Annabelle's Easter dress

The pattern is from the Ottobre 3/08 issue.  It is pattern #4, the 2 in 1 dress.  The panty underneath is all one with the dress, so it covers the diaper.  It is definitely large enough for a cloth diaper with an extra liner underneath.  I made it from the yellow print with blue underneath because I like unusual color blends.  The top is a Monag blank that I cut the sleeves off and lettuce edged.  I have several long sleeve blanks and I need to use them up eventually...here's the first one. 

The lettuce edging is just as easy with my regular machine as it is with the serger.  It's a bit slower but it works just fine.  I really like how it looks.

The bodice was a challenge.  The straps are elasticized and you sew them to the front of the bodice first; next, you put the back together and then have to sew the back to the front with the straps already in place.  It requires a little maneuvering but now that I have experienced it once it wouldn't be so hard the next time. 

When I made the underskirt I just put it right sides together like always with a dress, only to remember when I was done that it needed to be right side of bodice to wrong side of skirt so the skirt faces out and the bodice faces in.  It was a good experience in paying attention; ripping out 2 rows of stitching and then redoing the gathering and sewing it all again was a lesson I won't soon forget.  It all came out in the end, though.

Now I am going to make some Easter outfits for my daughter's 4 boys and I might even have time to make myself a new dress in the next week so I have an Easter dress, too.

The plants are budding and it will be greening soon.  The grass is growing and the forsythia bushes are getting ready to pop out their pretty yellow "winter is over!" declaration.  I can't wait.  I love gardening and playing in the dirt.  So do the chickens. 

Enough for now.  Time to go pick out patterns for Easter clothes.  Blessings on you and yours.

Of grandsons and frogs

This weekend I got to keep Kenny and Patrick overnight.  We had a good time.  We went to the store and got some things and then came home in the rain and mud.  It was no fun getting up the hill.  The rain has made the few inches of unfrozen topsoil more like a mix of quicksand and mud than ground.  I really had to struggle to get my footing.  Now the boys - that was something else.  They are so small and light it wasn't an issue for them.

We came in the house and had some cheap cardboard pizza.  The boys ate well so I gave them M&Ms.  It was bathtime after that and I let them stay in till they told me they were cold.  They got in their new sweats and put on some socks, brushed their teeth and went to bed.  I think they were asleep in less than 10 minutes.

While they were sleeping I made Kenny some new underwear.  This kid doesn't like wearing underwear and he "forgot" to put them on, again.  He doesn't like snug undies against his tummy.  He's been this way since he was sick.  Anyhow, he and his brothers like the underwear I make them far better than store-bought ones made in a third-world country.  First off, they're durable.  Secondly, they're original.  Lastly, I can make them in whatever fabric the boys choose from my stash, and they get a real kick out of it.

So, here are they are.  Once again, I used the Ottobre 4-04 issue, pattern #37, in size 98 this time.  I really like this pattern aside from the fact that the seams are exposed. 

Kenny is delighted with his froggy underwear.  The kid is stuck on frogs with a vengeance.  I think it's probably my fault, at least partially.  His crib set was frogs.  Lots of the clothes I bought him had frogs on them.  His first birthday quilt was frogs, his second birthday present was a stuffed frog, and lots of stuff he has is froggy.  And, when he was in the hospital and wouldn't let Mom take his frog quilt to wash it, I made him another frog quilt so she could wash the first one.  So yeah, it's kinda my fault.

I have a ton of underwear, for boys and girls, cut out and ready to sew.  I need to do them, but first I really want to get A's jacket done.  It's getting cold again and I know she could use it.  I think I will make that my goal for this week.  Once I set to, it will be done in no time.  Then I need to make Alex's birthday skirt, another Ottobre pattern, and a top to go with it.  She's going to love it!  She is in the princess-y phase now and loves all things pink and purple and princess and fairy.  Thank goodness it isn't a difficult theme to find fabrics for.

Okay, off to clean the litter box and then check for eggs.  My life is so thrilling I can't stand it.

