Another sweet little dress

Sweet Little Dress #2 has been gifted. I made it for a good friend's one-year-old. I let her choose the fabric (mum, not the 1 year old!) and was really happy when she chose this fabric from the Habitat line. I think it makes a pretty hip urban baby dress.

I made the 18 month size and added a bit of length to the elastic, with the hope that it will also fit next summer as a top.

I got to see her in it the other day and it looked great - a little bit big but that's better than small!

In WIP news I finally cut the fabric for Mimi's flower girl dress - it's from the Bliss line. I really hope it fits. I added a bit of length to both the bodice and the skirt for my very tall girl. I figure if I make it now and it doesn't work, that gives me time to make something else or buy something! I'm using the Oliver + S bubble dress pattern. Wish me luck!

Ice Cream Dress #2

I am so happy with this one! And even happier that I even managed to get my model to wear it for a few quick snaps on a cold morning.

Pattern: Ice Cream Dress by Oliver + S, View C
Size: 12 - 18 months; as you can see in the photos, plenty of room to grow!
Modifications: lengthened to size 2 length for my long girl!
Fabric: Calme by Lecien, lightweight

Nearly a year ago I bought a pair of handmade bloomers at a local market, made out of this fabric. I've always loved the fabric, but couldn't really find anything to 'match' the bloomers. So I was delighted to find the fabric, on special, and quickly stitched the blouse to match.

This blouse was so much quicker to make than the dress, for many reasons - no pockets or double hem for View C; I was familiar with the pattern already; I only needed to cut out one extra pattern piece since I'd sewn View A in the same size. On the other hand, the fabric was more challenging to work with as it is so lightweight, but the result was well worth the fiddly-ness.

 I love this pattern - It is simple enough to sew yet looks elegant and better than what you can buy at the shops!

Ice Cream Dress #1 - Finished

I've finished my first Ice Cream Dress (well, I still need to buy and sew on a button):

Pattern: Oliver + S Ice Cream Dress, size 12 - 18 months
Fabric: Panache by Sanae for Moda

It's been a learning experience with lots of firsts - mainly gathers and rounded pockets. I ripped out and redid a number of seams, and performed some major surgery on my pockets - probably not noticeable to the greater public, but definitely to me and other sewing enthusiasts!

Before:

After:

Can you see the difference? I hope so! I ripped the pockets off, repressed the curves after clipping the seam allowance and using a cardboard template, and restitched them on using coordinating thread, with a longer stitch length. Oh, and stitched twice. Phew! Now I'm happy.

I look forward to making my second one, and improving the gathers and the back of the yoke. I may get your help to choose the fabrics. But for now, a big bowl of ice cream for me :).

Ice Cream Dress #1

 

The Ice Cream Social

I've joined the Ice Cream Social, hosted by the lovely (and relatively local) badskirt and One Flew Over. It's a sewalong for the Ice Cream Dress pattern by Oliver + S. I've been wanting to sew an Oliver + S pattern for ages, so this has been the perfect motivation!


The first dress I'm making is View A, in the 12-18 month size, to fit Miriam this summer. I cut out the pattern and fabric about a week ago, and last night I sewed the button loop and the pockets. Yay! I sewed pockets!

In previous posts, I've referred to a 3 pieces of fabric I received as a gift when Miriam was born - I'm using the other 2 pieces for this dress - Panache by Sanae. I think it's going to look good - and i like how the dots sort of look like sprinkles you might put on your ice cream:

The pockets took a while to make, but I'm pretty happy with the results:

I made the 'v' with the one horizontal stitch as suggested by the pattern. Only realised later that I should have done one diagonal stitch at the pocket yoke corners as well.

I'm pretty sure that I'll be making more than one of these, perhaps view C as well, which is a top. The only challenge will be choosing the fabric!

My First Quilt - FINISHED!

Basting...a couple of hours quilting...a day or so of indecision...an hour and a half of ripping out stitches...a few more hours of quilting...machine-stitching binding...hand-stitching binding...a wash and a dry...rainy day photos...

At last, my Wonderland Quilt is finished. It's a 'crib-sized' quilt, about 38" x 50", for my baby girl's first birthday in August.

Here's the front:

And the back:

And a close-up of the binding, made using that first piece of quilt fabric (Tweedle Dee in tomato) I ever acquired, as a gift from a friend:

After ripping out a lot of stitches and then re-quilting, I arrived at an amount of distortion and puckering that I think is acceptable, even to my perfectionist self. I think realism reigned, and I had to accept that there were going to be some imperfections, especially using a normal presser foot.

And, I will do it all again. I've already designed and started cutting for my next quilt - a single (twin) bed quilt for my son, using Riley Blake Wheels fabric. It's been really fun involving him in the fabric choice and design process. But that's for another post.

Helena for Miriam

A few years ago I knit Helena, a free pattern from knitty, for a friend's newborn. It was one of those rare moments where pattern, yarn and colour all came together to create a perfect garment. It is still my favourite handmade project. This is my attempt at recreating it. I do love it, but just not quite as much as the first.

The main yarn is merino silk DK and was purchased from Camelot Yarns in Australia. They often have a stall at the Bus Depot Markets in Canberra. I love that their yarn is grown, produced, spun and dyed in Australia. The merino silk is soft and shiny and has a beautiful drape. They don't have a website but are happy to sell via email: camelotmc (at) yahoo (dot) com (dot) au. The contrast yarn is plain old 100% wool Cleckheaton Country 8ply (DK).

I knit the 12 month size. The main modification is that I used contrast yarn for all the edges and hems, and knit 8 rows garter stitch instead of picot. I also lengthened the sleeves a bit. And used buttons instead of ties for closure. Here's my beautiful girl modelling her new jumper:

And here is the first one I knit (3 month size):

These projects are on ravelry here and here.

Itty Bitty Skirt

I'm not too sure a skirt for a 9-month old makes sense, but I had fun sewing it, and it's so cute on her! It's just not very practical for sitting on the floor or in car seats, and I can't imagine it will stay on for long once she starts crawling. It was also really hard to photograph on the model.


It's a slightly modified and downsized version of the Corduroy skirt from Emma Hardy's 'making children's clothes'. It's shorter and I did not use the entire width of fabric (maybe about 30 inches? I could take measurements if anyone is interested). I also left off the ribbon. The corduroy is from a local craft chain. The owls were an online purchase and are from the 'Apple' collection from Timeless Treasures. I love these owls and have plenty left to play with.