Sewing & Odds and Ends

Last September, I made a little smock for the dutchkid. You may remember it, it looked like this:

At the time, my mom said that she remembered making me an outfit like that when I was a little girl. When I was home, look what she found!

I’ll be darned if it doesn’t look exactly the same. And don’t I wish patterns were still $1. I can’t wait to give it a try, that rick rack is calling my name.

I remembered too, that I had forgotten to show you what the little dress for my niece looked like all finished, although I’m sorry to say I forgot to take a picture of the diaper cover that went with it.

Anticlimactic, really. It’s McCall 5083, and honestly I was less than thrilled with it. The dress itself was fairly simple, I think really I was wishing I had chosen something a bit “fancier”. The diaper cover that went with it I didn’t think was sized all that well (it seemed very small as compared to the dress). My niece is adorable, though, so she will make it look beautiful.

I’ve decided I’m really going to miss that spot on my porch after we move. Where will I hang up stuff I’ve made and photograph it? Have a great rest of your Saturday, I’m off to celebrate my 11th (yes, I got married when I was 12) anniversary out on the town. Just checking to see if you read this far

Skirting the problem

I finished up this little skirt last week. I’ve had the pattern since last summer but just hadn’t gotten around to making one. It’s very simple to sew and the pattern is free! (You can find it here, from who else but my favorite pattern maker).

There’s just one problem. The dutchkid won’t wear it because it’s not a dress. Sigh.

I had to convince her to wear it for the photo with the “help” of jellybeans. I tried to tell her that it was just like a dress, but she could wear her favorite shirt with it! No dice. I had hoped to supplement her wardrobe with a few of these, because the ban on pants around here is starting to make me crazy. Almost as crazy as her obsession with wearing tights. It seems this is destined to be the summer of the sundress. I may have to hide the tights.

A new jumper

I have been casually looking for a jumper pattern for the dutchkid, my local fabric store was running a pattern sale recently but I couldn’t find anything I liked that was included. I finally decided this past weekend to copy a simple jumper she has now (I know, I know, I swore last time I wasn’t sewing without a pattern again, but it’s just too tempting).

It turned out better than I expected. The fabric was given to me and the lining is a thrifted bedsheet. I’m too cheap, excuse me, frugal, to experiment with fabric that I spent good money on. The lining makes it a bit heavier than I would like, but I don’t have a serger and I dislike exposed unfinished seams on the inside since I can only zigzag and take my pinking shears to them.

I have a few other projects bumping around in the back of my mind lately, just need to make the time to sit down at the machine…

Weekend sewing

My dh has been in classes all weekend for his master’s, so the dutchkid and I have been left to our own devices. This usually involves lots of lounging around the house with a fair amount of window shopping thrown in when we get cabin fever. It’s a good thing she loves craft and fabric stores as much as I do.

I did finish up a little top for her, though, so I can’t say the weekend was a total loss:

The pattern is from that*darn*kat and I thought it was very clever. It’s in PDF form, and rather than having to tape the pieces of paper from your printer together and then cut your fabric pieces, she designed it in a way so that it all fits on standard 8.5 x 11 sheets. Plus the pattern is easily understandable. But I especially like the buttons on the back:

You can also make it longer to be a dress, which I’m debating on whether to do. I have this adorable cupcake patterned fabric that I’ve been saving to use on something special. But I may try to find more of a jumper type pattern for some variety.

My model is currently taking her nap, so I don’t have any action shots, but I’m hoping this will get a lot of wear this summer.

More cute smock goodness

 I’ve been back at my sewing machine lately, and along with finishing a few more pairs of boxers and athletic shorts for SMC, I made another smock for the dutchkid. Because the shorts aren’t much to look at, you get to see some pictures of my cute kid.

The pattern was super easy, and gratis from The Mayfly (thank you!). I did adapt it because her pattern is around a 2T and the dutchkid is closer to a 4T these days. I could’ve stood to make the ties a little longer but I love how it criss-crosses in the back. And it’s even reversible. I’ll probably be making a few more of these.