Boden: Fall/Winter 2015 is Here! And Boden Icons!

Longer Line Cable Sweater here in two colors...

Hey, you all.  I am back from Florida. 

CW made a beautiful Princess Anna.  I am pleased she was pleased after all the saving up of money (it's expensive to be pricessified), and having to deal with a five hour delay going there (hello, 3 am arrival) and a cancellation on the way back (come on, really?).  I am happy to go back to Disney, but it's going to be a few months, at least.  ;-)

I am off to a cruise for my (big, OMG I am how old) birthday with my aunt at the end of this week, so if the blog goes fully silent, blame lack of internet access.  Which is fine, I know.  I just am used to being super plugged in.  It's probably good for me (at my age, lol) to be unplugged from time to time.

Okay, so that out of the way, onto Boden.

1. There were quite a few new arrivals on Monday.  Couldn't write about them then (travel day) and couldn't write about them yesterday because of...

Angus at his first day of preschool *yeah*,

so I am writing about it today. 

There are quite a few lovely items and it seems I must have missed many of them in my original picks post way back when.  Or they didn't have these in the preview.  I don't know.  These multiple rollouts are to hard for me to follow (at my age, lol).

2. The folks at Boden must be doing well since the current promo being emailed around and on the back of the catalogs are for 11% off with free ship and returns.  I haven't seen one that "low" in years.  Probably 2010?  But...and because I have access to it, and so do you, the affiliate program has a promo for 15% off with free ship and returns (over $49), which is pretty great, so use it if you need it, of course.  I probably will (after I have paid for the princessification of Little Miss CW).

3. So in this last catalog they sent out there was an insert for the "Boden Icons" collection, which is like the Boden Limited Edition of yore (RIP).  It is intriguing, but it was no secret that I was a HUGE fan of the Limited Edition stuff. In fact, I have only ever sold one item from my collection, and that was because there was a fit issue.  I on the regular wear my beautiful silk jersey dresses from that line.  Here is a look at the lookbook, courtesy of the Telegraph.

The Belgravia dress is gorgeous, and I am a fan, but woah, that 250 pound amount is roughly equivalent to $375.  The other pieces are lovely and if I was an independent gazillionaire I would happily purchase most of it and put in my gorgeous MASSIVE closet.

This is a "huh" piece, the Spitalfields Coat, which at 400 pounds maybe should have plaid that lines up properly?  I suspect this is intentional, but my seamstress eyes are really bothered.

Okay, that's all for now!  Do you have any picks from either the rollout from Monday or the Icons line?  I would love to read your thoughts!  I will be unlikely to respond for some time, but do know I read all comments and do appreciate them all.  I eventually do write back, but it often takes me some time.

Have a great night everyone!

OOTD/Made by Me File: Frozen Festivities...In Superfluity.

If you recall, right before I was slated to start competing in the Fabric Mart Fashion Challenge Sewing Competition, I sewed up most of my little girl's "Elsa" dress based on McCall's 7000 sewing pattern.  I was nearly done at the point I wrote up that blog post, but because of how much time and energy was spent in September and half of October on sewing for the Fashion Challenge, I never did get around to showing off the final project and all of the festivities that surrounded her costume creation.

In addition to this sewing based post, I am also throwing in outfit of the day shots (my daughter is in all of them, though, since the main focus of these days was her, after all).  I am also including some Frozen-themed birthday party things that we did for her on her big day.  And at the end, I included some photos from when we went to see Disney's Frozen on Ice.  (We surprised her with that one, too!)

I realize that there is a real hodgepodge of things going on here, but hopefully if you are here, and are looking for Frozen/Elsa things, what I have here can help you.  And since it is three days before Halloween, I know some of you probably are doing what I do every year, a little bit of procrastination.  You may be just starting your Elsa costume, so seeing a final product might make the work go a little better.

(I am not out of the woods this year, btw--I have to make a PIZZA costume for Rex--no pattern--by Friday.  Have I started it...erm, no.)


BIRTHDAY PARTY DETAILS:

Right before her party, CW and I posed with one of her birthday gifts/party decorations, the life-sized cardboard cutouts of the Frozen sisters, Elsa and Anna.  Of course CW squealed with delight after seeing the life-sized Queen and Princess, but both Mr. Dina and I squealed with delight (well, not really, lol) after we realized that for $35 we could have both a present AND a party "favor."  The guests at the party would receive a sparkly crown (like CW's--$1 at Joanns, btw) and they, too, could pose with Anna and Elsa and I would send the photo to their parents after the party.

