WIP Update

I finished the 80th and final fox block last week.  Happy day!  

Now I am sewing them all together in columns.  I think today I will be able to start inserting the sashing, I hope I will have a completed top to share by the end of the week.  I am enjoying seeing this come together.

My interest in sewing clothes for myself is increasing and I want to start by making a simple knit t-shirt.  I decided to work my way up to that somewhat scary goal by making a knit dress for Charlotte with knit purchased from Joanns:

I actually really like this print and the quality seems decent, it just seemed like a good idea to use materials that are locally available and affordable to try something new before I dig more into my *very* small designer knit stash that I purchased around the holidays.

So this dress really was an easy sew but I made it very hard on myself when I didn't carefully and correctly transfer the dots on the patterns that were meant to aid the placement of the interior pockets.  It was hours of seam ripping folks.  Besides that idiotic mistake, sewing this dress was a pleasant experience.  Unfortunately, the dress is way too big as a 5T on my daughter: a risk I knew I was taking but I didn't want to invest in the smaller size range of the pattern yet.  When Charlotte grows more, I will post a picture of her wearing this.  Right now it just looks like a too-long nightgown.

After the dress was made, there was exactly enough material to eke out a pair of leggings.  Charlotte loves this outfit, as you can probably tell from this picture.  She's also getting a kick out of seeing herself in the mirror.  She cracks me up.

So I am getting closer to bravely cutting up this Lizzy House Catnap knit to make myself a shirt. (I love this print so hard!  I hope I can score some on sale soon to make Charlotte at least a pair of leggings.) This is the pattern I have but I am not sure if I'm convinced it's the best pattern for how I want my shirt to look.  I am considering the Grainline Studio Lark Tee and the Liesl and Co Metro T patterns as well.  Do you have any suggestions?

On a personal note: this little guy just passed his 11 month mark, we're only a few weeks away from his first birthday.  He is a good sleeper and eater (thanks to 8 teeth!) and is getting into everything.  Our family is just one month away from our family vacation in New England.  My husband and I are going to celebrate our ten year anniversary and he'll have to return to Colorado (after two weeks) while we spend eight more weeks with my parents in New Hampshire.  I am excited and nervous all at the same time.  Right now, I feel like my to-do list is just growing and so I guess I need to end this blog post and get to work.

Thanks for reading!

Finish: Heart Quilt

I have a quilt finish to share!  I made the top in January in anticipation of a baby shower and soon changed my mind about giving it away (making another quilt instead).  This top hung in my front living room for quite a while and then finally ended up alternating between the back of my chair or the ironing board in my sewing room: moving it out of my way constantly was definitely annoying!  So even though I had been considering making it bigger and adding to it (my running joke was that I would add the term "unconditional positive regard" to it and make it massive) I decided to quilt it up and finish it.

I used my walking foot and used the seam lines as a guide to do an approximate 1/4" grid with grey thread.

I used pretty, coordinating fabrics from my stash for the backing:

I knew that the Tula Pink Eden Mosaic in Magenta fabric would be perfect for binding.  I love this fabric so much!

I am thinking I will list this quilt in an Etsy shop like I've talked about opening (someday).  Alternatively, if I have a special friend have a baby girl, it will be ready.  This quilt was made from scraps and stash; I'm linking up with Scraptastic Tuesday at She Can Quilt and Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Le Challenge: Fine

 For as long as I have been sewing, I've used a magnetic pincushion.  It broke around Christmas time and I couldn't find a replacement (I'll admit I didn't look very hard).  I started using the one and only handmade pincushion I have: this apple pincushion (pattern by Sandi Henderson).

I'm late to the game but I finally realized that the magnetic pincushions aren't necessarily superior to handmade pincushions.  I thought it was great that I could just "throw" the pins onto the magnet and not worry about it.  But this often led to pins on the floor and other undesirable landing spots.  And it broke- which is definitely not something that would happen to something like this cute apple:

For this month's theme, "fine" at Le Challenge, I decided to make a pocket pincushion.  The pattern comes from Heidi Staple's Sew Organized for the Busy Girl.  Handmade pincushions are just as "fine," if not better than, the magnetic pincushion I have been so loyal to.

For this project, I dug into my Liberty Lifestyle scraps as well as a F8 of Mochi Linen Dot in Sand.  I never know what to do with F8's but this was a perfect project for them!

Yesterday we had a major spring snowstorm in Colorado and all of my fun weekend plans were cancelled.  It was a bummer but my husband and I took advantage of being forced to stay home and we did a major spring cleaning.  Our house has never looked so good.  I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until we made it look so good!  A side benefit of our day was that I found these cute scissors that fit perfectly into this pocket pincushion and even match my fabrics!

Thanks for reading.  I also finished a longstanding WIP last night and will share that next.

Bubbles, Ice Cream, and Playtime

 I love Oliver and S patterns, I am sure that's obvious by now.  Within the past week I made clothing items from three of their patterns.

Here's the bubble dress in size 5T:

I used some pretty Joel Dewberry Atrium fabrics.  This was a very fun sew.  I do enjoy dress patterns with sleeves that aren't the traditional "set in sleeves" that sometimes are tedious to assemble.

Next up is the ice cream dress.  I've made this dress before but my daughter has since grown out of the ones I had made.

 Isn't this bear/forest print adorable!?  I would've preferred to pair it with a pink solid but I have so much Kona "Rich Red" in my stash for some reason, so I opted for using what I have.

I ommitted the front pockets that are supposed to go on the front of the dress, the print is just too busy and I didn't want to break it up.

I finally mustered up the courage to try sewing with knit and made Charlotte some Playtime leggings.  It was a fun experience and they came out really nice.  Charlotte said she wanted to "wear these pants everyday"- which is a great compliment from a four year-old.

The 5T sizing is a little big on her, I am considering investing in the smaller size range of the pattern.

Having a daughter to sew for is such a joy!  I am really enjoying it.  I have to admit that I feel a little guilty about making her so many clothes.  I think it's because making a quilt feels like I am making an heirloom that can be enjoyed for many years to come, by many people.  I am not sure what will become of these clothes that she will (all too fast) grow out of.  But I do get such a kick out of her excited reactions to the items I make her and I think it's fun to watch a favorite fabric print "walk around."  I also have to say that a lot of the clothes available in stores are not as cute and child-like as the ones I can make her.  Sewing for her is easy, compared to sewing for myself, because I don't have to worry about things like a bust adjustment and the patterns I like aren't super fitted, requiring scary things like invisible zippers.

I do think Gregory gets a little jealous that I make his sister so many things but I honestly have no interest in sewing clothes for him.  He's very picky about what he wears and is perfectly content with wearing super hero t-shirts and basketball shorts.  I try to give him attention and care in other ways.  I'll admit that when I had Owen almost a year ago, I wanted to have a girl simply because I love sewing for Charlotte so much.  It's all good though!  I love my family and this hobby of mine that is very versatile and rewarding.