Kayla Couture Spring Outfit

I made this outfit last year for my niece Kayla. The skirt is an adaptation of a big 4 pattern. I can't think of the company off the top of my head. I embroidered two shirts to go with this. The design is from East Coast Applique. I deleted the heart and added her monogram on the white shirt.

Sock Monkey Fun

Maybe this title should be reworded to "What not to make for a craft fair". Let me tell you what I would do differently. For starters, no pockets on the pants. Yes cute detail but adds too much time. The applique is cute but also too much detail. There are way to many pieces on that applique. Finally, using corduroy for the pant ruffle. The fabric choice takes a little bit longer to sew. I priced this outfit at $35 which was very reasonable for the amount of time that was put into it. It did sell. I need to find time to stitch up the rest of the sock monkey corduroy then rework the outfit to make it more profitable.

 I sold this little sock monkey outfit at my first craft show. Last summer, I saw the cute sock monkey corduroy for sale at Hancock Fabrics. So I picked up a couple of yards. I really need to make another outfit and put it in my non-existent Etsy shop.

The sock monkey applique is from Designs by JuJu. 

The pant pattern is Britches and Bloomers. It's a great easy pattern. I just wish the sizing went higher than a size four. It can be used for both boys and girls.

H2O + Sun = Fun

This cute little sun design was used in this month's challenge over at Applique Forum. The design is from Luna Embroidery over at Etsy. I had no idea what I was going to do. I started to look thru my patterns and saw the Ruffle Pop skirt pattern from Tie Dye Diva. I found my inspiration. I pulled out so many fabrics to audition. None of them seemed quite right. Maybe it's because for years I have been collecting fabrics for quilt making. One piece of fabric might have worked but I didn't have a piece that complimented it. What I ended up with are these bargain basement $1/yd Wal-Mart fabrics. About six weeks ago, Wal-Mart has some huge fabric blowout. I think I picked up seven pieces of fabric. The blue and yellow certainly fit the sun and water theme. I can't say the blue fabric worked for the water applique but I wanted everything to match.

Now that I settled on the pattern and the fabric, I needed to figure out how to pull everything all together. The design comes in both small (4x4) and medium (5x7) sizes. The largest size was best for the t-shirt. I decided to bring the design down to the skirt and the smaller size was perfect for that.

The design did not have a saying and I felt I needed something. I kept searching for surfing sayings and that wasn't getting me anywhere. So I changed search words and then tried summer sayings and found the "H2O + Sun = Fun". Perfect!

I'm pleased with the outfit. I wish the fabric was a tad higher quality but it works for a summer play outfit for my niece.

The Gumball Outfit

I've been wanting to try my hand at a vinyl design. The gumball design was the perfect choice. The applique is from Planet Applique.

Now, what better to go with this shirt than a........................BUBBLE SKIRT!

The pattern is McCalls 6276. The pattern may look familiar to you. I made the ruffled skirt several months ago for my niece.

My niece loves this outfit. My sister sent an email that she wore it all weekend. She had two parties to go to and she wore it to both parties.

Upcycled Girl's Dress

I was wondering if there is a difference in the terms recycle, upcycle and repurposed. I think they are kind of interchangeable. So I did a search for upcycle. The one definition I found said "transforming used things into other useable things of great value." Hmmmm. I don't know if this dress qualifies as far as a great value goes. But it does meet the definition of recycled though.

One day I found part of a piece of clothing in my sewing room. When I say part, I do mean that part of the garment was missing. Chopped off. I asked Taylor about it. She said she cut up something because it was too long and she thought I could make her cousin something with the part. Oh I love it when another project gets added to the list.

The "part" sat around for maybe six months and I decided Christmas vacation was a good of time as any to do something about this and clear it out of the house. My vision was a low-waist, flapper inspired dress. I found a t-shirt in my stash. It was one of my many one dollar deals at Wal-Mart this year. My sister sent Kayla's measurements and I went to work. My guestimate was that the tshirt would hit Kayla at the hip or hopefully lower. Then the skirt would put the length to the middle of the calf. So far, so good.

I first had to trim the top of the skirt. It is gauzy fabric and it has a mind of it's own. Unfortunately, in order to even the top out, I had to cut off most of the pink/mauve top. After the flounce was ready to go, I took my t-shirt and cut off the lower hem.

I basted a lining to the flounce since it was pretty shear. I then gathered the two and attached it to the bottom of the t-shirt. I then serged the seam.

