Butterfly Blouse and Bubble Shorts

One of the best things about having this little sewing blog has been making a real-life sewing friend in my town, Erin. She and her sister Caroline are an inspiration to me in many, many ways, sewing and beyond.

(Today was an especially good day for the hungie gungie clan because baby (or not-so-baby) Wes had no glow in his scans and is living cancer-free after a long and strenuous treatment for stage four neuroblastoma. YAY!)

While at a much needed ladies' night out (at my current favorite restaurant), Erin gave me Lottie a pair of her adorable bubble shorts, in a fabulous Leah Duncan print (from morning walk). Size 12 months, in case you are shopping for your own. Thank you, Erin!

So as to have a better excuse to blog these super-cute bottoms, I set to work making a top to go with them. Yes, the print on print is a little much, but this is a baby, and I was working from my stash.

Strawberry Baby Dress

I've been hoarding this Heather Ross Briar Rose knit for a while, with baby things in mind (like this!). So I finally busted it out and made a comfy dress and matching headband for little Lottie.

Did I mention she is getting "sooooo big!"? ;)

I drafted the pattern myself, starting with the 6 - 12 month size of the Sew Liberated envelope tee pattern from Growing Up Sew Liberated.

Little Geranium Dress

My sister-in-law is due to have a baby next week, which means I am going to be an aunt for the first time! I'm really excited.

I'm fixing up a package to mail them and of course had to include a Little Geranium Dress. This is the free 0-3 month size pattern of Made by Rae's oh-so-popular Geranium Dress, (which I plan to make for Louisa very soon!).

Unfortunately they live very far away from us, but we will get to meet the new baby girl when they come for AJ's graduation this May. Yay! In the meantime this smaller-than-lifesize baby doll is my model. :)

Heather Ross Weekend Sewing in NYC

This October I was so lucky enough to attend a Heather Ross Weekend Sewing Workshop in New York City. I was happy Heather offered the NYC workshops this year without including accomodations so I could make it work. I was supposed to go in May but it ended up being my sister's college graduation weekend so I finally got away in October. It was worth the wait. Plus I am so glad I got my chance because Heather is taking a break from workshops for a year or two (the last one is in California in February!) while her daughter is young. (I left my camera at home so all pics are from my iPhone.)

I got in on the bus late Thursday night and had all day Friday to souvenir shop for the kids and hubs and catch up with a couple old friends. Friday evening the workshop started with a private shopping event at Purl Soho, (with prosecco), and then dinner at a nearby tapas restaurant with the whole group, including our other workshop teacher the fantastic Liesl Gibson of oliver + s.

Crafty Chloe Doll Bed

It's no secret that I love Heather Ross—her fabric, her illustrations, her patterns—so, it's no surprise that I ordered Crafty Chloe for Louisa as soon as it came out. The book is FANTASTIC. And, it inspired me (and Louisa) to do a little crafty crafting of our own, for Lou's twin friends who celebrated a birthday last weekend.

At the end of the book Chloe gives her friend Emma a doll bed she makes out of a clementine crate. There are instructions from Heather (via the Martha Stewart Show) on the Crafty Chloe website. We decided to give the twins their own copy of Crafty Chloe and a homemade pink doll bed, just like Emma's.

Sleeping Beauty Toddler Backpack

Little Louisa started preschool last week! Time flies. For her big first day I made her the Toddler Backpack by Made by Rae (although it technically wasn't finished til her third day).

I used Heather Ross Far Far Away II. The main panels are Roses in pink and orange, with Sleeping Beauty appliqued to the front with a tight zigzag stitch. (Sleeping Beauty I've been hoarding, but the roses I bought just for this project from Fresh Modern Fabric on etsy.)

Although the FFA fabric is a heavier weight linen/cotton blend, I still used a medium-heavy weight interfacing for extra stiffness.

The bottom panel and straps are a hot pink canvas. I used fusible fleece for the strap padding and bottom panel. And I lined it with a solid purple lightweight cotton from my stash.

As far as modifications, I added two side pockets, one with an elastic top and gathered bottom, to hold a water bottle. I used the side panel pattern piece to cut the pocket and pocket lining, just shortened it an inch or two and widened it by about 4 inches. The slip pocket on the other side is the same height, but I didn't add any extra width.

 

Inspired by this suggestion on flickr, I followed the instructions for lining the backpack from the Penguin Backpack pattern in the oliver + s book Little Things to Sew. I also added the interior pocket more or less following that pattern.

The nice thing is there are no seams to cover up with this technique and it looks pretty tidy inside.

However, next time I probably won't bother with the lining at all. It is nice to have the pocket inside there, but I don't think it was worth the extra trouble. It also requires you to handstitch the lining to the zipper panel at the end.

I didn't have have any trouble with my sewing machine (a basic Singer Esteem) using a size 14 needle. I went very slowly while attaching all the layers at the top (sewing through the straps, handle, piping, etc.) and around the corners through the padded bottom panel.