OOTD: Dress, Anthropologie; Shoes, Target.

My daughter looks so beautiful in her Elsa gown!  Worth all the hours of sewing I did.

Since we had only invited a handful of girls and their parents to the mid-afternoon party, we knew we wouldn't need much in the way of food, but we know that kids get hungry and thirsty, so we made sure to set up the table in a way that they could have easy access to the food and drinks.  This is the shot before I had put all the food out. 

I happen to own a lot of aqua blue colored dishes/serving pieces, so we had zero costs there.  (I guess I was onto something thirteen years ago when I put all these things on my registry.)

Again, not much in the way of food and snacks, just apples/carrots/some juice (on the glass platter just outside the frame of the photo) and some gumballs. 

There were other food items, but they were part of the festivities of the birthday party.

Originally I was going to have a "Frozen" yogurt bar, but when we saw the Blue Bunny Birthday Ice Cream flavor, we *knew* that had to be the dessert for the treat.  It's good, you all.  Mmm.

Anyhow, the girls were invited, one at a time, to get some ice cream from me, and then put their favorite decorations/yummies on top of it.  We used pearl colored balls, silver balls, aqua blue sanding sugar, marshmallows, and sno-caps (get it, ha!). 

The ice cream bar was a huge hit, and the expenditure was very little.  Some of those girls, though, man, they poured on those candies and treats.  Sorry, parents!!!

Because it was a birthday party, of course we had a cake.  More sugar, hey!  Anyhow, Harris Teeter had this cake as one of their options, so even though there was no specific Frozen birthday cake licensed by Disney, this sheet cake with blue icing and snowflake decorations was available.  We added the 6 candle and the Elsa mini doll (she's in her coronation outfit in this one).

Over the summer I made quite a few "Elsa" skirts for little girls, and for one version (given to CW's cousin), I used some sparkly poly organza.  I had some left over, so I knew that I could use it for something.  And that something was as a wrapping for the party favors the girls went home with (in addition to the crowns they received at the beginning of the party). 

Each was cut using pinking shears, but that still didn't keep the fabric from fraying, however, since these were only meant to last for a little while, I wasn't that worried about it.  I enclosed some blue and white gumballs, some snowflake stickers, and a Frozen ring in each girl's favor.  (I also made sure to have a few boy versions available--they received the Kristoff rings.)  I then tied the favors using some Frozen ribbon I found at Joanns. 

MCCALL'S 7000 DETAILS:

I wrote up a review of this pattern at Pattern Review, so definitely take a look if you want more info on it.

The dress turned out quite well, but I personally did not want to make the whole thing from woven fabric.  Instead I decided to make the bodice bit from knit fabric (extra stretchy for growth spurts, plus easier on her to wear), and use some gorgeous sparkly metallic linen (from Fabric Mart, hey!) for the skirt portion.  Fabric.com had some great sparkly tulle, and although the stuff drives me crazy (not the sewing of it, but the way it is always getting caught on things bugs me!), I knew this dress wouldn't be complete without it.

I wish the pattern had included directions for using knit fabrics, but in the end I figured out how to make it all work. 

One way I had to "make it work" was to figure out how to get the super sheer white power mesh fabric to lay flat and down into the seam where it joined the knit sparkly aqua fabric.  Nothing was working (pressing that mesh--not an option), so in the end, I just carefully topstitched the mesh fabric down with the aqua sparkly knit fabric.  You can see the topstitching detail at the sweetheart neckline.

(You can also see the zip in the back, though the front bodice was completely knit, the back fabric was partial metallic linen, so I just followed the pattern directions exactly for that bit.  I did not, however, add a keyhole opening in the power mesh above the zip, there is PLENTY of stretch there and in the neckline to get over my daughter's head.)

