Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I decided to make matching outfits for Caralie and myself for Mother's Day. I found a super cute floral Swiss dot on sale at Joann that was light and breathable but not too sheer. I made a simple peasant dress for myself by (majorly) adjusting a pattern from Simplicity and then made a matching skirt and hair clip for Caralie:

Those are pine cones. Caralie insisted we each hold one for the shot. I thought it was silly but this ended up being my favorite picture (even though my posture's not great and the dress is draping funny).

This little skirt is super easy to make. You can find a great tutorial by Dana on MADE. All it took was a half yard of 58" wide fabric, elastic, and thread.

The hair clip came together thanks to a tutorial from Disney at Ruffles & Stuff. I used Fray Check to keep the fabric circles from fraying but I think it would look cute with frayed edges as well.

I made my hair clip with a sheet of hot pink felt and some hot glue. I LOVE the look of this thing! It's tedious but not to the point that I wouldn't make another. You need to give yourself a good hour or even two to put it together. I found the tutorial on Holidash. I'm going to make another one in purple for Caralie and then maybe I'll make a couple more for myself in aqua, royal blue, and gray. You could even use different gradations of color for each row of petals.

Anyway, it's been a LONG time since I've made something. I've been a little burned out from our move and the prospect of moving again in another month or two. I still owe my sister a diaper bag and her twins are 6 months old now. Yikes. That's my next project to tackle.

Hope you all enjoy this special day. Call your mom!

Ruffled T-Shirt Dress

We are moving so my daughter has started at a new school. Since she is coming in in the middle of the school year, all they had left of their school T-shirts were larges and extra larges. Caralie is a small, at best. Luckily I had seen a tutorial on Make It and Love It for converting a t-shirt into a ruffled dress. I loosely followed the tutorial since I had to do some major overhauling of this thing:

She could've worn it as a nightgown it was so big. I ended up cutting out the sleeves, taking it in significantly, and refashioning the sleeves just to make the t-shirt portion fit right. The shirt was still super long, so I cut off about 7-8 inches off the bottom to use as the lining for the ruffles. I bought 1/2 yard of heather gray jersey at Joann and cut it into 5 1/2 x 60 inch strips. I hemmed the strips, sewed them into a round, then gathered them and stitched them to the lining. I think it turned out pretty cute:

Caralie had gone to bed before I'd even fixed the sleeves, so she was completely surprised when she woke up in the morning to find her new t-shirt dress:

She was very happy with the results and told me that I am the best mommy in the world. That almost made it worth sewing with knits. I am not converted to knits like everyone else in blogland. At least they are forgiving and hide a multitude of flaws.

Now I just need to make a matching hair accessory with the scraps.

Maybe.

Making Patches Look Deliberate

I bought Caralie an outfit on clearance at Carters while I was in Georgia. It was a solid pink knit top with polka-dot brown shorts. Only when I got home to Arizona did I realize there was a hole in the shirt:


It's small and in the bottom-right of the front. I was seriously annoyed, but knew there was a solution. I would just sew a patch over it. Since so many children's clothes have embellishments these days, I knew I could make it look like the patch was meant to be there by adding more than one and artfully arranging them.

You can buy pre-made patches and embellishments but I chose to go the cheap route and make my own. Since the coordinating shorts were brown and had colored polka dots, I figured I'd make brown and white hearts with some scrap fabric I had. To help keep the patches in place as I sewed, I used Heat n Bond:

You can buy it in a roll ...

... or you can buy it by the yard at any fabric store. Joann usually has the rolls in the notions section and the yardage behind the cutting counter. Use a coupon!

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR MAKING PATCHES:

• matching or coordinating cotton fabric (scraps are fine)
• Heat n Bond
• matching or coordinating thread
• pencil and paper
  

STEP 1: Make your patches shapes. Draw them, trace them, or print them on paper. I cut out two sizes of paper hearts:


STEP 2: Trace shapes onto the smooth side of Heat n Bond. Keep in mind that the patch will be the reverse image of what you trace, so if you are doing something directional like a letter, make sure you trace it backwards. Iron Heat n Bond to wrong side of patch fabric:


STEP 3: Cut out shapes and peel off backing paper. Place shapes on clothing, adhesive side down, and arrange how you want them. Iron in place:


STEP 4: Zig-zag stitch around outer edges of patch:


When doing curves, it's best to go slow and pivot, with the needle down, every few stitches. Also, if you are stitching on knit like me, be gentle and try not to stretch the fabric as you sew. For these hearts I used my machine's 3rd zig-zag stitch size and a #2 stitch length:


However, I started and ended each heart on a #0 stitch length and made a few stitches to help the thread stay in place.

Once all the hearts were stitched in place, I was done:

It only took 20 minutes and that was because I let Caralie do the tracing for me and I was also taking photos of my steps. And I actually like the outfit better this way! I'm considering sewing on some colored buttons with the hearts, but it might be too much. What do you think?

The Dress That Wasn't Meant to Be

Please forgive me if I sound like I'm tooting my own horn here, but isn't this the cutest little tunic top?

