Create A View Designs

The Christmas Dress

2011-12-30T17:35:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I saw this dress pattern on etsy and I had to have it. Luckily, I have a size 8 child to fit it! I probably would have bought it even if I didn't have a size 8 child because it is just so sweet! I love 60's patterns. I love the black dress & white shirt version. How classic! I wanted to make her one exactly like it.

I searched and searched around town for a lightweight white cotton for the shirt. I knew what I wanted but could not find it anywhere. I finally found it at Joann's. It is so lightweight it is almost see through. Eden had a HUGE problem with the idea that it was see through but once I got it through to her that the velvet would cover everything up, she relaxed :).

The velvet I found at Joann's too, after I had ordered some velvet from Fabric.com. The velvet that came from Fabric.com was not what I had in mind. It was very thin. It was described as thick but what showed up wasn't. I stopped into in Joann's for some cording for Stephanie's kitchen valances that I thought I had bought already and couldn't find and HOORAY! they had a brand new bolt of nice thick black velvet .

Here she is before school on the day of her class christmas party.

The dress is lined in cheery red lining. The pattern did not call for the dress to be lined but I really feel that lining clothing makes them sooo much more comfy to wear.

I used a book on linings for assistance on creating a lining - The Easy Guide to Sewing Linings by Connie Long. I used info in the chapter on dress linings, sewing the un-interfaced lining directly onto the lining, then attaching that to the dress. Here is a photo of the book. ( I have been sitting here forever trying to turn the photo into a link with no luck- :( I'm being outsmarted by blogger. )

This pattern itself could not be more beautifully simple. There are four pieces - front, back, neck and arm facings, that's it! And small too, as it is for a 9 year old. However, sewing the velvet could have been more fun. It slid around like crazy! I had to pin and pin and pin. Also, I could not press the seams down as the velvet would crush and look shiny on spots. I ended up top stitching around the neck and arms to get them to stay down as without pressing them, they just wouldn't lay right.

The hem is done with lace hem tape attached by zig zag and then hand sewn up.

Here is E in the dress sitting on Santa's lap with her cousin Molly.

The shirt was pretty easy to make too. I think it took a total of three hours to complete. I used french seams at the shoulders and all other seams are clipped very close and zig zagged.

The neckline has bias tape over the raw edges of the seams instead of a facing. This worked very well for such a sheer material.

The collar and cuffs is edged in a tiny lace. I had a terrible terrible moment with this lace!! I was giving the shirt a last press with a super hot iron and the iron slid off the press cloth and went over the lace- which I did not realize is polyester and IT MELTED!! Into a glob of ick on the edge of the collar!

(Luckily, I was raised by a sailor and so I have the proper vocabulary for these moments. I said every word I knew and then I made up some!)

After I calmed down, I looked at the collar and realized there was no way I could take apart the collar section of the shirt to remove that section of lace. I had inserted the lace back at step one when I sewed the collar together. I ended up clipping the melted plastic off and hand sewing in a small section of lace to the edge of underneath on that section of collar. - when she is wearing it, you cannot tell at all where I fixed it.

This picture Eden is wearing the 'muslin' aka the practice version of the shirt. Sometimes I don't make a muslin out of muslin fabric- if I am going to be spending a lot of time on it, I might as well make it out of a fabric that she can wear. This farbic was $1 a yard so if I blew it out of the water, there was no loss. When I made the muslin, we found the shirt was very short, so I added a ruffle onto the bottom to lengthen it. When I made the white cotton version, I just added about 4 inches onto the bottom of the pattern when cutting out.

I made a muslin for the dress as well out of actual muslin and found we only needed to take in an inch on the front and back.

Eden is sitting on her Grampa's lap,
who is also wearing his Father Christmas coat that I made.
Pretty cool, eh?

E learning the trick to multiplying nines from Aunt Stef.

The pattern was pristine and untouched when I received it in the mail. I felt a little guilty cutting into a perfect untouched 1960's pattern for notches and using the dressmakers tracing wheel on the darts. But I really didn't want to take the time to trace it. The pattern is still totally usable and anyhoo- the pattern is mine now forever, mwahaha.:) :) I will just pass it down to E to make a dress for her baby when she is older ! :) :)

Father Christmas has come to town

2011-12-02T10:18:00.001-08:00

It's December! How on earth did this happen?? I swear it was October just 2 minutes ago...

A couple of weeks ago I finally finished up a Father Christmas coat for my dad. He dresses as Santa each year and wanted a bit of a change. He asked for a long coat in a different red than his regular Santa suit.

Here he is in the coat with Honey, Lynchburg TN's prettiest blond girl. Check out her hooves! What a lady :)

Honey is the sweetest horse ever!

It is this pattern, lower right view, with a few decorative changes. McCalls 5550

I tissue fitted him this summer so I could get a general idea of how it was going to fit him- was it going to be long enough to cover the tops of his boots? How long were the sleeves on him?
I took measurements of him to use but tissue fitting worked better for me. This is my dad, covered in pattern paper :)

I have never made a father Christmas coat before. I also do not generally make things for men so I covered all the fitting bases by tissue fitting, measuring and making a muslin.

We tissue fitted this summer .
I made a muslin of the coat out of drapery lining and sent it to him in TN.
He then took it to a friend down the road a ways and she marked up the muslin to fit, added markings where he wanted pockets, and then he sent it back.
Last, I made the coat and sent it back!

I added a lining as the velveteen is HEAVY and it would be very hard to pull that heavy coat on without lining. The lining , I think, makes the coat comfortable . As Dad does parades and outdoor festivals, he might be wearing a coat or at least long sleeves under the coat. The lining enables that he will be able to move .
The faux fur on the sleeve ends is on the inside of the coat as well. Dad does parades and there is waving going on. I needed to be sure that the coat sleeves were waving friendly: meaning you couldn't see any construction on the inside. It was pretty tricky to figure out how I was going to do that and not have all of the stitching show. I had to sit down and use all of my brain cells. I ended up sewing both fur pieces in the seam and then stitching the inside faux fur and then the outside- that hid all of the construction.
I added a hood. When looking up father Christmas images, about half had a hood. I think it looks more traditional with the hood. I am still making two hats for dad to go with the suit, one with the holly ribbon and one without so he can wear it with the suit. The hood is a bit big and it doesn't stay up too well. Those hats should happen this week.
I added a wide ribbon around the edges of the fur. I thought the coat needed an extra somethin' somethin'. It adds in an extra bit of color. I searched everywhere for the right ribbon. I thought I wanted something with a gold in it, but when I found this ribbon , I knew this one was perfect. It has a very painterly holly image on it that fits with the father Christmas theme better than gold would.
Dad requested pockets and those are built into the coat on the side seams. I also made a belt.
We will be adding red velvet buttons down the center fur when he brings it to VA at Christmas. They will be decorative, not functioning. The coat closes with big Velcro pieces inside as button holes in that faux fur would be impossible.

Cutting the faux fur was an adventure. I had learned from making Eden's Scooby Doo costume a couple of years ago that the faux fur gets everywhere.
I cut the fabric up in the living room instead of my sewing room because I could easier cut and vacuum after. I would cut the faux fur piece with the rotary cutter, shake it out on the carpet, vacuum the carpet and pieces and table - then immediately sew it on. Even doing that , our living room had a film of shiny white dust for a week or so.
I covered our bookcases with big sheets to I didn't have to dust them after. Faux fur when cut gets EVERYWHERE. It flies through the air and gets in your nose and is generally a pain. Once it gets sewn onto the clothing , and the ends are tucked in, it won't do it anymore. I used a great faux fur that looks like poodle fur up close.

Before I sent it to Dad my family took "Fun with the Father Christmas coat" pictures in the dining room. (It was empty because we were redoing the floors. :) Which are done now and look so good! )

First up was my sweet hubby.

Father Christmas boxing.
I think this look suits him. :) :)

Eden is her Disney wicky wicky fresh word move.

(If you have to ask what the wicky wicky fresh word move is then you have not been subjected to untold numbers of Hannah Montana episodes and should consider yourself lucky. If you did not have to ask and knew right away what I was talking about, I am so sorry. )

All hail the 8 year old!

