Reversible (sort of) Ole with Hood

I used to think I didn't like to make the same thing twice. I was so wrong. I am a process person. Since I restarted sewing last year, I can't seem to make a one off of anything (some of the seconds don't reach the blog). When I finished the first Ole by Zonen 09, I didn't feel finished. Sure that single garment was stitched, labeled and in heavy rotatoion, but I wasn't finished with Ole. 

The Ole pattern has many different options for pockets and collar, and the fabric combinations are endless. This Ole has a hood, side pockets, snap front, and the lining fabric was chosen to wear the inside as the outside sometimes. After faking my way through the construction of the first one, this one is constructed 100% as specified (okay, I cut the cuff as one piece so it would look more like a classic sweatshirt hoodie), with very satisfying results. You may notice the bottom edge of the button band was a little saggy on the my first version. With the second I used Sharon's sew the corner first method, resulting in a much nicer finish. Note to self: you get good results when you read the instructions. 

PATTERN: Ole by Zonen 09. (More pattern review) My last Ole was a cardigan made with two lighter weight knits, but this design works great with sweatshirt fleece. The combination of a heavy main fabric and a jersey lining takes this from a middle layer, to a full on spring jacket. All we need now is warmer weather.

FABRIC: The lining is cotton jersey from Raspberry Creek Fabrics. Love it, would be perfect for spring (if it ever comes) t-shirts, am annoyed I didn't buy more. The shipping is lightning fast, and the customer service is just as speedy. The sweatshirt fleece is from Girl Charlee. I still have trouble (but am getting better) at anticipating the weight of knits purchased via the interweb. Sometimes I'm disappointed when the package arrives and I realize its not right at all for the planned garment. This sweatshirt knit far exceeded my expectations. So buttery soft, it was almost a shame to line. I bought extra, there may be some Mini Hudson's in J's future.

FIT/SIZE: I sewed a 128 Standard (which is an 8, I think). The Zonen 09 cut tends toward long, lean, and modern. I sized up for longer wear, you can see he has some room to grow in the length.

This design is meant to be completely reversible, and I intended to make it that way, until I realized I could't squeeze the sleeves out of stripes. Some heather gray from my stash makes a nice substitution and isn't all bad on the outside.

Ole 1 and Ole 2 planning some sort of bed-headed conspiracy against the camera lady. 

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Pattern: Ole by Zonen 09
Main Fabric: Sweatshirt Fleece from Girl Charlee
Lining Fabric: Jersey Knit from Raspberry Creek Fabrics

KCW : Zonen 09 Ole

Kid's Clothes Week Day 4. Day 4!? Where has the week gone? My first (and only) submissions this season are this lovely Ole Cardigan, and Field Trip Raglan. Please accept these submissions and my apologies for over scheduling myself with the winter sessions of every extra curricular activity available in my fair city, greatly diminishing my free time to sew.

Everyone knows I have a bit of a crush on Zonen 09, so I was thrilled to be asked to make an Ole in celebration of the English release of the pattern. I have a bit of experience with Zonen 09 after sewing a couple of Theo button downs in the past. The Ole (like the Theo) is a fairly sophisticated make, it is nicely detailed, infinitely adaptable, and a VERY satisfying sew. Zonen 09 is known for crisp urban boy's wear, but Mina Dotter made her girl version look so appealing, L got first dibs on Ole.

PATTERN: Ole jacket from Zonen 09.  I totally under estimated this pattern when I was fabric shopping (and when I was sewing, more on that later). In my mind it was a cardigan because I planned to make the simplest shawl collar version, but it is so much more. Depending on the weight of the fabric you choose it could be a full on spring jacket, with on seam pockets on the outside and two options for interior pockets. It is fully lined, and can be completely reversible. It can be fastened with buttons or snaps. The Ole is in English, but maintains a few characteristic of it European decent. Seam allowances are not included on the pattern pieces, so I added 1/2" to each piece when I traced them. I know many people add the seam allowances on the fabric, but because I'm not used to doing it that way, I would rather screw up on paper, then forget and screw up my fabric. It is also formatted for A4 printing, making it a skosh too large for American letter size copy paper. I use legal size paper as a substitute for A4.

