Ghastlies Reversible Kimono Dress

My only neice has her first birthday next month.  My brother and his wife live in a very small townhouse and I know she will be spoiled by all the family she has close by so, in lieu of toys (and since I already gave her the tag along doll I made for her!), I made her a dress.  The pattern is the Reversible Kimono Dress by ManiMina and the fabric is the Ghastlies in Smoke from Hawthorne Threads. 

(I love Hawthorne Threads btw -- they have a great selection, good prices and ship fast.  They have great costumer service, too -- the last time I placed an order they sent the wrong colour by mistake and when I contacted them, they put the right yardage in the mail to me right away.)

The lining and ties are made from a pink cotton lawn from fabric.com.  Because it's sheer, the dress is not actually reversible which, looking back on it was probably not the best choice: I love the Ghastlies but my sister-in-law may not want to dress her daughter in a Halloween-themed dress after October.  Oops.

I made a couple of changes to the pattern -- I increased the sized of the armholes so that they can put a long sleeved onesie underneath and I also added the bias tape as faux piping.  If I were to do it again, I think would take the extra step of making real piping as it would look crisper.   

My six year old was concerned that her cousin might be scared by the fabric. Although the witch is pretty mean looking, I think she's a bit young for that to be true, hehe!

Tag Along Doll

I requested Wee Wonderfuls by Hilary Lang from the library months ago knowing that I wanted to make my niece a doll for her first birthday.  Well, it finally came in so I made the Tag Along Doll.  I love the pattern -- it's so cute and the instructions  are great.  I used wool felt purchased from 3 Little Monkeys for her hair, brushed cotton for her body and corduroy scraps for her legs and dress.

My only concern was durability -- the book calls for the arms and legs to be hand sewn to the body.  Since I'm giving the doll to a baby (and am hoping it will be much loved!), that concerned me.  The arms were easy enough to sew in before stuffing but I attached the legs after stuffing (and you can see I stuffed this little girl quite tightly), and I had to wrestle the doll through the machine.  I used a zig zag and still had a hard time making sure all was secure (Pardon the indecent and blurry picture of her bum) and it ended up looking quite messy.  I didn't stitch the bottom of the dress closed as I don't plan on making the apron. Maybe some undies should be next?  Next time I will sew the legs on and leave a space on the side for stuffing. 

Hilary suggests adding the face before making the doll but I threw caution to the wind and added it after.  She ended up with a bit of a smirk and her eyelashes are a bit off but I think that just gives her character.  I cut out the collar but in the end decided I liked the retro look of the dress without it.  All in all, it was a fun little project.  I have a feeling I will be making a couple more of these when my girls see this one . . .

Lisette Market Skirt

I had some fabric left over from my Lisette traveler dress (which I've worn several times now -- I can't say that about too many of the things I've made for myself!) so I made Simplicity 2211 view A.  I do love pleats but I'm thinking that I should have stuck to the un-pleated view B version -- the fabric is a little too casual and the pleats don't iron very crisply.  I still need to tack down the tabs but I think I will forgo the buttons.  I used Sew? I Knit's tutorial to insert an invisible zipper.  It was super easy and looks way more professional than a regular zipper.  I think the end result makes it worth the extra cost (in clothes I make for myself anyway, maybe not for the kids!). 

Cloud 9 giveaway win

Back in May I won a giveaway from Cloud 9 Fabrics. My prize didn't come before the mail strike in June so I expected it to turn up when the posties went back to work in July.  Still nothing.  I contacted Michelle at Cloud 9 and she immediately sent out a package with 13 fat quarters (the giveaway was for 10).
Look at these beauties:

There are fat quarters from Cut Out & Keep and Nature Walk

The softest one, however, is from a past collection, My Happy Garden.  I love these little birds!  I'm not sure yet what to do with them but there are some lovely colours for fall so I'm sure I'll come up with something!



Lisette Traveler Dress

I love Oliver + S patterns for kids so have been itching to try a pattern from the Lisette line.  With some time between contracts for work this week, I was able to make the Traveler dress (Simplicity 2246).  I wasn't disappointed -- the instructions are fantastic and the pattern well written.  I can't get over how professional this dress came out considering my lack of experience sewing adult clothes!

I wear a size 12 in off the rack clothes but cut out a 16 on top, graduating to an 18 on the bottom to leave space for my rather large rear end.  I think it was the right choice for my comfort level but it meant the dress was very sack-like in the middle and, when I added the tie, the material bunched up.   There was likely some type of alteration I could have done to avoid this when I cut the pattern but I don't have any clue what it might be. I added four fish eye darts (not sure if that is the right term) -- two in the front and two in the back -- it helps a bit but I would like to know the correct way to fix this for next time. 

