My Lonsdale Muslin Doesn't Fit.

I am not very experienced in sewing for myself. I like to sew for my kids so fit isn't so particular. So one of my goals for this year is to do more sewing for me and tackle some fitting and pattern adjustment challenges that I usually avoid. So here is a big one!

I was pretty excited about making a Lonsdale Dress from Sewaholic, especially after following the sew-along last month. I even bought this fabric, and some pale pink lining, and was hoping to wear my finished dress to an early-fall wedding that is coming up in a few weeks.

I decided to make a muslin since my measurements don't fit the sizes very well. And I decided to make the whole dress, so that I could get some practice before I cut into my Anna Maria voile, which is not a cheap fabric.

It's a good thing I did because the bodice fits terribly! I made the size 8 and here it is with no adjustments...

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!

Birthday Banner

I couldn't let the Pooches & Pickups scraps from Leo's birthday shirt go to waste, so I made a penant banner/bunting/garland to decorate our porch during his party.

For Louisa's first birthday, I made a "party garland" from this tutorial on purlbee, which uses several shapes (all edges raw) and invisible thread. Unfortunately invisible thread doesn't hold up so well. Although I was able to use it again for her second birthday, it broke in several pieces and tangled very easily. This is the best picture I could find of it:

So this time, I used bias tape instead, roughly following this tutorial, although I didn't have pinking shears. I think I prefer the unfinished edges.

I made two different sizes of triangles. The larger ones are about seven inches long and six inches across the top, and the smaller ones are four long and four across. Almost all of them I cut as two layers, right sides out (with the exception of some solid broadcloth that didn't have a wrong side, so I strung them individually).

I pinned the triangles to the edge of the binding in completely random order, with just an inch or two between each flag. Then I stitched, folded the binding, and top stitched through all the layers with a contrasting zigzag.

I was particularly excited that I made this project entirely with things already in my stash (the reds and oranges were from some Amy Butler quilted potholders I made for gifts one Christmas). The bias tape was actually a package of old brown quilt binding that I cut down the middle and refolded, to make it six yards of 1/2 inch instead of three yards of one inch.

Super easy one-hour project! It is still hanging on our porch because we like it so much.

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!

Ziggity Bath Mat

My friend Kate's bridesmaids threw her an "Around the House" bridal shower this weekend. I was assigned the bathroom. I was trying to think of something I could make her for that room, when I came across the "Ziggity Mug Rug" tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew!, and remembered all the Amy Butler fabric that I had leftover from making these hourglass pillows.

I used a grey hand towel for the backing and based my measurements for the fabric strips on that. They ended up being 11.5 x 4.75" each, which gave me a couple of inches to spare and made it easier to center the zigzag.

I used an old towel for batting to give it a little more weight, and quilted around all of the seams like he suggested in the mug rug tutorial. I had originally planned to sew right sides together and turn it (like in this tutorial), but it was too thick to try that, so I ended up binding it with store-bought quilt-binding. 

Then, thinking that hand-sewing anything on a something you stand on at the bathroom sink was a little cooky, I tried sewing the bias tape down with the machine. After one section I realized that was going to look like crud (as you can see in the picture above), so I took it out and hand-finished the binding after all. A little fancy for a bathmat, but the colors are perfect. 

The fabric is from Amy Butler's Nigella line, home décor weight, in passion vine "stone" and "celery." My mom and I found it at Valley Fabrics in Stuarts Draft for just $6.50 a yard last year and we bought it all up between the two of us. Sadly, we've never seen Amy Butler or any of my other favorite fabrics there since. 

Showers of happiness to Kate and Nick!

Problem... solved.

Fourth of July Parade

I usually love the tutorials on made, but when I saw the one for Ruffled Streamers... with all the projects on my to do list, I did't see myself sitting behind my machine and sewing together yards and yards of crepe paper. 

But when she posted it again with a patriotic twist, I was suddenly inspired. We were decorating my dad's iconic 1971 GMC truck for the Crozet Gazette float in the Crozet Fourth of July parade, and ruffling my red and blue streamers together suddenly seemed like a must-do. 

I used the trick of keeping the rolls turning on a dowel and it was really quick work. She says she used the tightest tension on her machine, and even held the spool of thread to boost the tension more, but I only had to set my machine's tension at 7 (out of 10). At 10 the ruffles were too tight. I wish it was so simple to ruffle fabric.

My other day-of craft project for the parade was the bunting for the truck's grill. I made the CROZET flags in Illustrator to add to Martha Stewart's "festive pennants" download from the July issue. Printed them on my own printer. I punched holes in the corners and strung it on kitchen twine. 

The truck didn't win any parade awards but it was still my favorite float. Plus they threw some nice candy.