FABRIC: The exterior is a vintage polyester knit from Crafter Glow. It is medium weight and doesn't have much stretch. The interior is light weight cotton jersey from Girl Charlee. The buttons are vintage from my stash. 

SIZE/FIT: Like the Theo, the Ole comes with two fit options, standard and slim. L measured a 5, but I made the size 6 standard because I wanted it to be roomy enough for more than one layer underneath.  Even the standard fit has a nice long and lean look about it. 

I'm not gonna lie, this pattern kicked my butt. The whole thing seems silly now, but that's the way it is when you're learning new techniques. I read the instructions for attaching the cuff to the lining and the exterior at the same time 1 million times. ONE MILLION!!!! But I just didn't get it. I figured that it was the bagged lining method that I tried with the Salme Cropped Blazer, so I went back to the Grainline tutorial I've used in the past. It worked like a charm, though because I followed the Grainline instructions as exactly as I could, my assembly isn't quite what is specified by Zonen 09, and I had to do a little fudging of the finishing with some top stitching at the end.

When I finished I went back and read the instructions again, and they made perfect sense. If you have bagged more than one jacket lining over a year ago, you'll have no trouble at all. If you have never done it, baste everything as a test run. I ripped those g.d. cuffs off (after serging too!) so many times I very nearly gave up. The point is it's tricky, but not rocket science. The perfect fit and thoughtful details of this jacket are well worth stretching your skills. Next time I'll be bagging linings and attaching collars like a pro. 

Because you can't wear just a cardigan (and it wouldn't be KCW if I didn't sew at least one t-shirt), I whipped up a new Field Trip Raglan to go with it. I've made this pattern many times (here, here, here) before, which makes it easy to alter with a dependable outcome. The sleeves are vintage knit from my stash, and shorted to three quarter length. I added an inch of length to the body, and made the neckline 1/2" bigger for a girlier look. The graphic is from my Conversation Heart Valentine Pins, blown up to t-shirt size and applied with a freezer paper stencil. 

STYLO Restyled : Theo Button-down & Field Trip Raglan

When I first started brainstorming for STYLO I thought I wanted to go a little grunge so I had a good excuse to make a flannel shirt. I was originally thinking Doc Martins and ripped up jeans, but the wind shifted and the flannel is all that is left of that idea. But it is probably the best part anyway. J has already worn it a ton, to church, to play, when he's grumpy and cold. A button-down is a pretty big time investment for a kid, but the cozy fabric makes it worth his time to wear, in turn making it worth my time to sew. 

Button Down Pattern: Theo by Zonen 09

Button Down Fabric:  Plaid Cotton Flannel from Joann Fabric

This is my second Theo, this time with the full long sleeves. The pattern calls for a simplified button placket at the cuff, but next time I might try one of the of many tutorials on the interweb to do the more traditional (i.e. time consuming) detail. I used the "standard" version of the pattern (as opposed to slim), and made a size bigger than his measurements to allow plenty of room for the underlayer. I extended and curved the bottom hem to give it a more classic American (nobody does sloppy dressing like Americans) look when its untucked. You'd almost not recognize this super relaxed look as the normally svelte Theo, but the impeccable fit is still very apparent when its buttoned up.

J perfers his flannel untucked. Gotta get this guy a grunge band t-shirt to wear under it.

The underlayer is the Oliver + S Field Trip Raglan that I love so much, and have sewn the crap out of in the past few weeks. This project was the original inspiration for the thumbhole sleeves I've been churning out lately. The sweater knit is the perfect underlayer fabric and works great with this detail. 