All hail me!

I am a kung fu bunny in a father Christmas coat.

Sing it with me...."Every bunny was kung fu fighting."

Father Christmas and Honey the Belgian Reindeer.

Wicky wicky fresh. Word.

Ketchup?

2011-10-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

I covered Judy's kitchen chairs this week. Aren't they pretty?

This is a photo of what they looked like before. They had a pretty solid ivory fabric on them. And then the grandbabies arrived and her lovely ivory chair covers were no more :)

This is Sissy, Rob & Judy's sweet lab. She is an old dollbaby. Look at that face. :) She watched me measure and take pictures for a few minutes and then went back to sleep.

I found the fabric at Blaney's in Norfolk. It had all the colors we needed plus the flowers blend right in with the rest of Judy's home. And a great price- it was $10.98 a yard. I used 4 yards for 8 chairs.

I took the chair pads home a week ago and then brought them back to re-attach. This is so much easier than taking the whole chair. I had them done on Friday but they were out of town, so I took them to her on the following Tuesday. I try to do chair cover jobs in one week or less so that they client isn't without seats for too long.

So. Everything is lovely and we are attaching the seats to the chairs, the sun is shining- the weather is sweet. I picked up a chair pad and felt something sticky on the edge. I turn it over and there is a blob of something thick, bright red and very sticky. On the edge of her supposed to be pristine new chair pad!!! @#$$% Where did it come from? @#$$%^ How did what looked like partially dried ketchup get there? @#$%^

The good thing is that I had saturated the chairs after I recovered them with fabric protector. If we know the grandbabies are going to be sitting there, lets be ready for them :) I got the spray fabric protector from Hancock's. It works great. I fully saturated those chairs.

Judy grabbed a washcloth and it came right off, but I was mortified- how and where did this get on the side of the seat???

Where did it come from?? Is it ketchup? What is it?

@#$%!!

I do have a kid and a dog and a hubby. And me. So I went over every place and time those chairs where in my house. The seats were here for 7 days. I did these covers on the dining table, which was covered with oilcloth. The pads where stacked in the far corner of the LR on a chair that we don't use. I went back over our menu here in the house and we never used ketchup or any red sauce in the dining room or in the LR. We never eat in the LR ( and in the past two weeks not in the DR because I have been swamped with work and took over the DR table as work table #2. My other table is in the sewing room and needs to be clear every day or so for lessons. )

I went and searched my car back seat. We don't eat in my car either so I know there has never been ketchup in the car. Or red sauce. Or anything. But I still checked. The only thing we really eat in my car are Sonic fruit slushies and Eden likes the lemon so I know it wasn't that. And tic tacs. But mint tictacs don't leave large red blobs of gook .

So where did it come from? I don't know. I have gone over every place those chair seats were and can find nothing. I have no idea. Could it have come from Judy's house? I set the pads down on one of her large LR chairs. I also checked that while I was there, but really quick, not a thorough look over that I did at my house.

I don't know. I am stumped.

The chairs are pretty though.

And we now know that they do not stain easily- the fabric protector really works.

Embroidered Summer

2011-10-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

This summer I introduced embroidery to my younger students, the 8-12 year olds.

In past lessons, a couple of them had mentioned that they didn't like hand sewing. Can you believe it? They said that- to me? So after I heard that, guess what I planned? A summer of hand sewing! I thought summer would be a good time to do this as they would have some extra time around the house and be able to to it at home- not just in lesson. I use embroidery to teach hand sewing skills because it really encompasses it all: threading a needle, tying knots in the end of the thread, sewing and keeping the thread in the needle, making the needle go in and come up where you want, tying off at the end, etc. Plus is is fun to sew pictures in thread on stuff.

I set each girl up with a hoop. fabric, embroidery needle & thread. I used a dressmakers tracing wheel and pattern tracing paper to transfer straight lines on to practice fabric. Then we learned the running stitch, back stitch, stem stitch and chain stitch.

We started out on muslin for practicing. We ended the project with embroidering on a t shirt that they could wear to school. Kayla even did one more project and made a bib for her soon to be born cousin!

Here are some of the girls learning how and also some finished projects!

Madi and Eden
Eden is teaching her friend Madison how to embroider.

Nina

Nina loves dogs. So far every project she has made skirt- purse, pj pants has been out of a fabric that features dogs. So I was not surprised when she chose to embroider two scottie dogs on a shirt. She is intending for them to look" kinda alien" so she has planned for them to be green and purple and weird colors.

Nina is using a stem stitch to outline her scotties

Izzy

Izzy is working on the chain stitch.

Izzy is 8. This is Izzy's sewing folder. When each girl starts with me, they have a folder to keep handouts and patterns and the other paper things they need to bring back and forth. Izzy drew a picture of me on the back of hers- aren't I gorgeous!!!

Isn't this just the cutest thing ever?

Kayla made a bib for her son to be cousin. He is a boy and so she designed a bib with an outer space theme.
Kayla really took to the embroidery. She was the main one saying she didn't like hand sewing. She admitted to me this morning, it isn't so bad. :) She is even planning to incorporate embroidery into her christmas presents!

The pattern piece for this bib is a dinner plate! Trace a dinner plate onto your fabric- then use a saucer to draw in the neck area. Cut this out and you have a bib! Bias tape edges make this a really quick , easy to sew up gift.

We used some iron on transfers from Sublime Stitching for our images.

This alien is absolutely adorable. Look at her perfect stitches! This could not possibly be any cuter!

We had a hurricane here in August. We lost power in the morning on the first day and were without it for 6 days. Eden and I sat in front of the window and embroidered. A lot. There really wasn't much else to do! She worked on a pair of birds.

Here she is working on her birds during the hurricane.

These are her finished birds. I am so proud of my darlin'- these look incredible! We are going to frame these and hang them in the dining room. She worked very hard at getting her stitches to look like feathers.

This last project is mine! :) I saw this in a catalogue for way too much money so I made my own- I think I am going to make a pillow cover out of it. The moon and witch are appliques. In the catalogue it was framed but I think a pillow would be much more fun.

Tim and Dani's Kitchen Valances

2011-09-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I delivered and installed kitchen valances for Dani & Tim , a couple in Chesapeake. They are so nice and so fun! I had a wonderful time drilling in their kitchen :) !

Dani found my website a year ago. She bookmarked me and saved my info until she found the fabric she wanted. She finally saw the right fabric on a tv show, and amazingly was able to track it down!
She had also seen the valances I did for Doug and Diane's kitchen, last winter and really liked those. I visited the house, measured, got an idea of what she wanted and I then went out and found co-ordinating fabrics for the pleats and piping.
Here is a close-up of the fabric:

Isn't it gorgeous? I just love it!

Here is the Kitchen before:

I just love the plates. I was a tiny bit sorry to have to move them as they are just lovely.
I think Dani is going to hang them on one of the other walls in the kitchen.

And after ! :)

Changes to the pattern:

I widened the swag pattern from it's original size. I also shortened it a bit. Tim and Dani love the light and didn't want to cover too much of the windows so it cut it to @15 inches long at the longest part.
I also added a bit more "swoop" to the top of the pattern. Tim (who claims to not know anything about window treatments or fabrics and whom I do not believe one bit :) ) thought that they would look nicer with a bit more dip in the top. So I took it down about 1.5 inches from the original pattern. I know that doesn't sound like much but when it is in a curve, it makes a big difference. I made a pattern template where I altered the 'swoop" to be about 3 inches form the original and it looked distorted. So I halved that and 1.5 was perfect.
Side returns are 5.5 instead of 3.5 so I just widened that pattern piece.

Pieces are cut out and ready to be assembled. In the background you can see my assistant, Sophie.
She usually lays under the table while I work , supervising.

I cut the interlining as one piece. The pattern calls for cutting the interlining like the face- as separate pieces then sewing them together. That method is fine, but the problem is, there are then three seams in each pleat area. In the past two of these that I have made, I could not get a nice, perfectly crisp pleat like I wanted.

