1st Birthday!

Gaiw turned 1 year old yesterday! =)

Gaiw now

 

Gaiw 1 year ago. =)

 I made Gaiw a fun birthday cake... fun because I enjoyed decorating it, even though my hand was shaky the whole time. Also fun because I managed to make a strawberry-flavored cake with no artificial flavors! The trick was strawberries pureed, cooked over low heat until reduced to 1/4, and substituted for part of the liquid in the cake recipe. It still needs more strawberry flavor, so next time I'll do twice as much strawberry puree, but I am so happy that it actually tasted like strawberry!

  Here Gaiw is, getting ready to try out the cake.

I think she liked it. =)

 And here Gaiw is with the gifts her grandparents got her:

 I also made Gaiw the blue dress she is wearing... up-cycled from a ladies shirt. I want to change the sleeves slightly though. =)

Covered in cake, but she is happy!

  So happy birthday to my little daughter, who is not a baby anymore. =) I love you!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sewing on Leather

 I've had some old leather boots sitting around for a couple years now... I don't wear them because the soles are broken, and I slip and fall. I couldn't just throw them away though, the leather was still in fairly good condition, other than a couple scratches. Since they were inexpensive to begin with, I didn't feel bad about cutting them apart to use for other things. For a tester project, to see how my sewing machine handles leather, I made a leaf bowl:

  I used this template, but greatly reduced the size so it would fit on a solid portion of boot. Because I shrank it down so much, it isn't as defined as the original, but it still looks like a leaf. =) It was harder than I expected, but not because my machine couldn't handle it. With a leather needle in, my machine worked beautifully on this. The hard part was holding those itty-bitty darts together while sewing them! Wonder clips might have helped, but even with those it probably would have been difficult. To give you a better idea of how small this bowl is... these are regularly sized pins:

  I have no idea what I'll use it for, since I have a lovely pincushion (from my sister) and I don't wear jewelry. Any suggestions? It was fun to make, in spite of the difficulties, and I think a large one from stiffer leather would be beautiful for fruit or as part of a centerpiece.The back is a little messy. I didn't realize my boots had so much going on inside them to retain the structure! There was glue, interfacing, a lining, and mesh support... messy. I managed to peel most of it off, but it still isn't as pretty as I would like:

  Once that was done, I cut some more pieces out and made a soft glasses case:

  At first I made it so all the seams were on the inside, but I couldn't get the back to lay flat that way. So I sewed the gussets at the bottom right sides together, and all the rest of it wrong sides together.

  It isn't perfect, but it is certainly better than having my glasses knocking around the car when I'm not wearing them! (I only wear them while driving. )

 
  These were both pretty easy to make, and fun. They really didn't take a lot of leather either... I only used about 2/3 of one boot for both. Now I'm curious to try heavier-weight leather, and see what my machine can do. =)

Thanks for stopping by!

Peplum Shirt

  I'm not a trendy person... I have my own style and I stick to it fairly well. I designed this shirt long before peplum clothing was all over the place, but I didn't have an appropriate fabric to make it from, and forgot about it until now. Several days ago I saw Disney's post over at I Am Momma, Hear Me Roar for her Refashionista series, and it reminded me of my initial design. Since I had a bunch of white knit lying around, I decided to go for it! My version is more like the one Disney's little girl is wearing.

  I did a double layer flounce, with one a touch longer than the other. Mine don't have any side seams, but are cut as single pieces. The bodice is fully lined, since I have yet to find a white knit that is not slightly transparent.

  The sleeves are 3/4 length and are gathered at the sides with some bronze rose buttons tacking down the gathers.

  To my surprise, my husband really likes this shirt! I was expecting him to think it was one of those silly women things, but he thinks it looks really pretty. =)

  I love it too. =) I like that is super-comfortable, but more interesting than a basic t-shirt.

  I also love how easy it is to dress up with a ribbon sash and corsage.

  How about you? Are you a trendy person, or do you make your own style?

Thanks for stopping by!

Samantha's Crossover Dress

  I mentioned a couple times that I was working on sewing a dress for a friend... this style. Well, it's done and I have pictures! Samantha (who may be the sweetest, most gentle person I have ever met) chose to use a knit sheet set from Wal-mart for her fabric as well, in an oatmeal color.

  I was a little worried about the fit when I made it, because Samantha didn't bring a well-fitting t-shirt for me to make her pattern from, and I didn't have my measuring tape with me when we met. We had to go with a tightly fitting jacket and a scrap from the sheet to measure the skirt length and overlay length, but the only place that didn't fit perfectly was the shoulders... I should have cut them just a tiny bit wider. And that mistake was made because the jacket's shoulders were too wide, and padded, and I over-compensated.

  It was really interesting to see how the same style of dress looked so different on our different figures... if I were to make this for Samantha again, I would lower the waistline a few inches to de-emphasize the bust.

