easter type things

part of emmas easter basket was a set of easter jammies. i dont have a great picture of them, but i do have one of her being quite cute easter morning while wearing them. the top is long, with three snaps to the waist, and there are bloomers that go underneath. super cute, and i love the birdie fabric. since bird is one of her favorite words right now, id say she likes them too.



for sunday morning i made us matching dresses. i needed this dress in a larger size (it is the pink dress, one size up to accommodate the belly) so that i have something to wear for sunny days, sundays, and a wedding in may while i am still hugely pregnant. the pink one is a little snug on the top of the belly, so enter the blue/green dress.

emmas is another favorite pattern of mine, this time without the waist tie and with little cap sleeves. i added pleats in her skirt to match mine, and a pleated ruffle at the bottom just for fun. the white fabric i had turned out to be a little thin, so after i had finished the dress i ripped the seam at the bodice lining and tucked in a gathered underskirt. i think it turned out really cute, and is one of my new favorites. im also a lot less afraid of sleeves on baby dresses, so thats good.

ps, doesnt jason make a handsome bunny? :)

emma's christmas goodies

emma didnt get a lot of gifts from us this year because shes only 1, and doesnt really care. (or maybe i should say she doesnt mind? eh.) but i did want to get her a baby doll, and she LOVES it. (see third photo) but the jammies that it was wearing were very blah. i had seen a tute for making little kid jammies into doll jammies and just used the same general idea. i put the doll in a pair of emmas gerber jammies and pinned all around her. then cut them out and turned right sides together and sewed. so so quick, and now baby (as she is named) has cute little footie jammies just like emma.



and did i mention that she loves her? this was just after opening the baby on christmas morning.



before emma got her doll, i had given her my old baby doll to play with. she is pretty big, and hard bodied (emmas is a bean bag with arms and legs). but, she does have some great clothes. my mom made these and a green sweatsuit that is probably floating in the toy bin, for my doll when i was little. (so have you guys figured out yet that i come from a kind of crafty family? i guess ive just always been surrounded by home made things.)



and for the holidays in general, emma needed a dress. i didnt see one in stores that i loved, so i spent 23$ on fabric and notions (which i have extra) and made her one. if we had a toddler as our flower girl at our wedding 4 years ago, this would have been her dress. so so cute. the lining is gold taffeta, and i dont remember what the red is. the ribbon is a sheer gold, with a pleated red grosgrain over the top.







and to go with the dress, she needed ruffle butt bloomers. it was a need. and they turned out darling.







one of the great things about this dress, is that it has enough room in it that it fit her for pictures in november, and it will still fit really well for valentines day. :) and i just love this pattern. its the same one i used for the green wish puff dress, and about a million others that i made for a holiday bazaar that you will see later.

home made halloween part one

i thought it would be just too cute to dress emma and her cousin up as pebbles and bamm bamm for halloween this year and sarah indulged me. i finished jesses costume on thursday and finally finished emmas today (it just needed buttons and some snipping!) so here they are!



i couldnt find the orange i wanted, so i dyed some white muslin orange. the fur is from the stash of fabric mom sent me home with in august, and i bought black felt for the triangles. the whole thing snaps together and apart (the fur from the shorts, and the bone from the fur) and he has a club to match that isnt in the picture.



then, there is emma, my little pebbles. jason helped pick out the fabric for her dress, which i left long so i can later cut off the jagged edge and hem it up as a regular dress for her. i love the pink buttons and orange thread.





the pink bloomers are from a dress andie gave emma this summer, so i didnt have to make any!



i attached her bone to a white bow headband and just stitched over the bow. she doesnt have enough hair for a pony tail so the head band will have to do. she is still wearing it too, so it must not bother her.





and, a cheesy grin from my little girl. such cute kiddos!

little green dress

i finished the dress! after dying it green yesterday i put the pieces through the wash last night and took advantage of nap time today to get it put together. i love how it turned out.



the green isnt quite solid, but it doesnt look tie dyed either, so im okay with that. i went ahead and tried the piping across the front, to add a little more bright white to the green and it wasnt as hard as i expected. i used my zipper foot, and scooted right up beside the piping. it was quick and i really like how it makes the dress look.



i had planned on buttons for the back, but that was before the dress changed colors. i dont have green buttons, or green thread for the button holes. then i remembered the snaps and snap press form my mom! what a perfect opportunity to try it out! i only wasted four pronged rings , and i installed ten altogether (with the practice one too) so for a first try, i think i did okay. hopefully next time i wont bend any.



and here is the back again, i used white thread for the little hem on the bottom, and i think it looks good. i am so glad i finally finished this dress- i hate having something half pieced together and just laying there.

peer presure round two

my attempt at matching dresses failed last time, so i spent my saturday working on a second try. being sick, i felt like doing nothing, and sewing is the most productive type of nothing i could come up with. i went pattern shopping on friday and picked up a couple new patterns for me, a tie neck top and a dress.

the top is new look 6831. i am thinking view d, or view c with the tie rather than no collar.



the dress caught my eye because it looked like it could be flattering on me now, as i am still slimming down after having emma. it is simplicity 2886. i made view a to match emmas dress and on sunday afternoon made the bolero.



emmas is also a simplicity pattern (i love their $1.99 sales) number 2668.



okay, now on to the good stuff, finished product.





i finally had to bump emma up a size, but this dress will fit her for quite some time. the yoke lays on her shoulders well, but as long as her neck fits comfortably inside, the dress will fit. its pretty long on her (i shortened the pattern a little too) so it looks like an old womans house dress when shes standing.