I was going to applique a frayed flower on the skirt and because of the location, I had to heavily pin the area.
The embroidery would be over the gathers so they needed to lay nice and straight.

Here's a picture of the beginning embroidery process.

And here is what went to the landfill when I finished.

And viola! The finished frayed flower applique. The applique still needs a little bit of trimming. You can see that I also used fabric from the skirt on the flower.

So let's tally this up. Flounce was free.T-shirt was $1.00 and came from stash. Lining was from stash that I purchased on clearance this summer. I used 15 inches of lining at maybe $1.00/yard. Now in my mind, this was a free garment because I didn't have to go to the store to buy anything. My spouse would do the math differently and tell me it cost maybe $1.50. Still a darn cheap garment.

They Love Me. They Really Love Me!

I hope that everyone had a joyous Christmas and a fantastic New Years. Things were quiet here in the frozen tundra for the holidays. Not a bad thing sometimes.

I had a great Christmas. I received some great sewing gifts. Nothing says love than a sewing related gift! My husband commissioned his friend Paul to make this child's garment stand for me. I either had to lay my garments on the floor and photograph them or I put them on a hanger and hung it on a kitchen cabinet knob. Not good. So I've been wanting this for maybe two years. So a few months ago he emailed Paul to see if he would be able to make my garment stand. I wanted something that I could hang toddler/infant and girls clothing on. I needed something simple but Paul went all out and used cherry and black walnut wood. I think it does the trick. You'll be seeing my garment stand in action as time goes by. You know my sewing room is a disaster when I take projects into the dining room.

Whitney and Joshua sent me some heirloom cotton hanks. Last year, Whitney was introduced to Luc from Fine French Laces. Luc is from the Netherlands. He does a few shows in the United States each year. I used to visit his booth in Chicago but that show is no longer there. Last year, Whitney, Jeff and I went to the Houston Quilt show and Luc was numero uno on my list to shop at. Whitney went back to Houston this year and purchased more lace for Luc. I haven't done any heirloom sewing for maybe five years. But, I have been replenishing my stash so I'll have plenty of fine French laces when I need to do another christening gown.

Lauren crossed several items off my sewing list. I wanted a more functional storage container. One that I could also bring to quilt camp. The rolling container that I have has slightly larger drawers so I wanted something a little bit smaller to hopefully organize more efficiently.

My next gift from Lauren was something that I've also been wanting for some time. I had a large gift card for both Hancock Fabrics and Jo-Ann fabrics but Hancock's won't allow use to use coupons on it and Jo-Ann's always has theirs at 10-15% off an inflated price. One day Lauren was badgering me to send her some ideas for Christmas and I went on Amazon to show her what I wanted and my bias tape maker was marked down temporarily and about $22 cheaper than normal AND about $50 cheaper than Jo-Ann's. I haven't used it yet, but trust me, it will get a work out.

Finally, a favorite magazine. I missed the September issue this year. I've been wanting a subscription and missing that issue made me put that on my list. A sewist can take a lot of inspiration from all the designer clothing and accessories from Vogue. I can't wait until it comes right to my door. Thanks Lauren!

Now, I need to get to work and put my new toys into use.

McCalls Quilt

 You really can't call this quilting. Binding maybe because that's all I had to do. Sometimes, I deserve a project like that. Lauren and I had seen this line of fabric at Hancock Fabrics. I had used some for a couple of craft projects. She asked if I could make her a quilt. Um, sure, I'll get right on that. I do have fabric but that quilt isn't at the top of the list yet. Lucky for her, I spied this pre-quilted fabric this summer. It was marked down and I grabbed some. The bad thing about the prequilted fabrics is that you are limited in size. So I bought enough to make a large crib size quilt. Too small for her bed but she loves it just the same.

Notice how the pattern sketches match the dress that would have been on the front of the pattern envelope. This would be a McCalls 3679. I loved this line of fabric. I really wish they would do something similar again.

Winter Flannel Pillowcase

 I wanted to make sure each child had something homemade. This was one of Lauren's presents. Unfortunately, I only had enough fabric for one pillowcase. I collect certain fabrics. I think most have you have seen my collection of cowboy fabrics. I also have a small collection of figure skating fabrics. Two of the girls were figure skaters so that sport is close to my heart. I must have gotten the last on the bolt because what I had was an odd amount. I of course was saving it for a quilt but who know when that would have been completed and the amount of fabric wasn't enough for a quilt I don't think. I do have enough for a few squares still, so that's good. The fabric is called "Snow Valley" and it's from Alexander Henry. It's a beautiful, luxurious flannel. I tried to find more on Ebay but it was a no-go.

