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!!

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

 

Tie Dye Diva Long Sleeve Top

 Jen at Tie Dye Diva has done it again! Another great pattern!  

Check out the Long Sleeve Top Pattern for Girls. 

(click above to go to pattern)

 I love her patterns and feel very fortunate to be her friend and be part of her process, albeit simply as a pattern tester.  This adorable top top pattern for girls can be made with a Peter Pan collar, squared-off 'split collar', no-collar square neckline or no-collar round neckline. It has so many style!  And, there is no buttonhole needed. It has a button-and-loop back closure.  The yoke is lined. So well designed!! As usual. 

I chose to test this pattern out in Robert Kaufman fine wale Cool Cords. I have a thing for this fabric group and have amassed a small collection!  First up, the Peter Pan collar. This was a great pattern to test and I had a lot of fun with it.  As usual with TDD patterns, it was well written, with clear instructions and great pattern pieces. 

 The back has two loops for button closures. My daughter chose these teacup buttons.

  

The collar lies perfectly!  I like the spacing between the back pieces, as you can see below.  It looks very clean and neat. The way the pattern is written, the back yoke lies perfect! Doesn't it look nice!!

I also made it in a square neck style, again in Cool Cords. I made this one a tad large so it will be something my daughter can wear longer.  This one has a matching skirt made from an Ottobre pattern, from issue 6/2009.

 

Great Pattern Jen!!!

PS:  Don't forget the fabric giveaway!!

Fabric Giveaway!

After a great summer off from blogging, I am back and want to connect with more of you. So, I am having a small giveway to entice more of you to follow me. I hope you like it!


I will choose two winners, one for each item. 

Please note the Facebook page must reach 300 likes for item #2 to be part of the giveaway!

First item to be given away is a two yard set of Art Gallery Modernology fabrics.  This is four one half yard cuts of each of these lovely fabrics. Two yards in all!

Second item is the very hard to find Michael Miller Lava Blooms fabric in SAGE green. This is not apple green.  This is Sage green. See the pink flowers. Apple green has dark pink flowers.  This is enough to make a bodice for a small girl or maybe sleeves for several dresses. Almost impossible to find!! 

This item will not be included in the giveaway unless I reach 300 fans on my Facebook page, so please refer friends! The refer-a-friend option is only available for paying Rafflecopter customers, of which I am not, so I have to ask you pretty please to do this on your own!  Thanks a million!! Maybe some day I will generate enough buzz to warrant paying for more Rafflecopter choices!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Isn't this fun!  This giveaway Tuesday September 17th and I will share the winners on Wednesday the 18th.  Have fun and please refer some friends!!