Since a traditional facing or binding at the neckline wouldn't have worked, I needed to figure that out, too.  I added a stretchy ribbon lace that I found at G Street fabrics there instead.  Let me tell you, though, adding that ribbon to the neckline was a pain in the patookus.  I had to pin like a madwoman and then carefully stretch the ribbon (which was smaller than the power mesh opening by about two inches) to fit the neckline.  I thought I had attached it fully only to discover that it had only been stitched on fully about halfway.  Somehow in the process of attaching and stretching the ribbon, I had lost contact with the neckline.  Grrr.  But I took a deep breath and started over, and fortunately the second time's attempt was more successful.  I am actually insanely pleased with how well it turned out.  This is ice skating dance costume worthy, people.  :-)  Plus on my daughter it fits perfectly, and looks really lovely!

On the hem I used a "snowflake" stitch that I found on my machine.  Since I have a 9 mm opening on the plate, but used a 5.5 mm foot to stitch the flakes, it does look a bit smooshed, but the effect is still there.  I didn't do this the whole way round, though, instead switching to a traditional stitch on the back.  Heck, you can't even see it unless you are up close, but I figured that is what makes home sewing so special, these little details.

Back of the garment features an invisible zip that is accessed by a slit in the tulle.  If you are using an organza or something very frayable, you will need to hem the opening of the fabric, but the tulle does not fray so I saved myself some work there.  Plus, you can barely tell there is even an opening there. 

Here is the back of the garment on her.  If I could have lengthened the tulle a bit, I would have for a better effect, but ultimately, I worked with what I had.  I think the shorter length works better for her age, though, much less possible to ruin the hem that way.

FROZEN ON ICE DETAILS:

Her outfit here is nearly identical to the one she wore at her party, but since I knew we would be doing a lot of walking (I took her for a tour of my college beforehand since the show was at the Patriot Center), I insisted she wear her aqua blue sandals instead of her special plastic Frozen heeled mules.  She did bring her "Elsa" purse with her.

OOTD: Jacket and Jeans, J. Crew; Top, Hunter Dixon; Boots, Boden; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

If you ever wonder what little girls are doing when they put their hand out the way CW has in this photo, it is *this* Elsa moment they are trying to emulate.

Right before we headed to our seats, we stopped to grab this photo of the "stage."  I bought one thing, that crazy snowflake wand, with the caveat she had to promise to lead us on Halloween night with it.  She said it would be her pleasure.  Yes, she is wearing this costume on Halloween.  Like every other little girl out there this year.  :-)

Definitely a low-definition photo, but I managed to get this photo of Elsa from the production.  Thankfully CW has not asked for me to make her a shorter gown to look like Elsa from the show.  ;-)

Okay, that's all.  I'll be back later this week with other things, I am sure.  But only after I get that pizza costume started!

Made by Me Files: McCall's 7000 (That Elsa Dress). Plus Great Sewing News!

Hey, all!  I hope if you are enjoying Labor Day (in Canada and the US), it is going well.  :-)

I have been working hard this weekend on an Elsa Dress for CW for her 6th birthday, which is on September 18, 2014.  Last year I made her a Rapunzel dress, but last year I was able to work on that a couple of days before her birthday, but this year I had to get into action FAST because I found out on Thursday night that I was going to be one of the competitors in Fabric Mart's second Fashion Challenge.  There were eight of us chosen for a six-week competition, and to be quite honest with you, I wasn't expecting to be chosen.  I put my ring in the hat after a lot of thought about whether this would be the right time for me to join in, and even then, I was all, "ooh, I am not sure if I should do this!"  But in the end, I knew I needed this, and if they chose me, I knew I would definitely give it my all to be a great competitor.  Now all I need to do is do that--work hard to be the best sewer I can be during the challenges. 

I have seen the work that those other seven ladies have done, and I am going to let you know that I am in awe of their abilities.  So I am going to have to work doubly hard to even have a chance!!!  But again, worth my energy!  Half the votes per week come from "actual voting" from fans of the look, and the other half of the votes are from the people in charge of the contest at Fabric Mart.  I will let you know each week when the voting opens if you feel so inclined to send a few votes my way!!!

Okay, so because most of my sewing time (starting this Friday) will be tied up in these challenges, I decided to get as much work done on my daughter's Elsa costume as I could.  I am nearly there, so I figured I could publish a few photos for those of you who are considering making an Elsa costume for some little lady in your life.

It is obviously still unfinished (hem, sleeves, neckline, and some seam work), but you can see how close this is to being a very good dupe of the Ice Queen look in the movie Frozen.

