Craft-A-Little

I finally finished the silk dupioni tea party dress that I said that I was making for Little Helper!  Yay!!  Ok- it actually didn’t take me all that long once I started working on it.  I cut it all out a few weeks ago and then I sewed it all in one weekend.  Well, I did the hem and put the buttons on in Mexico after Little Helper went to bed one night. 

(I just took all of my photos today and the dress needs to take a trip to the dry cleaners- it is nice and wrinkly and has a small spot of food on it. )

Let me just say- I LOVE how this turned out.  And so does Little Helper!  I lined the bodice in pink cotton.  I found that sewing with the silk was easier than I expected, but I still had a bit of trouble.  Trying to attach the interfacing was a bit of a problem.  I am not sure that it ever attached properly.  But when I finally had to sew edges and I caught the interfacing, I was sure that it wasn’t going to slip out of place! 

I also found that it puckered a bit more than quilting cotton does.  There is one small pucker on the back where the bodice and the skirt meet- notice I didn’t show a picture of that.    I also had a hard time getting going points on the back bodice part with the button holes. 

I found the buttons at Joann’s- and just LOVED them!  They are just perfect for the dress.  I was so thrilled!!  Little Helper wore silver sandals with the dress and she was so cute in it!  Other than the bride, I am pretty sure that she got the most attention at the wedding. 

And here is the whole family at the wedding.  My husband was in the wedding, so he had to wear the groomsman outfit.  The wedding was down on the beach and just beautiful.  Well- SUPER windy, but very pretty and nice.  During the vows Little Helper decided that she just HAD to have her Daddy, so I sent her up to stand with him and the rest of the groomsman.  She is such a cutie. 

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Another exciting thing that happened- I won a giveaway!!!!  Melissa over at Elemental Stiches hosted a giveaway of four books from Shambhala books and I won one!!  I am particularly excited because she was giving away Carefree Clothes for Girlsand she has also been hosting a sew along with that book.  Now I might be able to participate next month!  Yay!!

Ok, so I still don’t have any of my “coming soon” clothes made, but I am working on them!  I got tired of waiting for my fabric to come in and I bought some other stuff to make a 2+2 blouse with.  And this is what I did this weekend…

It still needs buttons.  Little Helper and I are going to go pick some out on Thursday or Friday.  When I first showed Little helper the fabric, she liked it.  Then, as I was making the shirt Little Helper told me she didn’t like it and she wouldn’t wear it.  Then, after her nap today, I was hanging it on a hanger to take a picture and she said- “That’s mine! I wanna wear it.”  I had to tell her that it still needed buttons and she could wear it once it had buttons.  She was ok with that response.  But at least she likes it!!

Overall, I am really happy with how this shirt turned out.  I think it is so cute and can’t wait to make more!  I know that I made mistakes and I need to remember to read pattern errata BEFORE I start sewing.  And there are certainly things that I can improve on.  This is why I am really happy that I have 2 more to make in the near future.  I think that will really help my sewing skills!

I will be working on the other 2 shirts, but if I haven’t finished them but Thursday, I will be switching my focus to the silk dupioni tea party dress.  I am glad that I warmed up a bit (after such a sewing dry spell- I needed it!) before working on my expensive silk dupioni fabric!! 

Have a great week!

Well, I posted that shirts and a dress were “coming soon” almost a month ago!  I am not sure that it is soon since they aren’t done yet!  I still have had some motivational/energy issues.  But, I made a commitment to myself this weekend to get my rear in gear!  I am tired of looking around online and seeing all the fun/cool stuff people are making while I sit around and do nothing! 

So, I did this…

It is a drunkard’s path block for the Bee Addictedquilting bee.   I was a little intimidated by it, but fortunately, Knitterleigh sent a template.  That helped a lot.  So, it isn’t perfect, but I think that it came together pretty well!  I might even be willing to try it again someday!    I did get MUCH better at the curves by the end!

So, I am hoping to get those shirts done, but I need some accent fabric for it and the stuff that I want is on order at my quilting store.  Hopefully it will come in soon!  In the mean time, I have started working on the dress for Little Helper, and I hope to finish it this weekend- so maybe you will see pictures by the end of the weekend!! 

I also got tired of waiting for my accent fabric, so I might have bought some other fabric to make another shirt for Little Helper!  I need to practice!  I really want to make a raincoat and maybe even a winter coat for Little Helper for next fall/winter.  And I am SO not ready for that yet.  So, I need to get sewing!

I am also trying to pick a blanket to knit for this baby in my belly.  I am deciding between 2.  One is the Circles and Stripes blanket (scroll down- there is a picture in this blog post)  from Susan B. Anderson’s Itty Bitty nursery.  The other is the mitered square blanket from Mason Dixon knitting.  I know that the mitered square one is a much more labor intensive pattern.  so I am a little nervous about that- I am halfway there already and I would REALLY like to have this blanket done by time this baby is born.  But I will not be finding out boy or girl before this baby arrives and I like the mitered square one in a more colorful pattern than I like the Circles and Stripes one.  Oh the decisions…Feel free to weigh in via the comment section!  And I would use different color schemes for either blanket than what is in the pictures!

Ok…I will stop rambling.    I think that I am going to go cut some fabric.  I am home sick today, and I think that I can manage the energy for that!

Oh- one more thing!!  I came across a sew along at another blog- Elemental Stitches this week.  Unfortunately, I don’t have to book (and neither does my library!), so I can’t participate.  But some really cute things are coming out of it!  You should venture over and check it out!

Ok- for real…no more rambling..for today!