The fabric is a linen-cotton blend I bought at 50% off from Fabricland.  My husband is not a fan, which is too bad because I ended up with enough left over to make skirt.

Party Dress

My eldest is "graduating" from a Montessori program tonight so she needed a special dress. I used the Party Dress tutorial from The Cottage Home along with the bodice from Butterick B4282 (view A, cut short).  The material is Anna Maria Horner voile -- Coloring Garden in Dusk and Solid in Water -- ordered from Hawthorne Threads   It is so soft and flowy!

I am a little concerned about the voile holding up but I used full 5/8 inch seam allowances and all of the seams are enclosed (the bodice is lined, the skirt has french seams on the sides and the hem is enclosed by the skirt band) so hopefully it will be okay.  Following the tutorial, I added covered buttons on the back.  Aren't those a fabulous invention??  I love how elegantly they finish things off.  Why have I never used them before?

My daughter is really excited about this dress and can't wait to wear.  My littlest wants her own version but I've run out of time plus I'm a little gun-shy with her -- for reasons I'm not aware of she hasn't deigned to wear either of the last two things I've made for her (an Oliver + S Ruffled Halter and a Reversible Kimono dress.)

School Quilt

This week my eldest will be completing her last year of a three-year Montessori program so I volunteered to make a quilt with artwork from the "graduating" class. 

I ironed a square of fabric to a piece of freezer paper and sent it home with each child along with a set of Pentel Fabric Pastel Sticks.  I asked the kids to draw whatever they wanted and send it back to me.  The sashing is Kona Coal ordered from the Fabric Depot, the binding is a made up of scraps, mostly from this quilt.  I embroidered the year on the bottom (I had visions of re-creating the school logo in applique but seeing as I only just finished this, I'm glad I scrapped that idea!)

The kids will present it to the director of the school tonight!

I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the kids did not do their own artwork.  Very uncharitable of me, I know.  Can you spot the one I'm talking about??

Butterick B5640

This month my hubby and I celebrated our 10th anniversary by going on a cruise.  Two weeks before we were due to leave, I got it into my head that it would be easier to make a dress for the semi-formal night than shop for one (ha!).  I had 3 yards of Alexander Henry Cotton Lawn Mocca bought from Pink Chalk Fabrics that I thought would be perfect.  I had been looking for the perfect pattern for it and finally stumbled upon: Butterick B5640.  I knew it wouldn't get here in time if I ordered it online but because it was brand new my local fabric store didn't have it in stock yet.  I phoned them every day for a week until they received it.  Yes, I'm sure they thought I was crazy!

The dress came together really quickly.  As I finished it, I was so pleased I was already planning other variations of it in my mind . . . until I tried it on . . . (I wish I had taken a picture before I altered but I was running out of time) . . .  it looked like an old lady's house dress -- the neckline was really high and the sleeves were way too stiff.  I didn't have time to rip out and redo the facings on the neck so I just turned them over 3/4 of an inch and topstiched in place.  I gathered the sleeves with a row of elastic thread and was much happier with them.  Because I was in such a hurry, I used the blind hem stitch on my machine and, although it's going to take some practice to get it perfect, I think I might be a convert!

I wore the dress on the cruise and was happy with it.  Before wearing it again, though, I may rip it apart -- I'd like to change the waistband to a solid blue to break up the print and also take it in a bit.  I like this pattern enough to try making it again -- after redrafting the bodice and sleeves.

Cowl Neck Spring Top

I've been thinking about making this top for a couple of months and was finally spurred on by the Spring Top Sewalong over at Made by Rae.  I didn't use a pattern -- just traced a sweater I usually feel good wearing.  I don't sew much for myself but as this is only three pieces and ummm, . . . six seams I felt fairly confident :). 

It took under a metre of a knit I had left over from another project.  The fabric was originally $10 for 3 metres so it's a pretty cheap top! 

I had a couple of problems though -- I wasn't sure what to do with the exposed seam on the inside of the collar so I just left it as it's usually going to be covered by the cowl.  Maybe a flat felled seam next time?  (Can you do that with a knit??)

There's also an exposed seam at the back of the cowl, which I just stitched down but it doesn't look all that professional either.

My other problem was the hem going all lettuce-y, which wasn't what I wanted.  I tried lengthening the stitch and that helped a bit but it's still not flat.  I didn't want the same thing on the sleeves so I left them unhemmed.  Not so great if I want to wear this as a more "dressy" top. 

All in all, I do like how this turned out and I think I will be comfortable wearing it so I will definitely try again with some nicer fabric.

Art not Craft e-book

I've never won a giveaway before last week when I won a copy of the e-book Art not Craft from Christie Burnett of Childhood 101.  She has some fantastic ideas on her blog and the book looks very inspirational.  I'll post more when I try out some of the activities with my girls.  Thanks Christie!