Farm Shop Dress

Here is the latest dress I made for the farm shop. I am happy to say it sold within 5 minutes of arriving at the farm! The fabric is some cute vintage stuff that I loved, but wasn't sure if others would feel the same way. The lining and flower are from one of Dad's dress shirts. I guess I will be making more dresses for next week!

Dresses

I made these two dresses for my work-share at the farm. I had seen a cute dress online with a heart cut-out in the back. I could have bought the pattern but didn't feel like paying 10 bucks for something I knew I could easily do. Now that I have it figured out, I plan on making my daughter's Easter dress with a heart in the back. I kind of felt bad making her try it on for pictures then giving it away!

And yes! You better believe I put some rick rack on it! :) I used jumbo rick rack to make scallops around the waist.

This one is from Made By Rae's Itty Bitty Dress pattern. It is fun and easy to sew up, and stinkin' cute! It is teeny-tiny as you can see from the next picture. It is sized for a newborn. 

And the good news is both dresses have already sold!! That was fast! I guess I know what I'll be making this week. The clothespin bags also went fast. I think they only have one left.

Knit Purse!

I have always considered myself knitting-challenged. My grandma tried to teach me to knit a scarf and it took me over a year. I also couldn't figure out the whole casting on and off business, which is slightly problematic. And yet....those beautiful yarns and patterns are so tempting. I finally decided after some encouragement to try it again. I figured out how to cast on all by myself. Woo! I decided to make a purse for my daughter since it seemed simple enough. I am pretty sure I broke all knitting protocol but it works. I hand-sewed the purse together and the handle is a strip I knitted and sewed into a roll. I wanted magnetic snaps so I installed them on two wool felt hearts and blanket stitched them in. My next project is a hat, but I probably ought to do a little research before I start...since I only know one stitch, and I couldn't even tell you the name of it!

Yoga Mat Bag

I had some leftover Amy Butler fabric from a previous project and wanted to actually finish something in one sitting. After yoga yesterday, I realized that the project should be a new mat bag.

 I used a pattern from Joel Dewberry's book "Sewn Spaces". The book is filled with visually appealing projects BUT the patterns are horrible. There are missing instructions and pattern pieces and some of the measurements are off. F R U S T R A T I N G. I thought I was going crazy so I even Googled it and fortunately, it's not just me. Apparently, the patterns provided in the book just stink. The editor should've sprung a few extra bucks to get some pattern testers before publishing the book.

 Regardless of the cryptic instructions, I finished the bag in an hour or so. It'll do in a pinch but it makes me want to make a much sturdier, lined and interfaced bag in the future. When you learn to sew making Amy Butler bags, patterns like this are just disappointing.

This is a random shot of my sewing buddy. I can stitch all day and he will stay with me looking up occassionally to make sure I'm ok before going back to sleep. Dogs are awesome.

Colette Patterns - 1022 Iris Shorts

 

This pattern is a good reminder as to why I started making muslins for all new clothing patterns that I try. I really like the details and vintage/modern style of Colette patterns and I went crazy on Black Friday and bought 5 of their patterns. Iris is the first one that I've started working on and while it sewed up beautifully (I didn't bother with the waistband) as soon as I did a tentative fitting I knew that short of redrafting the entire pattern, it wasn't going to flatter my body type.......at.......all. Since I spent about $2 on muslin and learned more about garment construction in the process, I'd say that overall it turned out to be a great project. As tedious as it may sound and sometimes is, I highly recommend working the quirks out on cheap muslin. It'll save you from a lot of frustration and pattern disappointment in the long run. 

Lonsdale Dress

I saw this pattern over a year ago and absolutely loved it. It's been sitting in my stash for a while and I finally had a chance to start working on it. I made a resolution this year to start making muslins of every clothing item I intend to sew for myself. I've been lazy and haven't been in the habit of doing that and as a result have been left with many disappointing projects that didn't fit and piles of ruined fabric.

I'm so glad I decided to make this pattern the right way! Fortunately, with a few tweaks it essentially fits me right off the pattern. I'll shorten the hem significantly, fully line the skirt and add an invisible zipper instead of a lapped one, but those are pretty much the only changes that I need to make.

I'm so impressed with the design of this pattern. It's simple to sew, the instructions are clear and concise and you can tell someone spent time on making the details perfect. I also used the muslin as an opportunity to try out my new invisible zipper foot (my new favorite tool) and testing out how I want to finish the seams.

I intend to use an Amy Butler orange dots fabric for the actual dress and will definitely be underlining the bodice for added structure. The dress sews up fast so hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have the real deal to share pictures of just in time for Spring!    

Mom's Bday Apron

I made Mom a new apron for her birthday. If you noticed, we are apron crazy in our family. I used the Amy Butler Domestic Goddess pattern again (I made it for MawMaw here) and used fabric from Amy Butler's "Love" collection.