This is the swag fabric & pleat fabric sewn together.

Check out the awesome stripe that I found to go in the pleats! I had found a few choices and when I brought them over to show to Tim and Dani, Tim chose this stripe. ( Again, I just don't believe him when he says he doesn't know about fabric ! :) ) The fabric in the pleats is not seen really, it can be any fabric that just compliments the front.

I cut and sewed the face fabric, the floral and stripe and then pressed it. Then I used that as my template to cute the interlining as one piece. This made much less bulk in the pleats areas and I was able to get a nice crisp pleat that laid flat.

Here is the face fabric being used as a pattern for the interlining. This reduces bulk in the pleats! :)

For next time:

I am going to cut the back lining piece in the same was as I did the interlining, by using the face fabric as a pattern piece. I have a client, Regina, who is looking at the pattern in a beautiful black and white print. The pattern calls for the pleats to be lining in the back with the same fabric that is in the pleats on the front. With a black and white face fabric, a white lining would blend in nicely in the back. This would also cut the bulk in the pleats down to almost nothing ensuring that the pleats lie the way they are supposed to with nice crisp lines. In a multi colored fabric, I do think the back of the pleats would need to match the front as they are seen a tiny bit.

The Knobs and Posts:
are from Pate Meadows. I chose the 5.5 inch projection posts for this to accommodate the window moulding and the pleats behind the valance. In a perfect world, you could order these to your exact size- like I really would have preferred a 4.5 inch projection from the wall. But we live in an imperfect world ( "Screws just fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place"... Quick!!! name that movie quote!.......................ok, I will give it to you- Breakfast Club.) so I had to choose between two sizes. The posts come in 3.5 and 5.5. I felt 3.5 was just to small for this room. So 5.5 it was.

The knobs are so so so pretty.

Close-up of the knob.

Knobs are mounted 2 inches out from and 5 inches above the moulding on the side windows. Center windows are 3 inches out from and 5 inches above. The center windows are 1 inch more because if I added those 2 inches, all the swags across all three windows would be the same size.
I did not use the plastic anchors included with the posts. I also did not use the amazing drywall anchors that I have been using. I didn't use any anchors at all on these because those posts are actually wood and very light. These valances weigh very little. I put one post in and tested it out and it was solid and secure. As long as no one is playing Tarzan on them, they will be more than fine. They will stay put until they decide to take them down, which I hope is many years away. :)

The door:

The door needed something too. If we had done the windows and not the door, it would have looked unfinished. I do not think the Delaine valance would well work on doors, so we did a valance mounted on a board (1 x 2.5 ). It is gathered in the back with button thread at measured intervals. Welt cord at the top and bottom. It also has a depth of 15 inches. The curved bottom edge matches the curved bottom edge of the window valances, so it ties them together.

Here is both the door and the windows. I will tell you, because I am sure Dani would want me to tell you, that the ironing board does not live in their kitchen. :) It is only there because I used it to give the valances a nice hot press seconds before hanging them up. It makes a big difference in hanging this particular valance. I lay them flat to deliver them but no matter how careful I am, they still get a bit wrinkly en route. The swags must be perfectly smooth to look nice.

Materials used:
Dani found the gorgeous floral print online. The stripe in the pleats and the fabric covering the welt cording are from Artee fabrics, in Virginia Beach. Cotton interlining and lining are from Rowley. Post and knobs are Pate Meadows. Pattern is the Delaine Valance, Pate Meadows.

Colette's New Bedset

2011-09-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

I delivered Colette's new bed set today! I created the 2 large Euro shams in the back, the three pillows, the bedskirt and the accent blanket.

The solid colored bedding and blankets were purchased.

The thing I call an accent blanket on the end of the bed is really cute. The edges are scalloped which echos the edges on the solid blankets. I don't know what they are called in the real world - you see them in hotels and in magazines. My husband sees no point in them- it is not really a blanket , it does not keep you warm- What is the point? Why not just have a real blanket instead of a pretend one?

Beause they are relatively inexpensive as they use little fabric, and it is a great way to add a little more pizzaz to a room . And because they are pretty! And just because... does everything in the world need a logical reason for existence? :)

I love the pillows. Pillows are also a fun, inexpensive way to add personality to a room.

White cording was added to the edge of this envelope pillow.

I remembered to take close-up pictures of the pillows right before I delivered them - those are my new Living Room panels in the background :)

Colette is not a frilly type of girl, so I suggested pleats instead of ruffles on the striped pillow. She liked that idea. (I tried to use my ruffler foot to do the pleats but the ruffler foot is pain in my beheiny as it only cooperates with me about once a year. So I pleated by hand- it really didn't take long.)

I am on a roll lately, rocking out the custom work. (It's amazing how much I can accomplish now that my darling daughter is back in school. :) )

Next up are panels for Colette's window. She has a beautiful large window in her room. I am going to create panels with tiny pinch pleats at the top out of white twill , with buttons at the bottom of the pleats. They will be banded on the sides in the floral (so that the white panels don't show the use from her opening them and closing them each day. )

Getting ready for Halloween

2011-09-13T07:45:00.001-07:00

Eden wants to be a vampire for Halloween this year. She says she does "not want to be a modern vampire, I want to be a classic vampire". Ok. A classic vampire it is. She would like a cape, black on the outside and red on the inside. She wants a short, fluffy dress. She liked last year's dress but the long dress part got in the way while trick or treating. She wants lots of ruffles and pace because classic vampires have "that old timey look" .

Sooooooo here is our plan:

Cape:

I searched in the pattern box and found this pattern. We are going to make a short version of Cape B, black satin on the outside, red satin on the inside, as requested.

Dress:

I used this pattern as my base. I love this pattern! It is so pretty- I want version 2 on the left for me! I want it in black and white check, with ruffles - just like the drawing!

I tissue fit it on Eden and it seemed to fit well. It was a tad bit big but not too bad. (I grabbed this pattern image off of a google search- scanning in my pattern would require effort that I don't have) The size I used was a 10T chest 30. Eden is a 26 so I figured I could take it in in the back and on the sides if it was way too big.

I made my muslin from a pink fabric that Eden picked out a couple of months back. I get tired of sewing on real muslin sometimes...it's so...blah. Plus, if the test works, Eden can actually wear it. Making muslins are essential but sometimes I get frustrated at spending so much time on a non-wearable item.

Here is the wearable test muslin!

It looks nothing like the pattern does it? :) I changed it all around. I made the pattern just like it is designed at first, though I ignored the front darts (because Eden is...let's just say it- darts are for curves and my little darlin' doesn't have any yet ) and it was soooooooooo big. I removed the neck facing and then added tucks down the front center to take in the fabric. That took the front in 4 inches. The dress was very low cut so I added a neckline about 2 inches wide. That brought the neck up to a much more comfortable level. Eden wants puffy sleeves so I just made the sleeves wider when I cut them out and gathered the new extra material at the top of the sleeve. I added elastic inside a casing at the bottom edge of the sleeve. That helps increase the puffiness.

The back is pretty much exactly like the pattern. I took in about 4 inches on the back seam too. I used an invisible zipper. Regular old double fold hem at the bottom.

I think she likes her new dress.

I wish I had some of the socks she had as a baby- the white ones with super ruffles on the cuff. That would be adorable . She needs some saddle shoes too!

On the one for halloween , we will just be using the top of the dress. Eden likes the dress but for her costume, she wants a wider twirly skirt with a ruffled crinoline underneath. I did try to cut this dress with more skirt but it seemed to just fold up at the sides of the dress- it wasn't twirly. So I moved the side seams back in to about their original position. There will be no yoke-collar-neckline-raising thing on the halloween version. I will cut the neckline much higher and just use creating a facing. I will also take out 4 inches form the front of the pattern, and 4 inches from the back. Though we both like the tucks, she doesn't think her costume needs them.

She would like the dress to be red. I am pushing for a red and white crinoline and white tights and black shiny shoes. I think that would be so cute! Vampire teeth and white make-up and we are done! :)

The skirt will be a circle skirt using the circle skirt pattern from this book:

I love this book! I have made tons of skirts from this book and they turn out perfect every time.

