A Bit Slow

Sorry. It took me a little longer to get to this than I initially anticipated. I ended up taking a holiday from my larger computing devices and I can't upload to this blog via my iPhone (which I think my husband also wished I would take a holiday from).

Finally, Christmas morning and here are a few snaps of the girls in their dresses. This first one is of D with her daddy putting her hat on so she could go outside and play. She insisted on the gumboots.

And here she is pushing around her new trike. Apparently pushing it around is much more fun than actually riding it yourself.


S thought she'd have a go of sitting on it

But that too turned to her pushing it around. And when "cot teddy" (no idea why he is called that, D decided on it) is involved, it's even more fun.

Here they are begging plum pudding from their grandmother. Note the bibs. I managed to keep the dresses clean all day. Yay for no washing.

And while I'm showing them off in dresses I have made, here they are in their pillowcase dresses. This was a mere 5 mins before D ran outside, pulled hers of, and removed the ribbon. She was running naked (well, there was a nappy) around the garden with the ribbon slung over her shoulders. I will have to alter the design. I really like the ribbon tied on one shoulder thing but it's not going to work until they are old enough to understand not to pull it out. So, will have to settle for a tie up on both shoulders thing and that way I can pull the dress in at the front the way it is supposed to gather and stitch the ribbons in place.

And last but not least, I am working on a dress for me. I cut out half of it about 2 months ago. Then yesterday while the girls were sleeping I decided to cut out the other half and stitch it together. I've made this pattern before - once as a maternity top and once as a maternity dress for a wedding we went to when I was about 34 weeks pregnant with the girls. The pattern is for a knee length dress but it's easy enough to cut it off to a top or make it a longer dress (as this one is). It's stretch fabric, which is rather painful to work with but I've had a little more practice since last time so it's MUCH neater than my first go (the top) and I didn't end up thumping the table and swearing in frustration this time (always a much more enjoyable sewing experience minus those things). I need to buy one last thing to finish it off, which will be something decorative to sew over that gathered bit and it's also sewn for the straps at the top of the shoulders. I've been mulling over what to use and I think I might go for something lacey and either cream or white. Should be able to get along to either Spotlight or Lincraft on Friday. Wish there was a sewing supplies/fabric shop closer than a 20 min drive away as I'd really like to go buy it and finish it now.

Ready and Waiting

The dresses are done. Now we just need Christmas Day. Here they are looking all pretty on their hangers. The front of the orange dress and the back of the white one. I'm quite pleased with how they have turned out. The ribbon is sitting a bit funny at the front on the white dress but I tried it on D and it sits fine when it's on and done up so all good. I think it's just all the gathers that pulls it in a funny direction when it's on the hanger. Yay!



I tried to get some photos of it on D but she wouldn't co-operate. She had been turning around in circles showing me how pretty she was but when I said I want to take a picture she threw herself on the ground and started crying. Then she decided to wipe her now snotty face on her pretty new dress so I distracted her with the flowers on it. That did the trick to get her to sit still long enough for me to snap something.

Immediately following this she up and ran away. So, that will have to suffice until Christmas Day.

I must say, with no zippers or buttons or anything, it's a slightly tricky dress to get back off. More tears from D, who was (as I had discovered earlier with the photo taking caper) a little on the grumpy side, but I worked it out eventually.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, the fabric for both dresses is Moda fabric by Me and My Sister Designs. The orange one is Overly Orange Uppsy Daisy from their Spring Fever range and the white one is Bright Black from their Happy range. I LOVE the fabrics these ladies do. I want to buy some of all of it!

And then there were two

I did manage to finish the elastic on my first Christmas dress on Sunday. I photographed it for you. I wasn't happy with it, however, as (what you can't see in the photo but I wish now I'd snapped) where the top of the neckline folds over and is sewed down to the dress, it was coming away. The method advised in the pattern instructions for if you are sewing without an overlocker/serger is to just fold it down, press it, and zigzag stitch all the way around, leaving the obligatory inch at the back to thread the elastic. So, this is what I did. But I musn't have done a wide enough zigzag as it really only caught the very edge of the fabric and once the elastic was in and pulling the fabric, it didn't old. Decided to unpick it all, zigzag the edge and then just sew it down using a normal straight top stitch. Only issue was I'd run out of thread. D'oh! So, yesterday saw me back at Spotlight purchasing some new thread (among other things) and last night at my sewing class I re-finished the neckline.




I had also started working on the second Christmas dress on the weekend. I managed to get it all cut out and the bodice sewn up. Then last night I pretty much completed the rest. Just left with the elastic to put into the neckline. Only a few mins worth of work and it nearly killed me to not finish it but when the class is scheduled to finish at 9pm and everyone is packed up and waiting to leave, "just another 5 mins" doesn't really go down well. I'm hoping to find a few spare mins later this afternoon to do it. Gotta get some work finished first, though. Then it's just a matter of attaching some sashes and they're done. Nice.