(The sleeves do fit right. Just the pose causing the wrinkles. =))

  I went ahead and did two layers on the overlay instead of one, sandwiching the ruffle between them, and it did help a lot to keep the ruffle from flipping the wrong direction. I also did two layers in the back this time, since the oatmeal-colored knit is a little more transparent, and we didn't want any show-through issues. It also helps to keep the weight of the skirt from pulling the back waistband down, although apparently it made the dress a little too warm as well. I made two other minor changes- Samantha's sleeves are a touch longer, but still have the split cuffs, and her dress does not have the nursing openings.

  It was fun to make this for someone beside myself! Although, I admit it didn't hold my attention as well this time... it feels a little tedious to make the same thing three times. Which is why the next version I make for myself will be altered enough that it will be a different dress. ;-) (I'm thinking half-circle skirt, more of a wrap bodice, different ruffles, and ties... but I'm not making it any time soon!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Leaf-Print Fall Dresses

  I was in the middle of sewing a dress for my friend last week, in the middle of baking pies for Thanksgiving, and for some reason I can't remember, I decided that both girls NEEDED new dresses for Thanksgiving. Also, in the midst of my enthusiasm, I couldn't just use plain fabric... it had to be leaf-printed. So I pulled out some knit scraps, a leaf stamp, and some paint. Amazingly, I managed to finish both dresses without staying up past midnight! =)

  I used Rae's free Itty Bitty Baby Dress Pattern in the toddler size for Booper, and downsized it a little for Gaiw (although I didn't downsize it quite enough, width-wise).

  I wanted the fabric to have a natural fall leaf look to it, so I started off with cups of acrylic paint mixed with a fabric medium in a few different colors: a green (that I mixed myself), crimson red, yellow ochre, and vermillion.

  For each leaf, I would lay the stamp out, face up (The stamp is from Hobby Lobby... it came in a set with several other leaf shapes and has a cling backing):

  And brush on a thin layer of a couple colors:

In this picture... vermillion and a touch of crimson

 Then I would flip the stamp over, press it firmly on the fabric:

 And voila!

Okay, so I didn't press firmly enough on this leaf, but you get the idea, right?

  Every leaf is unique, and I love that. I didn't worry about brushstrokes either; I felt like they just added to the natural feel. I do wish my green had been a little... greener. Less blue.

  Also, I think it would have been better if I had cut the pattern pieces first, and stamped second, because now I have odd-sized scraps of printed knit that I have no idea what I want to use for. It would have meant a lot less stamping too. =)

  I used a thrifted knit skirt for the brown contrast... I didn't actually make piping with it since I wanted to keep the stretch, so the waist section is just a 1.5 inch wide piece, folded in half and sewn in in the seam.

I love that I caught Gaiw pointing in the back of this picture. =)

 

  I am super-happy with how these turned out... the print came out just how I had imagined it! And I am very happy that I finished these up in time, and the littles got to wear their new dresses at a lovely Thanksgiving dinner. =)

Thanks for stopping by!

 

PS: If you have never tucked a bit of Nutella in some pie crust dough, baked it, and ate it, you have missed a delicious piece of life. Try it!

Linking up at Make It Wear It

Thankful And A Baby Dress

   A couple years ago I was introduced to the concept of up-cycling... taking material intended for one use and recycling it for a better use. Among many other things, that is a concept that I've been very thankful for lately... turning sheets into dresses, used containers into useful dishes, and more. I'm also thankful for my two little girls, who get to pass along the handmade items I've made, and enjoy them twice over. This is the first dress I ever made for either of my daughters, up-cycled from a worn skirt I discovered at a thrift store. Booper wore it when she was about 9 months old:

The buttons were also from the skirt... the button loops were not. =)

Wasn't she the funniest, most adorable baby?

  And here it is on Gaiw yesterday, at 11 months old:

Sorry the pictures are a little washed out! I changed some settings and forgot to change them back for these pictures.

  So today, along with the other wonderful things God has given me, I am thankful for little girls, up-cycling, and handmade dresses. =)

Thanks for stopping by! (And to all you Americans, Happy Thanksgiving!)

Baby Sleep Sack

  Just popping in to show you something I made recently for Gaiw. See, our house gets pretty cold at night in the winter, and that little one hasn't learned how to pull her blankets back up after she kicks them off yet, so she also gets really cold. To make it a little easier on myself, so I don't have to wake up and fix her blankets every few hours, I sewed up some baby sleep sacks. Like this one:

  They are pretty much just fleece rectangles, with rounded edges and an opening for the head. I left a large space next to the neck opening to slide her in, and added buttons and buttonholes right there so she can't crawl out. Gaiw has been using these for a little while now, and they really help to keep her cozy enough. Here are all three sacks I finished:

I made one with several colors of fleece, but only because I didn't have any one color big enough... I think it came out pretty cute though! The entire back of the sack with the blue buttons is of yellow fleece, again because I didn't have enough left of the grey. And on the multicolored one I got smart and left a space below the lowest button, since she tries to stick her arm between the buttons to suck her thumb and gets stuck. I love how cute my little blob looks in these:

  So that's what I've been up to lately! I've also been cutting out a dress to sew for a friend and recovering from a month-long virus. I should be back with pictures once I've finished the dress I'm working on. =)

Thanks for stopping by!