Thursday, June 27, 2013

Photographing a 4 year old.

My Daughter is a ham. I sew her stuff and tell her we're going to do a photo shoot. These are some of the best shots from the series.
I'm not really sure what this zen like pose is from...
This is pretty standard when I tell her to say cheese.
I'm working on digitizing the pattern for the blazer. This morning I made it out of an interlock knit and it's super comfortable feeling. I want to make one for myself. The tunic was one I sewed from some fabric I received in a Girl Charlee bargain box. As it turns out 9 inches is all you need to make a tunic like that in a size 4.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Belle's Dress

T is going to a birthday party tomorrow. Her little friend E is turning 4.
Now that the girls are in preschool I don't really know their friends as well as I used to. I emailed E's mom to find out what she is into. "She loves dora, playdoh, princess belle, paints, dress-up and clothes - especially frilly ones." I think I nailed it. We'll find out soon.
My favorite local fabric warehouse had this beautiful buttery satin and I managed to snag 2 1/2 yards for $5. The deals you can get when you're willing to work around imperfections can be fantastic!
I took a basic peasant dress top. (I used the pattern pieces from this pattern.)
From there I made a simple A-line underskirt in white. The top skirt was just a rectangle, cut the width of the satin by about 10 inches longer than the underskirt. After attaching the two skirts to the bodice I put the dress on the dress form and started pinning. I followed Melly Sew's tutorial for the skirt. It was really easy. It was a bit tedious trying to do it with the girls around, but once they went to bed I was able to get into a rhythm and found myself shocked when I realized I was down to only two pins left.
I am really excited to give this to her little friend. Are you good at giving birthday gifts? What is your favorite gift you've ever given?

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

I won!

I entered a sewing contest over at one of my favorite fabric suppliers, Girl Charlee.
And I won! They asked people to sew something with their black and white chevron jersey.

I had sewn up a tank and panties set for the Tallest. She loves them. She's had me make about a dozen pairs of panties for her. It's a great destash project. I've digitized the pattern, I just need some other people to test it before I put it Out There. Any volunteers? (Details: they are designed for a knit fabric, and I graded them to fit kids size 2-5)