Who would've guessed that a little top could cause so much drama? I worked my butt off trying to make that thing work last night. Read on for the story (prepare yourself - get a snack - it's kind of long):

It all started earlier this summer. I found this cute London Lawn by Moda fabric for 40% off at a local quilt store and decided it would make something for Caralie:

Not sure what I would use it for, I bought 1 yard of the pink and a fat quarter of the blue. That was mistake #1. Always buy more than you think you need.

A month or two later, I decided I would make a dress out of it and bought this pattern from Simplicity for 99 cents from Joann:

See, I thought I would make the pink dress in the top left corner (dress A) and use the blue for accent. However, the pattern calls for 1 and 3/4 yards of fabric. How much did I have? That's right. That was mistake #2. But in my happy and blissfully ignorant creative mind I figured I could just manipulate the pattern placement and still get what I wanted. Ha ha.

Fast forward to 4 pm yesterday. I remember that picture day at the school is the next day and have the brilliant idea that I'll make the dress for Caralie to wear! It's a simple enough pattern, it shouldn't take long at all. La la la la la.

I lay out my pink fabric and manage to squeeze out what (I think) I need. Hooray! I'm so clever. Those pattern makers don't know what they're talking about.

Then I get down to sewing. It's not long before I realize that I actually cut out two bodice backs instead of a bodice back and a bodice front. Mistake #3. Oh no! What am I going to do? Don't panic, let's just lay the bodice front pattern piece on one of the backs and see if it will still work. Miraculously, with a couple of cuts, it works. Whew, I think, that was a close one.
Ha ha.

(Insert making and eating dinner here).

I complete the bodice top with sleeves. and sew on the first blue accent. Then I grab the piece for the skirt.

Oh crap. I was supposed to cut two skirt pieces, not one. And all I have left of the pink fabric is a 6-inch strip. Mistake #4. I consider admitting defeat and pray that the quilt shop still has some of the fabric left (doubtful). I have to notify Caralie that she won't be wearing her new dress tomorrow after all. She is sad, but sees the look in my face and tries to console me as I put her to bed. As she says her prayers I am filled with a frantic new idea. What if I run to Joann and find a coordinating fabric? Then I could make the tiered version of the dress (dress C)!

I look at the clock: it's 8:35 pm. Joann closes at 9 pm. I grab my purse, pattern, and fabric and motor over to the store as fast as legally possible. I get there with 15 minutes to spare and head back to the cotton calico section. Serendipitously, there is a bolt of pink polka-dot fabric just sitting on top of a row of quilting fabrics, waiting for me. It's the same pink!

Miracle fabric!!!

This time there is no questioning authority. I buy 5/8 of a yard just like the pattern says and walk out quite content with this turn of events. After a quick stop at the grocery store to get my husband some tortilla chips, I return home and lay out the fabric.

I pin the relatively small pattern piece for the tier and think, why on earth do they ask for so much fabric? Whatever. I'm not complaining. I cut the piece out.

Then I need to cut the second tier out of the original skirt piece. It just barely fits. Another miracle. I gather this piece and sew it to the second tier.

Hmm, it doesn't look as full as I thought it would be... I hold it up to the bodice and what do you know? Mistake #5! I was supposed to cut two pieces for each tier, not one! Have I seriously made this mistake a second time? And, Oh no! I still don't have enough of the pink floral!

(Insert weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.)

At this point I am completely beside myself. And then I succumb to the despair.

But not completely. Somewhere in the back of my mind a tiny thought is forming that warns me not to give up. Okay, so my attempts at making a dress have been a failure to say the least. But who's to say this has to be a dress? Why not a tunic top?

(Cue heavenly music and angelic singing.)

It's 11:30 pm but I don't care. I pick out the stitches and pin the second tier to the bodice and sew with my heart on my sleeve and ... it worked. It actually worked. And it's cute.

But not cute enough.

Go ahead and laugh at me. I blame it on battle fatigue, but I seriously thought the top needed something more. And I think pockets would do it. Cute little gathered pockets. Only I don't know how to make cute little gathered pockets. So I Google and find instructions.

I loosely follow the pattern and instructions (I never learn) and about 45 minute later, it's finally complete:

My sweat and tears have finally paid off. I am so happy I could cry. But I'm not done torturing myself, because I decide I need to make a matching hair clip. It's close to, if not already, 1 am and I'm going to make a fabric flower, darn it!

I've seen them all over the web, though I first saw them in this pattern. But I made my petals rounded:

You can find a similar pattern/tutorial here. It actually came together very easily and quickly but I was too tired to take photos of my steps, so I'll do a tutorial the next time I make one. Which will probably be soon because, heaven help me, it's so CUTE!

Caralie was ecstatic when she woke up. She gave me a big hug and thanked me and that was enough for me.







Now she's all set for picture day and I'm praying she doesn't get all hot and sweaty before the deed is done.

As for me, my eyes are bloodshot and I feel like I've been hit by a bus. I'm going to take a nap.