Modkid Avery in Daysail Blooms

Pattern: Modkid Avery

Size 10

Added 3 inches to skirt length (17" instead of 14")

Fabric: Daysail by bonnie & camille

Blooms in creamy white #55107 14

Love the pattern & the fabric!

Worn to meet the teacher night.

Easter Dress 2015

Pattern: New Look 6205 size 8, sleeves on view A/B

Fabric: Flower Sugar Maison oxford cloth by Lecien 

Pink ribbon from Jo Ann's

Added a skirt lining with tulle layers around the bottom half for more fullness

Inspiration for fabric from KinderKoutureClothing

I thought we'd get out for some better pictures, but never did so here's what I have.

a cropped picture of my mom with the kids shows a little better how the skirt hangs.

Kyoko in Blossom

 

For K*’s Easter dress this year, I used some fabric I’ve had in my stash for a few years and ModKid’s Kyoko pattern.

A pattern I’ve had for several years and am just now getting around to making.  Why did I wait so long!  I LOVE it!!  I think I’ll try and make a top for K* soon.

The main fabric is Blossom from Annette Tatum’s Little House Collection for Free Spirit.  The solid pink fabrics and ribbon are from JoAnn’s.  I made a size 7, K* is 8 1/2.

Changes I made:

The skirt is a little fuller than the pattern calls for, basically two widths of fabric and an inch or two longer.

The sleeves are shorter.

I lined both the bodice and skirt and attached some tulle to the skirt lining to add to the fullness {and twirling fun}.

The ribbon ties are also longer.

 

This picture is actually an iPhone pic from Easter day.

 

We’ve been super busy after school each day since I finished it, so I finally just took a few pictures quickly after church today {Mother’s Day}, nothing fancy like the birthday party dress, and called it good.

 

This iPhone picture is from the day I finished it. The dress was done on Friday before Easter.  Saturday morning I finished the sash, so this was the first look at it all done on K*.  It was the day before Easter, but somehow since the sash was all I had to sew that morning, I felt like it wasn’t the last minute like many projects end up being.

 

 

Birthday Party Dress in Oops A Daisy & A Coupon Code

The Birthday Party dress pattern by LilyBirdStudio.

 

This pattern is wonderful and comes in sizes 0 to 24 months and 12 months to 8 years.  Great, clear instructions.  A cute, sweet dress pattern that can be dressed up or worn just because it’s fun to wear a dress & twirl.

Fabric is Oops a daisy kaleidoscope by Keiki for Moda.

I bought this fabric a few years ago at a quilting store clear out and have been waiting to find the perfect pattern to make with it.

Initially, I wanted to make the sleeves out of the pink polka dot fabric also, bit it was cutting it close to have enough for the ruffle and belt.  In the end though, I think I like it better having the sleeves out of the same fabric as the main dress.

Hat from Gymboree, this year {2014}.

Slight changes I made to the pattern are: lined sleeves, longer belt, I used ribbon for the belt loops and the addition of a button placket flap.

 

I have also made the A line dress and recently purchased and have plans to make Bia’s A line dress & Laura’s dress & tunic.

 

 

LilyBirdStudio is offering 20% off with the code CRAFTYENDEAVORS.  The 20% is good from tomorrow, Wednesday, April 9th until Saturday, April 12th.  Go pick out a cute pattern to sew up!

You can buy patterns at  LilyBirdStudio.

 

 

Christmas Dress in Deer Valley

 

For K*’s 2013 Christmas dress, I used some Joel Dewberry Deer Valley fabric & some cream velveteen that I got from Above All Fabrics some time ago, inspired by a dress Melanie made.  The pattern is McCall’s 5793 view B in a size 7.  I omitted the lining and tulle layers as she has a puffy slip she can wear underneath, and I just didn’t feel like dealing with those parts to be honest and the Deer Valley fabric is a nice weight, not see through.  I did add some width to the bodice to create some soft gathers.   K* was super excited to wear her red ruby slippers from her Dorothy Halloween costume with it.

 

 

 

Oh how I love her in this dress twirling around with her sweet little pony tails and red bows.

White Eyelet Baptism Dress: New Look 6043

 

For K*'s baptism I made the dress she was baptized in.  Now she wears it as a nightgown.  I think it turned out really sweet.

 

 

 

White eyelet from Hobby Lobby.

New Look 6043.

I lengthened it down to her ankles, it's fully lined and, like I did in her diamond eyes top, I made a size 6 with a size 4 neckline and an elastic loop & button back closure {from craftinessisnotoptional}.

 

 

White Doll Dress

My mom made this dress for K*'s American girl doll to match her new white baptism dress.

 

I think she did a great job making it match K*'s actual dress.

