Let's Go Fly a Kite

It was over a year ago that I pinned the "Let's Go Fly a Kite" Sundress to my Pinterest boards. That, as you may have noticed, was before Rosa was even born. And since that time, I've been waiting for the opportune moment to have a go at this dress for myself! 

So many things to love about this design -- the curved bodice, the contrasting fabrics, the hem band. It's sweet and simple, but a bit more than your average sundress.

I stuck with the tutorial for the most part, save for omitting the gathers in the front, adding buttons down the back, and adding a panel in the side seam (my new favorite way to add wearing ease to a baby dress that doesn't have pleats or gathers). The side panel ended up a bit smaller than I intended, due to a calculation error, but it still does its job quite nicely. You can just see it in the bottom left corner of the picture above.

A little look at the inside -- this is the side panel

I took my time with this dress, as I had only half a yard of each fabric. French seams on the inside, with both bodice and hem band lined for a clean finish.

The fabric, by the way, is the same used for my cathedral window pincushion: Mimosa in robin's egg blue and Cotton Puffs in candy apple red from the Avalon collection by Moda.

After whipstitching the hem band lining, I realized that somehow the left side was
1/4" longer than the right! *sigh* Fortunately, it was easy enough to go back and
fix the error!

Vintage buttons all down the back -- I'm so nervous about buttonholes, but there was really no other way to go with this dress. Serendipitously, they're some of the best buttonholes I've done.

I didn't intend to gather the shoulder straps, but when I tried the dress on little Rosa, I quickly realized that she wouldn't be able to wear the dress until next year unless I made some modifications. A quick casing job (not the criminal kind!) and two pieces of elastic solved the problem. It's roomy on her, but it fits well enough -- and I can remove the elastic next year so she can wear it again!

A bit of ribbon detailing topped off this project. Now that I've got the design figured out, there will certainly be more of these in Rosa's future!

Roped Into Coral

The nautical influence continues -- this time it's a cap sleeve tee in coral (which always reminds me of reefs), with a "rope" detail at the neckline.

Somone forgot to conceal the camera remote. Oops... 

I used iCandy handmade's Perfect fitted cap sleeve tee tutorial (that's a mouthful!). I made some adjustments from her pattern, since I wanted to raise the neckline and narrow the neckhole width. I also had to adjust the side seams, as it was too big. Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out. For my next tee, I'll be drafting my own pattern -- I took this patternmaking workshop by Cal Patch during my one-month Creativebug subscription.* I'm looking forward to designing a tee based on my personal measurements -- and I learned so much about pattern drafting in general!

But I digress. The fabric for this tee was a coral cotton spandex from Girl Charlee (no longer available, it seems). Their cotton spandex is delightful! It's the perfect weight for a tee, and so far I've found the durability quite acceptable. It's not going to last for years, but the cost-per-wear ratio is entirely satisfactory to me ($6 for a yard, so if I wear it twenty times it's only $0.30 per wear).

After finishing the neckline with a band, I took two narrow strips of jersey and twisted them as I applied them to the tee. Quite honestly, I just plopped the tee on Yvonne (my dressform), pinned the "rope" on, and stitched it by hand while it was still on the dressform. Worked like a charm.

Knits are definitely the "fabric" of my life as a mom (pun intended). Their stretchiness makes them both comfortable and transitional (early pregnancy, post partum, nursing, and "normal" wear). From my experience, though, it's very difficult to find thrifted (or inexpensive) knit tops that aren't too tight, too revealing, or too worn out. Being able to choose the color, style, and fit of my knit tops is such a luxury! As soon as I get a basic tee pattern worked up, I'm going to summon the nerve to experiment with collars, plackets, ruffles, and such.

The weather here in Florida continues to be forbidding, but my sewing forecast is looking bright. And stretchy.


* You can use the coupon code AUGPROMO to get your first month of Creativebug for $9.95! Presumably that expires at the end of August? I did about $100 worth of workshops in one month -- I made sure to save patterns and write down the instructions, since you lose access to the workshops when you cancel your monthly subscription (buying the workshops individually gives you lifetime access, but it's obviously more expensive if you want to take multiple workshops).

Needled

After finishing up my new pincushion, I quickly realized that there was one function it could not fulfill. It is an excellent pin cushion. It is a dreadful needle cushion. My former pincushion passed muster for needles (barely), but frequent pricks to my digits when reaching for a pin were less than ideal. But my new cushion? Its depth would doubtless have led to the loss of many a sharp! 

Time for a new cushion, wouldn't you agree? 

I used this tutorial for a cathedral window pincushion, and found it quite easy to follow. The only change I made was to reduce the size by two inches, as the initial size was quite large! My cushion is about 4" wide, and it's just right for my needs. I've never done this type of quilt block before, and was fascinated by how it all came together. Rather like origami, in my opinion.

I used a vintage red button for the top, and secured the bottom with another button (to achieve the desired amount of "puff").

As for the fabric? Remnants of "Avalon" by Moda (here's the blue and here's the red) that I had leftover from a dress for Rosa (photos of which will be forthcoming). I fell in love with these two prints when I found them in a local shop, and I was so pleased that I could squeeze out one more project -- especially for something that I'll be using regularly.

Now that my pins and needles sorted out, all is well in the sewing room.

Now All I Need is a Yacht

Since my wardrobe's been under construction this summer, I decided to add a bit of nautical influence -- a friend that I follow on Pinterest has a board devoted to all things nautical, and it left me craving something similar in my closet! Now that Pablo's in the Navy, it somehow seems appropriate. *wink*

I scratched that itch with Girl Charlee's Navy Blue and White Stripe Cotton Spandex. I debated over making a maxi skirt, but in the end I decided two maxi skirts (black and black/white stripe) were enough, and it would be more frugal to only buy one yard of fabric for this project. It's dreamily soft and stretchy, though I found that the fibers are... hmm... long? It's difficult to describe. The fabric doesn't pill, but the blue fibers brush down over the white, which takes away from the crispness of the stripe when you're looking at it closely. Overall, I don't mind it, and I doubt that anyone but me has actually noticed.

It's Silas Marner, in case you're wondering. *wink* Though it's
been ages since I've actually read the book...

I used the same skirt pattern that I drafted for my black stripe maxi, and it worked wonderfully. I was determined to have perfectly matched stripes, and since the back and front pieces of the skirt are identical, I didn't think it would be too difficult. Cutting it out was a pain (both mentally and visually -- my eyes were about to go nuts from concentrating on the stripes!), but not difficult overall. 

To keep the stripes horizontal, I used a full pattern piece (rather than a 'cut on the fold' half-piece). Because of that, I could open the fabric to get a more accurate cut. By drawing corresponding marks on each side of the pattern piece every 7 inches (or so), I could match each mark to a stripe to ensure that everything was aligned correctly.

For someone who hates pinning as much as I do, this was pure agony. *wink*

After cutting, I pinned every blue stripe up the side of the skirt. The first side seam was spot on! The other seam? Well, let's just say I had to rip out most of the seam four times before finally getting it "just so." I still have no idea why that seam was so troublesome.

I used white cotton spandex (which I'd purchase for another project) to make the waistband -- I didn't relish the idea of working with more stripes, and I thought the white knit was a better weight for the waistband. Since I never tuck shirts into this kind of skirt, it will be never be seen, anyway!

I think a yacht would be a better backdrop, don't you?

I'm so glad I went with a midi length for this skirt. As it turns out, I've been able to make multiple outfit combinations, so this has become a versatile and often-worn part of my wardrobe!

Ruffles in Gauze

A remnant of pink gauze from my stash came in quite handy a few months back when Rosa needed a new skirt. It's turned out to be a staple in her wardrobe, in all its ruffly sweetness.

It was quite an improvised project -- a slightly A-line skirt shape, with three layers of ruffles stitched on and a casing waistband topping it off. Happily, it still fits her; it'll be a sad day when she finally outgrows it!

I've had my fair share of project failures, so it's lovely when a garment turns out the way I imagined it. If it turns out to be practical, so much the better! And now, of course, I have even more justification for that fabric stash...