Had hoped to pick up some shirred fabric from spotlight for those overalls I want to try but they only had some boring plain colours and it was $20 per m. They had heaps of lovely options last year that were way cheaper. I know because I made us all some dresses. Maybe I can sacrifice my dresses to overalls. I'm not overly attached to them. Just liked the fabric.

Oh, and done of these days I'll get back to my cushion cover tutorial. I haven't forgotten.

Progress

A sewing blog without progress photos is really rather boring. So, thougth I'd share a snapshot of where I am up to with the first Christmas dress. I haven't done any more since my class on monday night so this is it with the skirt and lining gathered and joined and then all of that attached to the bodice.
Elastic around sleeves and neckline and sash around waist to come. Need to purchase a new bit of ribbon for the sash around the waist. The colour I got is, I think, perfect (a lovely light purple), but I've decided that I'd like it a bit thicker. I think. At least I'll go and see if there is a thicker version of the colour I want. Hopefully I'll get to finish it off on the weekend sometime. Mostly likely Sunday.

I want to do Santa photos with the girls tomorrow. I have the below batik fabric that I was thinking would make some cute pillowcase dresses. Wonder if I'd have any chance whatsoever of getting some knocked up tonight. They look pretty easy so you wouldn't think they'd take a massive amount of time to sew.

Hmm, but then again I was considering a spot of late night shopping tonight with my sister and I do have these gorgeous skirts my mum bought the girls last year (sorry 'bout the sideways photo. I have rotated it and deleted and re-uploaded a few times but it's just not happening) that they've been waiting to grow into. Mum is coming with us to get the Santa photos so it'd be nice if the girls were wearing her skirts. I'm not a fan of dressing them exactly the same but I can go with tops and shoes in different colours. Yeah, I think I'll do that. The pillowcase dresses can bide (might add that I've been searching for a tutorial that I like the look of and have found this one so when I do get there, I'll follow this).

Oh, and um, Two Little Fairies Fabric may have had a sale on her facebook page on Wednesday night and I may have purchased yet more fabric. But how I could I not? It was sale!

Cuteness All Round

I finished the second pair of PJs on the weekend and last night the girls wore them to bed for the first time. They were very excited, which was nice for mummy after all her hard work to produce them (those collars are quite fiddly - made me feel like I had very fat fingers!). Even this morning when I took her sleeping bag off and re-exposed her new PJs, D was exclaiming in admiration. Here's a pic of them this morning in their new PJs whilst enjoying their "mook".



Nearly finished one of the Christmas dresses at my course last night. Skirt is all gathered and attached to the bodice (pleats weren't that bad actually and everyone seems to think they look fine - yay!). Just needs elastic around the neckline and sleeves and a ribbon around the waist. I had purchased some ribbon already but have decided that I think I would like it to be wider so it'll be back to the shops for some more, which is fine because I need some other supplies as well. My next project, I think, will be some sun hats for all 3 of us so I'll need to get some nice stiff interfacing. I've been looking at patterns on line and found one that is a) nice and b) seems to have sizing for adults as well as kids. Also, at the local Farmer's Markets on the weekend I saw these lovely little overall thingys made from shirred fabric. They were really sweet and I think they'd be quite easy to sew so I want to pick myself up some shirred fabric and give them a go. My stepmother was with me and is very good at sewing so she'll help me sort the pattern out. Oh, and I think I'd like to sew some cute ruffled nappy covers for them because their little nappies poke out the bottom of some of their summer dresses. Okay when they are wearing pretty cloth nappies but when we're out and about with sposies on, it'll look nicer. Have started hunting for patterns for those too. I think I just need to find a pattern for the actual pants and then lookl up some youtube tutorials re making ruffles. Anyway, those ponderings are for when I get that far through my to do list.

Boy oh boy, this sewing thing was like opening a Pandora's Box. Projects are lining themselves up at a rate of knots!

Sewing/Dressmaking Course

So, I've enrolled myself in a dressmaking/basic sewing course at the local community college. It starts Monday 18th Oct and runs for 8x Monday nights.

I need to front up with my sewing machine, basic supplies, and a pattern + fabric for what I want to sew. Have decided I'll make some dresses for my girls for Christmas Day. I considered using Christmas fabric but don't want to make something they'll only wear for 1 day, then I thought maybe Christmas "inspired" fabric, but finally just settled on something that I liked the look of. It's currently winging its way from the US so I'll post a sneak peak when it arrives.

The pattern I selected is from The Handmade Dress and is called Miss Lily. Very sweet. Someone told me the pleats on it are a tad tricky so maybe not try it without some practice at pleats but I figured that a sewing course is probably the best time to try to learn something new - I mean, there'll be someone there to help me, right? Hopefully.