I've always loved it because just the thought of having this ultra bright, blue room where I could just sit in it, and be blissfully silent, bursting with creative visions, excites me...and calms me all at the same time. It speaks to my core as an artist and fills me up. I could listen to it aaaaallll day long! And I knew straight away that had to realize it into a dress for me.

bowie, cosplay, dressesKatMarch 3, 2016bowie, sewing for women, music, sew geeky, cosplay Comments

KCW Spring 2016 Part 2: Sleepin With Deh Fishies

It's literally has been yeeears since I planned to make, on time, and post, on time, for Kids Clothes Week! I am making this year my most creative yet because I had a bit of a misstep motivation wise last year, so LOOK OUT! I am planning some big changes so I am feeling all this drive and fire to just GO BIG!My plan came together as soon as I heard the KCW theme was TOYS. I went straight away to drafting out lil buddies to stitch into their outfits (because if I don't, they'll just lose em'!) so they can play with them whenever they wear them! I love making things with little surprises!

KCW TOYS: TANGRAM DRESSES! Spring 16' Part 1 of 2

We go all out for Christmas Eve. I make special dresses for the girls and then pajamas for everyone for Christmas Day! This year the theme was tangrams. I custom designed fabric through Spoonflower and used the Madelyn pattern by Violette Fields Threads as a base for the dress bodice. I used Kona cottons for all of the skirts and collars which I paper pieced and drafted myself. While it was quite a long process to plan out, I couldn't have asked for better results! I figured now would be a good time to share them because it's just in time for the Kids Clothes Week Challenge this Spring: TOYS edition!

Neon Decklyn Jacket

As some of you know, I'm part of the Blaverry Blasters Team, which means that I will be sewing a LOT of their patterns on a semi-regular basis! That's just fine with me because I lurv their patterns hard!

The current project I just finished was a pretty rad, cropped jacket called {affiliate link} Decklyn.

outerwear, sewing, springKatFebruary 1, 2016girls, spring, jackets Comment

Finn Top Pattern by Blaverry

I am always on the quest for new pattern designers. Last September, while I was searching frantically to find the perfect pattern for Azriella's first day of school dress (check out my instagram to see it!) I was destined to find one of my new, go-to pattern designers, BLAVERRY. The patterns are cool and modern yet very wearable. Oh, and my favorite part?! The sizing range is from 2T-16years! Can you even believe that?! My jaw probably actually dropped when I saw that!

Check this out, here's my version of their Finn Top Pattern!

KatJanuary 13, 2016blaverry, finn top, sewing Comments

Azy's Song of the Sea Birthday Dress

Are you all familiar with the Secret of Kells? It's Irish animation illustrated by Tomme Moore and it's truly beautiful. The character and scenery drawings are so vivid yet sooth your imagination as the scenes seem to look like a story in motion. The textures, the character arcs, the story lines are all so captivating and absolutely inspiring. The most recent film released was called Song of the Sea and is about a little boy and girl and the struggles they go through as they are come to grips with living without a mother, sibling animosity and the realization of Saoirse's very special power of turning into a magical seal, a selkie, when she dons her mothers cape.

Azriella was mesmerized... enchanted, even. I found a local fabric store that sells tons of variations of organza, so I sought out duo-toned hues that reminded me of the ocean images from the film.

dresses, sewing, top 13 cosplayKatDecember 27, 2015 Comments

Sephira's Rainbows & Lolipops! 4th Birthday dress!!!

Sephira's 4th Birthday dress! Most of this year I have been focused on improv piecing. It all started with this dress. When I asked what she wanted for her dress this year, she said "PINK!"

KatNovember 27, 2015 Comments

Star Wars Inspired Face Masks

With all the weather changes this Autumn, sniffles and coughs are bound to come our way! One way I curbed my kids from spreading their germs to everyone in the house (and outsiders!) was to make a sick mask that aided us from those nasty colds! And I gotta say, it did help. It does not replace coughing into your elbows, but it does help contain the amount of spreading.

Now these aren’t just for flu season, these are GREAT for costumes and Halloween too! I drafted a FREE PDF pattern for little kids, big kids, and older kids/ adults so that everyone is covered.

Pun intended 😉

KatOctober 1, 2015diy/tutorial, boy, girl, star wars, free pattern kawaii, geekyComment

Mori Girl Sundress Pattern & Tutorial for 30 Days of Sundresses!

I love summer in the Northwest: there's no lack of adventure and it's all pretty much in my backyard! My favorite thing to see my girlies in during these sun-soaked days are simple twirly sundresses, so when Melly asked me to be a part of her 30 days of sundresses tour I, for real, did a happy dance. I decided to make a pattern and tutorial based on one of my first drafted patterns!