SWAP...sewing with a plan/purpose

I have been busy the last several days making some clothes for my grandchildren in Florida. I do a lot of sewing for the kids up here, and I felt like it was a good time to do some special things for Alex and Tobie. This is the first outfit I made for Alex. The top is made from Ooga Booga fabric and the pants are made from rib knit. I really like this look. I hope she does, too. I added the rose because, as usual, I messed up the V on the inset. I never can get those things right! However, I think the flower looks good on the top.

This outfit is made from Laurel Burch cat fabric and some midweight black broadcloth. I tied the two pieces together by making the upper ruffle on the top out of the black fabric and adding the cat appliques on the pants legs. It has been a while since I did an applique; fortunately, I remembered how to do it. I did have to clean the iron because one of the back pieces of the double fusible interfacing came off and it got the iron all gooey. I haven't done that in a while. The interfacing was old, though, and it tends to separate much easier when it gets older for some reason. The iron looks nice and clean now. I need to clean it more often; it would make things easier in the long run.

This dress is really kinda neat, though the directions for gathering the top part weren't very clear. There is elastic on the bottom gathered part; I thought when I bought it that it might be shirred, but instead it's just elastic inside a casing. The top gathered part is gathered and stitched. The directions merely say to pull it up to fit. I'm not sure I like that. It would have been a lot nicer to tell how wide to leave it. The lines also don't go quite far enough out on one side and the gathering ended up a little uneven. Of course, most people who look at it won't see those flaws...sewists are most critical of their own work.

The panties and cami in this picture were made with patterns in the Ottobre 4/04 issue. It took me 3 tries to get the piping on the panties right. Next time I will baste it in place before using the serger to sew the pieces together. I like the look of this pattern. Alex doesn't like her panties covering her tummy so this is a perfect design for her. It's also neat that this cami can double as a tank top.

This set was made from a Kwik Sew pattern that is now out of print. I don't know quite why they took their panties for girls and briefs for boys out of circulation. They could be making a lot of money if people could buy them somewhere besides Etsy, Ebay or other auction sites. I know the sewing group I moderate looks for these patterns and grabs them up as soon as they show up in a listing.

The cami in this set has lace across the top of it. I sewed it into place with two side by side lines of zigzag stitching and then used my embroidery scissors to trim the fabric that was underneath it, cutting close to the sewing. It was my second try at the lace, though I've done it before. Somehow I got the lace on the first top out of alignment and the point of the V ended up pointing to the left of the top instead of straight down. I must admit, though, that it looks nice and dressy. I really enjoyed making these sets.

This outfit was made for my youngest grand-daughter Anna Belle Rose. She's a precious little thing with a beautiful smile and she has her Oma wrapped right around her little finger. It's so good that she's close and I see her often; it helps ease the pain of having 3 grandchildren living on the property next to ours that I can't visit or call or talk to. I keep praying Becky will let go of the hate and bitterness she is holding on to so tightly, but at this point praying is all I can do. Anyhow, this is also made from an Ottobre pattern set. I made it a little on the large side but she will be able to wear it all winter long with no problem. Mom and Dad can even put socks and a onesie under it and it won't be too tight on her. It has plenty of room for her cloth diapers, too.




These are panties I made with the scraps from Alex's outfits. They are designated for a charity donation. Once I get Tobie's things done, I will add the extra boys' briefs I make to the girls' panties and send them to the lady I know who gives them to the spouse abuse shelter in her town. Our little area has way enough clothes for the moms and kids who need to find refuge in the shelter here. Not every shelter is so blessed. Not only that, but people often forget that clothing includes panties. Jeans and shirts and shorts and skirts and dresses are well and good, but you need undies, too....at least I do!


I have two of Tobie's shirts cut out. I need to cut out one more and then I'm going to make him a pair of jams, or board type big long shorts, but not the kind that he can house....I think that looks nasty and it makes the young men look like they don't have any respect for their own bodies. I'm also going to try to make him a pair of pants. It might be a bit tough because he's in that pre-adolescent pudgy stage and he's 1200 miles away so fitting is non-existent, but I'm gonna give it a good try. If nothing else, I'll make him some sweat-style pants out of a lighter fabric since it doesn't get all that cold in Florida.


Okay. I need to go do some dishes and eat and then get to sewing. I just wanted to put this in writing before I forgot.