Fourth of July Dress

We were rained out this Fourth of July. A storm came through right at nightfall. The local fireworks show was postponed until July 5th, but we weren't allowed to do our personal ones (at least, not in the city limits...we could probably take them up to the Farm and do them, but we aren't planning to). Still, I think Miss M had a mighty fine day. She's always begging me to let her play in the rain, but most of the time there's too much thunder and lightening to allow her that pleasure. This time, however, the rain was warm, there was no thunder, and I let her stay out till lunchtime. Unfortunately, she was wearing the Fourth of July Dress I made her and she had to change into dry clothes before I got a chance to snap her picture. I finally got her to put it back on today for a quick photo session.

I used the "Polka dot blouse" pattern (#16 from Ottobre 1/2008) in a size 98. I really like this pattern because it's cute and comfy and has no buttons, zippers, or elastic! Size 98 is a it big for Miss M, but for this particular pattern it doesn't matter too much...plus, she'll be able to wear it next year! The changes I made were to cut the sleeves short and lengthen the hem (at an A-line) about 14 inches. I added a ruffle about 1.5 times as long as the lower edge circumference.

The headscarf is #40 from Ottobre 3/2010.

I have one more dress in the works for Miss M and then I'm planning to turn my thoughts to fall and winter. Both kids have enough for the rest of the summer, but they'll both need things for cooler weather. I need to figure out what sort of a SWAP to do. Insanely ambitious with one for each kid? A mini SWAP for each kid? Just jackets? What about a bit of sewing for me? Hmm...decisions, decisions.

Comments

No More Quiet Time

I have always thought it sounded trite to speak of “falling in love with Jesus.” But trite or not, isn’t that what I want for my children? To learn to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). With that in mind, and having run across this blog post on Pinterest several months ago, I created a morning devotion basket for the kids and I to use. You see, up till now, I would typically find time to read the Bible and pray away from my children. Away from distraction, away from the demands of dust and dirty dishes, and away from the 437 questions a four-year-old asks every day. Then I realized I was doing them a major disservice by disallowing them to see me in the Word regularly. If I want them to love the Lord God, then I must show them how I love the Lord my God! Our new routine is to wake up in the morning, prepare a simple breakfast — usually cold cereal for the kids, toast and tea for me — and sit d...

Fall SWAP progress

I finally have some progress to report on my Ottobre SWAP. There are actually six garments finished, but I only have pictures of four of them so far. You can see that the brown Maya blouse is lacking buttons. I didn't have anything suitable in my stash, so I'll "have" to go find some at JoAnn's. I'm thinking something to match the medium pink in the trim, but we'll see. I almost never buy buttons...I usually always make do with what I have on hand. The cream Maya blouse is made of a vintage pillowcase I picked up at Goodwill a while back ($0.50). It carries that oh-so-fresh smell that I love on my pillows and is super soft. I have a bit left that I'm going to hoard until just the right project comes up. I'm delighted with how dressy the little skirt came out! It's made of chocolate brown stretch velvet. Miss M thought it was great fun to pet it like a kitten. Modeled by the lovely Miss M...and just before naptime (what was I thi...

She Made It!: the Get to Work Apron

This weekend Miss M decided she wanted to sew something. I was elbow deep in a sewing project of my own, so I told her that if she wanted to sew, she would have to do it all by herself. I set up my old sewing machine on a little table for her and answered her questions, but otherwise she did all the work herself! First, she picked a project from Sewing School . (affiliate link) She choose the Get to Work Apron. It's a cute tool apron that helps you carry your tools or supplies with you while you work. Then she picked some fabric from my stash. She cut out the paper pattern and traced it onto her fabric with a piece of chalk. (We had to have a little talk about placing your pattern near the edge of the fabric and not smack-dab in the middle!) Then she cut out her pieces and pinned them together, right sides facing. At that point I gave her a piece of plain white printer paper to practice sewing straight lines on. ...

CHRISTEPHI

Search This Blog