Something accomplished today

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This afternoon has been one of those: Ian is teething and getting over a cold, so he in no way shape or form took a nap or even a quiet rest. He spent most of the time fussing and crying. But, I was able to ignore him long enough to try one of these felt rose clips from PurlBee. It’s really cute. I need to cut out a bunch to work on when I’m waiting for ballet class to get done or other little snippets of down time. It’s one of those self-contained projects that you can work on a little bit at a time and take all the supplies with you. I do need to find some more of the nice felt. There isn’t a very big color selection in town and if you’re going to go to all the trouble to hand-stitch something, it needs to be the good stuff.

Clamoring for my attention 🙂

Shirred Baby Dress and Ruffle-Bum Onesie

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I love making things for friend’s babies. A baby shower is a good excuse to get going and try something new. For a recent baby girl, I made an elastic smocked sundress with a ruffle-bum onesie to go underneath. I have done the sundresses before, but the ruffle onesie was something I had on the to-do list. I think it turned out cute. I’m a total perfectionist when it comes to some things, so I redid the first ruffle twice. The first time, the fabric underneath puckered, so I started over. Then I forgot to use a stretch stitch the second time so I went over the stitching with the knit stitch and ripped out the straight stitch. I guess I did it three times. The other two ruffles were much easier once I had that figured out. The knit stitch just ensures the stitches will stretch with the fabric.

Ruffle-bum onesie tutorial from Char by way of UCreate

Halloween

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Allison decided a couple weeks ago to be Minnie Mouse so Ian was Mickey Mouse. I modified a Simplicity pattern, view F, to have a fuller skirt and added a sash. I made Ian a pair of pants from another Simplicity pattern. They turned out really cute so I’m going to make a couple more pairs for church and general wear this winter.

I didn’t get a good picture of the dress yet. I’m going to try and get a couple pictures outside this week while the weather is still nice.

Allison love trick or treating. She went to a few houses around the neighborhood then we went to a friend’s house for a party.


Serger Stuff

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I finally got the serger back from the repair shop and everything seems to be working. Now I think my problem is operator error. It’s just going to take some time to figure out where to set the tension based on what I’m trying to do. The first project up was a set of napkins for my grandparents’ picnic basket. It’s a Burlington Basket Co. Hawkeye basket and I love it. So, after attempting to make a rolled hem using the normal hemming foot (I took off the normal foot to put on the rolled hem foot and ended up putting the normal one on again) which doesn’t work that well, I eventually got something that resembled a rolled hem. And they turned out pretty good for my first attempt. Only one of them ended up smaller than the rest, because I had to redo one side. I took a picture of the tension dial settings so I hopefully will have a starting point for my next rolled hem project. I’d rather not have to reinvent the wheel each time I want to do a project.

Cutest dress ever!

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Oh. My. Goodness. Isn’t this the cutest fall outfit ever? I ended up on the Oliver + S blog tonight and found their preview for the fall line. I can’t wait until these patterns come out in September. Allison will definately have the dress and I might even try my hand at the coat.


Quilt Squares

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Today I started and finished the first two quilt squares for the Bits and Pieces year-long quilt project. They weren’t too difficult. I kind of made some things up as I went along. I love the strawberry print I picked out. Each month you pick another fabric to add to the next block. We’ll see if I can keep up with it.

New Dance Bag

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I finally made Allison a new dance bag.It only took me 6 months to get around to it. It took awhile to figure out what I wanted to do. I found a couple pictures online so I just went at it. I think it turned out cute. I should have put the name a little bit higher, but oh well. I wish I had an embroidery machine. I used a friend’s machine for this one. The inside has two pockets for Allison’s tap and ballet shoes. All ready for when dance starts in a few weeks.

Failed Skirt Attempt

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Ok, so this is why I don’t like to make things for me to wear. They never turn out right. I was attempting to make this skirt from a tutorial at Amazing Mae. Just a simple, ruffled, pull-on skirt. Well, the fabric that I used was a little on the heavy side, but it was also a little see-through. So I thought I’d line it with muslin. But I did it the hard way and cut out each piece in the main fabric and the lining and sewed them like one piece. The stupid thing weighs a ton and has no drape to it. It looks like a curtain. So much for a light, airy summer skirt. Oh well. This thing was cursed from the beginning, though. I wanted to use the serger because I had gotten it working. I ran test after test, but of course when I start with the skirt, the thing starts hitting something and making a horrible sound. Basically, something is bent and the upper looper isn’t looping both needles anymore. So the dillema is: do I take it in to see if it can be fixed ($80 service + whatever it will take to fix it) or just wait until I can afford a new one? Now that I’ve had a taste of what a serger can do, I really want one. And if I get one, I want a decent one from the dealer so I can take the classes for it. Looks like the hubby will have to work some overtime for my Christmas present 🙂

Cupcakes

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I like making little appliqued shirts for birthday presents. If the party has a theme, I try to match the design. Last week Allison went to a cupcake party. So, a cupcake shirt was in order.


I need to find more girly shirts, though. All I have right now are the Hanes t’s. But this would look cute on a onesie, too. I’ve made a few other shirts, a pony and a crown, but I don’t always remember to take pictures. Here is the crown shirt.

For the templates, I usually just search Google images then put them into Word or Publisher to scale them. The crown shirt I also sewed on button jewels on the points.

Boys shirts are harder. For a friend’s baby I made a truck applique:

I still need to make Ian another tie onesie. I made a newborn one but he only wore it once or twice before he outgrew it. I don’t think I even got a picture of him in it.


Busy Day

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Today we went to our Stake Pioneer Day picnic at the park. It was fun, but not well organized (as usual for our Stake). Allison was sort of a grump most of the day. Then we went swimming with our friends. It was baby central- 4 little ones and two preschoolers. I was able to get baby Halen’s name letters done yesterday. I think they turned out super cute. I’m so horrible at figuring out fabrics that match or go together. I think that’s my main block against quiliting.
An impromptu photoshoot in the backyard yielded these photos: