Another Sewing Saturday

If there is someone out there that enjoys their sewing machine or serger more than I do then please step forward! I could do an advertisement for Bernina sewing machines and Babylock sergers. They both helped me complete a dress in one day!
My granddaughter needs a dress to wear to a father-daughter dance...and my creative wheels began to turn. For a little girl I did not want the dress to be too grown-up but it is a very special occasion. I found some candlelight satin at JoAnn's and some tulle with a slight glitter finish on it and I began to dream. I really wanted to keep it looking like a little girl, not a prom dress. I have never sewn tulle but can say even now that it is not easy....it seems to have a mind of its own. I was able to make the tulle an overlay on the full skirt, just to give the dress a dressy look. You may not be able to tell that from the pictures. The double-faced satin ribbon adds a nice touch. I was pleased at its outcome.
The pants are for my grandson. I love the brown knit with animals on it...just too cute to pass up for a little boy. That "Britches and Bloomers" pattern is a great one for boys. I put two pockets on his backside. The madras is a little early for now but will be perfect when spring comes and is still a little cool. I love that patch madras.
The ruffle-legged pants for my granddaughter are from a Pink Fig pattern.....they remind me a lot of the Portobello Pixie pant pattern but these have 4 ruffles instead of three. I hope she will be able to walk in them! I could not pass up that happy, splashy spring pattern. I am so proud of the ruffles that were all done with the ruffler attachment on my new sewing machine...NICE!
Maybe I have inspired you to get sewing. I did take a wonderful long walk-break today because of some really nice warm weather. I know that when the weather does change my yard will be calling me so I had better get my Saturday sewing done now!
Happy creating!

Back to Sewing

My poor blog! I have been neglecting it and will try to do better.
I have been busy enjoying the holiday season and things have finally settled down. For Christmas I received a wonderful new Babylock serger and a new Bernina 730 sewing and embroidery machine. To say that I have been busy sewing would be an understatement. Last weekend I spent 4 days in a condo in Pigeon Forge with 2 dear high school buddies sewing....yes, we would sew until 1 or 2 a.m. and then get up the next day and do it again. If you have never done this you need to try it. We would get each other's opinions on everything we were making. We shared recipes, food, sewing tips...it was great. I cut out all of the outfits I took to sew and was able to get everything put together that I took with me. I have put pictures of the outfits with his posting so that you can see what I made.
I stole a wonderful idea from my friend Chyrl. She was making these really cute t-shirt dresses and she helped me choose fabrics to make one for my granddaughter. I liked the idea so much that I made 3 and you can see them in the pictures. I tried to find a t-shirt at Target to use but there were none so I found mine at WalMart. They are the "Faded Glory" brand and they worked out fine. I cut the shirt off one and a half inch below the armhole (the half-inch allows for a seam). Find 3 fabrics that you like that will complement one another. I cut each piece of fabric 6 inches wide and left them the width of the fabric (all were 45 inches wide). I ran all 3 pieces of cloth horizontally and seamed them to each other. You will have the skirt made...just join the backs with a seam, gather the top of the skirt with a gather thread and attach to the top of the t-shirt you have cut. Now you will have an adorable dress! I embellished mine with ric-rac and ruffles. Use your imagination and have fun. I think theses dresses will be co cute with leggings.
There are pictures of the items I was able to complete last weekend. Two of the outfits were rompers for my grandson.
The ballerina tutu and name are my very first try at using my applique and monogram modules on my machine. It is such fun to see them come together.
I hope I have inspired you!