Off to sew!

Student Creations

2011-07-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

It has been a very busy few months around here . All of my students are busy making wonderful things! I usually put these photos in my monthly newsletter that I send out to Students & Clients. But I found that this month, there were too many to fit into the newsletter and have it fit in anyones email box!! Here area few of my students with the fantastic projects they have completed.

First up is Nina:

Ok. The universe needs to put it's hands together and make some noise for Nina. Nina worked so hard on these! This is her first item of clothing from a real pattern. These took a couple of months of lessons to complete. Nina's perseverance paid off- how cute do those jammy pants look?

We added a ruffle on the bottom. We did this for two reasons :

Reason #1. I want her to look at patterns as a basic starting point , not a list of rules to follow. Adding a a ruffle and any other embellishments makes each item you create your own.

Reason #2: I swear the child GREW 3 inches from when we first measured for her muslin to when we made the real pants!! She tried them on before we did the final hem and they were short! Adding on a ruffle is a great way to elongate pants or skirts. Nina worked very hard on these and I am sure she is going to wear them every night!!

Haley made a tote bag and I love the fabrics she chose!

Haley was soooo excited to take her tote bag to school and tell everyone she made it! Her bag features a lot of pockets. the great thing about my tote bag pattern is that it is really easy to personalize it to your needs.

Kayla finished her first skirt! Her fabric is sooo pretty. It was a heavier weight cotton and it really lent itself well to this project. Kayla made this pattern her own by adding pockets!! She also wanted to use use bias tape along the bottom edge to finish off the hem. Watch out for Kayla- she is a little designer on the way to the top!

Here is Kate working on her summer skirt. I don't have a photo or the finished skirt on her but I will harras her unmercilfully 'till I get one. I just think this photo is cute :) Kate is pretty much this smiley all the time!

Also- look in the background- see the curtains? The red & gold ones? The don't match my souther pink walls? Those are the pinch pleats I made for Bonnie' s den. Pinch pleats need to hang for at least a week in the drawn back position to "train "them. So I hung them in the studio where I could pet and adjust them constantly. They turned out great.

Sam has been a tote bag making queen! Here is the one she made for herself.

Sam also made tote bags for her mom & mother in law.

Look at the cute ribbon detail she added to the top of the pocket and along the top edge of the bag.

I am very sad as Sam is moving this week to Georgia. :( Hopefully, she will keep sewing as she is a natural!

Donna made a beautiful skirt for summer out of a gorgeous floral embroidered cotton. Donna added a ruffle at the bottom of her skirt. Adding a ruffle to any pattern adds a bit of embellishment and style.

This cotton is just lovely. It is a great summer skirt as it is light and airy. All this skirt needs to go with it is a beach and cabana and fruity concoction with an umbrella in it!

Tori just completed a zipper purse to kepp her makeup and stuff in on her dresser. This is her first zipper project and I have to brag on her- it is perfect!

The pattern piece for this is a sheet of printer paper!

Coming up next month: Leticia;s 1950's "Walk Away" dress, Donna's summer dress, and the Saturday Girls are all working on embroidered t-shirts!

Eden's Summer Dress McCalls 6067

2011-06-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

Summer! It's almost here! I see hours of beach time and fancy drinks with umbrellas in them. My daughter and her friends will play in co-ordinated beachwear, like a J Crew catalog photo. My friends and I will smile graciously down upon our darling offspring in our color coordinated suits as we delicately sip our drinks, discussing politics and the best years for our favorite wines.

Eh- who am I kidding ? :) It is going to be hours of sprinkler time and our drinks will probably be wine from a box. Mixed with fruit if a miracle happens and one of us gets our act together and cuts up fruit to put in the wine. We will most likely be discussing RHONJ and what we can make for dinner that doesn't require any effort or actual cooking. All of this will be accompanied by the aroma of bug-spray.

Ahhhh summer. Sweet Off scented summer.

I made Eden a summer dress last year. Each year I make a couple of dresses for her to wear for the season- nice cool cotton dresses that don't require any ironing- just pull from the dryer and slip over her head as we race off to whatever adventure we we have come up with.

Last year she chose this pattern view C:

It looks wonderfully comfortable. We both thought it would be perfect for the family trip to the Nags Head, NC. Ya know when you get back from a wonderful day at the beach, you take a shower and you just want to put on something soft and comfy? This dress is just perfect.

She picked out a cute cotton in a lovely aqua blue that matches her eyes with butterflies on it- and flowery lace trims. I love her to take part in the planning of her clothes. It gets her in the habit of thinking about a project before starting it.

Up until last summer, I could just measure her and make her clothes. No muslin required. It was awesome! I could just cut, sew and put it on her and it fit. I made this dress according to her measurements, put it on her and it was a tad too big. Eden FREAKS when clothing is too big. So she refused to wear it. So I said FINE! and hung it up in her closet to wait a year. The pattern has a bit of ease in it and though I thought it was just right, she felt it was too roomy. I brought it back out a week or so ago for her to try on and she now feels it fits her perfectly.

Now whenever I make her something, I am making a quick muslin to check the size. My baby is so big! She has to be fitted now!

Here is my shy little princess that I coaxed and persuaded to model for me.

No, not really. I said "Hey, lets go out and take pictures of you in your blue dress", and then there was a giant boom of the sound barrier being broken in her rush to get outside.

The back is lovely. She loves the tie at the neck. My only issue with the dress is that I made it according to the pattern and I have to say , the finished zipper didn't thrill me. It is too exposed. I need to put a hook at the top, that might solve the problem. She has on her nice shoes as we were going out to dinner but I see flip flops in the future.

Even though it is a halter top, she is pretty well covered up. The sides go high so she isn't showing any side ribcage.

I am going to totally steal the format from Pattern Review.com and fill in the rest of the details about this pattern:

McCalls 6067

GIRLS' AND GIRLS' PLUS DRESSES IN TWO LENGTHS: Dresses A, B, C with midriff and gathered skirt with back zipper closing; dress A has neck casing; dress B has drawstring neckline; dress C has extended ties and trim; dresses A, B lengths are above mid-knee; dress C length is below ankle.
NOTIONS: Dress A − 20" Zipper, 1 Yd. of ¹/2" Elastic, Hooks and Eyes; Dress B, C − 12" Zipper, ³/4 Yd. of ¹/4" Elastic, Hooks and Eyes; Dress C - also 1¹/4 Yds. of Approximately ³/8" Trim and 1¹/4 Yds. of Approximately 1³/4" Trim.
SUGGESTED FABRICS: Lightweight Broadcloth • Lightweight Poplin • Lightweight Piqué. Additional Fabric may be needed to match stripes, plaids or one-way design fabric.

Pattern Sizing:
7-14Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
yesWere the instructions easy to follow?
very easy.What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I did not like the zipper. I think next time I would try to use an invisible zipper as at the top of the dress, the elastic on either side of the zipper seem to pull it apart. I liked how easy the top was to assemble.Fabric Used:
cottonPattern alterations or any design changes you made:
noneWould you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
yes yes

Saturday Girls

2011-02-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

Every other Saturday is Lesson Day around here. I have 6 girls from age 10-17. I start at 9 am and I finish up at 6. Lesson days are so much fun! I get to hear all about the trials and tribulations of the 5th grade (so cute!) and high school (nope. don't miss it. ) The girls are all so sweet and really devoted to learning all about sewing .

Wanna meet them?

Kayla started with me in November, She had done a bit of sewing with her grandmother but as her grandmother is in a different state, it was hard to keep it up. Kayla is very interested in making just about everything she sees. Each week when I show what I have been working on, I know she is going to say " I wanna make that!" Kayla has finished our first project together- a stuffed heart wall hanging that incorporated some different stitches on the front, her initials and a small topstitched heart at the bottom. Kayla really was careful stitching around the curves of the heart. Great job Kalya!

