Poodle Girl

When I saw this design from Hang To Dry, I immediately thought of finding some French or Parisian fabric to make a dress or skirt to go with it. One day in the sewing room, I spied the leopard print knit and immediately thought about pairing it with a bright pink. So I made the skirt (without a pattern!). I wanted to put curved pockets on the skirt but then decided that that might make the skirt a little bulky.

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.

Gold Rush Kids

I 

I could be completely in error by using the Gold Rush name for Jordan. I don't really know anything about the San Francisco 49ers. You would not believe how many images of t-shirts and cheerleaders I looked at while trying to make these shirts. Are the cheerleaders the only ones to use the term "Gold Rush".

My daughter's friend was a cheerleader for the 49ers. Now she has two little ones. Lauren met Melanie when she first moved to NYC. Melanie was also a transplant and they became fast friends. I had been wanting to make Mikayla a little cheerleader shirt. I couldn't send Mikayla something and nothing for Jordan.

I drove this to the corner drugstore this afternoon when I was finished for shipping. I really, really wanted to keep this. I think it's one of the cutest things I've made in a while. You can't really tell by the picture but there are three different metallic threads in this design. The pom poms, the shoe ties and the bow. I was going to try using minkee fabric but decided to use a flannel along with the metallic thread. The applique is from Applique for Kids. The font is Kooks from 8 Claws and a Paw.

Mikayla was fortunate enough to be able to cheer last year at a game. I hope she likes the cheerleader.

I used this design before. For Jordan, I went down to a smaller design since Jordan is only three. I used a gold 49er color for the flames. Went I went on the hunt for ideas, I saw a tshirt that had the "9" and the "E" merged together. I decided I HAD to have that on his t-shirt. The applique is from AK Designs. The font is Whoa Nelly from 8CAAP.

Girl's Reversible Top

This is the second pattern that I've made from Tie Dye Diva. I was pretty excited to make it. I wasn't going to add any machine embroidery to it. Just get it done. Well that didn't happen. I decided to put some appliques on it. The cherry design is from Lynnie Pinnie and the font is from Planet Applique.

The top was pretty easy to make. Very little hand sewing. There are buttons on both sides of the top. I got all the fabrics on clearance. So I think the top maybe was about $1 and the pants were in the neighborhood of a bout $1. Pretty decent price for an outfit. But that's not all. I hit the $2 tank top sale at Old Navy a couple of weeks ago and found one tank top in Kayla's size. So the cool thing is that she actually has three looks to wear with the pants.Forgive the white streak going down the shirt, I haven't washed the tailor's chalk off of it yet.

One thing that I tried with the pattern is the use of bridal loops. The pattern called for 1/8" elastic. Somehow the thought popped into my head that I should try bridal loops for a neater look. I have a huge container that is full of bridal laces. I was sure I had loops in there. Well I did find some. I only had about a 5 inch piece but certainly enough for this project. The important thing is to make sure that the tape is well inside your 1/2 inch seam allowance. I used 1/2 inch buttons and they work, however, I think using a slightly smaller button would be better like a 3/8" button.

Litte Miss Muffet

I have been seeing several blog posts for featuring kid's wear using patterns from Tie Dye Diva. Tie Dye Diva offers downloadable PDF patterns available at Etsy, You Can Make This and her own website. I have three patterns so far and about five more that I want to buy. This was my first try at her patterns. It's called the Miss Muffet or Twirl Skirt. The cool thing about this pattern is that it has attached bloomers. Perfect for a rambunctious little girl. And perfect for the mom who wants to have some sense of modesty for her little girl on the playground.

I've been fortunate (well at least that's my interpretation) for scoring lots of fabric sales this summer. The fabric that I used came from Hancock Fabric's and was maybe 50% off. It isn't top of the line quality as far as cotton is concerned but I don't want to put tons of money into outfits that my niece will only be wearing for a short time.

As usual, I seem to be color challenged. I try. I really do. For the t-shirt, I wanted to get away from white. So many tops that I embroider for Kayla are white. I wanted to find a light yellow top. The only one that I found was a screaming yellow. I really overpowered the fabric. So I went with a turquoise. That's not too bad. It was once again thread color. I tried several colors and decided the turquoise blue thread would work. I should have gone with the red. I tried red, I just didn't think it worked like the blue.

As with most of my projects, I used 8CAAP font called Cartoon Me. Many times, picking a font can be a challenge. I try to match a theme or feeling that I'm trying to convey, I need to find a font that would work for the age of the recipient and I need to find a font that will fit my hoops and the project.

Late for the Owl Party

 Of course I'm late. My family and friends can vouch that I'm late for everything. The owl party is no different. Let's see, owl's were in the last two to three years. I'm finally getting around to doing an outfit. The fabric for the skirt came from Hobby Lobby. I picked up the skirt pattern from Jacqi's hop (Keep Me In Stitches) here in Appleton. The pattern is Addie Jo from Izzy & Ivy. It's a fairly quick skirt to put together. The bow goes is worn in the back. The little pink top I picked up at a thrift store. Brand new, still had the original sales tag on it. Sometimes I get lucky.  The little sleepy owl design come from Applique Cafe.

Now, what other party am I late for?

