Bubbles and Ice Cream

I made this bubble skirt for my friend's 3 year old. She always wears very trendy clothes and I thought this fabric and look would suit her perfectly. I can't wait to see it on her!

The fabric is from Joel Dewberrys' Aviary 2 collection - sparrows in aqua, and is lined with a basic muslin. I kind of made up the pattern, but it's heavily based on the skirt from the Oliver + S bubble dress. I used the front skirt and front lining pattern pieces, size 24 months, to cut out both the front and back pieces of the skirt and lining (this worked well for a size 3 skirt, as on the dress the skirt starts up well above the waistline). Then I stitched it together and stitched the elastic as per the pattern. I completed it with a simple elastic casing at the top for the waistband.

I really love it and secretly wish it was in my size. I've been contemplating how to replicate it for me, but it would be more complicated with gathers and a zipper, so not too sure yet.

I thought I'd also include some photos of my daughter wearing her ice cream dress and top, now that they fit properly!

Today, I'm laying out my son's quilt blocks. I might have a quilt top before the end of the week!

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!

Fabric Finds

Is there anything more exciting than finding an out-of-print fabric that you thought you'd never get a hold of? OK, I'm sure there are plenty (a recent example - my baby girl finally started crawling, well, er, moving forward with great effort); but what great finds!

Those of you who know me know that I am a little bit obsessed with MoMo's Wonderland fabric. My first quilt was made using one and a bit charm packs. And I've previously shared my Wonderland stash with you.

I'll try to make this story short - my girlfriend was in a quilt shop about an hour's drive away and noticed some Wonderland fabrics. She excitedly rang me and brought me back a yard of the pink vine fabric you see below. I couldn't resist and drove down a few days later and acquired the rest.

From left to right: approx 2 yards; 1 metre; 1 metre; 2/3 yard; 1/2 metre; 3 x fat quarters and a 1/4 metre remnant of dots.

I was in heaven! It was a lovely shop and very bright and friendly. Mostly more traditional prints but a good selection of modern fabrics and some Japanese too! So if you're ever travelling in Australia check out Berry Patchwork Shop in Berry, NSW, about 2 hours south of Sydney.

I also picked up some great deals on lecien fabric on special...
For my first garment for me:

For Miriam's second Ice Cream Dress (View C - the blouse):

Next project is the Ice Cream Dress - fabric is washed and ready for cutting.

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!