Underlayer Pattern : Field Trip Raglan by Oliver + S, with thumbhole variation

Underlayer Fabric : Sweater Knit from Joann Fabric, White Jersey Knit from Hancock Fabrics

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Next up...Gretel's Knits

SYTLO Restyled

KCW Day 4 : Zonen 09 Theo Button Down

How is it Day 4 of Kid's Clothes Week already? Today's offering took a little more than 1 hour a day to sew, but the late night was totally worth it. I've had my eye on the Zonen 09 Theo button down for a while. Somehow Sharon at Zonen 09 has made the short sleeved woven shirt everybody's dad wore in the 70's (my Dad was partial to plaid) look fresh and modern. Little boys in muted floral prints, the exaggerated collar, and those fetching little triangle pieces, somehow make a trite throwback look positively edgy. Call it aspirational sewing, but I wanted a piece of that action. 

Let's be clear, the Zonen 09 Theo Pattern in only available in Dutch, and I don't speak Dutch. I could have bought a pattern in English and just modified it to suit, but what fun would that be? I'm sewing the Theo in Dutch, just to see if I can.

PATTERN: The Zonen 09 Theo is a basic button down shirt with options for long sleeves, short sleeves, an uber 70's collar, and a standard collar. It also comes in a slim and standard fit. It has instructions for clipped corners scattered through out the shirt, or piping across the back. You also have the choice of 3 pocket details, and welt or sewn buttonholes. I bought this pattern because of the corner details (keep reading) and the beautifully slim fit. It's completely different than the I've-eatten-too-much-micky-D's fit you see in department stores. 

FABRIC: I used Liberty London Tana Lawn Betsy in light blue from Fabric.com. I bought it on sale, so naturally its out of stock now. Liberty London's reputation for sturdy softness will not let you down. I chose this particular print because of its passably masculine floral print.  I'm playing up the blues with some Robert Kaufman chambray for the lining pieces (also used here).

DETAILS: Zonen 09 is a genius with subtle, wearable details for boys. Often I think boy centric pattern designs are a bit costumey, or an awkward translation of what daddy wears. But the simple cut corner detail that is all over (or not, your choice) this button down, is just the right amount of fuss for my taste. You may not notice them the first time, but a second look adds to the depth of the design.  I used the Robert Kaufman indigo chambray for all of the corner clips except the shoulder. J has a not so secret love of pink, so I wanted to add a special little snippet of pink just for him. On the shoulder (top right) I used the hot pink linen from the Clover Capris. The red button is vintage, and a tiny bit too big for my taste, but a perfect button would have required a trip to fabric row with 2 kids in 93 degree heat, when we really just wanted to go to the pool.  I put the collar on backwards the first time. Had it completely sewn in when I realized the clipped corner was on the underside. Uffa! Such a tiny thing, but I had to fix it. It is killing me that I sewed right through the triangle at the hem (bottom left). Knucklehead! I should have sewn around it for consistency sake...must go fix.

FIT: Based solely on measurements J was a 122 Slim, which is the equivalent to a 7 slim. Spot on considering he's 7, and slim. I made a muslin for this shirt to make sure nothing was lost in translation before I cut into the sacred Liberty, and to make sure it fit. The 122S fit perfectly, but I want him to be able to wear this labor of love for a while, so I bumped up to a 128S (8 slim). I love the fit. 

ALTERATIONS: Are you kidding me? Alterations? I'm lucky I got a wearable shirt. I didn't change a thing. I've seen a few little girl dress hacks of this pattern in the Zonen 09 Flickr pool, might try that for L. 

I will definitely make this pattern again. When the KCW smoke clears, I might make another in chambray, and then I'll post my tips for the minimum you need to know to cobble this thing together if you don't speak dutch. 

J is wearing the Sunny Day Shorts from a few weeks ago, where I used the same patch pocket detail.

linking up to KCW here.

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And the winner of the Gingercake lunch bag pattern giveaway is JUDITH MARTINEZ! Congratulations Judith, watch your email for more details. Thanks to Virginia at Gingercake for sharing her pattern with us and to everyone who entered. Head on over to the Gingercake store and get your lunch bag pattern while they are on sale.

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