Project Run and Play // Recap

I cannot believe it, but Project Run and Play Season 14 is over. What a ride it has been! Honestly, I never imagined I could be a designer for Project Run and Play. It was something I only dreamed of and as I have learned over the past month, dreams do come true!

The competition is over and I will admit that I am both relieved and a little sad. Relieved because this was one of the most stressful months I have ever been through. Planning, coming up with designs, sewing, taking pictures, writing blog posts, making deadlines, promoting my designs on facebook and instagram. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes too and I am so grateful to all the ladies that make Project Run and Play possible! Without them, there would be no competition.

I am also a little sad, because it has been an amazing experience and I had so much fun! The other designers will understand what I mean when I say that it was stressful and fun at the same time. I had the honor of sewing with and competing against some amazing ladies. You are all very talented and I feel so honored to have been a part of Season 14 with every one of you. I can't wait to see what you continue to sew and I am so glad to have "met" you this past month! It is true that we were all competing against each other, but I was always sad to see someone go each week and I truly wanted everyone to win.

Even though the competition is over, I can't stop talking about it and I don't think I will stop talking about it for a long time. I learned so much about myself and my sewing skills in the past month. I was challenged in so many different ways and I know this will help me in the future. As part of the competition, we are allowed to use patterns but as "designers" we are supposed to make them our own. This was a huge challenge for me. I normally follow a pattern word for word and don't make any changes! I want my sewing projects to turn out right and with veering from a pattern there is a risk of it not turning out! However, I am happy to say that I surprised myself! Project Run and Play really pushed me to do my best and be as creative as possible. I would've never made any of these outfits if not for the competition. Now, I am excited to see what I can do with my sewing in the future! 

Project Run and Play taught me to love blogging again! Honestly, I have not been blogging much this year even though I have been sewing more than ever. I have been sharing my makes on my instagram account but I had no motivation to keep up my blog. I was seriously considering closing down my blog when I got the message from Audrey of Skirt Fixation inviting me to be a part of the competition! I'm so grateful for that because I still enjoy blogging! I can't promise I will post every week or post about everything I make, but there will be more from me here! This blog isn't going away anytime soon! I hope you will stay with me for the ride! 

Week 3 was my favorite look by far! It challenged me on so many different levels and I am really proud of the jacket. I used a dress pattern and took my chances with making it into a jacket! It worked out better than I ever thought it would and I am a little bit jealous of my sister's awesome new wardrobe! 

Thank you so much to everyone who commented on my posts and encouraged me along the way! It has been so much fun sharing this adventure with you and I can't wait to see what the future holds! For now, I will be tackling some projects for myself on my fall sewing list! I have loved sewing all month long for my siblings (and now my sister has an awesome new wardrobe) but I want to catch up on some sewing for myself! On the list is a plaid flannel Cheyenne tunic, and a Lane Raglan hoodie!  After that, I will start on Christmas dresses! 

I will leave you with some outtakes from our photo shoots. It was so much fun taking pictures of my siblings each week and I am so thankful that they put up with my many pictures! My sister certainly makes me laugh every time! 

I told her to smell the flowers, so she plugged her nose instead!

Thank you again for joining me on this journey!

~Elizabeth

Project Run and Play Week 2 // Little Lumberjack

Don't forget to head over to Project Run and Play and vote for your favorite plaid outfit!

I am so excited to be back for week two of Project Run and Play! This week the theme is "Buffalo Guys or Gals." This little guy has been asking me to make him something for awhile, so I thought I'd make a boy outfit this week! I love this picture of him - it really captures his personality.

I love plaid! It is a very popular fashion choice this time of year in Minnesota. I knew I wanted to use red and black plaid because it is so classic!

My little brother's outfit started with the jacket. I was looking through my stash and found this beautiful piece of red and black plaid wool! It was gifted to me a few years ago by a sewing friend and I never found the right use for it until now. It was only about a yard, so I had to be very careful cutting it out!

I started with the Reversible Zippy Hoodie from Kitschy Coo. Instead of making it reversible, I fully lined it in fleece, made a half zipper and added a kangaroo pocket. The pocket is also lined in fleece so it feels soft on my brother's hands.

As you can see, there are "X's" through each plaid square. Since my sewing journey started with quilting, I thought it would be fun to quilt the jacket. To do this, I first cut out all my pattern pieces from the wool and the fleece. I then stacked each wool piece with the matching fleece piece, pinned in a few places and quilted "X's" using my walking foot. After all the pieces were quilted, I was able to sew the jacket together.

I am really happy with this jacket and how well the plaid matched up! I used to be afraid of sewing with plaid, but now it's one of my favorite prints!

In this picture, you can see the inside of the jacket and the quilting detail. I also finished the seams by binding them with bias tape. The layers were quite bulky to sew through, but I didn't break a needle!

After sewing the jacket, I thought my brother needed something to complete the outfit! First, I made him some pants. I drafted a pattern using an existing pair of my brother's jeans. I wanted to make a casual pair of pants and found the perfect piece of black corduroy in my stash!

I wanted to have the pants match the jacket, but still work as a stand alone piece too. I decided to add a rectangular piece of the wool plaid to the knees. The patches are backed with fleece and quilted, so it will feel soft during wear. My brothers are tough on their pants, so the knee patches will also help keep these durable.

My favorite part of the pants are the back pockets! I traced the pockets on his jeans to come up with an accurate shape. Then I handstitched a "D" on each pocket with red thread for the first letter of his name. He loves it, and it adds a nice personal touch!

I made little belt loops using scrap strips of the corduroy. There are front pockets, which I drew onto the pattern piece and cut out. Next time I would make them a little deeper, but they work! I also did a faux fly and topstitched with red thread to make it stand out. I used this tutorial as a reference for drawing the faux fly onto my pattern piece. The red button is decorative, but I liked how it complements the red in the plaid!

The waistband has elastic in the back and is flat in the front making for a comfortable pair of pants for a 9 year old boy!

As you can see, it is the perfect outfit for a little boy on the move!

Last, but not least, I wanted to make a shirt to complete the outfit. I found some scrap pieces of knit plaid in my stash (from Girl Charlee) and I had just enough to do some color blocking. I used the School Bus T-Shirt from Oliver + S because it fits my brother well. I chopped the front piece right under the armscye to add the color blocking. I also cut the neckband on the bias to add some interest.

My little brothers love to juggle! We had so much fun taking these pictures at our local apple orchard!

Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to head over to Project Run and Play and VOTE for your favorite look!

~Elizabeth

Moto Jacket Pattern Tour

Hello! Back in June, I had the the opportunity to test a new pattern from Jennuine Design! I signed up to test, forgot about it and then found out I was picked to help test the Moto Jacket. I was so excited for the challenge!