Next is Rachael. Rach has been taking lessons with me for about a year and has graduated up to patterns! Woohoo! Here she is cutting out her tissue pattern for her Pajama pants. Everyone starts out with the pattern as their first one. It doesn't matter to me if you are 10, 30 or 87- when we move onto patterns you make this one. Why? It has two pattern pieces and is easy to alter.
In the background of this photo you can see some of my recent projects hanging up. There are itty bitty dresses I made for my new baby niece to be Molly ( Steff! If you see this picture before the shower DON'T LOOK!! ) There is also the skirt I made from the Sew Serendipity book. Also the muslin and version one of a jacket from the same book. The jacket still needs buttonholes but I haven't done them yet because I got mad at the jacket. ( Long story. I will tell that one some other time. )

Then we have Nina. Nina is also making the pajama pants. She is cutting out the muslin from her pattern pieces here.

When we make a muslin, sometimes it is hard to tell what side is what . So we write on the fabric with fabric pen. I thought it was cute Nina signed her name underneath the note to ourselves. And put a little smiley face.

This is Haley- world meet Haley, Haley meet world. Haley is so funny we have blast at lessons. Here she is modeling her First Skirt. It is hard to see in the picture but the fabric was actually a really soft white and purple check. She did a really nice job. Currently we are working on a tote bag. We cut the pieces last week and will be assembling next lesson day.

Tori began lesson with me in December. She doesn't say too much but I can see the gears turning in her brain each lesson. She is like a sponge just soaking up all the info. She is working on an envelope pillow here with buttonholes. She got an awesome new machine a few weeks ago and buttons are a breeze. Hooray for the automatic buttonhole setting on sewing machines!

Oh and see my pretty pretty chairs in the background? They go with my pretty pretty new table.

And last we have DAISY!!!! Daisy had to drop out for a little while as school commitments we taking up all of her time. But she is back and we are working on a pair of pajama pants. Daisy has been accepted to a fashion design program for college next year. I forget where... I think it she said Mary Mount up near DC. I think. I will check. Her family is also moving this summer so we are now in cram mode! We have to get as much knowledge into her as we can before she goes. So after this we are going to do as many items from patterns as we can fit in :)!! Here she is cutting out her muslin from the altered pattern.
And that's it- those are my Saturday Girls!

You might say- there are two blog posts in two days! How is she doing this? What lit the fire under her? Well, I am stuck at home with strep and had to cancel lessons. I am also procrastinating finishing up a huge window proposal for a client so I am blogging :) :) :) I have to get out the calculator , use all available brain cells and put all of my crazy notes and samples into some sort of coherent professional looking presentation.

I have also done all of my emailing to clients and students. I checked both bank accounts. Read the news (Hooray Egypt!) . Read MSN gossip ( Charlie Sheen can drop off the planet- I am so sick of reading about him!) . Checked facebook. Looked at slide shows from fashion week. (Really people? Some of those runway fashions looked very badly constructed. ) I read some sewing blogs. I converted a step-by-step off of Sew Mama Sew into Word so I can print it out and work on it down in the sewing room. It will be a cute top for Eden for this summer.

I have run out of things to waste time with so I guess I have to do this proposal ! :)

which of these things is not like the other?

2011-02-15T10:24:00.000-08:00

Leticia has started commercial patterns and for our first pattern we made PJ pants. I use this pattern for the first commercial pattern my students tackle as it only has two pattern pieces. The alterations are also fairly easy .

We altered the pattern a little bit and made a muslin. She wore that around her house once or twice to get an idea of how else she wanted to change it. We then altered the pattern again tp suit her and made another muslin. This time it was perfect so she then made the pants out of a fabric she chose.

I love this fabric. I love the happy dancing skeletons and all the wonderful flowers.

Here they are on my beautiful , lovely sewing table.

I also love that we added pockets to the pants, which do not come with the pattern. We just drew ourselves a little pattern piece right there as we were going along.

For our next pattern project, Leticia got to go pick out her own pattern. As she is a part time nurse in school she wanted to make her own scrub tops

She chose this one. Over all the pattern is pretty good so far. We are about halfway through the muslin. This pattern has a lot more pieces to it- front back, 2 pocket pieces and a neck piece. The pattern instructions could have a whole lot more clarity in them but I just write in pencil all over the pattern as we go along. When she makes this on her own I will have filled in those gaps for her :)
Now here is where we had a bit of a giggle. Look at the pattern front at drawing of the gal wearing the scrub top. She has super long barbie legs. This gal does not eat breakfast, has birthed no babies and never eats dessert.
Now when we open up this pattern, look at what we see on the inside! Do they look like the gal on the cover?

No! They do not! They look very different from the gal on the cover!

You can see on the far right one, I drew in what Leticia and I kinda look like. (Less belly for both of us and in my case, less behind.)

Really what happened here is that the pattern is offered in two multi sized packets- XS- Xl and XXL-6X. As the sewing instructions are the same for all sizes, both packets just have one set of instructions. This is a how to alter the armseye for different sized arms. These drawings are really for the larger sizes. But even the larger sized packet features miss-never-eats-a-muffin: same drawing that is on the cover of the small sizes.

We just thought it was funny how differently the pattern was portrayed outside and then inside.

I guess if they had the other larger size gals drawings on the cover, then no one would buy the pattern. We all try to buy clothing that we think might flatter us in some way. But no pattern is this world is gonna make a gal go from what is drawn on the inside of the pattern to what is on the outside. When they do, put me down for 2!

Nina's Valentine Project

2011-01-13T09:09:00.000-08:00

Nina is 11 years old and has been taking lessons with me for about a year now. When she first started she was kinda quiet. She was very interested in sewing, I could tell, but I would have to ask a lot of questions to get her to say what she liked and didn't like. Then she came out of her shell a little and she started to talk a little bit about her ideas and ask questions. Along the way we did projects geared toward learning basic sewing skills like planning the project, cutting out pattern pieces, working the machine and sewing a nice straight seam. With each project she would get a little more confident with the machine and her sewing ability.

I use a really cute book to get ideas for projects for kids. I usually end up altering the instructions a bit to suit the individual child.

Nina made a cat/fox from the book. The project was a cat or a dog that used many different pieces. She decided to make a two tailed cat/fox. Nina loves animals so this project was really fun for her as she got to combine animals! It turned out adorable! It gave her practice cutting and sewing small pieces. We did not use the method in the book that uses wax paper as the pattern pieces- we just photocopied the book page and cut them out. She had to go slow and stitch carefully around the small curved edges. This project was great for teaching patience and carefulness :) We used some hand sewing in sewing on buttons. Then she did the cutest thing! She glued cotton balls onto the ears and tails to make soft fluffy tails.

Here it is ! :)

Now lessons are hoppin' as when I present our next project, she is just bursting with ideas and ways to make it her own.

Here she is with her first purse that she made. She chose the fabric as it has cute dogs on it. It is fully lined and has a rick rack trim on the front:

For Christmas presents we made tissue holders. We used only hand sewing with this as I am still trying to convince them that hand sewing is necessary. For some reason the young ones think that sewing means just using the machine and only the machine. We also practiced sewing on buttons, tying knots and cutting using the pinking shears. The pinking sheers are hard for the young ones to hold onto sometimes. I am trying to find a smaller pair but so far haven't seen any.

She made this one for her grandmother. I forget why she chose the green fabric and ladybug theme but she had a really cute reason. These tissue holders fit a travel size tissue pack. They are made of felt, which is about .25 a sheet. I like to buy it on sale at Joann's for .19. The felt is very forgiving to young fingers trying to work a hand needle. Each of the Saturday Girls made this project with me in lesson then took home the instructions so that they could make some on their own to give as presents for Christmas.

For Valentines day I had planned a project that we could do in an hour. A year ago, this would have taken us two lessons. Now when I talk about creating a pattern piece, sewing it with the seams showing, using pinking sheers, stuffing, etc. she understands what I am talking about and we can get right to the fun.

I had to project idea for a Valentine's pin- we would cut felt shapes and stack them together, sew them , add buttons or whatever decoration she wanted, then stuff it and glue a pin onto the back. She loved the idea but wanted to change it. She wanted to make a Valentine's lollipop pin for her dad. I think that is just fantastic! We are at the point where she understands the idea I have for the project, but redesigns it. (To me this also means I am doing my job :) She gets it! Hooray!!)

