Purl Soho Sunbonnets

I have been enjoying this free pattern for a sunbonnet the last few months.  I used it for the first time last summer when I needed a fix of sewing something itty bitty before Baby arrived.  These two turned out adorable and SO tiny.  They, of course, were quickly outgrown but I remembered that the pattern came together easily and quickly and so I gave it a whirl again last month.

This is the 12-18 month size (there are no corresponding head circumference measurements that I could find so sizing is a wild guess).  I also extended the length of the visor by in inch or so to make a really long visor.  It works perfectly!  The bonnet part keeps the long visor facing forward (no twisting when she turns her head) and the long visor provides really good sun protection.  It has worked great in the stroller and in the carseat.  This one is all quilting cotton (with lightweight interfacing in only the visor portion).

Then I made another alteration and completely removed the visor for this winter version.  Cotton on the outside, fleece on the inside.  The fleece took up an amazing amount of space/bulk so I sized up at least one size, maybe even two.  I love the full ear and cheek coverage this warm hat gives.  And again, no twisting or sliding down on her eyes like stocking caps sometimes do.  Plus - it's adorable!

I see many more of these in her future... we'll just keep sizing up.   They sew up super fast - you can start and finish one in an hour.  If you're lucky enough to have an uninterrupted hour to sew, that is.  ;)

Then a relative e-mailed out of the blue asking for a bonnet and apron for her daughter for an elementary school field trip where the kids are invited to dress up old fashioned.  I took a random guess and copied the pattern at 125%.  I was shooting for something to fit an eight year old.  Its a bit big so maybe 115% would have been better.  (This one also has the extended visor.  Handy on the prairie but if tunnel vision isn't your thing we've found that its easy to fold the visor back on itself so it sticks out only half as far.)

Thanks for the great free pattern, Purlsoho!

Chambray Geranium Dress and Lavender Linen Building Block Dress... and a pink poly satin experiment

I have been meaning to take nice photos of some dresses I made this spring, intending to write up a post for each dress detailing the pattern I used and the changes I made, etc.  It turns out I'm far too busy with a mobile baby and two tweens to do silly things like organize photoshoots of dresses.  After stalling for over a month I've thrown in the towel and will just post the couple of pictures I have with a short description and call it good.  It will catalog the projects for my memory and then I can take it off my To Do list.  I admire the results of the sewing bloggers who get dressed up in handmades, do their hair, travel around town for cool photo shoot locations, take 100 pictures, analyze and edit those 100 pictures into 10 great ones and then post for all us blog-readers to see.  Weekly.  I will gladly look at and admire their posts but that is not me.  So, here's the quick and dirty post thats been sitting and waiting...

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I somehow managed to make three new Easter dresses for my girls.  I started with the baby dress, then moved on to the 12 year old, and then the 10 year old was last in line because she already had a few nice dresses to pick from.  Somehow I got them all done.  

First up is the baby dress.
We won't talk about the fact that she's already outgrown it.
I knew that would happen and I'm still glad I made it.

Here are a couple of pictures I took when it was finished but not yet worn.  The color is most accurate in the last one - its a pretty blue/gray chambray.

I hand embroidered the butterfly.  

Here are the wiggly pictures.  This was after church so wrinkles abound.  

Its a Geranium dress from Made By Rae.  This was the first time I used the pattern but I can tell it will get used again and again.  Super simple, classy style lines, and easy to change up/customize.   The chambray fabric, the mint cotton bodice lining, and the sparkly mint buttons all came from my stash.  Yeah for a 'free' dress.  

Next up is a Building Block dress from Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S.  Again, this was a first use of a book/pattern that I think will get heavy use in the future.  The book has all the bits and bobs to make a bunch of different dresses, along with great instructions.  I was very impressed with the drafting and instructions in this pattern/book.  I could tell they were done by a professional who knows what she's talking about when it comes to drafting.  No shortcut-both-sides-of-the-sleeve-cap-drafted-the-same-because-its-close-enough-and-noone-will-know.  Liesl follows the rules.  The basic pattern is well done and the instructions for all the bits and bobs teach you how to draft the parts correctly.  Its a great reference book for those of us who like to draft and hack patterns. 

Leah looked through the book and designed this one herself.  It has a drop waist, a sailor collar, and elbow length sleeves.  (For the record she also wanted a scalloped hem but I had to draw the line somewhere if it was going to be finished in time.)  I wasn't sure I would like the drop waist style, but it really looks great on her.  She's so tall and thin - the proportions work well on her.  I also had this lavender linen and white cotton in my stash.  A second 'free' dress!   I can't even remember what I originally intended the linen and chambray for but I'm glad they've been used in these projects.  

The third dress is where my sewing mojo ran out.  Grace has been asking for a replacement dress for her All Time Favorite Pink Dress for quite some time.  (Side note... I made that dress in 2012 and its been worn more times than probably anything else I've made.  People at church didn't know what to think if Grace wasn't in her pink dress.)  The baby dress and the drop waist dress came together so nicely I was inspired to whip up the pink dress in a few days so all three girls could be dressed up for Easter.  In hindsight I should have quit while I was ahead because I rushed and ended up with a dress that needed fixing after its first wear and I didn't enjoy the process of making it.  Live and learn.  Now that I'm back in the intense period of mothering a baby/toddler I need to make better choices about what I choose to sew.  I have so little time to sew I have to make sure I take on projects I really want to make and to do them in a way that I can enjoy the process as much as the finished product.  Anyway, I digress.  

A few days before Easter I whipped up a dress in pink satin from JoAnn's with an experimental draft that I was pretty sure would work.  I did a v-neck, a faux cap sleeve, and a circle skirt.  And I guess, technically, it worked because she wore the dress on Easter.  But even before it was finished I knew I'd be tweaking it later.  Here is the Easter version.  

(Pretty useless back photo due to that long thick hair...)

Looking at the pictures now, I think its better than I thought it was at the time.  I was so relieved to be done that all I saw were the dress's faults...  but its actually not a bad looking dress.  However, after Easter I redid the sleeves (she didn't liked the faux cap sleeve) and took in the side seams a bunch.  Oh, and added sparkle trim because the All Time Favorite Pink Dress had sparkle trim.  It was a bit of a hack job because I had already sewn the fully lined dress with a lap zipper and didn't want to pick out the zipper to access the sleeve innards.  I had to fix it from the outside and then topstitch the armholes.  Not gorgeous by any means, but life happens.  

(See my helper on the bottom there?)  ;) 

So, here's my three cuties in their handmades on Easter!  

Two winners and the third is still wearable - I'll take it (the dresses and the lessons learned) and carry on.