Repurposed Sweater Dress

I totally forgot to take pics before I started cutting up my old cashmere sweater. There were a couple moth holes that were to big. Initially I thought about cutting off the sleeves to make cozy winter leggings for the Piggie and a pillow for the living room with the body of the sweater. But then I realized that the hole was positioned such that required some kind patch to cover up the pillow. Then I thought a sweater dress would be prefect. I used one of her dresses as a template and cut the body, then cut the sleeves and re-attached using my serger. It turned out pretty darn cute!

I have to go back and fix the seams in the armpit. I guess I didn't close it off the first go around!

Capes

I've been busy sewing away for the Princess Birthday Party next month. The girls are getting pink princess tutus and the boys are getting royal blue capes. I used the pattern from the Long Thread to make these. I really didn't want to make them double layered, just wanted to be able to quickly zip them out. I initially tried serging the edges then fold over the seam, but that was more work than I wanted to do. So for my second attempted, I made double biased tape and finished off the edges with it instead. This was much faster, easier, and looks way better. I know the boys are going to love being Prince or super hero.

Princess Snow White

I made this Princess Snow White inspired tutu for the little Piggie to play dress up. Sometimes she's the Pink Princess and other times she wants to be Blue Princess. I still have to put the finishing touches on her Cinderella tutu I had made last month for her. This one didn't turn out quite as well as the one I was trying to mimic done by Stephanie Rose of Double Equis. I'm still pretty please with it.

 

Here's the Piggie modeling her new tutu!

2 Is Better Than 1

I finished the pink backpack for Piggie's little friend. Aren't they just adorable?

I'm so proud of my handy work.

Initially, I was going to finish the seams by serging. However, it was not very "clean" on the Piggies, so I opted to trim with pinking shears instead on the pink pack.

I even considered using bias tape, but there's too many layers of my poor little sewing machine to get through : ( Maybe some day I'll upgrade my work horse.

Cinderella

Here's the beginning of what might be a Cinderella tutu for the Piggie to play dress up. She likes to pretend to be a Blue Princess. I saw this totally adorable tutorial on Samster Mommy Blog for a Cinderella Tutu and was inspired to make one. I really like the way it is now, so don't know if I want to add the wings/flaps on the side. I'll brew on it for a while and decide later...

There's also a great idea for a Snow White inspired tutu as on Double Equis. I'm in the process of getting my materials together for that one too. I guess eventually the Piggie will have one for each of the Princesses!

Productive Week

The Piggie has totally out grown her Disney Princess Minky blanket that was given to her. I have had to order one via ebay as a back up because she can't live without it. I made a LARGE "Minnie" blanket for her this week so that she can wrap herself in it for years to come. It's actually big enough for me, Piggie and her baby brother!

My previous post gave you a glimpse of what I was doing with the recent purchase of super cute Japanese canvas materials last week. I was able to carve out a couple hours today to give the pattern a try.

Here's a work in progress series of pictures. Cutting patterns have been much easier since I purchased a self healing mat and rotary cutter! Seriously, I was able to cut in less than 15mins.

Rae's instructions on incorporating piping also made it a lot easier to tackle. I did about 75% of this project using my zipper foot on the sewing machine. It works very well with piping.

I finished in under 2 hours, including taking time out to nurse my little man.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out. 

The piping gives it a nice finished look.

The interior seams are still unfinished.  I'll probably finish it off on the serger instead of using bias tape to cover them.

It's just the right size for my little Piggie, and probably good for another couple years.  I love that it's handmade by me :)

And we don't have to worry no matter where we go that it would get mixed up with another kid.

I'll be making another one with the same print in pink with blue piping for the gift in a couple weeks.  Hope her little friend likes it : )

What a Zoo

Seriously, isn't this the cutest print ever! I made a lunch time pit stop at the Purl Soho Warehouse in Tustin today to pick up fabric for an upcoming project...birthday gift for Gracie. She just started pre-school this summer and I thought wouldn't a Toddler Backpack be great. I'm using the pattern from Made By Rae.

I still need to pick up the rest of my materials to start my project.  I'm actually going to attempt to modify and add a front zipper pocket.  Wish me luck.

Fairy Dress

I made this for my niece's 1st birthday. It's the exact same dress as the Hawaiian print one I made last year and for Leanna. I used the same fabric as the pinafores I made for the twins and added linen border and ties. This is my favorite one. It's also my most "finished" one, all the exposed seams were serged. I'm considering making one as a summer top for myself!

***Update***
Doesn't she look adorable?

Island Time

Just finished this birthday gift for Leanna's 1st birthday party this Sat. I'm posting it now because I know her mom doesn't read my blog, so no threat of ruining the surprise. Well, she already requested a Hawaiian dress for Leanna, she just doesn't know what it looks like yet. I picked up a yard of this cute pink and brown Hawaiian print at Jenny's a couple days ago.

I used the same pattern as the previous dress I made the Piggie last October. Except I didn't write down the measurements of the body of the skirt so I had estimate it again. This time I made the skirt 15 (along the fold) x 17. I hemmed the bottom of the skirt 3 inches...that way if I guessed wrong, we can always let out the length. Current measurements is for 18 - 24 months, a little large for 1 yr, but I figure she can always grow into it - we are in California!

Here's the completed dress. I can't wait to see her in it. I still have some left over fabric. I'm trying to go through some of my previous projects to see if I might be able to craft something for her mom too.

Little Mermaid

My completed market skirt.  I ran out of 1' elastic so used 3/4" instead...it gathers a little funky on the waist line.  I think its ok tho, no one's really going to see it.  I think I made it a little big too.  I followed directions for 2-3T and my little girl is petite, so she might be wearing this for a while.

Seams to Me

I'm working on my first project on my serger. I'm making a summer skirt from the left over mermaid fabric. This one will have professional looking finished edges since I'm serging it. I actually had both the sewing machine and serger out on the work table, hopping back and forth between them. Makes me wish I had a sewing room.

Car Cozy

Since the birth of the little G man, I've had no time at all to keep with the my to do project list. Initially this was to be as a Christmas gift for Parker. He's mad over Hot Wheels and his mom complains that he keeps losing them everywhere he goes. This is a great idea from Homemade by Jill. Her tutorial can be found here. I loved it the day I laid eyes on it while voting on So You Think You're Crafty.

Parker's getting this as a birthday gift instead. This was a quick and easy project. I can't wait for my little guy to get old enough for me to make him one too. What a great way to keep track of them little cars!

I'm looking forward to setting time aside for me to work on my sewing projects over the next few weeks before I go back to work at the end of my maternity leave. There's so many projects I want to do. Plus for Christmas, my hubby bought me a serger! I need to learn how to use it, and am anxious to get cranking.