Here she is after creating the pattern piece for the lollipop. I have discovered that people learn the intricacies of patterns easier if they start out making them. So we drew out the lollipop and heart on paper. She also thought that it would be cute if the lollipop already had a bite taken out of it.

She then pinned the pattern pieces down and cut them out of red felt.
She was very good about keeping her fingers back and carefully turning the felt piece to stitch around the curves of the heart. Curves are not easy to sew, especially small ones, like the heart. She took it slow and did an absolutely beautiful job. And see how her fingers are back outside of the throat plate? That is exactly how they should be! :) :)

We use a piece of Peltex for the lollipop stick. Peltex is very thick super sturdy iron on interfacing. I use it for the bottom of purses, to make christmas ornaments and to back decorated pins. Nina then pinned it to the backing and sewed around the edge of the lollipop.

Here is the finished lollipop.

We glued a pin onto the back.

And here is one last shot of the lollipop. She wanted one photo to have the hail in it. As we were finishing up the lollipop it started to hail. It was crazy! Luckily it wasn't the really big car denting kind of hail. Just little granola sized hail.

Nina also wanted the lollipop to say" lollipops are like love" But I told her that she should draw her dad a card and put that in it. There was just no room on our lollipop to write" lollipops are like love" :) :)

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Doug & Diane's Kitchen Valances

2010-12-28T09:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!!! Woohooo!!! Christmas is over!!!! Please do not think I am a scrooge or a humbug- I am as gung ho happy about Christmas as you can get. But this year I was really ready for the peace and quiet of January.

Right before Christmas I finished up with Doug & Diane's valances for their kitchen and laundry room. They wanted matching valances for a bay window in the kitchen, a window over the sink and one for the laundry room, which is right next to the kitchen.

Doug & Diane are the cutest couple! They are two of the nicest people on the planet. They are so fun to work with as not only are they nice, but they have really great ideas about what to put in their house. And speaking of their house- it is beautiful! When I was going to install these valances, it was a couple of days before Christmas. As I was driving to their house, I said to my self "Self, I bet their house is the most beautifully decorated on their street" . And I was right! :)

Here is the Bay Window we were covering.

And here is the sink window:

When we started to talk about the style for the kitchen, I asked them what they liked. Doug likes tailored. He doesn't want any fluffy, frilly business. Diane liked the idea of a handkerchief valance: she had mentioned one in a friends home that she liked. The continuous style appealed to her. Doug did not care for the casual look that those can have. I combined their likes/dislikes and realized I had to find a valance pattern that was tailored not frilly, continual on piece design, could incorporate two fabrics, and be able to be altered to accomadate two smaller windows over the sink and in the laundry room, and also look great over the main bay window. No problem! And here was the kicker: install in less than one inch of space.

Look at the pictures above of the bay window and sink window- I had an inch above and an inch to each side. That was it. Yep. 1 inch.

I looked through my patterns & books. Nothin'. I looked on line. Nothin'. There were a lot of patterns that fit a few of the criteria but not all. And then I went to the Pate Meadows Window Treatment pattern website. Jackpot!

I love Pate Meadows patterns. They are wonderful because:

They include very clear directions with drawings and detailed descriptions.
They are printed on heavy white paper. This paper is much easier to work with than commercial tissue paper, especially with home decor fabrics.
They are easily alterable for different size windows.
Customer service is awesome! They ship fast and have great communication. Also, I lost my install sheet at some point for the Erin valance . I couldn't remember how long the side bar pieces needed to be cut for the supporting frame . I called them and they were so nice as to read that part of the pattern to me right over the phone!
They turn out freakin' gorgeous every time. And I mean absolutely freakin' gorgeous.

Drawbacks:

They are not cheap. Average price: $29.95. Yea. For a paper pattern. I am the girl who won't purchase commercial patterns unless they are on sale for .99. But I will buy these, they are that good. Spend money where it is worth it- I always say. And Pate Meadows patterns are worth it.
They always seem to overshoot on the fabric estimate. I now know to fully figure out my own yardage - I don't go by their estimate. I draw out exactly how I am going to lay out the pattern pieces on the fabric and figure out my yardage that way. Yes, some extra is good: I don't do a project without some sort of extra factored in. But each of the 4 patterns I have made so far had much higher fabric estimates in the pattern than it turned out I needed. That is my one and only issue with the patterns.

We chose the Delaine pattern. It is a wonderful design that incorporates two or more fabrics, has a welt corded edge (Doug likes welt cording :) ) , can install in next to no space and is just really cute!

We had found the right fabric by accident. In my search for the fabrics for their den, this fabric was one of our options. It didn't work for their den, but it was perfect for the kitchen.

This is the Stripe:

When searching for a fabric it is sometimes easier to take pictures, rather than write down the name , price and colors of each option. Plus, some fabric stores are chintzy with the samples so taking a pictures gets me a much better idea of the pattern. This is the end of the bolt for the stripe. I found it at Hancock's for $9.99 a yard.

I found our main floral fabric at Blaney's in Norfolk. Way out on Military Highway past Janaf, past the airport = out in the city version of the boonies. They have great prices and are very nice. I left my favorite sweater there in early November. When I went back in they had it right there for me, knowing I would eventually be back in :) I was sitting in front of their counter, checking out thinking that the sweater on the chair looked very much like mine. The one I couldn't find.

The colors on the fabric matched the colors in the pretty artwork that Doug & Diane have in the kitchen. We all liked the red background and the fun, painterly flowers in bold colors. And that it was $14.98 a yard. That's not bad.

I almost had a heart attack when I went in to buy the fabric. It had been about a month since I had gotten the sample. I went to where the fabric used to be located and ti wasn't there. I searched the store and couldn't find it. I believe I was slightly hyperventalating. When I asked about it, they helped me search it out- it was hidden in a corner behind a ton of other bolts and down to the last 6 yards on the bolt. Luckily, I only needed 5.5! Whew!!

The stripe that I found at Hancock's did have a matching floral that went with it but it was very tropical and that is not the look we wanted in the kitchen. I must have been researching this fabric in the summer because you can see my foot in the left upper corner! I think I took these pictures when I was finding fabrics for their den... I had liked the stripe for their home from the beginning :)

To make these valances first I made cording! I learned a most wonderful way to make cording from Mary Parker, slipcover maker extraordinaire. Out of Ptown, Va. You make a fabric ' tube', cut around it and you have one long perfect continuous strip to cover the welt cording. It takes half the time of cutting out each strip.
Here I am cutting it out. I took pictures while I was creating this cording to put into a lesson for my students about welt cording.

You end up with one incredibly long beautiful strip of fabric!

Then I cut out all of the pieces for the valances. Each swag and pleat section were seperate pieces. So I was cutting for hours, it seemed like. Each valance has a face fabric, a back lining and a flannel interlining.
Here is my dining table with the pleat fabric laid out on it ready to cut out the pleaat sections.

This is the face fabric of the valance sewn together. Look in the back! There is my Christmas tree! :) In this post we have gone from a shot of my sandled foot in a fabric store in summer to my Christmas tree. I guess we weren't in a hurry on these :)

I then applied the cording to the face fabric
Here is the greatest tip you will ever get about cording in your life: sew it on with the CORDING ON THE BOTTOM and the FABRIC on the top. The welt cording should be against the feed dogs. This ensures that the fabric does not pucker.

In this photo I have finished sewing on the cording and have sewn all three layers; the lining , interlining and face fabric, together. I then turned it inside out, slip stitched the end closed, pressed and sewed the pleats in place. Pressing did take a while as you really have to press the living sunshine out of the fabric to get it to stay.

