Friday, October 21, 2011

Back in the saddle!

After more than three weeks of illness (three weeks!!!), I am finally well enough to sew again!  When you have bronchitis AND sinusitis, it is truly difficult to find the energy to sew.  And, the noise from the sewing machine just does not feel good on the already painful head.  Thankfully, I am finally well this week and back to sewing!

So, what have I been doing!  First, I made this lovely twirly skirt for the winner of my blog give-away.  I love this color combo and I hope the wee girl and her mama do as well.


And, for the same lovely mama, I made another Pretty Peacock peasant top from my beloved Dena Designs Monaco peacocks. I literally never get tired of this fabric!  You can buy your own version in my store, see link at top right of blog!




Now, I am beginning some knot dresses and then some tank dresses.  Should be fun!


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Modkid Penny as a nightie

The search for loose-fitting nightgowns that are 100% cotton is a fruitless effort in the USA, what with our child protection safety laws.  They are all treated with fire retardants that are proven to cause long-term health problems.  So, what's a sewing mama to do?  Make her own! *

With that in mind, I bought some lovely light-weight pink floral fabric from a sweet sewing mama on Facebook and decided to use Modkid Penny as my pattern.   The fabric turned out to be a nice weight but does not have a ton of stretch.  Still, I went ahead and used it for the whole nightgown rather than spend lots of time and money searching down something with more stretch to use as the binding.  Frankly, binding drives me a bit nuts and since my own kids don't care, I just went ahead.

Here is the finished result. In less than one hour, from cutting out to finished product, including serging and finishing all seams, we have one cute nightie and one happy girl.





I highly recommend Modkid Penny.  It is a great pattern, very simple to use, nice instructions.  Be sure to trace your pattern pieces so you don't have to cut into the paper pattern and you can make many sizes.    Penny have four views to it and several more options: short sleeve, long sleeve, top, dress, contrasting sleeves or bodice, and ruffled hem. A very useful pattern indeed!







* I take full responsibility for any fire liability for my child alone.  You are on your own.