weekend links

Hello friends!

Summer vacation at our house this week has brought lots of making, with projects including food color and school glue henna tattoos (this has kept the girls busy for hours on play dates after I wouldn’t let them get real henna tattoos at a neighborhood festival), taking care of a few sewing tutorials and other special projects for upcoming blog posts, and making new underpants for Bear. Yes, really.

I can’t exactly remember when or why Bear started wearing underpants, but he’s been wearing them for almost as long as he’s been part of our family. In fact, I seem to recall that he started wearing them around the same time S started wearing them, and he’s rarely been seen without them since. (This applies to S too, who generally also wears underpants, but for Bear they’ve become sort of a signature style. Probably because that’s all he wears!) Until now Bear’s underpants were just S’s with a hole cut out for the tail, but as S has grown larger he’s been stuck with the same pair until they became far too raggedy. This week I finally cleared an afternoon and tackled the project when S informed me that he simply couldn’t fly to four different countries this summer without being properly dressed. (She’s got a really busy summer, which I’ll tell you about another time.)

We started by pinning his current tattered pants to get a better fit, then I transferred the changes to a rough pattern draft. After truing up the pattern a bit I checked the fit (not really a muslin–more of a pin fitting) before testing it out. They turned out well! The fancy elastic came from La Droguerie in Paris. The jersey is Robert Kaufman’s new Dana cotton/modal knit, which I’ll show and tell more this fall when the new patterns are released. (Yes, that’s a hint: a new knit pattern for fall!) For now, I’ll just say it’s lovely, lightweight, very nice to work with, and comes in a wide range of colors. But back to the underpants. S and Bear are delighted, and now we’re all set for today’s flight to Scotland! Bear is ready to add some new stamps to his passport, as is S.

Instagram Picks

This week’s picks are all about turquoise! @mtrites called this Apple Picking Dress “ridiculously loud,” but I think it’s just darling! As are the Lisette B6296 pajamas sewn by @stashela, don’ t you think? I love the black piping!

Pinterest Picks

Did you catch my two newest Lisette for Butterick patterns for fall? It’s summer vacation, so I know there’s a good chance you missed them. I’ve also created Pinterest boards for these new patterns, with lots of photo inspiration to help you get ideas for yourself. (You can buy these patterns on our website: B6482 and B6493.)

I think the idea of a Liberty lawn Butterfly Blouse lengthened to a dress is just perfect for summer. And you could layer it over a long-sleeved tee and tights in the fall and winter! Also, I love the white trim on this dress, which you could make with our Building Block Dress book and pattern.

Hey, look! Shoes and a bracelet to match your tape measure ring. (You’re welcome.) Actually, did you know that today is National Tape Measure Day? Really.

I’m just going to make these ice cream photos a regular part of weekend links. They’re so pretty they make me happy (and they help me feel a little cooler!), and maybe they’ll make you happy too. I think I may have even shared these before, but they haven’t gotten any less pretty.

When I saw the photo below, left, I immediately thought of a Liesl + Co City Stroll Wrap Skirt with a Lisette for Butterick B6464 sleeveless top. And as long as we’re at it, here’s a little Liesl + Co Cinema Dress inspiration for you as well. This is still one of my favorite summer silhouettes.

Weekend Reading (and Watching)

• I grew up quite close to the capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin, and it’s still one of my favorites. How many capitol buildings have you visited in person?
• Thom Browne really doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Such a creative visionary!
• Interesting reading about Givenchy in conjunction with the show. Have you seen it?

And here’s a mini weekend reading collection about Spain, just for the fun of it:

• How espadrilles are made. Such a lovely video and tradition! (Technically this is France, but I’m taking liberties since the Basque country is also Spanish and espadrilles/alpargatas are so traditional in Spain as well. I’m wearing some as I type this!)
• A new tradition of flamenco dresses? I love the merging of the old and new.
• What a great way to learn Spanish!
• The people in this little Spanish town have been making knitted street awnings using recycled plastic bags! (Street awnings are so helpful when it’s really sunny out; they offer a little bit of shade from the heat.) The video is quite sweet.
• I was just telling S that I think we need a lot more trees in Madrid. And then, this!
• And if you’ve even wondered, here’s the real reason Spanish people eat dinner so late.

We’ll be on vacation with my family (all five Bockheim girls together!) next week, but we’ve still got lots of fun plans for the blog, including another customized Bistro Dress, a favorite Oliver + S project, and lots of other sewing inspiration and ideas for you. What are you sewing this weekend? Whatever it is, have a great weekend and we’ll see you next week!