Merry Christmas!

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4 Years Old

Gaiw recently had a birthday!

 She is a whole four years old now, and full of life.

  I love this opinionated, dramatic, exuberant little girl!

  Gaiw loves to wiggle and dance and twirl- she's not one for sitting still long!

  If she disagrees with me I'm guaranteed to hear about it.... loudly and emphatically.

  Gaiw is delighted by all things princess, and interested in all things food.

  She can talk about a mile a minute, and will tell stories for hours at a time, with sparkling eyes and dramatic flourishes.

  For her birthday, I made her a Tinny dress.

  I made one of these a couple of years ago and though the end result was very cute and has been well-worn, I was pretty disappointed with the pattern. An recently re-released it with expanded options and sizing, and with a complete overhaul of the drafting and illustrations. It's basically a whole new pattern, so I decided to give it another chance!

  I'm glad, I did, it is vastly improved over the original! It's still not perfect, but the main things that I disliked have been changed... the facings have been replaced with a bodice lining, the fit is better, and there is an opening in the skirt now too, instead of just in the bodice. The pieces also match up nicely now. There still aren't any notches, and I don't love the bodice proportions, but now it's a pattern I'll use again.

  According to the sizing chart, Gaiw fits in a 4. However, I took a look at the finished measurement chart and decided to go with a size 3 for a more fitted look. I went with the size 3 length in the bodice too. Next time I may shorten the bodice a bit more, because I prefer a higher waist on little girl dresses, but I think this worked.

  I actually used the size 12 skirt to make sure it would be long enough... a couple inches shorter wouldn't have hurt but the size 3 would have been way too short. I'm pretty pleased with the fit on Gaiw... the shoulders could be a bit more sloped and a bit wider, but that is pretty typical for her.

  I usually pin my zippers in place but this time I basted and my seams matched up perfectly!

  I'll put the top stop of the zipper a little lower than the pattern recommends next time, and put a hook and eye above it.

  I used a pretty green eyelet (I think Karen sent this to me? If so, thank you Karen!) and underlined it with the thinnest woven white fabric I had, which was white quilting cotton... the bodice is underlined and lined, but the skirt is a mix between underlining and lining. I chose to slip-stitch the bodice down rather than stitching in the ditch.

  I was originally planning on making the circle-skirt version, but I didn't have enough lining fabric for that.

  I didn't have any matching green thread, so I ended up hand-stitching the hem with white thread. It was a lot more stitching at once than I'm used to, and by the end one of my arms was partially numb, but it turned out beautifully.

  I only caught the underlining, so the hem isn't visible at all from the outside:

  If it weren't for the zipper and back seam (which is finished with the underlining) Gaiw could probably wear this dress inside out without anyone noticing!

  In addition to the dress, I gave Gaiw the princess set she's playing with in the photos and a flashlight, and made her a cake. I made a surprise-inside cake, which sort-of worked, but I totally flubbed the frosting, so the only photo I got was with my phone. She said it was a good birthday. =)

  Thanks for stopping by,

Knit Hat

  When I knit this sweater for Foof, I mentioned that I was thinking about making a hat to go with it. I wanted a knit hat, but it turned out to be a bit difficult to find small hat that used bulky yarn and was knit! I finally came across this one, which goes down to toddler sizing, and decided it would be perfect.

  It uses short rows to shape the hat, which I'd never done before but didn't find difficult. It was really fun to watch it take shape as I knit! It was a really quick knit too... I'd say it took me about 5 hours total knitting time, minus the times I missed an increase and had to rip back several rows. 

  I ran out of yarn after I had knit 10 sections, and had to order another skein (this is Lion Brand Wool-Ease Bulky in Charcoal). I was nervous that the color would be noticeably different since they are from different dye lots, but it was perfect! =)

  I made quite a few mistakes on this that I had to rip out and re-do, and I think there was a mistake in the pattern too...  there are two stitches that are apparently never knit. Next time I would just cast on two less, because they were entirely unnecessary to finishing the hat. Also, the edge stitch directions are rather confusing. I think I get what was intended by the directions now that the hat is totally done, but I ended up just knitting those stitches instead.  I still love it though, and am planning on making another at some point!

  As for the sizing, that is quite accurate- it fits Beckers pretty well but is quite large on Foof! I think it could be made baby-sized by taking out 2-3 columns of stitches and knitting one less section. It looks ridiculously adorable on her though, in spite of being too big!