Once I got all three valances finished I needed to put my idea of how to hang them into motion. Pate Meadows uses really neat adapters that screw right into the wall . They extend 3.5 inches from the wall. The valances have loops sewn into the pleats that the valance hangs from on the posts.
We couldn't use them. The base of adapter post is about 3 inches across. We only had an inch of space in which to install. Again thank you o inconsiderate home builders who didn't think ahead that these lovely homeowners would eventually want to hang window treatments in their home.
So my idea was to cut dowels into 3.5 inch pieces and paint them to match their moulding (Luckily we just moved and I still have a can of ultra super bright white gloss paint!) Then we would screw a decorative knob onto one end and the other end straight into the wall.

This is my dowel painting contraption that I made. I took a pice of scrap wood and hammered nails into it, leaving about an inch out of the wood. The dowels (cut and drilled by my sweet husband) could then stand up on their own . This made it so easy to paint them.

Here is a side view of the post adapters from the Pate Meadows website. They are really nice, I was upset I couldn't use them. I do think the dowels turned out fantastic as they blend right into the molding so you don't really see them at all.
Double sided screw. Also called a splicer screw. Use a #8 size for drawer knobs.

Here is the final valance! The posts that the valances hang on are installed in between the windows in that one inch of space and on teh molding itself.

The bay window:
See how the fabric matches thier paintings on the left side? perfect!
The bay window and the sink window. While Doug and I were installing, Diane was searching for and found her mothers pound cake recipe. I cut it out of the photo but the counter was piled with butter and cream cheese and all things yummy to make pound cake:)
Here is an up close view of the front of the bay window valance.
The laundry room window. I suggested that they paint one wall of the laundry room red. Wouldn't that look really cool?
The sink window. I love the Santa's on the window!
Here is the side of the bay window valance.

Halloweeen!

2010-11-07T07:59:00.001-08:00

Ahhh. Long time no blog, I know. I would love to sit down regularly and update this thing. I am envious of the time and discipline of bloggers who update every day. I follow a couple of blogs that post daily and I love to read them. My goal is once a month. So far I am not hitting that goal :) but I am getting there!
I have SO BUSY! I have lots of new students and they are fantastic! Also, I have suddenly been hit with many new clients who have naked windows for me to cover. And then there was halloween.
I love halloween!!!!! I love pumpkins and halloween decorating. I love everything about halloween- especially getting to wear a costume. And since I now have my own darling mini-me who shares my love of dressing up- I have two costumes to make each year.
This year, Eden decided she wanted to be a princess. Ok. We can do that. But I would not allow her to cheat and go the disney route. We had to make it unique. Also, Eden wanted us to match. I found a costume pattern that came in a child size as well as an adult size. We decided to do as princess and queen going to a masquerade ball. My plan was for us to both have matching dresses, her in pink & white and mine in black & red and masquerade masks.

We decided to do Eden's in Pink & White. Here she is!

To save a bit of money I used Wright lace hem tape for the edges of the sleeves- it was three yards for about $2 . I gathered it using my handy dandy ruffler foot. I also used the Wide lace hem tape for the trim all along the edge, where the pink meets the white. It turned out to be MUCH less expensive that buying pre-gathered lace trim.

Doesn't she look like a pretty frosted cupcake?

Sleeve detail:

I ordered the mask on Etsy from Lyssane. You can visit her beautiful shop here:

The mask was perfect!! Absolutely exquisite! I loved the attention to detail- there were little sparkles inside the flowers and all of the ribbon pieces were neatly tucked inside. The mask was even lined on the inside with super soft felt so it was super comfy for Eden to wear. The mask made the outfit!! If you need a mask- don't go anywhere else! It was perfect!

My dress was completed at the very last minute. I had planned on more time but woops! Ran out! I used a different method (pivoting the pieces ) to alter the bodice and I wish I had stuck with my normal method ( painstakingly cutting them apart and piecing ). After making up two muslin test versions, I still wish I had had time to alter it once more. I changed the front to a lace up detail, instead of the bows on the pattern. I also added in a piece at the top of the bodice so that it was not so low. ( I was asked to read to Eden's class for Halloween and I really felt that the dress was just a bit too revealing for 2nd graders.) Also, to read for her class I needed to be a story book character. So at the very last second, I changed my costume into the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. I appliques hearts onto the front of the dress. I ended up not needing a mask. I drew hearts on my face and my lipstick was heart shaped.

(You can see my husband and Eden in the reflection in the glass door :) )

Here I am after I read to Eden's class.

My Mini-Me & Me

I used a satin edge stitch for my sleeves as I was not going for the 'frosted cupcake' look of Eden's dress.

Happy Halloween!

Brag Photos

2010-08-24T10:38:00.001-07:00

I love my job. Have I told anyone that recently? I am sure I have but I need to say it again- I love my job. One of the reasons I love my job is that I have the sweetest , brightest most creative students.

One of my students is Rachael. She is 10. Rachael is going to grow up to be an awesome fashion designer! Here is her first skirt she made along with the tote we made to match.

And here is the tote

I am so proud of her!!!

Another of my students is Daisy. She is 17 and studying fashion marketing and design.
This skirt has a zipper in the back. We also made a zipper clutch to match.

So Cute!!!!

Here is the skirt we just finished. We learned gathering and attaching a ruffle on this one:

Daisy is now moving on to clothing from patterns. I will post pictures of her next project soon! :)

Flower girl dresses

2010-08-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

I finished the flower girl dresses!! Hooray! Yippee! Hale-freakin-lugia!! I worked on these for a month! Here they are!

They are fully lined with huge layers of crinoline inside. They have invisible zippers and tiny hems. The bows are pinned on so that the girls could remove them later after the ceremony .

While making these I almost got dragged into a bridezilla moment with the bride and her soon to be sister in law. I did my best to stay out of that but I have learned my lesson once again: weddings create insane, white satin spewing, hemline dictating, obsessed over the tiniest of detail that no one ever, ever, ever is going to see, monsters....out of what are normally nice gals.
I therefore, from here on out, am going to try to stick to my rule of not sewing for anything wedding related. I broke my rule for these folks as I used to live next door. But uh-uh. Weddings make people crazy and I have enough crazy in my life, thank you very much, without going looking for more.

Also , for the wedding I made organza swags to go around a railing that went around the center of the reception. I didn't take a picture of those. Sometimes you get so sick of working on something that you don't ever want to see it again. That was the case with these swags.
The bride's mom was very specific while at the same time being very vague about what she wanted- so I had to interpret her gestures. I created 8 "tailored, but not pleated, identical , but 'flowy looking', gathered at the sides, even, but on purpose, like you meant to do it, but it just happened naturally....swags". Yea. With ribbons at the sides and in the center to hang it onto the railing. I was happy to see them hanging at the reception and looking tailored... but not.
Again, here is my solemn vow- no more sewing for weddings!!:) :)

New studio!

2010-07-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

This spring my family moved to a new home. We love it! We have been busy unpacking boxes and painting and learning about our new abode. I especially love it as I now have a studio to work in! No more living room sewing lessons! Hooray!
The sewing room is on the far end of the house and has a door leading directly to it from the side. I chose a pale peach/pink for the walls and a fiery rust red for the accents. It looks awesome! Very girly but not too froufrou .
The most fantastic thing about having the space is that I have been able to take on more students. This is my only job now and I love it! I am able to be home for my family and have a job that is really fun. It rocks! This is what I have been working towards for the past two years. It has finally paid off and is a thriving busy business.! Yippee!

This weeks I have had three lessons. It is a slow week and I am happy for the break! ☺ I have 7 scheduled for next week . I have some new students and they are a fun bunch! They are all so interested and eager to learn- I just love it!

My plan is to write each week about my projects and what everyone is learning in their lessons.

This week Nina finished her purse! She did a great job! She was so careful with her stitching .
Here she is showing it off!

Nina is 11 and wants to a fashion designer one day.
Here is a photo of her winding her bobbin.

Amy is new with me and made her first project with this week: She made a tablerunner and it turned out gorgeous! She chose beautfiul fabrics and did a lovely job of topstitching aroud the edges. She is going to send me a picture:)

Today Candace learned all about the wonderful world of hems. She is heading back to college soon and we are trying to pack in as much as we can before she leaves. Next week we will make her first skirt.

I am going to take pictures of the new studio tonight and will put them up soon.

See ya!

