Sunday, May 27, 2012

Pillowcase Dress

We have a sweet cousin who has eyes this blue and it's going to be her birthday soon!


I knew I wanted to make her a dress, so when I saw Simple Simon's Pillowcase Dress I had to give it a try.  It only touches her body at one point, which makes it so very cool for the hot climate she lives in.


And so simple!  Make a tube about 1 1/2 the width of the chest, make a elastic casing, add a ruffle and straps.


It made Kewpie want to twirl.  But pretty much anything with ruffles makes Kewpie want to twirl.  We hope our cousin loves it too!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Blue Knit shirt to dress

I don't have any during pictures for this.


So I'll just have to explain.  I took a soft knit shirt, cut it off at the neckline and cut off the sleeves.  I sewed up the holes left from the sleeves and there I had a tube for the main part of the dress.


I took the leftover fabric and sewed it into a tube that was about an inch less wide than my dress-tube.  Then I sewed it to the top of the dress tube, stretching it to fit as I sewed.



Last of all, I took the ribbing from the neck of the shirt and cut it up to make straps.  Beautiful color, soft and comfy.  Perfect for the coming warm season.  (Or a cold day, as this day was.)

Monday, May 21, 2012

Brocade Skirt

I absolutely love this fabric.


I chose it for my bridesmaids' skirts.

I still have mine.  (Don't tell me, bridesmaids, if you threw yours out.  I don't want to know.)

I discovered recently the runners my mom had made for the tables at my reception, and decided that I would make a matching skirt for Kewpie.

The runners were about this wide, so I serged them together and then gathered them and sewed them to a waistband that included an elastic casing.

Pretty simple, but with such intricate fabric, anything fancier would be too much.

My mom made a sweet toddler dress that fits Xena and now my two girls and I are matchy-matchy.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Busy with....

I've been busy lately.  This is what I've finished.




Much more to come!


Monday, May 14, 2012

Cut-offs

Kewpie tore a hole in the knees of some cute pink pants, and I felt so bad about it.  Then I thought of a fun way to save them:  cut them off.


I also cut off the cute hems on the pants.


Then I sewed the original hem to my new hem.


And walah.  Still cute, but now they're shorts.


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Hat from a Pattern


I never use patterns.  I think I like the idea that "I can do it myself."  I must still be two at heart. 

But my little Kewpie Doll needed a hat, because she inherited our pale, pale skin, and I didn't feel courageous enough to figure this out without a pattern.  AND my Mother-in-law had given me a hat pattern two years ago that made this sweet little reversible hat.  Looking at this hat makes me want to go back and line Kewpie's current hat.  The contrasting fabric is rather cute.


Remembering how floppy the hat was last time, I found some stiffer fabric to use this time.  But I didn't want to take the time to make two hats and sew them together, so I only used interfacing on the brim to make it stiffer.  Silly me.  Being in a hurry is what has caused most problems in my life.

If you wanted to, you could probably come up with a pattern for a hat.  It's fairly simple.

First you need the top. I measured and discovered how much Kewpie's head had grown in the past two years, and added a little extra fabric around each pattern piece to accommodate for the larger head.



Then you need a crown, which connects to the top. This pattern cut on the fold, so it looks shorter than it is.  It needs to fit all the way around your head with a little bit of room for a seam.



Then you need a brim, that connects to the crown.





The most difficult part is trying to sew the crown, which is a straight line, to the top, which is circular, and then the brim, which is circular, to the crown, which is straight.

It calls for a lot of easing, and with my simple skills, it never quite turns out professionally.  But perhaps I look at it more critically than anyone else would.


Kewpie loves it, and it protects her sweet little face and that's what counts.  AND it did only take about 30 minutes.