Millie's Flutter dress and the challenge of what to wear to school

Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of pattern testing for my friend Melissa of Millie Rose patterns.   Her Flutter dress is a pure confection, so frilly and pretty. I love it! 

Here is my pattern tester version. 

 More recently, I have taken the pattern and made it some minor changes to it. I love to personalize patterns in this way, to make them fit either my vision or that of my daughter of both.  The first new version was made as a dress-up dress for my 6 year old daughter.  She is very sensitive to seams and fabrics and wanted something that was comfortable. Most store-bought dress-up dresses are not comfy, so this was made to be super comfy. All the seams are contained and the fabric is quilting cotton. The pink unicorns are from Timeless Treasures and the skirt fabric is Michael Miller, from the Fairy Frost line. It is hard to see in the photos, but these fabrics sparkle! 

 She wanted a long skirt but one that ruffled up in the front, for easy walking.  To make the skirt, I just played around with making two curved front pieces, with ruffle attached, and used them as the the front part of the skirt.   I made the whole dress a size larger than she usually wears so it will last a long time. She can wear it with a t-shirt underneath.

  

More recently, I used the pattern again, this time for a halloween dress. The inspiration for this dress comes from the very talented Jeannine at Kinder Kouture. Her Cinnamon Avalon dress is so pretty! And everything she makes is lovely!  It is also made from the Millie's Flutter pattern, but with a pretty, faux bow in front. 

I winged it on the bow and it turned out pretty cute! I got this cute fabric off ebay and then used scraps from my stash for the rest.  I had just enough of each for what you see.  It is very long, which she usually likes, but apparently it is too long for school. So, it will be shortened and, hopefully, worn to school tomorrow. Again, it is a is bigger so she can wear it longer.  

Elwood had to get into the picture! He's our super friendly kitty.  She's not pulling his tail.  She was just petting it! He will let you pet every single part of him, he is so easy going.

Blogging mojo and the Knottygirl Boho

 It's been a while since I blogged last! I lost my mojo. A lot of personal stuff overtook me, from being sick myself to having sick kids to being busy with the kids' school and more.  And I just couldn't find it in me to write a post. 

But I am back! And I have a lot of sewing to share!

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First up, I finished up a special project.  Last May, a friend I made online, Carole, passed away from TTP (Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura). I do not begin to understand what that means except that it was pretty sudden. Carole was a fun online friend and I knew her from sharing a love of the same girl's clothing brands and for sewing. She was in my Facebook sewing group and we chatted often via personal message. She was a fun gal.  Her death left a hole in my heart.  

When she died, she left behind a burgeoning sewing business called  Kook's Closet. Kook was the nickname her grandkids gave to her.  She also left behind a stash of fabric.  I offered to help her grownup daughters identify and sell the fabric and ended up getting involved in making them some special items from their mother's fabric.

Here are the Knottygirl Boho hobo bags I made from some of their mother's fabric and some of mine.  First of all, if you are not familiar with this Red Label Patterns bag pattern, it is great!  It is a lot of fun to make and use. Heather, the designer, did a great job making this pdf pattern simple to use and read. It has a lot of pictures and easy-to-follow instructions. I highly recommend it. I have made, as of now, four large bags and one small. Fun stuff!

First up, this teal and red beauty.  I was sent the florals and added the dots and stripes.  The white ribbon was my touch and, as you can see above, the girls sent me their mom's tags to add as a final, loving touch.  The bag is 19.5" x 15" x 6.5" in size. 

Full view

 

Inside has four pockets!

This orange and blue on is going to be a diaper bag for a baby boy.  If you cannot tell, this is Goodnight Moon fabric. I added the orange straps and the inside pocket fabrics. 

Inside

 

Closeup

And here is the one I made for me! They sent me some fabric, too, of my choice and I chose this lovely kitty fabric from Alexander Henry.  I added some Moda PB&J fabric and had some fun with it. 

 

Closeup of details. 

 

Pocket. I played with some fancy stitches. 

 

Inside

Last, but not least, the final bag I made for the girls.  I was sent the blue and yellow fabrics and added in the blues. 

They also sent me some custom Kook's Closet buttons, which I sewed on each bag. Such a sweet touch. 

This was a fun and sweet project.  RIP Carole