Embroidered Brooches

2009-11-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

I was inspired this week by my first custom order on etsy. Marie requested my embroidered roses on a brooch. I did one for her and loveed how it turned out. She wanted the pale pink roses on blue. My style is a bit different so I experimented with black & cream and red roses on cream. I have been crocheting lately as well and so I added a sweet little crochet lace trim to both brooches. Here they are!

The black Roses Brooch was hard to photograph. I tried everything all day long: every window, lamps, by the front door in the am sun, at the dining table in the afternoon sun... This was the best I could get!

Embroidered Roses Brooch

2009-10-25T06:17:00.001-07:00

I had my first custom order on etsy this week. It was very exciting!marie requested a brooch embroidered like my pillowcases. I was happy to tackle a new project.
She asked for the background in royal blue. I went to three, oh yes, three fabric stores in the area for the prefect blue fabric. i wanted it to have more of a texture, more visable weave, but oh no, I couldn't find it. I settled on my second choice as it was the perfect color.
I transferred the image to the fabric.

Then I embroidered it. the next step was to put it all together. The brooch has many layers inside: batting, interfacing and cotton interlining.

Here is a picture of it being sewn:

I then embroidered a blanket stitch around the edge.

Here is the completed brooch! :)

Delaney's Room

2009-10-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Baby Delaney's nursery room is finished! Delaney is the first grand baby born to my husbands family and everyone pitched in to make sure her world is perfect! Some shopped, some painted, I sewed and we all had fun! I just got the pictures of the completed room so here it is!

Karen chose a jungle theme for Delaney's room but didn't want it to be juvenile. It is hard to find commercial bedding for babies that isn't pastel and sticky sweet. Karen and David had a dresser set that they were going to put into the room and so we used that as our color inspiration.

I found a fabric that matched it as close as possible! it is called Oasis and the colorway is Sugar. It had nice bright colors, elephants, and two coordinate fabrics in a floral and a stripe to match! Perfect!
Karen requested a pleated crib skirt . The pleats have a yellow fabric in them but it is hard to spot in the pictures. The crib skirt is almost floor length @ 14 inches. I make all of my crib skirts with slits in the corners for easy installation.

The valance is in the same fabric, with the fun stripe on the pleated sleeves. I love this pattern. I have made it for a few clients as it turns out perfect in any fabric. You can dress it up with bead trim and a swag instead of the flat panel or make it playful like I did here with red puffball fringe. It also does not require large amounts of yardage. This window only needed two yards of fabric!

Karen and her mom found a rug with zebra print on the edges that adds more fun to the room. You can just see it in the bottom corner.

With the extra fabric from the cribskirt and the valance I made a diaper stacker and little flowers that velcro onto the crib. These will be moved out of her reach to other places in the room when she gets a bit older. I also made a blanket for Delaney with her name on it. I had never done applique like this before. It is a time consuming project! It was worth it though as I love how it turned out. Look in the far left of the picture- that is Ryder, Delaney's furry big sister! :) You can just see her nose :)

A friend of Karen's painted Delaney's name onto squares for her room . Look at how amazing they are! She copied parts of the fabric pattern in the squares so it matches perfect!

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And here is Delaney! I know I am biased as she is my niece but isn't she just the most beautiful baby? I just love her little chin! Too Cute!

World Bread Day pt 2.

2009-10-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

The picture loaded up on this post, not on the other post with the recipe. I love technology.

World Bread Day

2009-10-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

It is World Bread Day. Go Figure. I was making pizza dough anyhoo as it is Friday night PIZZA NIGHT! With the leftover pizza dough I made a Sea Salt Rosemary loaf. I will take it to Elaine's tomorrow for lunch!
Here is my recipe:

Sea Salt and Rosemary Bread with Wine.

Open bottle of good wine. I recommend a good Pinot Grigio. Pour yourself a glass.
Put two cups room temp water in a bowl.
Add 1 ½ package of active dry yeast (or a palm and a half- I buy yeast in bulk now and never measure ☺ )
Add the yeast to the water to “proof “ it: make sure it is active. Let is sit for about 10 minutes. Once it bubbles add about a tablespoon of salt and sugar. You can add more salt than that if you like. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until bubbly again.

Start to stir in flour by the half cup full. Add flour and stir until you really can’t stir it anymore.
Pour it out onto a clean counter dusted with flour. Coat your hands in olive oil and knead it. Turn it over and over. Treat it little your little bitch.
When it is tough to knead, wash your hands and wash out the bowl you mixed it up in. Pour some olive oil in the bowl and toss the bread around in it until coated. Cover it with a dishtowel and go find some more wine. Let it rise for about an hour.

At this point you can bake it or let it rise again. My husband really prefers bread with a second rise. It just has a more complex “bread” taste. For the second rise, punch the dough down again (Remember , it ‘s your little bitch. It has been very naughty. ) and let it rise again for another hour.

To bake, dust a light colored cookie sheet with corn meal. Take the dough out of the bowl and form into two loaves. Place the loaves onto the cookie sheet. Make little slashes across it with a knife, if you want to. Brush with cold water. Sprinkle with sea salt and place fresh rosemary leaves on top of the loaves. Place a pyrex dish of hot water on the rack under the bread. Pour another glass of wine.
Place into a cold oven on the top rack. Bake for about ½ hour, a little less or a little more, depending on your oven. You are looking for the bread to be a nice golden color all over.

Remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack and remove rosemary. Wait about half an hour to slice and eat. Have a big slice dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar along with any wine left in the bottle. Store leftovers ( if you have any) in plastic grocery bags just tied at the top . This bread is even better the next day! Oh yea and the more wine you drink, the better it tastes! ☺ ☺

To make pizza dough, just add extra sugar at the add sugar and salt stage.

I can't upload images right this second. Why? Dunno. Some kind of 'internal error'. But trust me, the bread looks DELICIOUS!!
I am entering my yummy bread into the World Bread Day Competition just for kicks. Click on the link below for more info!!

First Etsy Sale

2009-10-14T17:11:00.001-07:00

YIPPEEEEEEE! Tonight I made my first sale on Etsy. I am just so giggly happy and tickled ten different shades of pink! Thank you Marie for purchasing my embroidered rose buttons.
Weeheee!!! My first sale!!!

Eden's room Valance

2009-10-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the valance in Eden's room! This is one of two. She is so excited about them! She designed them, she says, as she picked out the fabric. That's my girl!

Today I searched Lowe's, Home Depot, Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond for funky, shiny possibly sheer pink panels. No Luck! I have been all over online as well. Dagnabbit! I will keep searching. :)

First Blog !

2009-10-13T17:03:00.002-07:00

Ok people, look out! I'm blogging!

Today I made new Valances for my daughter Eden's room. She is almost 7 and has been bugging me for a while for new window treatments. We re-arranged her furniture a few weeks ago and I told her if she could keep her new room clean, I would make her new windows. It has been mostly clean, so today was the day to work on them!

She loves dogs. She wanted her room to be dogs. The only fabric we were finding for a while was brown or not little girl-ish. We were in Hancocks a couple of weeks ago and she shouted out "MOMMY, I FOUND MY FABRIC!" And she did- it is so cute!

I found a pattern in my pattern box I had from a while back that I have not ever had the chance to make. It is a Sewing patterns for Dummies, pattern. Now, don't laugh! Patterns for dummies? Yep! Some of them are actually pretty good. This is is super easy- I did have to move a seam line from where they said it should be, but other then that, this pattern is a breeze!

Eden is asleep right now so I will have to take pictures in the morning.

To complete her new windows, I am going to go to Lowe's and Home Depot tomorrow. They have some fun girls sheer for pretty inexpensive. I have not been able to find a coordinating fabric to make panels out of. I remember seeing some funky sheers there a while ago on my way back to Lumber Land.

I am going to make her a new bedspead with the dog fabric on one side and large blocks of pink & lime fabrics on the other. I found a great polka dot today that I am thinking about ordering.

I will also make her a pillow case and one pillow. For her birthday, I am thinking about making her a bean bag. She would love that.

Enough typing. I am going to go sew something. :)