Although McCall's does not have an official license with Disney to call this an Elsa dress, they got around that by calling it a "Winter Princess" costume.  Okay.  LOL.  If you want the official version, Simplicity came out with their version, and one of their costume designers, Andrea Schewe, led a very good and detailed explanation on how to make an Elsa costume for yourself or your little one.

The gown is great for little girls since it doesn't have an off-the shoulder yoke, which would be a little much on a six-year old girl.  I know I could have chosen to use a sheerer material at the yoke, but I prefer this amazing power mesh that I found at G Street Fabrics for a song (was a 1.5 yard remnant--have plenty left over).  It holds up well to the weight of this dress (which admittedly isn't super-heavy with some metallic sheen linen, tulle, and sparkly jersey).  The only thing I had to do to work with the power mesh was to use Stay-tape at the seams in the shoulders so they wouldn't get stretched out over time.

The power mesh is so stretchy that I don't even have to have an opening in the back for her head to get in and out, the neckline stretches super-easily over her head and then goes back to shape no problem.  I can see why all sorts of ice-skating and dance costumes are made with this fabric!  (Don't any of you dare tell my dance/ice-skating friends that I can sew with power mesh, I can only imagine all the requests I would get to make costumes!!!  (Which I get--those puppies are super expensive!)

From the back, you can see the closure, which is an invisible zip in the linen only.  It looks like it is in the tulle, but that is an illusion.  There is a small slender opening in the tulle to allow for ease of access to the zipper.

A note on sizing.  CW wears a size 5, 6, or 7 in Boden and Target and crewcuts clothing, and she is in a size 3-4 in this dress.  No that isn't a typo.  A 3-4!  If I had sewn up the 5-6, she would have been swamped by fabric and it would have been way too long.  As it is, it is still really long (even though the tulle bit is the perfect length, the skirt is about 3.5 inches too long).  Definitely tissue-fit your daughter or little friend, just in case.  I am so glad I did.  It looks more Elsa-like when it is fitted to the body (again, within reason for a kid!)

I have noticed that Simplicity patterns run truer to size for kids.  Most of the Simplicity ones I have sewn up for them have fit in their RTW sizing, but the McCall's ones always run a bit big.  Her Easter dress fit great in a size smaller than I thought she should wear (in width, the length I made longer), so I think that is something to keep in mind when sewing for kids...is the company known for its excessive ease in their patterns?  At least I can keep sewing this dress for her until she is 12...she will likely fit into the size 7-8 at age 12.  Ha.

The steps I have left are in the photo, mainly as a reminder to me to get them done asap.  I will likely get as many as I can done before Thursday, hopefully all of them.

I love this photo.  She wanted to know if she could wear it today.  I told her no, but thankfully she wasn't too bummed that I had more to get done.

The color is weird, btw.  Sometimes, and in some lights, it looks very aqua/Caribbean blue, and in other lights, it looks more icy blue, the way it does in the movie.  I guess it is close enough, but I want it to be the right color, especially since I am working so hard on this!!!

Okay, that's all for now.  I hope you have a great rest of your Monday.  I should be back later tonight or tomorrow with some ootds.

California: Photos, Part One.

My camera's SD card conveniently finished its run right around California Adventure, which happened to be halfway through our vacation, so I can actually separate these posts into two distinct albums, part one (San Diego, Legoland, RV camping, and Disney's California Adventure), and part two (Disneyland, the beach, and the San Diego Zoo).

If you would prefer just to see my outfits, check out this post instead.  :)

However, if you really dig my kids and the hilarity that can ensue when two parents willingly take three children under 6 on a cross-country trip, well then...

Enjoy!

CW is easy to please on a plane.  All she needs are crayons and coloring books.

Rex is even easier to tame.  All he needs is my kindle fire and Angry Birds Space.

Gus is flying while flying.  My mind is blown.  ;)

Our second day in California included a trip to the San Diego Botanical Gardens.  There was a insect fair going on.  For some reason, Yoda welcomed us.  I don't get it, and neither does Mr. Dina.

I had just eaten an Old Bay seasoned cooked mealworm.  It was really tasty.  :)  I was impressed that they used a Maryland spice to help make the mealworm even tastier.

Rex liked the mealworm, too.  CW did not partake.

