My Talented Family

I would like to do a series of blog posts on their different talents. I haven't asked them yet, but provided they say yes, this is what will be featured

My mother-
Accomplished in dressmaking, embroidery, cross stitch, quilting and appliqué.
My sister-
Beautiful scrapbooker and card maker
My mother in law-
Knitter, Toy maker, jewelry maker, cross stitcher, Fimo artist, pot designer, used to paint animation cells
My Father in law-
Where to start... Animator, woodworker, puppet maker, Fimo artist, painter, actually that list might get too long, I think he's tried everything.

If they all say yes then I guarantee lots of gorgeous pictures and stunning ideas. Fingers crossed.

Back to me now, me me me. I bought the interfacing and muslin for Ava's jacket today. I. decided that I would make a muslin of the jacket for a couple of reasons. One, the pattern for the jacket is sized 3 - 8, so I really don't want to cut it, I can trace the pattern onto the Muslin. Two, Ava is still quite comfortable in size 2 clothes. While I want the jacket to have a little growing room, I don't want her to swim in it. It would look terrible. So I am going to cut and fit it before making the final one.

I really like the pattern and know it won't date quickly. In fact I have seen it in several seasons' pattern books already. Hopefully it will become a versatile pattern I can use for 5 years.

I really lacked photo inspiration today!

Red and blue looks good on you (Another new dress for Ava)

I know I said Ava wasn't getting any new clothes, but I had a bountiful trip to the Thrift store when I went out to get the Mail yesterday. Here is the dress she ended up with:

Here you can see the front pleat

A nice shot of the back, but it does highlight how it is too big.

The back hanging up

I owe the inspiration all to this site. I'm sure one day I will come up with my own original idea. Until then, thank goodness for the internet!

The Process

1. Go to Op Shop and find good quality/condition men's shirt with back panel
2. Pick trim to go with shirt
3. Follow instructions in link (I'm feeling lazy)
4. I used this pattern to form the skirting in the dress
   
5. I also didn't elasticize the sleeves as I wanted something straight.
6. I replaced the buttons with Red ones to keep with the contrast theme

It ended up being a size 3/4 rather than the 2/3 I was aiming for. I'm guessing that has a lot to do with the fact that I used a loose fitting size 3 pattern as the base. I'll know for next time.

Cost of Project

• Shirt = $3
• Thread = Free from stash
• Rick-rack = $3 (I paid too much)
• Buttons = Free from stash

Total cost = $6

It was a size XL shirt so I have lots of left over bits as well as the original pockets. That is for another project. More on that later.

Thanks for any comments. It makes me feel special. I am such a dork!!

A couple more photos.

Here are just a couple more photos of the top from Ava's new set. Here you can see how it actually sits, if it wasn't too big for her that is.

New Summer Playsuit

I finished up on Ava's new outfit after work today. This is the pattern I used


There were a few firsts for me with this project. It was the first time I've made her pants (its been all dresses up until now) and the first time I've made a fully lined top.

In all reality I probably would have never bought this pattern because I prefer very simple things, but I'm glad I did it, it pushed my boundaries and now I feel a lot more confident. A few months back I wanted a new pattern and material. Our nearest reasonably priced material store (Spotlight) is 1 1/2 hours away, so my MIL and I went on a road trip one weekend. She got the sewing bug while we were there and bought this pattern and material. By the time we got home again she decided that she really doesn't like sewing anymore and its been sitting in my sewing box ever since. But I got brave and here are the results

That's the closest we are going to get to a proper front shot

The elasticized back with halter ties

Model poses for the camera

This outfit has functionality too. You can wear it while watching upside down 3D slide shows

Or while rearranging all the furniture in the playroom!

This should see her through this summer and next. Because I didn't pay for it I made sure everything was sewn neatly and properly, triple stitched the crotch, pressed the seams and all that other boring (but necessary) stuff. I really didn't take that much more effort and the finished product looks nice.

Well that is probably it for Ava clothes for a while. I have no more large pieces of material
And no trips planned. :o( I will have to see what I can find at the thrift store I guess. Wish me luck.

The Pillowcase Dress

I stumbled across some directions to make pillowcase dresses when I was online the other day. Immediately I thought I had to give it a go as it fit all my criteria for sewing, quick and economical.

My two main points of reference were:
http://www.andersonsplace.net/sewing/pillow_case_dress.htm
http://www.jenleheny.com/archives/158

I went down to the Op (thrift) shop and got some old (vintage) pillowcases for 50c each. I also got a jar of buttons for $2 and bags of material remnants. I have sorted my buttons into sets in little plastic baggies which may have been a tad obsessive but, when I want to make something they will be right there!

By the time I got home I really only liked one of the three pillowcases. I decided to try first on a flimsy green one. I got the general idea of it and decided to move onto the one I like. The fabric is a thick cotton with a fully stitched hem. I used bright orange contrasting thread that I had gotten in a sewing fair goodie bag.

To start with I made a traditional full length dress with ribbon ties. There were a couple of problems with this. The first was that Ava kept tripping over the bottom. The second was that she complained the gathered neck was "hurting her" and lastly her Dad said ribbon ties were too fiddly when he was in a rush. So I completely reworked it. I stiched elastic into the necklines and made permanent straps. I just hand stitched the straps on, but I used the wrong needle and it bent in two! The finished results are below.



I'm still thinking I might elasticize under the arms as well, but I may be overly obsessive. I couldn't get a front on view, but it looks very sweet. Not bad for 50c and some elastic. I'm happy.

I found some 2 hour patterns when I was cleaning up, so I might start top and short set for her now.