When I think about the girls twirling in their dresses in the backyard or traipsing along a wooded trail, it reminds me of the Japanese fashion trend: Mori Girl which basically means "forest girl". The Mori Girl Sundress is a free pattern I made with a tutorial on how to sew with an adjustable neckline, tassle drawstrings, and a circle skirt gathered with elastic.

KatJune 30, 2015diy/tutorial Comments

Willow + Co. Pattern Tour. Butterflies and Doodles

Today I'm going to show off the new duds I made for Akira and Azriella for the {affiliate link} Willow + Co. pattern tour!! Guys! I was so friggin ecstatic when I got asked to be a part of this tour! I was through the roof happy!!! I decided upon making a dress for Azriella AND making a dress for Akira... Not just any dress, this was Akira's first ever dress!!! I firmly believe in not making or putting my babies in dressesfor the simple fact that dresses look better when they are not crumpled up in someone's lap! Also, a baby trying to crawl in a dress is such a hard thing to do! So it's been a rule of mine to wait till they can at least stand on their own before I make them a dress!

KatJune 9, 2015 Comment

3 Looks for Kids Spring Fashion: Kids Clothes Week 2015

I'm always late to the blog party lately, mainly because I just allow my kiddos and our adventures come first. We're constantly checking off our seasonal bucket list so I blame that for my breaks between posts 😁 I decided on a whim, last minute, to partake in Kids Clothes Week this spring! I recently flipped out when I found that my favorite sewing book, A Sunny Spot, just put out the newest edition a couple of weeks ago. I decided to freak out and immediately order it (and another little pattern book) from Amazon Japan.

30 days of Shirley Temple! Modern Romper for the Kawaii Kid

So I love classic looks with a wacky modern twist. That's my thing, that's my go-to combo. So, for me, I had to think of a way to make this idea of Shirley Temple work with my personal aesthetic in which wouldn't involve 100+ yards of gathering fabric for a pettiskirt. I mean, I love the look of them on my kiddos but the time intensiveness of making one at the moment was a bit overwhelming! I thought then about what other things I love on pics of child fashion from yesteryear that you don't see so every day. And I love Korean kids fashion. I mean, I'm a bit obsessed.

KatApril 20, 2015behind the seams, blog tour, chibi, kawaii, sewing Comments

Handmade Octonauts Inspired Easter 2015!

I don't know about your kidlings, but as of recent, mine have become quite taken with Octonauts! The show is basically kawaii aquatic adventurers who go around saving the sea creatures that fall into peril around them! Of them, Azriella quickly requested to be Tweak the Bunny and shortly afterward Sephira chimed in that she wanted to be the "pink Vegimal" which she later learned was named "Codish". I decided that since Azriella was a bunny, that the little carrot Vegimal, named "Barrot" would be perfect for her!

dresses, sewing, spring, top 13 cosplayKatApril 12, 2015behind the seams, chibi, easter, kawaii, octonauts, sewing Comments

My Panda Pi. Akira's First Birthday Outfit!

Guess who JUST turned 1?! I mean, I can hardly believe it myself! As hard as I tried to keep her my tiny baby forever (I mean how much coffee and junk food to you need to feed a baby to keep her small? TOTALLY KIDDING, OF COURSE!!!), she just keeps growing and growing! Sheesh! The weird thing is she doesn't seem to change physically at all! I mean, sure she gets taller but her face looks the same as it did when she was six months old! And man, oh, man do I love that face!

KatMarch 20, 2015akira, behind the seams, birthday sewing, chibi, creative process, kawaii, sewing Comment

Free Pattern! Mitchiri Neko Spring Top

I really wanted to do something special that I’ve never done before (so bear with me): a self-drafted multi-sized PDF pattern. It’s free (yay!) and it’s for sizes 12months to 5 years but could easily be graded up or down as you please.

KatMarch 2, 2015diy/tutorial Comment

Super belated post: Sephira's 3rd birthday outfit

Hey there all! I just realized that I never actually posted about Sephira's 3rd Birthday outfit! The little miss requested that it look like Princess Caterina from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, one of her two favorite shows!

KatJanuary 18, 2015a sunny spot, diy buttons, japanese sewing patterns, sewing Comments

Sew Geeky Episode 8: EPIC FANTASY!

It’s the 25th!!! So you know what that means: SEW GEEKY! This month’s theme is Epic Fantasy inspired. Think Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, or really anything that would conjure up visions of enchantment.

Rowan Tee Tour!

So check this out, guys. I'm on this super cool tour for the Rowan Tee by Titchy Threads! What makes it different from your average tee pattern? Well, because it is customizable in 144 different variations! Isn't that crazy?! All truth, folks, I tell no lies :-)

KatNovember 21, 2014blog tour, rowan tee Comments