However, I couldn't get it to sew the strap adjusters on at all, so I had to hand stitch those on. The hems on my nylon straps looked messy, so I burnt the ends lightly with a lighter to seal them off.  (Unfortunately I couldn't get pink webbing at Joann so I went with black so they wouldn't look dirty right away.)

The good news is, she loves it almost as much as she's loving preschool!

First Birthday Shirt

My little Leo turned one a few weeks ago, and this is what he wore. The pattern is Kai's Shirt from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing. The fabric is Laurie Wisbrun's Pooches & Pickups in "Small Trucks for Summer," which I bought from Hawthorne Threads.

The shirt is styled to fit big, so I knew that the 12 month size would work for Leo, even though he is a big boy. It will fit him for a while.

From what I read on Heather's Weekend Sewing flickr group, it seemed like a few people were having trouble with the collar pieces measuring up right. But I decided to do go ahead and follow the instructions and I actually had no trouble at all. As always when I join two curved pieces, I used lots and lots of pins.

I was making this just the day before his party when I realized I hadn't bought any buttons! Would you believe I found exactly five brown buttons that I have no recollection of buying in my button stash (which is 99% spare Banana Republic buttons from clothes I could no longer identify)? It was meant to be.

I was happy with it how it turned out, but next time I make him a shirt I will find a more fitted pattern. This one is good for a loose, casual look, but from straight on it looks a little boxy.

Happy First Birthday, Leo!

And next up for the blog, his coordinating party banner.

A Mermaid Birthday Party

I'm hoping I'm not the only one out there who has planned a birthday party around a 1/2 yard of fabric... but I have to admit that Heather Ross's Mendocino Mermaids was the main impetus for the theme of Louisa's third birthday party. She wanted a ballet party. I never quite convinced her that mermaids are the "ballerinas of the sea" but in the end she had such a good time I think she forgot all about tutus.

We had the party at a Mint Springs, a lake just down the road. Swimming, pizza, homemade funfetti cupcakes, temporary ballerina tattoos, chocolate seashells, and all your closest girlfriends... who could ask for more?

The starfish wands, with real starfish, were from this etsy shop. They were very cute, although the starfish fell off a couple, as you can see in the group shot above. I had two made with "boy" colored ribbons for the two boys who were invited, but one couldn't come and the other left before the photo shoot.

The dress is the same pattern I used for her birthday dress last year. Same size and everything. It's easy to change the length just by adjusting the straps when you tie it on. And luckily so, since I didn't have enough fabric to cut it much bigger.

I paid a somewhat embarrassing price for these two half-yard pieces of fabric (Mermaid Sisters Blush and Kelp Stripe) on ebay last winter and was excited to use it. I have a little bit of the mermaids in fuchsia and would love to make this doll sometime... didn't happen for the mermaid birthday though.

My mother-in-law found these chocolate seashells at Wegmans and bought them for me to put in the favor bags. They were a huge hit. The little bottles of Hello Kitty bubbles from the dollar bin at Target were also popular.

Louisa took a break from her friends to blow bubbles for Leo and his pal Vivian. She actually loves being big sister sometimes.

And now she is three!

Gold Roses

I made my most recent Weekend Away Bag (again from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing) for my other sister, Isabelle. I sent it to her at Mary Washington for Valentine's Day. It is made with Far Far Away II roses in gold (also by Heather Ross!). I lined it with an orange polka dot I found in Waynesboro.

It, of course, coordinates with the camera strap cover/pad I made her for the new camera she got for Christmas. 

The tutorial is from Skip to My Lou via Sew Mama Sew's Handmade Holidays back in December. I made one for my camera first, a Canon DSLR, and followed her measurements (mine actually matches my yoga mat bag). 

For Isabelle's, since it is the smaller Nikon with a thin strap, I measured the strap first and cut the cover a little narrower.  

I still have so many projects still on my list from the Handmade Holidays posts. Maybe I'll get to them by next year!

Weekend Away Travel Bag

Needing something to put my deodorants in when I give them as gifts, I turned to the Weekend Away Travel Bag from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing.

The bag was fairly easy to make, and pretty enjoyable except for the final stage of sewing it together. Just about killed my little machine. I had plans of lining future versions with laminated cotton for wipe-ability... I don't think so. The upholstery weight Echino Ni-Co cotton exterior (in Magenta Sunglasses) and a basic quilting cotton lining is about all I think my machine can handle when it comes to rounded corners and 1/4-inch seams through that many layers of fabric. Hand stitching around the zipper when finishing the ends was not the most fun, but it looks nice in the end.

As other reviewers pointed out, Heather forgets to mention in the book that one-way fabrics won't work, because the print is upside down on one side of the bag. I knew this going in, but decided to use the sunglasses fabric anyway because I had some left over from a tote project from last spring, and thought it might look neat with the chunky orange zipper.

This bag is going to my dear friend Christina, mother of Louisa's best pal Dorothy. Christina's birthday is this weekend, and tomorrow their whole crew is joining us for some hot buttered rum before the Crozet Christmas Parade. Yum!

I'll definitely try making this bag again, and hopefully will have better luck with those corners.