 

Brynnberlee Brooke Dress

 

The Brynnberlee Brooke dress pattern.

 

 I saw it on probably actually last Fall and just thought it was so cute.  It took me until now to finally sew one, I made a size 18 months for my niece who's turning one. I'm excited to make one in K*'s size soon. The orange floral fabric is from JoAnn Fabrics and so it the pink polka dot fabric I used for the lining.  The two slight changes I made were to make a hem facing from the lining fabric and to make half of the sleeve from the lining fabric.  I think the pink is so fun poking out against the orange.  It's hard to tell in the photos but the centers of the white flowers are pink. I also added an inch or so to the length.  I was pretty quick to sew, it took me a leisurly three hours or so this morning.

Dress Mishap

Last week, I decided to finally figure out how to do a rolled hem on my serger.  Other than finishing seams in general, the rolled hem is the stitch I most look forward to using.

I was making the PinkFig Lily top as a dress for K* which has rolled hems on the neckline and ruffle bottom.  I figured out all the settings and such for the rolled hem and after many practice strips decided to brave serging the peasant dress.  Well, it didn't go so well.   When I finished, the rolled hem on the neckline was pulling away from the fabric in a couple of areas.  Not Good.  So I redid it.  Still, not good.  At that point I couldn't redo the neckline again, it was already looking too large for K* after the second try.

I thought I'd just call it quits, but while at piano practice, I decided I could just cut the upper dress part and sleeves off and make a jumper of sorts.  So I came home and sliced the top part off. 

I also still wanted to try another new technique, shirring with elastic thread on the bobbin.   The top part was way to large & needed some type of elastic somewhere to fit K* better anyway, so why not, it couldn't get worse right?  The Lily top does have shirring as part of the pattern, I decided to shir it just under the ruffle.

Luckily the shirring worked out fine.  Yay!  I had some worries before I started since I've read online that some Brother machines have a bit of trouble with the elastic thread part.  And except for one small spot, the rolled hem on the ruffle edges turned out fine.

 

I'm still not sure how I feel about the jumper overall, it feels thrown together to me and I wonder if the top ruffle should be a little narrower, if I should have made a few adjustments rather than just cutting the top of and using it how it was, the straps are a bit loose and things like that. Because it's not what I intended to make probably explains why I'm not thrilled about it.  But at least I didn't waste most of the fabric, just two sleeves worth, and K* seems to like it. She wore it to school today, so I snapped a few photos real quick before heading to school.

I've done a bit of reading online trying to find out how I can prevent the rolled hem edge from coming away from the fabric in the future and it seems the most basic problem is learning to not guide the fabric to the left away from the knife.  That sort of makes sense why I wouldn't encounter as much trouble on a straight edge like the ruffle and had issues with the more curved neckline area.  Oh well.  I guess I need a lot more practice.  I am a little disappointed, but hopefully I figure it all out.  I have some more fabric in my stash I may attempt to make as the Lily top in the near future. 

Today I just came across a few more blogs about rolled hems, I'm so glad others post what they've figured out for me to read.  I may try my stitch width at 5 next time.

EmmylouBeeDoo

{LBG STUDIO}

the PinkFig Lily top

She likes the bow in the back

 

After coming home from school, K* saw the dress all ready to wear (finally) and asked right away if she could put it on.  And she wants to wear it to school tomorrow too.  I'm glad she likes it.  It had already rained a little bit, so I had her stand on her bed for a few quick pictures.

Are another dozen or so of these too many?  I'm thinking of making one more of a shirt/tunic length.

Pam Kitty Morning Rose Buttons Dress

Well, here's the dress I finished for K* over a week ago.  I thought I'd have time to sew up the bow sash/belt during Spring break, but I didn't get to it.  So, this morning I got to it and finished it up.  It's overcast again today, supposed to rain tomorrow, so the pictures aren't as colorful as I'd like.

Behind the bow, there is a button and button hole hidding, so K* can take it on and off herself, no tieing necessary.  I hope when it's on her it works out alright and that the weight of the bow doesn't pull the sash down too much.  I also hope it looks better on her than hanging on the hanger.  The fabric has a little more weight/stiffness than the last onion 20026 I sewed, so it doesn't hang/drape the same.  And maybe I'll get a shot of her actually wearing it, but the time after school just seems to fly by so fast and I don't usually get around to things like that while it's light enough outside.

The white fabric is actually a white on white print, but you can't really tell unless you're really close up.

Fabric: Pam Kitty Morning Rose Buttons for Lakehouse Dry Goods

Pattern: Onion 20026

Well, this week I hope to bind a quilt and finish up several skirts I have in various stages I had prepared to show at the skirt sewing class from March 6th.  I also have some fabric on its way in the mail for another quilt (a gift) and some apron fabric, which I am really excited about.