my dress turned out well too- with no seam ripping! i have only one alteration to the pattern to make it a better fit, the addition of darts on the bodice so the arm holes dont pucker. i had jason take a couple pictures of me in the dress, but i am not happy with how they turned out and right now it is in the wash so when it gets out i will take a few more. i do have the pocket (i LOVE that this has pockets. i never have a place for my chapstick, and jason gets tired of carrying it for me.)





to make my dress match emmas, and because i dont have any boarder print fabric, i used a white band across the midriff, and for the hem band.

more photos of the dress, and my ideas for simple alterations to make it a slightly different dress in a day or two. also, photos of the little jacket. i am still working on the crochet baby blanket, i added several inches last night. no sewing today, as it is laundry and floor cleaning day.

any recommendations for taking some flattering photos? i have a feeling i am going to need to know some tips, because i really enjoyed making something for me again, and i am a little more self conscious than emma.

mini bubble dress

i have had my eye on this tutorial for a cute cute dress for a while now. i have resisted making it because i couldnt decide what fabric to use.

when i put emma in her pear romper for church and i wore my shift dress. i had so many people mention how well we matched that i decided to go with it, and match us up a bit more.





i didnt think they were that match-y.

for the new dress, i used some of the same fabric as my dress. the flower pattern became the straps and top band, and a bright yellow became the skirt. i made it to emmas measurements, but obviously didnt add enough to get it over her head. i think a fabric with quite a bit of stretch would be best, or even to do some smocking around the top piece until it is connected to the skirt. that would allow it to be snug on her body, but stretch over her head. next time.







for now i have a mini bubble dress that needs a home. anyone having a baby girl in the spring or summer? i know, its a little early to know that. well, im prepared.

unfinished dress and blanket in progress

i did not finish the dress. i love the cream, but together, it is too much cream.




there are the pieces. i like the way the top turned out. i added width in the back, then sewed and turned it so that i have room for three buttons instead of closing the whole with a zipper. this makes for easier sewing, and less money than buying zippers for everything. also, i think buttons are cute. (i think i get that from my mom. she always prefers buttons. but she doesnt like to sew zippers either.)

anyway- i went with ribbon ties, because they dont wrinkle up and it adds a little contrast. the piping isnt sewn in yet, because i just dont like the cream on cream. last time i made this dress, i did a blue top with a patterned skirt.



i LOVE the way this turned out, so maybe i just have too high of expectation? so i dont think i will finish this dress as is. i think i will use the top on another skirt, and find a new fabric for the top of this dress. i have a fat quarter of cream with muted color stars that matches really well. it doesnt match the wish puff on the skirt though. any ideas for this dress?

things to think about. while i decide, i have a blanket i have been working on for a while that needs finishing so i can start a boy version. here is a peek.

freezer paper one, two, and three

i decided this week to learn to use freezer paper stencils. aunty google gave me several great tutorials with only minor contradictions so i bought my reynolds brand freezer paper (my only option was the enormous roll, so if i dont enjoy this, jason needs to go hunting so we will have a use for it!) and tulip soft brand fabric paint. i picked up three yards of white muslin to practice on, as well as a package of onesies.

try number one: scrap of white fabric and a stick drawing.



i didnt photograph the finished stencil this time, but i did on the next two. i had trouble with bleeding under the edges as well as the discovery that my black and red paints were velveteen. bummer.

try number two: white muslin dress with pleats and dots (this is from a simplicity pattern, number 2668. i made this dress out of pink silk for my cousins wedding last may and knew it was a quick sew.)



i like the idea here, the ironed pleats and the dots down them, but its not my favorite. might be the color, im not sure. i still had trouble with the edges blurring and on this try, i missed a step.

this is the back of the dress. the pattern calls for a zipper, but i want to try and use buttons instead in some of my patterns (cheaper) so i tried this one. it looks okay from the outside.



i forgot to put something behind the painted part, and didnt unfold the pleats so i ended up with smudgy dots on the back where i dont want them.

and here is the inside of the button. i finished the edges with my serger, but need to figure out a nicer way to do this.





























so after attempt number two, i still need to figure out how to get the edges crisp so the design turns out like i want. also, i need to be certain that there is no fabric behind what i am painting, and that there is something back there to seal it (like another sheet of freezer paper) or to catch it (like the table, or cardboard or regular paper).

try number three: cream quilters cotton from joanns, a wish puff on the skirt of mccalls pattern m5791

i printed out a picture of a wish puff blowing in the wind onto my freezer paper. then, taped it to my cutting mat, and cut, then ironed to my front skirt piece. i extended the wind blown bits a little because it is a gathered skirt, and i wanted a little more of the stencil to be seen. next, i used a fan brush, and painted.

the paint dried for a couple hours (two or threeish) while i ran errands and when i got home it was still just tacky to touch, but i pulled up the paper anyway.







this time, the edges are crisp, and the paint looks good! finally! im not sure if it is the non velveteen paint, a little experience, or what, but so far this design looks like it has turned out!



i plan to finish the dress tomorrow, but before then, i need to learn how to sew in piping. i have some white piping that i want to put in between the gathered skirt and the bodice top to add in a little more white, and i havent decided if i am going to use white grosgrain ribbon as the ties or cut fabric. those things come before the finished product. so, sewing in piping? aunty google tell me everything you know.