Novello Leggings (and finally getting back on the road!)

Hello friends! It’s been a minute since I posted in here, and I’ve really missed sharing with you all. A brief catch-up, before we move onto the sewing:

In January, after a whirlwind adventure traveling Mexico and Arizona with other fulltime families, we listed our 2600 square foot home for sale, with the dream of moving into our RV and traveling year round.

In March, just as we closed escrow, COVID hit, and scared the shit out of us. As a mom of preemies, a wife to someone who battled cancer and someone who has always been a card-carrying germophobe, the process of watching RV Parks shut their doors to traveling families, and the idea of not having a place to “shelter in place” seemed untenable. We purchased another, smaller home (still kindling the full time dream in our hearts), and began renovating it. Moving during a pandemic was NOT what I signed up for, but through some blood, sweat and quite a few tears, we made ourselves a new, cozy home, not sure if we would ever feel safe traveling as we had in the past.

By June, we were all getting really, really antsy. I started to think that maybe, just maybe, we could travel safely, so we made a couple “tester trips” to Lassen Volcanic Park, the California Redwoods, and Bend Oregon, just to see how things went.

Lassen National Park, Redwood National Park & Bend Oregon

A few highlights include exploring the Subway Tube in Lassen National Park (boy was it dark in there!):

The hike through Burney Falls (on father’s day):

Finding a bear in Redwood National Park:

Meeting up with friends and doing some socially distanced yoga near Crescent City:

And exploring some really, really big trees. If you’ll notice, Noah has a brace on here, and that’s because he fell from his bunk and broke BOTH wrists while we were gone.

The kid was still a trooper though!

Lots of s’mores and IB Profen got him through until we could see the doctor.

He ended up with surgery on one, a cast, and a brace on the other. In the pandemic kid? Seriously?! The bunk now has rails on it….

So, despite that little mishap, things went really well. We fell in love with RV travel all over again, this time for slightly different reasons. With no in person jobs to tie us down (we both still work remotely), we found that the only way we felt safe socializing was outdoors- and there were plenty of ways to do that in campgrounds!

After a few weeks, we came “home” and the kids started their official homeschool year.

We didn’t plan on leaving again so soon, but when the California fires hit again in August, we headed out- this time without any planning- just threw our things in the truck, went to pick up the RV and headed north, as far away from the noxious smoke as we could get. We met up with more families along the way, touring Oregon, all the way from Bend to Mt. Hood. Our kids were happy, we were happy, and we finally felt like WE COULD DO THIS!

Bend, Seaside, Florence & Mt. Hood

One of the first things we did was join the Thousand Trails Campground network. This is really where the fulltime traveling families hang out, and we knew any succesfful fulltime adventure would involve a deliberate effort to establish that community for ourselves and our kids.

We headed back to Bend, and found plenty of friends there. While we were there, we explored the Big Obsidian Flow:

Took in the sunshine and tidepools in Seaside and Florence Oregon:

And celebrated both my 39th birthday and the boys 10th birthdays!

Mt. Hood was one of our all time favorite places, and we had a wonderful time there ringing in the fall season with pumpkins, hikes and leaf play:

Gotta put those kids to work sweeping the leaves…even time in the RV has chores!

This hike to Mirror Lake was one of the most beautiful views (and totally worth the 3 miles I carried the four year old UPHILL)

By the time we left, it had gotten a bit colder…. (photo at Crater Lake NP)

And we knew it was time to “fly south”….

So here we are, 7 months after our initial launch plan, and we are finally ready to go. Of course, we had to head back “home” for a few weeks to pick up some things- namely, my sewing machines (which hadn’t made it into the initial packing craze in August, due to space constraints in the truck- it was either the machines or the dog, and I got out-voted. The dog came, the machines stayed, and I took an unplanned break from sewing. Which was, frankly a bit refreshing).

Novello Leggings & Streamline Raglan

Set #1

The time off really made me eager to sew again, though, so as soon as we got back I set to work.  The Novello leggings test (Greenstyle’s children’s version of the Cavallo leggings) came just at the right time for my sewing-machine-reunion, and I thoroughly enjoyed sewing up a couple pairs for Miss 4 (and my own to match, of course!).

The purple Novellos are made from Zen from the Fabric Fairy– easily one of my all time favorite fabrics, and one I was planning on saving for myself…but couldn’t resist sewing up for her with some really bright contrast thread!

I won’t be having any issues spotting her running around the campground in this outfit, that’s for sure!

She loves her deep pockets, and now fancies herself a very serious runner.

The process of reverse coverstitching these was a bit tricky, but it was all worth it in the end for that fun pop of neon. They are a size 4, with a size 3 waist on my pretty average 4 year old, with 2″ removed from the bottom.

There is a video tutorial for this technique that I demonstrated during the Cavallo leggings SewAlong this summer, if you’re interested in trying it out.

You can find that on the blog HERE, or on YouTube HERE.

Mommy & Me: Cavallo/Novello Set #2

I decided that I might be able to fit in a coordinated set out of single yard of athletic knit if I put my pattern tetris skills to work, cutting out a pair of Cavallos for me, and a pair of Novellos for her out of this blush pink camo from Blended Thread Fabrics.

I did stretch it a bit by using a contrast for the pocket and waistband- the blush olympus from Fabric Fairy was a great match here.

 

After wearing the same 5 pairs of leggings on repeat for 7 weeks, I’m pretty thrilled to have some new duds as well.

If you’re curious, my top is the Tabor V neck, blogged here.

With an eye toward the coming fall and winter, I also made her a couple new tops, using the Streamline Raglan pattern from New Horizons. They are a little roomy on her right now, but I’m sure she’ll grow right into them.

This one is pink and camel jersey from the Fabric Snob (I blame Adriana of Hey June for introducing me to this wonderful t shirt knit!)

And this one is purple Zen/custom CL from my stash:

As we pack our final things into the RV and get ready to head out again, I hope I’ll be able to find time to keep this blog updated with our adventures. I’ve been amazed at how many sewists I’ve met on the road, so I’m hoping to have a few “mom sew days” as well. I think the hardest part will be paring down my fabric stash….but I’ve already got a plan to box up several “bundles” of fabric, for my mom to send me when I run out/get bored of what I’ve brought. Thank goodness for the mail (and helpful moms!).

You can find the Cavallo leggings pattern HERE, and the Novellos HERE. If you want to follow our travel adventures, you can also find us on Instragram as the @Fulltimeishfamily, or check out my sewing projects at @sewingwithsarah.

There’s always something new to discover…and I love watching her find wonder in the natural world….

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5 Comments

  1. Brigitte on October 27, 2020 at 5:36 am

    Awesome, I love that you went RV’ing full time. I wish we could but our jobs are still and will stay, on site!
    Enjoy even though I’m sure it’s really tough too with homeschooling and everything. Good luck and I’m looking forward to reading your stories!

  2. Barbara Douglas on October 27, 2020 at 6:38 am

    We tried rv’ing for the first time this month- without sewing machines! I told my husband and the cousins we were traveling with about your family- they were in awe of your road skills!

  3. Nicole S. on October 30, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    That’s great you got out on the road again! One of the biggest things I miss while traveling is sewing, so I’ve loved hearing about your RV sewing set up and things you make while on the road.

  4. Sheila Reilly on December 31, 2021 at 8:12 am

    These are beautiful makes! Thanks once again for the inspo!

  5. Karen Weber on May 24, 2022 at 11:37 am

    I’m waaaaaaay behind, but I had noticed that you dissappeared from the sewing world for a while. So nice to have you back!

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