This is Monica.  She is a blog friend.  She was the one that suggested we come to this fair because of the bug tasting.  Of course she would be enjoying the fare. 

You can't tell here, but we are both wearing modern red shorts.  She is also wearing a bug pin, which I appreciate, very appropriate for the occasion.  Angus doesn't care what he is wearing as long as he can gnaw on his bjorn (eck, he is teething, though, so I just have to wash the bjorn when I can).

Rex is slightly smaller than the snake.

I put the camera on its timer and got this shot.  There are the modern red shorts that I spoke of two shots back.

I am not making up a caption.  I am insisting that you blog friends make up one instead.  LOL.

This was on day three when we went to Legoland.  We are on a boat ride looking at Lego villages and cities.  It looks like Gus disappeared.  But he is there, at least his legs are.

I was beyond disturbed by this Lego.  Mr. Dina and Rex were very impressed, though.  You gotta love the joining of nerd fantasy one, Legos, and nerd fantasy two, Star Wars.

I only wish there were really palm trees at the Capitol.  It would have made working there so much better.  I also appreciate the lego ambulance.  I gather a Senator needed to be rushed for emergency care after spending too many hours in filibuster.

I got this shot of CW when we just hanging out waiting for Rex.  I love how the light captured just how hazel/yellow her eyes really are.

She also has a really pretty side view.

More than anything, this particular moment made CW's trip to Legoland worthwhile.  She *loves* pretty princesses.

Rex's first ride ever by himself!

I totally think that Mr. Dina looks like this knight.  He insists that it looks more like Russel Brand.  Who's right?  (Note--Mr. Dina is wearing white shoes.  LOL.)

Angus had no rides at Legoland outside of a handful.  This was even too big for him, but he still loved it.

Some nice little boy took this pic of Angus and me.

On day four and five, we joined my Aunt and her family at an RV campground in Menifee, CA.  I had no idea people willingly chose to live in that part of CA (very hot and dry).  Turns out that it was quite lovely, and the folks in the area were super nice.  This canal was fake, though.  It's rare to see that much water in one place in CA, especially desert southern CA.

Haha.  I adore this photo.

Last day there, I had coffee outside.  This bird came up to say hello...and then proceeded to stay next to me, then follow me, and then...

wait at the door of our cabin until he finally realized I wasn't going to be bringing him food.

Day five we went to California Adventure, which was built right next door to Disneyland a while back.  I had never gone because I always just want to go to Disneyland (I think I have been to Disneyland nearly 30 times), but then Mr. Dina suggested we go to both parks because he really wanted to see the Cars ride but also wanted to make sure we got to Small World.  We could have done that with a one day flex pass to both parks, but he decided not to kill us (wise move, btw).  Here CW and I are waiting for Mr. Dina and Rex to get the fast passes to the Cars ride.

After taking the above photo, we went and got a cappuccino for me.  CW posed like Hollie Hobbie while we were waiting.

And then, because we had even more time, we did another group self-portrait.  The cappuccino was really good.  ;)

Gaw.  Gus.

It's a family portrait that *almost* is perfect.  CW must love Hollie Hobbie.

Angus enjoyed this underwater version of a carousel.  I like the goldfish, especially.

You can't tell, but Mr. Dina is petrified.  This ferris wheel went really high, and Rex was all about making it move.

You can't tell here, either, but I am completely petrified, too.  I am clutching onto Gus like he is going to save me if something goes wrong.  The ladies to my left seemed so calm.  How in the world do people not get sick to their stomachs when presented with high heights and open air?  I mean, really!

CW has a boyfriend.

You could probably use this as an ad for Disneyland.  Even her tag is placed *just so*.

This is a train that takes you on a bugs-eye view of food.  The watermelon (very large) was my fave.

I know you all are SO envious of our super-chic eyewear right now.

Mr. Dina and I have a HUGE soft spot for the movie Monsters, Inc., partly because it came out when we were first married, but also because Boo reminds us so much of CW. 

Mealworms, Monster sushi?  I'll eat it all, yum.

Rex is actually really adept at balance and strength.  Maybe I will see what sports this means he would be good at...and don't say men's gymnastics.  He is likely going to be well over 6 feet tall and "sturdy."  Don't really see that as a great body type for the parallel bars.

We ended our night here, near Cars Land.  And with this photo, I bid you all good day, too!