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? :)

shirt dress

i went pattern shopping several weeks ago when there was a sale at joanns and found a cute shirt dress pattern that i wanted, it is new look 6587. then i realised, i liked it because jenn and i had picked it out in may! it took several attempts to find it because i think they are taking it out of circulation. i ended up with the last one from the joanns in boise and it just happened to be the one in my size.

jason chose the fabric for me, it goes well with my new red hair i think. it also washes well, so that it doesnt need ironed when it comes out of the dryer.

so here is the dress, i only made slight changes to it. i added more buttons, twelve instead of eleven because i had several colors and i wanted an even amount of each color button. then added another button to the top because it fell just a little too low to keep me decent.



this is just a more accurate picture of the fabric. i dont have a good place to take pictures of things, so they are usually against white. that kind of washed out this dress.



the pink dress from several weeks ago had pockets in the sides, that i thought were genius, and snagged for this dress. it wasnt hard at all to fit then to the skirt, but i was short on fabric so the bottom inside of the pocket is pieced together. but youd never know that if i hadnt just told you. :)



and the collar. this was the first time i sewed a collar like this, but it was much easier than i expected. when i make this again though, i will trace the shape of a collar on one of my shirts that i like, and change the shape of this one. it seems a little 1970's large to me.



so there it is. i really like it. it is comfortable, and fits well. i do need to find a little brown belt to wear with it, because its much cuter cinched at the waist with a belt.

tie neck top update

i have been away from updating (not from sewing) because i just had all four of my wisdom teeth surgically removed and have been a little off thanks to the pain medication that got me through it. because of that, i have several things to post, and here is the oldest, the tie neck top (new look 6831), first try.



i used some really cheap fabric that i had made a summer dress for emma out of several months ago. part way through sewing, i realised a few things. first, i had cut the wrong size pattern. once i had all the darts, and side/shoulder seams i did another try on and it was too too small. i let out all the room i could on the seams (thankful i hadnt surged them off yet) then let out the darts too. it is still too small to fit with buttons, but at least it fits, and i know that the proper size will fit just fine.



the collar was not hard to figure out, i thought it might be, but directions were very clear. the pattern piece for the collar is an odd shape though. i was looking for a straighter tie than these turned out to be. (have you noticed yet that i must not have been paying close attention when i was cutting things out for this top? i wonder what emma was doing that had my eye on her.) the tie flares to about two and a half inches at the bottom, and the neck is closer to a little more than an inch.





the sleeves i happened to cut out in the correct size, so i had a bit of extra fabric when i was attaching them to the top. i didnt want to just ease stitch them, so i pleated the tops of the sleeves to give them a little more interest. (or, poof. :) i am quite happy with the way they turned out.



i tossed this on over the tee i was wearing so i could get a couple pictures of it quick last night, but i think it would be cute over just a tank top or camisole during summer. its very light and would be nice and cool, while still keeping a little sun off. this is how the collar lays too, it is a little awkward. it seems like the center front of the shirt comes up really high so when it is unbuttoned, it falls down really low.



and last, the darts and side seams that i ripped and let out to make the shirt fit. i think they still give the shirt a pretty good shape, even though they arent what they used to be. i am looking forward to making this again, in the right size, and maybe with a denser fabric that i could wear as a button down top.

finished!

after a quick trip to the store for a zipper, my dress is finished. next time, i will skip the zipper though. with the slight alterations (very slight) that i made i can pull it over my head!






when i cut out the pattern, i took away some of the curve of the skirt, but in the finished skirt, i took off pretty much any curve at the hip that was left. there was a little bit of a pouch at the hip so i just made it strait and that solved the problem. another change i made was to add a little at the shoulders, because generally the bodice of a dress will not end in the right place if i dont. this dress seems to be an exception though, because i took off everything i added, and some, when i tried it on for the last time. thats it. those were my only alterations. i will skip the zipper next time, because i can pull this right over my head. and that makes this so much simpler to sew. it will go very quickly next time.

bolero and dress for me

i did finish the bolero from last week, and have a couple photos that arent great but will show you the general idea.




it is really comfortable, a good fit, and with a different color button i could wear it over several dresses or tops that have a lot of skin. im in my favorite pink victoria secret tube top here.

i havent found just the right fabric for the tie front top, so i moved on to a pattern my mom brought over from home. new look 6040 is out of print now, but i made view c in high school, and really liked it. (i wore the dress for a date with jason on my 20th birthday. a photo we took that day ended up on our wedding invites. :) anyway, the dress is a little snug now (im not sixteen anymore, or twenty) so i decided to make it again.




the bodice is a good fit, and the small change i made to the skirt (more a-line, less fitted) makes it fit much better. i need to finish the armholes, hem and zipper, then find the camera charger and have jason take a better photo. :)

pink dress

here it is, in satisfactory photos, the pink dress to match emma.

there are a couple full view photos of the front of the dress, it really is so comfortable. it was hard to get a good photo, so i hope it looks good in real life, because im definitely going to be wearing it.





the only alteration i made to the bodice was to take smaller seams on the shoulder, to lengthen it just a little. i think next time i will add just a tiny bit more, and add darts to the sides (in another picture). here is the bodice and midriff.





from the back, it is a whole lot of pink.





i still need to work on installing zippers, but here it is, and look at that pocket! i love that this pattern has pockets. have i said that already?



here is the gaping armhole, that will be fixed soon.



and the armhole pinned.



so there it is, the new pink dress!

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.

tie neck top

i want to make this. it is so expensive. and so pretty.



i also really like this one. not so much the bottom detail, but the way the tie gathers the top is nice.

but i really like the tie at the neck. i think its a really interesting, and simple detail. the first time i noticed it was at a wedding reception for friends of jason and i. the bride wore a sheer patterned shirt over a camisole and it was almost exactly this cut, so pretty.

so, i am looking for a pattern. not specifically for this shirt, as i have a bit more curve than she does. but for a simple top that i could add a tie collar onto. though, if i do stumble onto this in a pattern somewhere, it wouldnt hurt my feelings. any ideas for a good one? has anyone seen a (non vintage) pattern?

*i say non vintage, because all the patterns i have seen are big collared, high necked, darted, short waisted wonders, and i dont have to time or patience to make it fit me.

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.