Nautical Chic

 
What are some favorite things from your childhood? Do you still have them? I can't think of anything that I still have in my possession. Two of the things I would give maybe an arm for would be my Barbie's, especially my Midge doll. I tried everything to get the flip in her hair to straighten out but it never did. The other item is my sailor dress. I've thought of that dress often. About a year ago, my mom gave me a couple of shoe boxes with items from my childhood. In one of the boxes, she put this picture in it. I don't know why I was the chosen one to receive it but I can't tell you how elated I was to have a picture of my dress. Also, I love this picture of my siblings and I.

This picture was taken in 1967. We are missing my youngest sister Jodi. She came along a few years later. I will have to ask my sister's if they remember anything about the dresses that they are wearing. I'm thinking that those might have come from Grandma Kennedy also.

Why does this dress mean so much to me? Well for starters, it was one of the few pieces of clothing that I had. I wore this to church every Sunday, really. I went to Catholic school and we wore uniforms so we didn't have a need for a large wardrobe. Also, most kids didn't have the clothing that kids have now. The second reason is that this was sent to me from my Grandma Kennedy. She was the nice Grandma. My other Grandma didn't like children. At all. We saw her once every two years and she wanted nothing to do with us. I can't understand why some mothers and Grandmothers are absent of maternal genes. So you can see why this dress was special.

Long before my mom gave me the family picture, I was collecting sailor dresses. I loved my sailor dress. I love the simplicity of sailor outfits and the sweetness that they portray. The copyright dates in my collection range from 1887 on up to 1995. Unfortunately, some of my patterns are not in very good shape. Hopefully, I'll be able to find nicer replacements in the future but for right now, I'm thrilled with what I have. Here are a few patterns from my collection.

 

 Advance 6807 circa 1950's

 Simplicity 2402 Copyright 1957

 Butterick 2760 Copyright 1963

 McCalls 4384 Copyright 1957

 Butterick 4703 Copyright 1923

Simplicity 3183 Copyright 1950
Alright, I've shared with you a special dress from my childhood. Now, what about you? Is there an outfit from your childhood that you have wonderful memories about?

Sewing for the Nieces

Well, Santa's sweatshop, I mean workshop is winding down. I've been busy sewing and embroidering. I just don't have a lot to post right now.

You might remember the little Barbie skirt and tops that I made for Kayla. Well this new top has a similar design. The other Barbie was the same design except done in a silhouette form. The designs came from the Paris Pretties group from Planet Applique.

I have loved this little Grinch-like design for a while. I finally purchased it a couple of months ago and stitched it out. It's a good thing that this top is going to be large for Kayla because she won't be getting it before Christmas. The design is from Digistitches. The "K" is a font called "Grinched" from 8 Claws and a Paw. I don't know if the blue fabric was the best choice for the ornament. But I wanted it to sparkle. Of course, after I stitched this out, I remembered that I had pink sparkly fabric in my stash. Way to go Ellen. Pink would have been a better choice.

Finally, something for my niece Ashton. She's a freshman at Kansas University, home of the Jayhawks. I don't think I have the right shades of blue and red. I kept looking at KU apparel to get the colors right. Now that it stitched out, I think it's too dark of a blue. Hopefully not to many people will be seeing this while she's showering. I purchased a few fonts this past week from Jolson's. I have been wanting "Santa's Sleigh" for some time now. Ashton's project gave me the excuse to buy some things I've been wanting. The large font is called Garton, also from Jolson's.

The Chanel Challenge: Part 3

I spent the better part of Saturday working on this jacket. Four days at quilt camp, three days spent on Miss Kayla. The Chanel jacket is finished. Not quite couture, but I think I came away with a Chanel feeling.

The jacket was fairly easy to construct. The difficult part was sewing down the lining at the sleeve head. The armhole opening is so small and it wasn't a neat process to trim down the excess lining in the sleeve. And since I ventured off the pattern path, I once again was making an outfit that I had no road map for. I hope that the jacket fits Kayla and that she can move in it.














When I purchased this fabric last year, I knew what I wanted to do but had no idea that I would be working on a new technique. I went looking for inspiration and found instruction. If any of you are interested in making your own Chanel jacket, here are some wonderful resources.



















Go Chanel or Go Home fabulous sew-along blog. Very informative.
Great Sewn Clothes by Threads Magazine
Threads Magazine Issue #121 Inside Secrets of a Chanel Jacket
ThreadsMagazine.com Choosing Chanel-Style Jacket Trims
Threads Magazine Issue #23 Inside a Chanel Jacket
Couture Sewing Techniques by Claire Schaffer

An Ugly Fabric Challenge

Last spring at work, a few of us decided to partake in an ugly fabric challenge. The challenge was pretty simple. You could make anything you wanted with the fabric, garment, purse, quilt. The rule was that the item had to be finished if it was a garment, purse, table runner. If you were making a quilt larger than a baby quilt, only the top had to be finished. Unfortunately, there were no winners because no one had finished their items.

I picked the fabric from my stash and the reason why I deemed it ugly was that it is a teal colored fabric. It is a more difficult color to work with.

I figured that I would make a garment and then decided at the last minute to use a Chelsea Anderson pattern from McCalls.