T-shirts and the Tinny pattern winner!!

**The winner of the Tinny pattern is Nicole!  Congratulations!  I'll pass your e-mail address onto An.

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I'm guessing your kids wear a lot of t-shirts.  Mine do, anyway.  And while I buy many of them I am finding that making them gives me warm fuzzy feelings! :)  You see I've figured out that I sew mainly as an expression of love.  I love my kids and seeing them in handmade clothes makes my heart happy.  Also t-shirts are a quick sew and that is also a big plus.  I use Rae's skinny tee as the base for most of my tee's.  My only big change is that I always make the neck binding bigger, because for me when cut as per the pattern the neck opening is too tight (at least for my kids heads), but otherwise it is perfect.

 I recently tried another pattern for tees and was really happy with the result!  I bought the book Growing Up Sew Liberated mainly for the envelope tee pattern mainly which I wrote about here.  And actually that t-shirt fits this summer, so when questioning sizing in that book, make the smaller one! :)

 The Crossover tee is another great pattern from the book!  I omitted the bottom band to make it more daytime wear and less pajama like.  The fabric is from Girl Charlee and part of their exclusive Vintage Revival collection, and it's just lovely!  Girl Charlee is a great place to hunt for knit fabric and at great prices too! This bird print just looks like summer to me!

The crossover tee only goes to size 5 but it is a generous pattern.  Peyton doesn't wear a 5 in commercial clothing anymore but I just added a little over an inch in length and it fits great. Here is a little action shot, badminton, her newly discovered sport! :)

Carter also got a new tee recently.  My Grandma has turned over some of her kids fabric stash to me and this cute print matched perfectly with a pair of green pants that needed a top! I used the Skinny tee pattern for the shirt and it fits my skinny boy perfectly.  He's really into vehicles and likes to points out the red trucks on the tee, so he's a fan!

Sewing for my kids is really such a joy and seeing them play in handmade clothes is the best feeling!  Have a happy Tuesday!

Birthday fun (my first giveaway!)

I've got a treat today!  My birthday is Sunday and I'm hoping for at least a couple of fun surprises.  Fortunately I have one for you too!  An from Straight Grain has a new pattern; which I'm guessing you already know! :) And she's generously offered a copy for each of her testers to giveaway!  Yeah!!  After seeing all the fun dresses other testers made I can't wait to make another, I think an asymmetrical collar is calling my name!

       

I actually gifted myself this year and bought a new camera lens.  I think it is going to be a fun new tool to have!  Here is a glimpse of my next post using my new lens. What is it about little boys that is just overwhelmingly adorable?!

To enter to win a copy of the wonderful new Tinny pattern please leave me a comment about what your ideal birthday gift would be!  And for an extra entry please tell me how you are following me!  The giveaway will be open through Monday June 10th and I'll announce the winner on Tuesday!  

A Tinny Dress (a new Straight Grain pattern) and a healthy dose of honesty!

You may not have noticed but I've been absent around here!  I knew May would be a crazy month and I was totally right!  If you throw graduations, dance recitals, and weddings (at least we didn't have one of those this year) into any month in gets busy but then you add our wedding anniversary (we celebrated 9 years!) and the garage sale I had to have; things gets really nuts!
But in all that crazy I still found time to sew because sewing keeps me happy!  I was fortunate to be a tester again for An of Straight Grain for her newly released pattern Tinny!  I'd seen this dress on her blog and was thrilled to get a chance to try it out.  It is a bit different than what I am normally drawn to but looked like something I'd learn from and I'm always eager to try something new!

I'm very glad I did!  An is so right when she says a circle skirt makes any girl happy.  Mine loves to twirl in her new dress!

I tested the largest size of the pattern the 6y. The patterns sizes are 1-6 years.  There are so many style options to choose from.  You could make this dress so many ways and that is a big selling point to me in a pattern!  For this dress I choose the peter pan collar, the notched sleeves and the circle skirt.  The fabric is Pearl Bracelets by Lizzy House.

