A while back, the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild had a "fabric swap" we all brought fabrics that we no longer needed in our stashes and made a very large pile of fabric on the floor. On the count of three we dove in and chose fabrics that we each wanted to add to our stash. It was quite a "free for all" luckily, no one was harmed. All unclaimed fabric was donated for charity quilts.I tried to be particular with the fabrics I brought home and choose only fabrics that I knew I would use. I am please to report that I've already used some! Woot!!!I made this cross body bag to use at quilt market this spring. I used Kathy Mack's Mail Sack pattern but added a pocket to the outside. It is a great place to pin all the fun buttons I collected at market. The heavy weight fabric is perfect for this bag that holds a lot of weight. The lining is a batik that has been in my stash for many years. I score bonus points for that, right?
Next up is a pair of Parsley pajama shorts for Miss P. She loves them.
They are made out of a lightweight searsucker stripe with a tiny sliver of silver metallic woven in.
Now that we know which size fits her she will be making her OWN Parsly pajama pants out of this swap score.
Thanks ladies, I don't know who brought these fun fabrics to the swap but I am thrilled with the projects we are making with them.
Geranium
I did a little garment sewing this weekend! I was practically jumping out of my seat when Rae asked if I would test the big girl version of her Geranium dress (which is a child version of her Washi dress). I had been eagerly awaiting the Geranium in sizes for older girls.I expect this dress to get a lot of wear so I took the time to make French seams on the skirt.
I also fully lined the yoke.
I just love the little notch detail in the neckline.
It adds a bit of style without being "over the top" for young girls.
Miss P is thrilled with the new dress in this fun orange print from Jennifer Paganelli. This is the size six with a little extra length.
The making of the dress went so well that Miss P is making HERSELF a top from the same pattern. She chose which variations she wanted to make and is well on her way.I let her use my big Bernina for this one. She thinks the Bernina is really cool and more fun to sew on than the featherweight. She likes that I can set it for slow sewing and there is no danger of accidentally going too fast.Stay tuned for Miss P's top AND the release of the Geranium for older girls. You will love all the variations you can get with this pattern.
Holiday Sewing
I've been busy with some holiday sewing. I made another Flashback Skinny Tee for miss P and then added a bit of embroidery from Aneela Hoey's Little Stitches. The shirt is made from a thrift store woman's top and I was able to save the neckline and sleeve hems. Yay for quick sewing projects.
The design was one that P had marked in the book so I'm pretty sure she'll like it. Since this is a knit fabric, I left the interior of the bird free of stitching. I didn't want the fabric to become stiff from the extra stitching.
Miss P has been doing a little holiday sewing of her own.
Now, I must get back to Santa's workshop...Are you working on any special holiday projects? I'd love to hear about them.
Halloween Elf
Here is our little Halloween elf.
I made the top from B's old terry/velour bathrobe using Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee pattern. I also added some pink braid from my trim collection.The pattern for the hat is Lyalya Hoodie by Natalia Schaffer. (knit earlier in the year and blogged here.)Pretty close to the design she imagined, I think. She is thrilled with the soft, warm top.
Flashback Skinny Tee
P is a skinny girl. Seven years old and all of 40 pounds. Usually when a shirt or top fits her in the shoulders it is way too short and doesn't even reach the top of her pants. Not a great look. So, she usually wears shirts that look a bit big on her.Enter Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee pattern. It seemed like this pattern was made for Miss P. I cleaned out my dresser on the weekend and found an old shirt of mine that P liked. We cut it down and made a great new shirt for her. This is the first shirt that has actually FIT her in years! She loves it.
The pattern is super easy and I was able to keep the existing sleeve hem and neck finish of the original shirt with careful placement of the pattern pieces.
She likes the top so much that she had to wear it for the rest of the day - which was spent threshing the black beans that we grew this year.A few weeks ago we pulled up all of the black bean plants and wrapped them in old sheets and put them on our upper porch to finish drying (we didn't want the beans to fall from the pods into the garden). Yesterday was the perfect crispy warm fall day for threshing.First we wrap a big bundle of plants in a tarp. Then, P's favorite part, we thwack it with a stick to pop the beans from their dry pods.
Then we pick out all of the plant parts making sure there are no beans left in the pods.
What is left on the tarp is a pile of black beans mixed with chaff.
On a breezy day we will pour this mix from bucket to bucket and let the wind carry away the chaff and we will be left with black beans to store for future meals.
Yesterday was a perfect fall day!I also found the perfect pattern for the top of P's Elf costume for Halloween! She'll be a skinny elf in a Skinny Tee!
End of Summer Sewing
I told you before that I was thrilled to be making clothes for me that actually fit. Well, it's true. I'm really on a roll with the Washi pattern. This one is made from Tula Pink's Birds and the Bees fabric.
Yeah, I know, it's August, I live in Michigan, and these are sleeveless tops. I'm thinking about that too. That's why when I took miss P shopping for school supplies today, I picked up a couple of cardigans in coordinating colors.
I've started a dress version of the pattern in Anna Maria Horner's Field Study. That turquoise sweater will look great with the dress too!
In the evenings this summer I've been relaxing with handsewing and scraps. As soon as I cut out the Tula Pink top I used some of the scraps in the hexy project. I love that with scrap projects, anything goes. How about a little 1994 meets 2012?
That cat print is left over from a star quilt of cat print fabrics that I made for M when he was quite small.I'd love to hear what projects YOU are working on.
Washi Tunic
Last week I took a fitting class with Rae and Karen where I learned some basic tips for bodice fitting. Most importantly for me was how to move the dart. After adjusting the Washi Dress pattern we made a "test" top. Here's mine.
I used some fabric that I had in my stash and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. After making adjustments to the pattern, the top/dress goes together pretty quickly.I also like the shirring in the back - no zipper!
I'm going to make a few more adjustments to the pattern and make another.
Dressmaking
I used the vintage Simplicity pattern seen here to make P a new dress for school. We still have a few weeks before school starts but it is better to have these things finished ahead! I've done last minute school sewing before and it's not as much fun.
We opted to use elastic in the bodice casing instead of the suggested ribbon and also used contrasting fabric for the collar and peek-a-boo pleat.
Here's an action shot. She wanted to make sure you could see the green fabric in the pleat.
And here's one more shot just because I thought we needed one with chickens. (I know the first photo has one too, but this one shows them better.) Those two are "teenagers" of this years new brood.
Last night I started making a Washi Dress for myself. Thank you Karen and Rae for teaching a very helpful class. It was fun to see a room full of people with very different body shapes start with the same pattern and each end up with a muslin bodice to fit their body. Seriously, it was like Advanced Potions class at Hogwarts. I am so happy to have the secrets of pattern fitting unlocked!I am thrilled that I'll finally be able to make clothes for myself again! I used to make dresses YEARS ago when I fit into a standard pattern. Yeah, I'm talking about all the way back in high school. I can't wait to show you some finished Washi tops and dresses!
