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!

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. 

Gonna toot my own horn

I am going to toot my own horn here for a minute.  I love this dress! I have had the Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow fabric for over a year.  Bought it from Treasure Bay Fabrics in the hopes of making a dress for my oldest daughter.  But she scoffed at it.  (how dare she?!?!) I found the Benartex Habitat fabric at a local quilt shop.  Then, I got the Tula Pink Prince Charming, also in the green and blue.  Finally, I discovered Timeless Treasures Portabello line and ordered some of that.  Pretty soon, the navy and green section of my fabric stash was looking a bit full!  And I found a small piece of Amy Butler fabric I didn't remember I had.  Love it when that happens.

So, what's a girl to do?  I made a peasant dress for my youngest! She is always willing.  Love her for that!  (love oldest, too, but wish she would still wear dresses)

Anyway, I fiddled around with these for a while until I came up with this combo.  Then, I had a mild panic attack because I realized I needed ribbon down the front!  Luckily, Les Bon Ribbon on Etsy came to the rescue!  Isn't the ribbon trim down the front more lovely than any ribbon imaginable? I mean, come on!  That is one amazing ribbon!

So, I ended up making two of these.  I was not sure which size would fit my four year old since, in my opinion, Portabellopixie Claire pattern runs a tad large.  The size four ended up fitting her great, a tad roomy but that is ok. So, the size 2 is now up for sale in my store, Delphinium Designs, on Etsy.

I have to say that I am in love with this dress.  The colors are just beautiful.  I almost wish I could quilt because I would love to have a bedroom quilt in these fabrics!   This dress is made from two patterns.  The top is Portabellopixie Claire peasant, with added tuxedo ruffle and sash.  The skirt and ruffle come from Romeo and Mae's Lucia dress pattern.  Both of these are among my favorite patterns for little girls.

Here are pictures!

Winners!

Here are the winners of my giveway!

First off, the winner of the twirly skirt is Ros!  Random number generator chose post #10 which was her.  Please contact me at delphiniumsummerblue@yahoo.com.

Next, the winner of the ruffle pants is mollibijouscloset!   Random number generator chose #7.  You can also contact me at delphiniumsummerblue@yahoo.com.

Thanks for participating!  I uploaded a few pretty peacock dresses on the Etsy page and they sold!  I will upload some more within a few days, I promise.  More fabrics and ribbon are arriving daily and I am trying to sew a few hours a day.  Hard to get everything done when you are a busy mom but I am doing my best!

Thanks for your support!

More Peacocks!

Looks like I may have found more Dena Designs Monaco peacock fabric!

Yeah for mislabelled listings on ebay! Woohoo! I bought everything the store had, so I should be able to make more of this lovely peacock peasant!  I might even try it as a dress!

Don't forget that my store, Delphinium Designs, opens up again this Friday, September 23rd.   See the post below this one for the contest.  Join the fun!!! I am giving away a pair of ruffle pants and a twirly skirt.

A fair trade

One thing I love about the crafting community is how generous people are, especially with trading. I have never participated in a trade before but this one caught my eye.  On my facebook page, Handmade Dress Haven, a mama posted that she had a pile of Fabric Organizers she was not going to use and wanted to trade for a few handmade items for her daughter!  Right up my alley!  We ended up working out a deal where I made her two Ellie-style tops for her two year old.  As far as what I would charge for them, it worked out to be a very fair trade.  Here are the tops I made for her:

 First, this one is copied from my original Peacock knot dress, using Dena Designs Monaco fabric as the foundation.  The ribbon comes from Flame Cranium/Treasure Bay on Etsy.

This lovely is Benartex's Habitat fabric in the skirt and bodice.  Amy Butler in the sash and Benartex Backyard Butterflies in the straps.  This is one of my favorite fabric combos ever. I just love it!

She also sent me the legs from some brown linen-blend pants that she wanted to try to make into ruffle pants for her two year old daughter.  I was able to turn them into almost exactly enough fabric for size 2 pants!   Here are the finished pants.  They have two layers of ruffles.  The waist had to be made with the smallest elastic possible to give the pants as much length as possible. 

 I think it is pretty funny to look at how little I fabric was left!  I really maxed it out.  I loved learning how it was totally possible to upcycle a pair of pants!

So, now (TADA!) The Fabric Organizers! I have been wanting to try these but they are the type of thing that I don't often buy for myself.  I tell myself "you can just fold your fabric neatly, you don't need to spend money on fancy boards."  But, of course, the reality is that I don't fold my fabric neatly.  This is what my fabric looked like this morning:

One wire rack full of messy woven fabric, three bins with knits, fleece, etc. 

And here is what I got to work with!  I got 36 of the larger size and one small.  I assume the one small was a teaser.   These are from The Fabric  Organizer Company.  These are acid-free, white foam boards designed for long-term fabric storage and efficiency.  I love them so much I could hug the inventor!

Do you see the small rectangles cut into each?  Those are tabs that pop out for you to hold the fabric down.  Like so.  You then wind the fabric around until it is all done and secure it with another set of tabs.  At least, that is the idea. 

Now, I always have to do things my own way because my brain just does that.  (I guess that makes me a "divergent" thinker.)  Anyway, having only 36 to work with, and only at most 2 yards of each fabric, I decided to double up.  I put two fabrics on each and I organized them by color story.  Since I was putting more than one fabric on each, I secured the fabric with small sewing pins instead of using the tabs.  No biggie! I still love them!  

So, here is what my wire shelf looks like now! 

  I still just have the wire rack.  I am going to ask Santa for a nice shelving system for my sewing area for Christmas.  Or I could stop buying fabric and save up to buy one myself.          

Nah, that is no fun!  "Dear Santa, please bring me a shelving system for my sewing area that will fit under my window and hold my fabric organizers in a pretty display.  Thank you, love Kathy."

Until such time as Santa arrives with a new shelf, this is how I have to display the fabric.  On it's side.  But I do really like seeing the color stories.  It will be very inspirational to be able to see nearly all my fabric this way and get ideas for sewing. The picture above is the bottom shelf, where I put spring colors.

Here are the middle shelves, where I put colors that might fit any season.  That 

Hokkah Garden Night collection (black and rose) is calling to me right now.  The most gorgeous fabric ever!  Check it out!

Okay, now what to do with fat quarters and miscellaneous yardage? I will have to clean a bin out, I guess.

Did you know I had so much Benartex Ariana Cocoa Bubbles? Neither did I! 

I have like 4 yards! LOL!  The things you discover when you clean up your crafting area.

I also have a stash of Children at Play fabric in the cupboard.  Need more Fabric Organizers and more shelves!

And here is my Christmas fabric stash.  

Oh well, I am trying to be organized!

Summer Tank Dress, #2

Once again, I made a dress with the Jocole Shoreline Tank top pattern as the basis.  This one is for my tweenage neighbor, who is super sweet to my own two girls.  She deserved a personalized thank you. So, she picked out the fabric, Michael Miller Mod Blooms Knit, and here it is.

And thank you to Sewing Mamas for helping me make the binding a bit better than the last time. Still needs work, but it is better!!!