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?

The Anywhere Dress

Oh do I love this new pattern by Andrea of The Train to Crazy!  Is it the latest addition in her Go To Patterns called The Anywhere Dress.  I adore her Go to Dress and have made it many times see here and here.  This new dress is just as great. The highest compliment that you can hear when you sew clothing is "you MADE that!" and I heard that today when I picked Peyton up at preschool.  Another Mom commented on her dress and I said "yeah I made it"! Getting to say that never gets old and totally makes it worth staying up until midnight to finish my vision last night.

I took advantage of Andrea's $1 off coupon on her new pattern (it goes though today, so go get it!) and picked up the pattern over the weekend.  After looking at it I knew it would be an easy sew and I really wanted to make it right away.  I looked though my knit stash and was bummed to not find any 1.5 yard cuts to use which is her fabric requirement for the size 7 I made.  But I do love to use every last inch of fabric so I thought I'd see if a yard would work.  It did!  I folded just enough on the sides to cut the front and back I also squeezed the cuff on there too.  Then re-folded the remaining middle fabric to cut the two sleeves and facings.  YEAH! 

I thought I'd have to add length since I usually do on dresses for Peyton and Andrea mentioned it might need to be longer depending on your preferences but it was just fine and I didn't have to mess with that!  She wore it with leggings to school this morning but we are finally having a bit of spring here and it will be around 70 degrees this afternoon so I had her give me a bare leg look too! :)

I did spend quite a bit of time getting all the stripes to match up but it was worth it!  Stripes bring out my perfectionist tendencies and I just pin like crazy! :)  The fabric was also on the thinner side which isn't what is recommended but I made it work.  Actually I didn't mind the fabric at all.  It was a good way to use it since there is a facing; it helped to "bulk up" the necking and armholes.

Boy am I looking forward to spring, the grass is turning green and we can finally play in the yard again!  I think everyone looks forward to spring, but living in the Midwest where there is more winter than I like makes me so thankful for warm air and sunshine.

 I hope where ever you roam there is some sunshine today, thanks for stopping by! :)

Floral O+S Badminton Skort

I've had this Oliver + S Badminton Skort  pattern for over a year and just hadn't gotten around to trying it out.  I bought it because it looked cute and I love that it's a skort.  Shorts under skirts are quite nice in my book!  However, then I got kinda nervous about the scalloped edge and thus it was pushed to the back of the pile!  Then a week ago or so I saw these cute scallop shorts on pinterest and thought of this pattern.  So out it came and it really wasn't hard at all!  Since this skirt turned out so well I'd like to use the scallop edge pattern piece to create some shorts.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Now, back to the skort!

The fabic is Lovely by Sandy Gervais.  Last summer or maybe two summers ago I bought a bunch of pretty 1 yard cuts to have on hand to make dresses for Peyton.  Well there are still quite a few cuts left and it now take more than a yard to make a dress for her.  So I guess they'll be skirts now.  It was nice to have enough to make the shorts underneath match.  It used up that yard of fabric nicely! :)  

Below are a couple of pictures of just the skort.  You can kind of see the shorts underneath in the first picture.  I am glad it is warm enough to use my fence again for pictures.  I love how things look on that fence! :)

I made a size 7 because I wanted it to be a bit longer.  It fits very nicely and I hope it will fit for a year at least.  Skirts are just so fun to make and this one is no different!  O+ S patterns always sew up nicely and I always learn things too!  I guess photo shoots are a good time to try out your ballet positions! :)  Thanks for visiting!

Bubble Dress

Hello Friends, Happy Belated Easter!  We had a nice weekend, but alas I took no pictures!  I forgot to take it when we went to our churches egg hunt and I didn't snap any pictures on Sunday either! Oh well!  :)

I have been busy finishing a quilt I started last May but never finished, which is highly unusual for me as I like to complete things and move on.  I also sewed up a Oliver and S Badminton skort which I'll share later this week.

Today though I want to show you a new pattern that I was fortunate to test!  An of Straight Grain has released a pattern of her fantastic bubble dress.  It is a cute pattern and an easy sew.  My daughter is on the top end of the size for the pattern.  I sewed the size 6.  It is a bit short for her but she is very tall.  In fact recently I've been asked it she's 7!! Peyton just turned 5 in February.  I checked with An and she did add about an inch to the size 6 pattern.  I will probably add another inch to that when I sew another one.  The bodice fit very nicely.  I layered it with a shirt for her to wear last week, a bit more snug but still fine.

The fabric was from my stash a print by Joel Dewberry called Aviary. I've been waiting for the right dress to use it on.  I did have a "moment" when cutting this dress and cut the skirt panels upside down!  After a few tears and major irritation I ordered more and luckily it came quickly and I still got it done with in the necessary time frame!  I love to cut fabric, but you have to be paying attention, that rotary cutter can do major damage.

The back is an easy button closure.  Hopefully I won't hear too much about her hair getting tangled around it.

I really liked this pattern and want to make another one soon!  Make sure you check it out over at Straight Grain and when your there check out her fun series Belgian Style!

One last picture, where do they get their poses sometimes?  Happy Monday!