UFO sited

Okay so it only took  me 2.5 months to finish this little shirt.  I cut out a 2T and really should have cut 18-24 months.  I guess just doing a chest measurement is not good enough for sizing.  The shirt fits but the neck line is very low and almost off Lydia's tiny shoulders.
Hopefully it will fit in a few months because I do love how it turned out.

I used a pale blue/grey polka dot cotton fabric by Lakehouse.  The collar and ruffle are a bleached muslin.  

I loved these little anchor buttons.  They are a bit 'cutesy' but sometimes you just gotta go with it.  I tend to over think fabric/notion purchases and these buttons were just on a whim.  

I love Oliver + S patterns but I do believe my future success will depend on my precise measurements.  I am so new to garment sewing.  I am assuming you take the measurements and you make the exact size that is suggested for that measurement.  Is there ease already added in?  Maybe that sounds stupid but I honestly have no idea.  When I cut the 2T size I am sure I was thinking that I should give her a little growing room.  

Also kids sewing is a different from adult sewing in this matter.  I want there to be growing room but I am not interested in sewing Lydia an entire wardrobe of 'tent' like shirts.  

This is a picture of Lydia wearing her shorts.  It is going to be a high of 79 degrees in Asheville today so they are more than appropriate!   

Maybe you were wondering why I am posting a 'leg' only picture...

Cute as she is these are the types of faces I get for most pictures.  Love this little girl.

family reunion dress complete

I actually finished the Easter dress in time to wear on Easter--a miracle!  I only had the pattern and fabric since January.  I believe I built this dress up a little too much--hence the procrastination.  Lydia loved trying it on and I loved how it looked.  Next time around I will be a little better about fabric selection.  The cute details that I worked hard to perfect were lost in the busy print.

I chose simple matte black buttons for the front and back of the dress.

Slightly gathered sleeves helped when matching the sleeve to the underarm seam.

I used a pale blue polkadot contrast hem

Unfortunately, Lydia never holds still for more than a second right now and this is the only picture that I have on my phone of her in the dress.  I think this is before I even sewed all the buttons on the back.  I apologize for the terrible grainy quality but I really think the socks and undershirt add to the ensemble.

busy busy bee

I made this sweet car seat canopy for my sister-in-law Jodie.  She is due in late April with her third little girl!  I hope she likes the finished product!  

I made a little peek-a-boo hole so that she could check on the little angel.

Okay, so this is my first attempt at the Oliver + S Family Reunion pattern-- view B.  It has gone fairly well so far.  I should have trimmed the collar a little better and I am kinda stuck at the button placket and hemming.  Must.Push.Forward.

I made it three quarter sleeves instead of little cap sleeves.  I am happy with how they turned out.

These are pictures of the "baby snuggler" that I will be gifting to my little niece Norah.  I love this simple pattern that I found via this blog :)

Okat so my final efforts have been towards making some things for my new Etsy shop!  I have wanted to start selling some baby items for a little while now but just haven't done it.  I have enjoyed making things for Lydia so much that I thought it would be fun to provide handmade things for other moms as well! I am starting small with just some fun bibs and maybe burp cloths to make a few sets.

simple skirts and a test run

These are the skirts that I made for my lovely nieces living in sunny California:

I used the MADE Simple Skirt Tutorial again

These are very simple skirts but I tried to focus on making them perfect.  I learned to apply bias binding the "correct" way, ever seam is was finished on my serger, and they even have their own little embroidered tags.  I hope these will be as fun to wear as they were to create!

I also cut out pieces last night to make a blouse version (view B) of the Family Reunion Dress.  I am pretty nervious about cutting my "expensive" fabric for this dress ($15.99/yd. is considered expensive @ this point in my sewing journey).  This blouse will be my trial run for getting it right the second time around.

I used freezer paper to transfer the 2T size onto the fabric.  What a great technique!  No pins, no tracing on fabric--and best of all I preserved the pattern entirely.  With children's patterns it is more than necessary to make more than one size!  Poor Lydia will be wearing these dresses for a while :)

I found really sweet anchor buttons and bought the rest of the notions this afternoon to get started on that.  

-well you get the idea-

-total cuteness...hopefully not too cutesy-

26 years and fabric not yarn

I am now 26 years old.  Today is my birthday and it is different from any other I have had.  I am buying fabric this year.  Previous years have been filled with yarn, yarn and more yarn.  I would search ravelry.com for patterns and yarns and saved up that birthday money for a big splurge!
I still love knitting but unfortunately I am limited by lots of joint pain in my hands.  One year ago for my birthday my mom gave me my first sewing machine.

A Elna Air Electronic SU circa sometime early 80's.  In the last six months I have immersed myself in the world of internet sewing blogs and become quite smitten with sewing new projects.  Most of them being for gifts or my one year old daughter Lydia.  I haven't been a 'newbie' for a long time so it feels good to be in total awe of the new possibilities of sewing. I love that I know very little and it is a fun, new learning experience every time I sit down to sew.  Not to mention my hands are healing from LOTS of knitting.
I held off on learning to sew because I feared this very thing.  The fear that it would take away from/eliminate knitting from my life.  I still love knitting but for now I am willing to accept that I have a HUGE stash of beautiful (expensive) yarns in my guest bedroom that are just...hanging out.  Rapidly Steadily being joined by their cotton counterparts heaps of fabric.
My first challenge of this year is to create an easter dress for my daughter that she loves.  She's only one so therefore I have to love it as well.  I have turned to the ever-so-adorable Oliver + S Family Reunion Dress.  I am hoping that my fears of following a pattern will be eased by using a pattern by a company that I only hear rave reviews about.  The only negatives being about the price tags.  But...you get what you pay for!!!

I bought the supplies to make this gorgeous dress at the local fine fabric shop, Waechter's.  I was warmly greeted and even invited to join a free class on a Saturday (yes free)!  Cannot wait for the opportunity to learn more and more.