Gifts from the Bug

I still have a few Christmas gift posts if that's o.k.  This extra cold and snowy weather has just left me lacking focus and the desire to blog. But I can't let these sweet gifts go without sharing.

I always like to have Lily make a few Christmas gifts for people because I think there is great joy in giving homemade. I wish I could do more of it and I want her to see the value in giving of your time and talents.

So this year, we got our hands on some Stained by Sharpie fabric markers.  We found ours at Target but you can get them on Amazon or probably in most big box or craft stores.

She did a little sewing and a little drawing and came up with several really unique gifts for special people in our family.

She made a bicycle ornament for her Uncle who loves cycling.

Look how proud and excited she is for Grandpa to open his gift!

She made him a pillow with a picture of him at his drum set.  I love the drum set. . . all the detail of it. . . all just from her head, she wasn't looking at a picture or anything.

We found the Sharpies were much easier to use than other fabric markers we've tried.  I'm not sure how they will hold up to washing.  They are supposed to be washable though. Time will tell if they fade or bleed I guess.

For one of the last gifts she made festive tea towels.  First she drew a scene on paper, then I traced it onto the towel in black.  Once it was traced, she went back in and colored them.

They turned out so cute I can hardly handle it. I wish I'd thought to have her make one for me! Maybe next year.

~Lindsay

Christmas bags for Mom

So I just found this blog post buried in my folder.

I made this reversible sling style purse for my mom for Christmas 2012. 

Unfortunately I don't remember anything about what pattern I used or what fabrics these are.

The strap ties with a cute knot on top.

Since it is reversible I didn't put in a whole lot of pockets, just one little zipper pocket.

How's that for a throwback post, huh? Better late than never.

And though I don't have great photos of the bag I made for my mom this year, I'm going to post them anyway so that I don't forget about this for another year.

Mom got a new laptop for her birthday back in October and heavily hinted that her eldest daughter could make her a laptop bag for Christmas.

 Forgive the messy bedroom, bad cell phone photos.  

This bag is made from the Spencer pattern from Swoon.  It was hard to find a laptop bag pattern! This was the only one I could find that was big enough but it was really cute so I went with it.

The fabric is a home decor weight that I found at fabric.com.  It was my second or third choice since the first fabric I chose came and was just all wrong texture and scale wise. But I like it.

 The piping detail really adds a professional, very finished look to the bag.

 This was the first, and possibly the last, Swoon pattern I have tried.  While I did eventually come out with a very professional looking bag, I found myself agonizing over the pattern and instructions from the get go.  It seemed incomplete in several places. I don't know if the problem was with me or with the pattern ultimately but it was an exercise in frustration. The worst part was trying to wrangle this bag through my machine.  There is a lot of stiff interfacing in this thing. It helps it maintain it's shape and hopefully will help the bag stand up to abuse but golly was it a pain.  I ended up hand sewing quite a few parts that the instructions said to sew on the machine because I just couldn't get it to work.

I hear lots of great feedback for Swoon Patterns in blog land and on facebook so perhaps this particular pattern was just not a good place to start?  Maybe I will forget the pain, like with childbirth. We'll see. They do have a lot of really nice bag patterns that look very polished and professional.  How cute is this Stella Weekender?  Or Betty Bowler?

The lining is made from another fabric.com find. It's kind of a sketchy gray chevron twill. I had a hard time deciding which of the two fabrics should be the outer and which the inner. I decided this one was probably too light in color for the outside of a bag and would get too dirty. But I do think it's super cute.

Ultimately, the bag turned out great and my mom loves it so the blood, sweat and tears were totally worth it.  I just won't be taking special orders!

~Lindsay

Pattern Testing for Ana Davis

I recently participated in some pattern testing for fabric designer, Ana Davis. She is releasing a new line of sewing patterns through her Etsy shop, AnaDavisLtd.

This pattern testing was unlike tests I've done in the past because Ana sent all of her testers lovely yardage from her fabric collections Pippa, Animal Parade and Spring Promise to sew these things up in.

Forgive my photos, in the Christmas rush of things the best I could manage was quick snapshots on my phone. But at least I made it outside to catch some good light on most of them! That's something, right?

This sweet little dress is the Dorothy Dress, sewn in 18 mo. size and gifted to my sweet little niece. It will be a while before she is big enough to model for us since she's just a wee little thing.  I think it will look nice summer or winter with long sleeves and tights underneath.

The yoke was a little tricky but I figured it out with only minor trouble and since the test, the instructions and diagrams have been updated a bit to aid in the process.  It's such a nicely finished little dress. So sweet.

This is the Pia Pleat Skirt, an adult sized pattern, made from the Pippa line of fabrics.  My test version has an extra wide waistband because that pattern piece was mis-sized but it's kind of a neat effect anyway.

If you know me, sewing for myself (or any adult for that matter) is out of my comfort zone but Ana's instructions, even in the "rough" pre-tested stage walked me through the process with confidence. The few hiccups I came across have been fixed in the final pattern (along with a slimmer waistband).

This skirt is so cute, my photos don't do it justice as you can hardly see the peak of contrasting fabric inside those pleats.  