  The sweater is quite a bit too big as well, so they will probably fit her at the same time... which hopefully will be sometime before our short winter ends! It's possible that they would fit my youngest niece, who is 4 months older than Foof, right now. I'd hate for them to not get worn at all. 

  Oh! I also took a picture of Foof in the smocked dress I made for her... it's still too big, but not as noticeably so. I never mentioned here that the dress won the competition I entered it in! Many, many thanks to everyone who voted for it. =)

  In the works are coordinating dresses for the daughters for Christmas... I unfortunately can't afford to and don't have time to make gifts for everyone I usually make them for this year, but I think I can finish the dresses by then. =)

  Also, I completely forgot to finish updating the nursing dress tutorial... I'm sorry to anyone who is waiting on that! No promises on when it will be up, but I WILL work on it. =)

Thanks for stopping by,

Floral Nursing Dress

  Of all the dresses I've made for myself so far, this is my favorite:

  This is once again my own nursing dress design, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

  I left off the pleats entirely this time, as well as the ruffle. I wanted to do a contrasting underlay but didn't have any coordinating fabric, so I used some pretty elastic trim to accent the edges and help provide contrast.

  I also added flounces to the sleeves this time, instead of cuffs- just to change things up even more. =) I didn't want the back of the fabric to show so I lined the flounces with self fabric before sewing them on to the sleeves and lettuce-edging them.

  The fabric is a thin, drapey, rayon blend from last December's Knitfix... and from the Knitfix plus. I had 3 cuts of this fabric, each two yards total, and ended up cutting pieces from all three for the skirt. It's a half-circle skirt, and I planned to cut it as two pieces initially but for some reason I can't remember ended up cutting three. I have several large scraps left though!

  I lined this dress with some milliskin swim lining, which is awesome for helping the skirt drape nicely but is a terrible pain to cut and not much fun to sew either. (I used matte black, but it's apparently no longer available.) It has a firmer stretch than the floral, so the trim on the crossover wants to flip under a bit, but it's not too bad.

  The hem is terribly uneven. I'll probably re-do that once I can get someone to help me level it.

  I used the same pattern as last time, but changed the sleeves a tiny bit. My bust is bigger and my rib-cage smaller than when I made the last one (and obviously my belly is a completely different shape!) so it's a bit tight and short over the bust. Other than that I'm really happy with the fit! I have almost conquered the armscye wrinkles, and I feel like this dress is really flattering.

  Having used the re-designed nursing cutouts, I'm happy to report that they work, although they aren't quite as easy to use. However, I'd prefer that over accidental exposure any day!

  I have the details worked out for re-doing the tutorial and just need to write it up... hopefully I'll get to that in the next few days. =)

  Thanks for stopping by,

Jalie Tee Times Three

  For my birthday last month, my husband gave me a day free from most chores and cooking. I was still on nursing and diaper duty, but for the most part I had the whole day to spend as I pleased. I, of course, chose to sew. =)

  The girls are always short on basics, so I decided to make a long-sleeved tee for Booper from Jalie 2805.

  I chose a size H based on her measurements, with added length in the body and sleeves. It worked!

  The sewing went really quickly... I was done long before the day was over!

  Since I still had plenty of time on my hands, I decided to make a matching shirt for Gaiw.

  I made hers in size F, also with added length.

  And then I made one for Beckers too... I started with size F, since that's the smallest size in the pattern, and slimmed down the sides and sleeves just a bit.

  The fabric for hers was leftover from a dress I made a couple of years ago, originally bought at JoAnn. 

  It's an interlock knit with nice stretch, but it doesn't have much recovery so it looks worn out pretty quickly. It also doesn't have the vertical stretch recommended in the pattern, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

  The fabric for the older girls' shirts is from Girl Charlee, here, bought this summer. It's thinner than I like, but is mostly opaque and has nice stretch and recovery. It's also not as soft as most of the rayon-blend knits I've used. I have a couple of yards left... definitely enough for matching shirts for Beckers and Foof, if I felt like making them!

  While this pattern still isn't a perfect fit, it's much closer than the one I've used for Booper previously. I'm definitely sewing this one up again at some point! I might add another inch or so to the length next time... I feel like these are a tiny bit short. I do appreciate the extensive size range... this is the same pattern I altered for Christmas gifts last year. =)

  All three girls love their shirts, and they've been worn quite often since I sewed them. I'm thinking a few more wouldn't hurt... I'd really like to sew some in solids and add vinyl. =)

  (The older girls' skirts were also made by me... Booper's here, and Gaiw's here.)

Thanks for stopping by,