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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Sewing Again

Shorts

I have started to do a little bit of sewing lately. I've found that with my limited space, the biggest problem is finding a safe place to iron. My 15 month old is not walking on her own, yet, but she is a wicked-fast crawler and she's into pulling stuff down and throwing things. So, ironing, while she is awake is not really safe. And then I have to decide if it's worth it to pull all the sewing stuff out after she goes to bed and then try to get it back away before I hit the hay.

But I was on a little kick a couple of weeks ago and I managed to eek out a few projects.

First, my daughter needed a few pairs of shorts now that it's decided to be spring here in Wisconsin. (Took long enough!) I used this pattern and tutorial from Caila Made. I printed out the 18 month size and did the cuff-length legs, for longer shorts (oxymoron?). I finished the edges of the seams with an overlock stitch. I broke my actual overlock stitch foot, so technically it's a "special overlock" stitch and it seems a little looser but I think it still gets the job done. Then I did a sort of flat felled seam for all three seams.

Flat felled seams

The pink cross-hatch is a cotton poplin and the other two are twill. They were 50% off red tag at Joann, so each pair cost about $1.25. Here they are in action:

New shorts!

I would say that they could use a little more room in the bum area for a diaper. And if you use cloth diapers, you will probably need to modify them quite a bit to fit the bulk. But they work really well despite that one thing. I forgot to put a little tag or ribbon in the back, but so far daycare and Dad have managed to figure out the front from the back!

AMH Piece a cake dress
Last weekend, my mother-in-law had a pirate party for all the grandkids. I had wanted to try out Anna Maria Horner's Piece A Cake dress, which is a free pattern and tutorial on the Janome blog. And it looks kinda pirate-y! The largest size is 12 months. But my kid is a teapot ("short and stout" - she's in the 16th percentile for length/height!) and I literally just put away the 9 month clothes about two weeks ago. So, with a flowy dress, I knew that 12 months would still fit her.

I love this fabric so much and I'm so happy with this dress! I have attempted slightly more technically challenging patterns before, but it's the combo of the fabric and the shape that I just love. This is a really simple dress and yet, I had to give it the total Type B treatment because I made it out of a previously-made item. It was a nursing cover and I made it out of this Tula Pink print because I loved it so much and didn't want to cut it to pieces (yet!). But I hardly ever used the cover. So, I decided make it into something else. I used an existing seam for the bottom of the dress, so it might be a little shorter than the pattern calls for. And then I didn't have enough for the total length of the sleeves. I also didn't have the time or inclination to make or buy the proper, single-fold bias binding. But I had a package of double-fold binding. With a little finagling, I made it work for the casing. I don't like that purchased binding is cotton/poly and it's a little itchy, even after you wash it. But my daughter didn't seem to mind. I think I'll make her a pair of these knickers to go under the dress, too!

I made this modified Ice Cream Social dress back in May. It's a 12-18 month and I had initially cut out the pieces and intended to make it for my god-daughter. She is 3 years old now... So, my daughter got it instead :) It's definitely a bit roomy on her, but with a long sleeved shirt and some leggings, it might get some use into the fall.

Ice Cream Social Dress


Ice Cream Social Dress

I made this pattern for the first time several years ago and I didn't take a single picture of that process and it resides with a different niece (who is now also, three years old). But, I am not a garment seamstress quite yet (this post notwithstanding), and I had trouble with the notch and figuring out the pockets for that version and I didn't have enough fabric to make the wide band/sashing around the bottom. So, for this one I omitted the notch, did some simple patch pockets and just extended the pattern for the printed fabric to the length of the band.

I also made two muslins for myself. I scored a woven rayon print from fabric.com for about $2/yard. I'd never tried to sew with rayon before, so I thought it would be good practice. First, I made (but did not photograph) what I hoped would be a wearable muslin of the Date Night Dress by April Rhodes, back in April. It's still hanging in the closet, unfinished. Again, I need bias tape and to do the hem. I hate bias tape - making it, anyway.

Next, I've been looking for a pattern to make woven maxi dress out of some cotton voile I have. I know that the Wiksten tank and the Grainline Tiny Pocket tank are really popular. While Googling tank patterns, I came across Megan Nielsen's Eucalypt tank and dress pattern. It is super simple - no darts, four seams, and then just finish the open edges. The neck and arms aren't finished on my muslin, but I did try my hand at a rolled hem at the bottom and it worked pretty well with this type of fabric. It was a little challenging for me to move around the bigger curves, but I think that will get better with practice.

Eucalypt muslin

The pattern itself has an option to do a front center-seam, as well. I didn't do one but because of the design of the stripes it looks like there is one. A lot of people noted that the armscyes were a bit low and Megan did a tutorial on how to raise them, but I think I might where a tank under the dress anyway, so I am not going to bother trying to alter it. I think I may need to try my hand at grading out around the hip area, but I like the fit through the top. Who knows when I'll actually get to sewing up a real version. But maybe before summer's out.

And I joined up with the Monthly Fabric Swap Group again in May with a much better outcome :) I participated in November and sent my package off but did not receive one in return :( The lovely Leona, who runs the swap offered to send something from her own stash, but I didn't think that was fair to her! So, I just chalked it up to - life happens. In May, I got this wonderful package from Jacqueline (another Wisconsin gal). I'm interested in trying out that Frixion pen and everyone needs chocolate when they're sewing :) This is a fun swap, especially if you are trying to hold off on buying fabric but still want to add new things to your stash.

MFSG May package from Jacqueline

So, there it is. A monster post of the things I've managed to over a 2+ month time period! I'll see if I can get another post in before we move house on Aug. 1. It's always good to have goals, right :)