Another appealing element to me was the blind zipper.  Peyton's hair is long and button closures don't make her very happy since they seem to get her hair wrapped in them.  I've been wanted to learn more about zippers so I could go that route instead of buttons.  I've got a bit more to learn with a blind zipper but I'm learning! :)

Testing this dress was adding one more thing to my hectic May but I'm really glad I did!  I'm looking forward to making another one soon!  To enter for a chance to win a copy of the Tinny pattern click here.  GOOD LUCK!  :)

And now a little honesty!  Did anyone know I've been at this a year?!  My first post was on May 30th, 2012.  I've learned SO much about blogging this past year! Some of my favorite have been:
     1) Taking more photos and spending the money on a nice camera!
     2) Having a virtual diary of my sewing is very fun on a personal level.
     3) Feeling more a part of the sewing community that has taught me LOTS!
There are some things that I've been less happy with.
    1) I've got a limited time to sew/blog and the more I blog the less I sew! : (
    2) Also blogging seems to be more competitive than I realized, maybe that's just me. (I seem to have         really checked out of my competitive nature when I started staying home!)
So what I'm saying is I'm not going anywhere, however, I I think my past notion of becoming a BIG/frequent blogger is not what I want either.  I'm a Mom to two wonderful kids and I want to hang with them, they're getting big way to fast for my liking!

I also think I'll be expanding what I write about.  Another FYI, I'm a Horticulturist (currently retired as my husband jokes).  I spent much of May planting my garden and containers.  I'm thinking some "Green" posts are in my future.

 I am so thankful to my readers and have enjoyed blogging this past year.  Blogging is like any other piece of my life; change is a constant!

A Geranium Inspired Dress

So I've had a major crush on Rae's Geranium dress ever since she released it but I haven't bought it since Peyton is past size 5 which is as high as her pattern goes.  Each time someone in blog land makes one I get a bit more sad about not being able to make one.  So I decided to make my own version.  I found this Simplicity pattern #5226 and thought with some pattern tweaks I could re-create the essence of what I liked about the dress.  (One other thought, if big pattern makers would just work on the pictures and fabric used on the front of their packages, they'd sell lots more patterns I think. This one is not good at all but I could see past the "lovey" print and look at the construction.  I didn't used to be able to do that!!)

Out of all the Geranium dress versions I've seen my favorite is by Jess.  I loved the print she used and conveniently enough my local quilt shop had this lovely fabric by Lotta Jansdotter!  

Here are my adjustments to the pattern to make it Geranium-esque.  First I mainly used the slip dress pattern.  But I wanted the button closure so I used the front button bodice piece and blended it with the back bodice piece of the slip dress.  I used the sleeves on the slip dress too and eliminated the ruffle at the bottom.  I made my own bias tape with a coordinate from the same line.

I am very happy with how it turned out, my biggest mistake was making it a size too big.  I measured her and she fit the 6 but I sometimes have trouble with her out-growing the tops of her dresses if they are too fitted so I made the 7.  I should have stuck with the 6, but we'll get a lot of wear out of this dress since it is quite roomy! :)

I am happy with my attempt for a geranium knock-off but I will definitely buy the pattern if she puts it out in bigger sizes!! Hint Hint Rae, if you ever read this!

Carter jumped into this picture, he wants to pose with Peyton whenever I am taking pics for the blog.  I guess I should sew more for him! We've had a very springy week here which has been amazing!  I am getting ready for a major garage sale (like over 13 bins of kids clothes to sort and price) so I don't see a huge amount of sewing for a couple of weeks but I can't wait to unload some stuff!  

 Hope everyone enjoy's a wonderful Mother's Day weekend with lots of hugs from your kiddos!

Gingercake Art Tote Review

I love promoting art to kids, and I love to give art stuff for birthday gifts to Peyton's friends!  I've had the Gingercake Art Caddy Tote pattern for awhile with the intention of making one for Peyton but it had yet to happen.  I finally decided maybe if I made one for a birthday gift I'd actually complete it! :)  

Let me start by saying this pattern is not hard at all, just time consuming with all the pockets and layers of material and interfacing.  You need a couple of prints, some cotton batting, interfacing and some stiff pellon interfacing.  Yes, that is ALOT!  However you really do get a nice sturdy tote, which I really liked.

For the fabric I was, again, trying to use what I had in my stash.  (I've been doing well with that goal, although I did place a rather substantial order for fabric last night!)  This Hello Kitty print was planned for an Open Wide Pouch but I think this was a good use too.  My one regret (I am pretty sure I have one after every project even when they turn out well!)  is that I didn't have any super great coordinates to go with the main fabric. I found some yellow and blue which work but I wish it had been better.