Watermelon Apron

 A couple of years ago, my friend Donna and I hosted another Saturday sew-in at work. We focused on quick Christmas gifts. On project was a raggy watermelon potholder. When I purchased all the fabric for the potholders, I also purchased additional yardage to make this apron. I finished it a while ago and I guess forgot to post it. The fabric came from Hancock Fabrics.

 Closeup of the pocket.

 Closeup of the top of the apron.

 

The pattern used is McCalls 5643.

Ballet Slippers

Last year I made a ruffled skirt and top for Kayla using the same fabric. The goal was to send the ballet slippers to her along with the outfit but I put the slippers on the back burner. Crossing that project off my list was a goal for this year. The pattern is from My Favorite Things. I used leather for the sole instead of fabric and batting.

The Pattern Trustee

 Have you ever been entrusted with something special? My dear friend and former boss entrusted me with these special doll patterns. Connie took a position in Arizona and had a household of belongings to move from Wisconsin to Arizona. She went thru her sewing closet and I was the lucky one to be given these patterns. Connie also gave me several bags of fiberfil for sock monkeys and some quilt batting. The Simplicity pattern above is my favorite. It's for a Skipper doll and the copyright date is 1964.

Of course the larger doll patterns are wonderful also. Did any of you have a Chatty Cathy doll? I can't remember if I did or not. Surely with five girls in the house, one of use had to have had this doll.

Connie, your patterns are in good hands. They are a piece of history and a piece of you. Thank you for these special patterns!

Stop Six, Around the World

 Can you believe there is a store that sells just fashion magazines? The reason this was on my list was so I could pick up the latest edition of Burda Style. I had purchased that at stop one, so I didn't really need anything. Wanted yes. Some of the specialty magazines had a price tag of over $200 for one issue! But as the name implies, they have magazines from around the world. I never knew there were so many Vogue editions. Around the World is a huge store. This is actually a new location for them. They've were only open maybe a couple of months before we visited.

There was a couple of magazines that I did have my eye on. There were some old, and I do mean old, Italian childrens wear magazines. The price tag was $20 for a magazine that was at least seven to eight years old! I'm not in the industry so I was hesitant to plunk down that kind of money for a magazine. The issue was thick and had cute things in it. Another trip perhaps.

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Stop Five, Spandex House

 Yes, Spandex House was on my list of stores to visit. If you're a garment sewer, this is the place to go for knits. Anything that has stretch in it can be found here. The huge rolls of fabric are stacked high.This is only part of the store.

I think this bag of knit weighed 10 pounds. Thank goodness Jeff was carrying it.

This is a thinner, lower quality knit but I got it for $1.00 a yard. I'll be able to make something with it. 

My two purchases from Spandex House. The stars and stripes fabric is lycra. I plan to make my niece a little swimsuit with it.

Stop Four, Mood!

 "Designers, you have 10 minutes!" OMG, I felt that Tim Gunn was in Mood with me, yelling how much time I had left to shop. This was our last stop before lunch. I had roughly 50-60 minutes before we met Lauren. I felt like one of the Project Runway designers as I raced through Mood. How can you get through three floors of fabric goodness in such a small amount of time? I knew what I was getting into since I wasn't a Mood virgin but still, it had been about eight years since my last visit.

I knew what I didn't need. I didn't need denim, wool, suitings, special occassion fabrics or home dec fabrics. I ran upstairs to take a look and immediately came back to the main floor. This is where the action was. I have to say, Mood has a large staff. I can't tell you how many employees were on just the second floor helping customers.

There is a small table in the front of the store near the bouncer. Yes, there's a fabric bouncer at the front door! You do need to check your large bags. Jeff sat at the table and soon the owner of Mood sat with him and talked to him for some time. My husband's business is world's away from the fashion district but he was pretty impressed after spending time here. 

These were the only two fabrics that I purchased. Both of them knits. I love the crinkly, multi-colored stripe.

This was the only lace that I picked up. It should be mostly cotton. This type of lace is usually at least 95% cotton. I just can't remember what the label said. I think it was running $7.50/yard. I bought three yards of this. 

One never knows when you're going to need elastic bridal loops. I needed to replenish my stash. 

Even though my time was short, I came away with a few items that I'm quite happy with. Thank You Mood!