CHRISTEPHI

I had most of Miss M's Halloween costume done a while back...just never got around to taking pictures of it until now.  It's based loosely on McCall's 5732 , but I really only used the pattern for the vest...and even then I modified it.   For the shirt I used an Ottobre raglan pattern (I'm not even sure which one), but added width so it'd be a bit fuller.  I made it out of light green silk.  The vest as made of darker green twill and lined with brown flannel for warmth.  I patchworked together a bunch of faux suede pieces of various shades of brown for the pants and kind of made up the pattern as I went...based on the McCall's pattern style, but not using their pattern pieces and making it a separate rather than a one-piece with the top.  I used elastic in the legs and a drawstring at the waist so she can keep wearing it as dress-up clothes for a while.  I completely made up the pattern for the wings and they turned out amazingly like wh...

After going through two prototypes ( here and here ), Miss M's Cinderella dress is finished!  Her birthday isn't until mid November, but I really wanted to have it done as soon as possible since we don't know when this baby will decide to arrive.  If he's on the same schedule Miss M was on, it could be as early as next week!  (And as long as he's healthy like she was, I wouldn't mind a bit!) I wasn't originally going to make the dress lace up in back, but I'm too cheap to use a zipper.  A zipper = $4 or so and you can buy a whole spool of ribbon for $0.50!  Besides, I'm going to use some scraps of the blue satin to make a cord for it...and this way it'll fit her longer because even when she's a little too big around for the dress, I can just tie the laces a little looser et voila ! The other change I made to the pattern, besides getting the fit of the bodice right, was to add an underskirt or crinoline of bleached muslin and tulle ...

My first Cinderella dress prototype was a big hit with Miss M, but unfortunately it didn't fit her properly.  I scrounged up some more fabric scraps my mom gave me a while back and came up with a second prototype.  This one fits much better!  I also took the time to do a few details that came to me a bit late in the making of prototype #1, namely tucks in the skirt, eyelet lace peeking out from the hemline and echoed at the neckline, and a lace-up back.  (I do need to get a more appropriate bit of ribbon since this sheer stuff is a little too fragile for an energetic toddler.) Making these is dangerously fun!  I have a feeling there will be more incarnations in the future.  Why, oh why does everyone I know have boys instead of girls!?  How many princess dresses can one little girl handle anyway? Oh, and yes, it was raining when I took the pictures...and the cement was quite chilly for bare feet!  But Miss M thought it was the ...

Miss M has been promised a Cinderella dress for her birthday.  Knowing that McCall's and Simplicity patterns tend to run super wide for my slim daughter, I decided to do some pre-measuring and a prototype before cutting into my "good" fabric.  As suspected, it came out wide...but it definitely passes the 2-almost-3-year-old test.  She declared quite vehemently, "I'm going to keep wearing it. It's clothes."  (Can you tell she is frequently told to put "clothes" on and not stay in her pajamas all day?)  I haven't even hemmed it yet...and it's too wide so the sleeves slip down her shoulders giving it a decidedly naughty look -- not the look I'm going for on my toddler!  But, for this evening, she's a happy peasant-princess. Miss M loves to dress up.  Today she told me she wanted to be "a super" with a cape and a mask.  She frequently plays as a magician, a princess, a butterfly, a bird, or a ballerina.  That...

After finishing 18 cloth diapers , I was a bit tired of them -- the repetition gets boring after a while.  I wanted to sew something else, so I traced off Ottobre 1/2009 numbers 1 and 2, the Nuppu wraparound jacket and Nunnu knit pants.  I cut them out of cheerful green double knit I got a Hancock Fabrics a few months ago.  I used size 50 (the smallest size) and the finished product is comparable to the 0-3 month store-bought outfits we've been given. I couldn't decide which pieces I wanted to be stripes and which solid, so I enlisted Hubby's help. Turns out he had very strong opinions about which parts should be which, so it's a good thing I asked!  He was also quite adamant about wanting a ninja embroidered on the front (once I shot down the Gears of War logo and Batman symbol).  This little guy from How to Draw a Cartoon Ninja fit the bill nicely.  I got an awful kink in my neck while working on it, but I...

After making the decision to cloth diaper , it took me a bit of time to get going on the sewing side of things.  But...a little over a month later...I've got my first 18 newborn sized diapers finished! I plan on making 6 more to have a full 2 dozen, plus 2-3 covers.  I'll get started on the covers today. As you can see, no two are exactly the same.  Although, three of the green ones come pretty close. Once I finish the set, I'll wash 'em all real good a time or two before baby arrives.  I'll probably do an absorbency test too, just for the sake of curiosity. Then it'll be time to resize the pattern again for when baby outgrows these!  Ahh, the sewing never ends...  :-)

I finished my SWAP according to the September 21st deadline and am just now finally getting around to posting the complete ensemble here.  I really enjoyed the entire process.  It was especially great once everything was cut out because when I had a few minutes to sew, I could sit down, grab something, and sew!  I'll definitely be using this method again in the future. I'm so glad I didn't try to do full length pants (except for the leggings) because Miss M seems to be sprouting up overnight these days.  I had to go out and buy her a package of new socks because her feet are getting too long for her old ones...and I had to get them from the little girl's section, not the baby department!  She's got long and narrow feet like me. I'd still like to add two pairs of leggings (off-white and dark green) and 2-3 pinafore dresses for layering.  I have fabric already, I just need to do some other sewing first. Hubby's work had a surprise baby shower for hi...