The other thing I want to improve on next time is the large pocket (shown in the picture above).  I think it is best used for markers but it doesn't quite keep them as straight as I want (I know I'm a bit OCD).  I think I'd put in vertical lines like on the crayon side for every two or three markers.  You'd just have to adjust the spacing for the size you are using.  

The best part is filling it up!  I loved browsing the art supply aisle at Target and picking out things.  It was kind of like back to school shopping which I LOVE!!!  I can't wait to buy Kindergarten supplies this summer! :)  I really need to make one for Peyton now!  Hopefully I can find just the right fabric for her's.  I think I want to use the a print from Ann Kelle's girlfriends line, maybe the ballet dancers!

Thanks reading, I have a dress to share later this week, hopefully! :)

Yeah...I'm a slacker!

You may or may not have noticed that I totally missed sewing this past week during KCW!  Did you participate in KCW?  :(  Well let me clarify that, I sewed a lot just not for my kids.  I agreed to participating in a craft fair last Saturday and I knew when I signed up that it would probably fall around KCW but I figured I'd just get my craft fair stuff sewn ahead of time.  Yeah right!!  I spent last week making doll, tooth fairy pillows, cute headbands and big hair bows and some crinkle baby toys.  And to really rub some salt in the wound about not sewing for KCW the sale was not particularly successful! Bummer, but how do you know?  I think people are thinking about being outside at this time of the year instead of attending a craft fair, maybe??

However I did frequent the flickr pool to try and keep up with all the amazing things in there! There were so many great clothes made this past week!  I just had to pick a few of my favorite to share!

First is this amazing fox peasant dress by Jess of Craftiness is not Optional. I almost want to make the exact same dress. Is that okay? :)
Next is an amazing lace tee from Homemade by Jill.  So simple, and those ever popular bubble pocket shorts that I didn't even know I wanted till KCW!
Finally is this amazing geranium top and bubble pocket shorts by LGB studio.  I love that print, I've been eyeing some of those great Notting Hill fabrics even before seeing this!

In this group first are some great Parsley pants, I love the tuxedo stripe!  Then some lovely Parsley shorts also from Homemade by Jill.  Next how awesome is this lovey owl shirt I love the snaps?!  Rounding my favorites is a fun self drafted dress, I love the piping at the waist!

I am hoping to spend some quality time with my machines very soon! I have a long list but I'll mention the big items I want to whip up.  First a dress based on the Geranium Dress, I can't use Rae's pattern since it only goes to size 5 and Peyton needs a 7. I have a Simplicity pattern that I want to play with.  If anyone has other suggests PLEASE let me know!  I also want to make some Parsley Pants, well probably shorts since someday it will stay warm here!  Also some raglan tee's for both kids, I haven't decided on a pattern for those yet.  And now that I've seen all the amazing bubble pocket shorts I might need to try them too!  So many pattern to sew and fabric to buy and yet so little time it seems! :)  

10 months in the making!

My sewing style is get it done!  I am not one to have WHIPS, I just don't like things laying around undone.  I think it messes with my OCD organizational issues. :)  Never the less last May in my very first blog post I showed this quilt I was working on while my serger was getting cleaned and fixed.  At the end I even said "Hope my serger comes home soon.  I've got some major clothing sewing I want to do!"  And apparently that is exactly what happened because after a little over 10 months I still just had a quilt top.

I even had the back pieced together.  So last week I decided to finish.  I went with a quick and easy stitch in the ditch quilting pattern.  I really wish now I'd sewn a line a quarter inch on each side of the seam rather than right down the seam but I've moved on! :)  Before I started blogging I made probably 5 or so quilts a year, so in this past year I've really brought my average down.  And it did show, I spent way too much time remembering how to get my binding just right, and my seam ripper got some action than I would have liked.

I really should finish sewing projects right away.  I was really over this quilt by the time I got around to finishing it and with my rushing it has some flaws which I never like!  On the bright side the sun was shining nicely yesterday and I got some good pictures of it and like it more now that it is done.  Peyton has claimed it for now.  I really need to sew at least 4 quilts a year to keep from getting so rusty.  One of these days I'll do a post with a bunch of my past ones.  Do you quilt?