30 days until Christmas! New Millie Rose Pattern

  

Did you know that there are 30 days until Christmas!  If you celebrate this holiday and you are a crafter, this is a big deal. This means you only have 30 days to finish your crafts!! Ack! This year, I want to do a lot of sewing and crafting so I plan to be very busy from here on out.  Technically, I started a week ago by making my youngest daughter this cute Christmas dress from the soon-to-be released Millie Rose Pattern.

Isn't this fabric fun! This is all Riley Blake fabric I got over a year ago and have been hoarding.  Last year, at this time, I had BPPV (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) and was unable to do much sewing. So, this lovely fabric has been waiting for a year to be made into something fun. 

And here it is.  This new pattern is a flutter-sleeved dress with sleeves that meet in the middle in the back. It has a sash and several tiers to the skirt. Each tier has a ruffle. It is a fun pattern, pretty to make and wear.  As soon as it is released, which should be any day now, I will share the link to the pattern. You will love it!  My friend Melissa has a sweet and fun way of writing her patterns and they are a joy to make. They are well edited for fit and sewing technique and a pleasure to sew. Highly recommended.

 

Here are some photos of the dress in action. 

My daughter is wearing the dress with a top I made from an Ottobre pattern. 

Twirl factor is important!

Fun dress, fit is good! I made the size 7 so I expect it to fit this holiday and next. 

Hope you enjoyed reading this! 

I have lots more Christmas sewing to come and am looking forward to sharing!

Cottage Peasant dress by Handmaiden's Cottage

This week, I had the real pleasure of pattern testing for the lovely Lynn of The Handmaiden's Cottage.  She has a new dress pattern coming soon that she is going to call The Handmaiden's Cottage Peasant Dress.  It is a great pattern that makes a beautiful dress. 

Here is my version!  Isn't it gorgeous! This is my cutie patootie 6 year old modelling it.   This is a peasant dress pattern with faux apron in the front. It is has 3/4 length sleeves that have a casing just above the elbow.  My daughter loves to wear pretty dresses but they have to be comfortable. This one passed the comfort test!  Unlike some peasant dress patterns, this one's bodice pattern pieces are slightly different front and back so you get a great fit. The skirt is meant to be slightly long, at about high shin lenght.

It has a sash that ties in the back. 

  

Here is a closeup of how the faux apron meets the skirt, in the front.  Can you see that the skirt has one long ruffle and the faux apron has three ruffles? Such a pretty detail!

 The sleeve has a pretty casing detail.  You can see it here in the mostly turquoise fabric that matches the sash. 

I have had these fabrics in my stash for years, literally, waiting for the right project and finally I found it. The sleeve, bodice, and skirt fabrics are all from Timeless Treasures and the ruffle and sash are by Michael Miller fabrics.  The MM line was called The Big E but I don't recall what the TT line was called and it wasn't named on the fabric itself. Just said by Timeless Treasures. 

As with most young girls, twirl factor is very important!!

Head on over to The Handmaiden's Cottage Facebook page and give Lynn some love! The pattern will be released very soon. I will let you know when! You are going to love it.

Vintage fabrics and shopping bags!

My lovely local friend, Margo, gifted me some great home decorator fabrics last week. Most of it is very vintage-y in feel.  I have not yet heard the story behind this gift but hope to do so soon. In the meantime, I decided to make her two of my great reusable shopping bags.  I updated the tutorial here.

Here's what I got! A big bag full of fabrics.  Isn't she sweet!

And here is what I made her. I made two. The orange feed sack print fabric came from her and the multi-colored is from Joann's Fabrics.

Thanks Margo! Enjoy!!