A New Dress and Some Models

So this is the other little girl's dress I've been working on...
The neckline (above). This dress was pretty simple and fast. The back (below) which I like as much as the front. The arms and back are a Moda fabric which I bought at a quilting store and is a bit pricey. Alas, the pricey fabric is easier to work with and doesn't have to be ironed as much. I was hoping this wasn't true, but it seems that, at least in this case, higher price = higher quality.
Details of the bugs above, and below, a model! Actually, it's the recipient of this dress. She's the daughter of a friend. Sorry about the whited-out faces, but as paranoid as I am about pictures of my own children on the internet, I must do it.

Her older sister received one of the dish towel dresses. Check here for a dish towel dress made from different Target Dollar Spot towels.

I think she's telling me, "Enough with the pictures, Ms. K!" Or maybe she's going to break into "Stop, In the Name of Love."Hooray for hand sewn dresses!
I've got some other finished projects to post soon!

Halloween Sewing

Here are some of my Halloween goodies.



The little pillowcase-style dresses are from the tutorial at Trey and Lucy's (check the right side of Trey and Lucy for pictures and links to all of the great tutorials). As you can see if you check out the tutorial, I completely copied her, right down to the ribbon color choice. These are made from dish towels that were in the Target Dollar Spot! The material is stretchy which I hope will help as I'm making these for a three year-old and four year-old. I used my four year-old as a size guide, so fingers-crossed they'll fit. These truly were easy peasy to sew.

The headband (that orange thing in the middle) is from the tutorial at Blue Bird Studio. I've used it before. It's very simple and quick to make. However, I have issues with backstitching on zig zag to enclose the rubber band type hair whatchmacallit. I don't think others have this problem. I got the material for the headband in a fat eighth, and that is enough to do two of these headbands, good deal!

So now you know (at least some of) what I've been working on.

It's a Beautiful Morning

Actually, it's rainy, but I sometimes really enjoy a dark, rainy morning. It makes staying inside and sewing completely guilt-free. After dropping H off at school this morning, W and I came home to enjoy a snack that included hot chocolate for me, yum. Then I checked out a few of my favorite blogs and discovered that I have won something from A Lil Welsh Rarebit, woohoo! Sorry to have been missing around here for a bit. I've been sewing a pretty goodly amount (for me). Pictures to come of my projects soon. I was hoping to take some today, but the weather may push it back a day or two. I am also trying to adjust to our new schedule now that preschool is back in session. W is going a couple of mornings, so I have some time all to myself. But instead of feeling like I have more time, I try to squeeze all of my errands, grocery shopping and the like into that time which makes me feel busier. (If that makes sense at all). H is really learning a lot already. A few weekends ago he wrote the numbers 1 through 12 out on the dry erase easel, um, wow! Then, we talked about The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. C and I are so excited to see and hear all that he is learning. W loves music time at school. He's a little dancer (he gets it honest, I boogie around the house often). And, W is now sleeping in his big boy bed! No more crib. Oh, and I've been reading too. Maybe I can do a book review of one that I absolutely loved. All of my reading has been for book clubs, promise.

This past weekend Mel and family came for a visit. I was so excited to see them. I got to hold that little sweet girl of hers, and she is a darling, let me tell you. The boys entertained us all what with all the running through the living room and loud voices. Of course, I also got to show Mel some of my latest sewing projects and fabric purchases. We also continued work on the boys' swing set this weekend. My mom came over to help watch the boys, so I could help C with the swing set. We made some good progress, and H really stayed out with us most of the time. He is really, really into space shuttles right now. He watches clips on you tube as long as we let him. So, he sat in the "fort" part of the tree house and pretended it was a space shuttle while I did the countdown and acted as Mission Control. It was so fun for me too! I love to see his imagination in action! I always hoped I would be able to play with my children and enjoy it, but I sometimes feel so busy. It was great to play. I sometimes forget how fun it is to pretend. Let's hope I always remember!

All that knitting...

And this is the result! My orange ribbon sweater. It is knit out of ribbon rather than what you'd think of as "normal" yarn. Ribbon is a bit slippery to knit with compared to wool or blends. It took several classes to get it all finished, one might even say a lot of classes, but I learned several new stitches. It goes very well with my pants. I have a whole handmade outfit (well not the little cami top, of course). It probably took me about two months to complete, but remember they (my LYS) only have classes three days a week, and I have to have someone watch my little guys. There is no seaming, but even keeping the ends woven in with ribbon is a bit tough. I definitely would like to try the pattern again soon in "normal" yarn to see if I can remember all the new things I learned. Anyway, it's just the right color for Halloween!

Pants-Along: All Done (aka The Big Reveal)

As my little guy would say, Ta da! Here are my pants all sewn up. I love them! I had set myself a deadline to have them finished to wear to book club, and although I was hemming the legs twenty minutes before departure, I finished. The book club members commented on them before I told them I made them, so that gave me more confidence for future sewing. And no, I have no idea why this text is underlined.


Excuse the wrinkles, these pictures were taken after I wore them to book club. They "ride" quite low, but that's how I wanted them. Plus, they have to fit over the hips since there isn't a button, zipper, or elastic.

Here's the view from above. Lets you see the pretty casing. I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the drawstring works and how comfortable I feel in the pants.
Here's a picture with the fabulous pockets and some of the casing for the drawstring. My front and back did not line up evenly (although my sewing aunt says that is okay). I also had a place on the front where I must not have cut straight and there was a place that was higher, so I couldn't draw a straight line to follow for my top-stitching as Joanna recommended. Instead, I turned them wrong side out and stitched close to the edge of the casing, used my tailor's chalk to trace a line right along the stitching, then ripped those stitches out, turned the pants right side out, and top-stitched on the chalk line. I still have one place where I didn't catch the casing. Oh well, not going to worry about that.
Just going to sit back and enjoy my new, one of a kind pants :) Although, there are a lovey for H and that kimono I've mentioned just waiting for me to fire up the Bernie Mac.

Thank you to Joanna for doing the pants-along. I hope to make more. These are twill, but I bought some chino to try. If you've ever sewn chino, let me know if you think it will work. It seems a bit slick... Anyway, this has given me great practice and great pants, hooray pants-along!

Put Your Hand in My Pocket - Pants-along

Ha! but don't pull out a rocket, or do any pulling on these pockets, please!


What can I say? Toot, toot! That's me tooting my own horn. I laa-uvvv them. Go ahead, click on the picture, see them up close and in detail (C's photography, not mine). When I started to work on them, I got so involved. I didn't eat supper. I left the boys' yogurt container out for a couple of hours (it was still cool, so no loss). I just got in a sewing groove. Ah, and it was a good groove that really worked well, much better (read: easier) than I would have expected. I didn't have any directions other than my own idea of what I wanted, and it turned out just as I had pictured. I've already gotten the casing in, but I still have to top stitch it in place and hem. Then it will be time for the big reveal :)

Sometimes, a picture...

...really says it all.