This pillow... the Dorm Pillow, is the easiest pattern I tested.  Even so, I messed it up. This is what happens when I think I know what I'm doing and don't consult the pattern every single step.  There are supposed to be three narrow stripes in the middle but I put two of them on the outside.  Doesn't effect the functionality in any way, and in this case, I like it.  I didn't notice until my sister, who was testing the same pattern, brought hers to my house for Christmas.  She, of course, did it the right way.

Whatever. 

I still love it. This is the one project of the four that I kept for myself.  It doesn't particularly go with my living room but it's there anyway.  It's a nice big 20" x 20" size.  When I took these photos, my pillow form hadn't come yet so you are only seeing the pillow cover and it's hard to see the scale. Sorry about that.

The last thing I tested was the Isabella Tunic.  I think I was most nervous about this one. It's been a long time since I've sewn a ladies top.  The style of this one is simple and classic.  I fell in love with the green accent fabric. Go figure, it's from an older line and impossible to find now.

The tunic really is super cute. 

If you are on the lookout for some new things to sew, check out Ana's Etsy shop.  The patterns are reasonably priced and they are PDF downloads (which rocks for the immediate gratification factor).  She has these above patterns and also some really cute pillow patterns that would be GREAT for a beginning seamstress.

And if you are on the lookout for some cute fabric (and really, aren't we all?), check out these lines and her newer ones, Clementine and True Blue.

~Lindsay

Christmas Princess

The Bug got to choose her own Christmas dress this year. 

She picked the Ballerina Girl pattern from Ellie Inspired. This is the first Ellie Inspired pattern I've used and it was a little different than what I'm used to but it turned out beautifully.

The Bug's favorite color is this shade of blue. Not the most traditional Christmas color but lovely none the less.  The bodice and sash and nice slippery satin and the skirt is about 9 yards of tulle layered and gathered over a satin underskirt. It has a very "princess" effect doesn't it?

We paired the dress up with a gold cardigan and some gold glitter flats from Ruum (they had some super pre-Christmas sales).  The perfectly matched hairbow is a gift from a friend and the necklace is mine.  She felt very fancy.

Ellie Inpired is currently in the processes of adding American Girl doll patterns to all of their big girl patterns but since I bought my ballerina girl pattern before that format change, I had to figure out a coordinating doll dress on my own.  I found a book at the library with some great 18" doll patterns, "Doll Fashion Studio" by Joan Hinds. 

I was out of satin so I used this similarly colored corduroy that I had on hand.  I found just two of these little vintage rhinestone buttons in grandma's button jar. They are purely decorative, not functional since the dress closes up with a narrow strip of velcro. 

I made this dress in a size 7 hoping it would fit for a while. It will for sure, it's plenty long and there is enough room for a year or maybe even two of growth in the waist and bodice.

~Lindsay

More footed pajamas

I wasn't necessarily going to blog about the other pairs of footed pajamas I made...

 but then this happened...

Oh my goodness.

Cuteness overload. That's my little niece being held by her "big" brother. They are the sweetest little cherubs are they not? Footed pj's were made to match the pair I made for The Bug. (Because, why not?)

I also made another big girl pair of pj's for the daughter of a friend.

You can't look at these without singing... right??

This sweet little fox says "Zzzzzzzz..." He's sleepy fox.

I found this fleece at JoAnns. It appears it's gone now. I'm guessing it was quite popular. So sad! The Bug requested a second pair in this fleece. Guess that's not happening.

On this pair, I used jersey for the neck band and the cuffs.  I'm not sure which I like better. The jersey was certainly easier.

So there are a few more cute kiddos that will be warm head to toe this winter. Again, I highly recommend the Classic Footed PJ pattern from Peek a Boo patterns. It's so fun to see it all come together and it doesn't take as long as you might think. Plus, the results are professional looking, which I love.

~Lindsay

Gift for a Special Teacher

The Bug had her last ballet class of the fall semester this week. Her teacher has just gone above and beyond for her so we thought a special thank you gift was in order.

Several months ago I bought some customizable cups on Pick Your Plum thinking they'd be handy for just such an occasion. Lily was thrilled and jumped at the chance to make a ballerina cup for Miss Ali.

She did such a lovely job!

I hope Miss Ali feels as special as she's made the Bug feel.

I'm not an affiliate for Pick Your Plum or anything, I just like their stuff and wanted to share. Teacher gifts can be hard and these make such a nice personalized one.  The deals change daily but right now they have these cups and some travel coffee mugs available at a super great price. Pick up a few and keep them on hand. You'll be glad you did! (Today is the last day for free shipping, guaranteed by Christmas, on orders of $25 and up so don't delay!)

~Lindsay

Dolly and Me Gymnastics Leotards

You know it's nearing Christmas when there is much sewing and little blogging.  But here's a project that's safe to post.

A friend asked if I could make a leotard for an American Girl Bitty Twin doll.  My theory is, whenever possible, if doll clothes are sewn there should be a matching little girl outfit.

So I ventured onto Etsy in search of PDF patterns.  I am always amazed at the variety of things you can find there. 

While finding a leotard for a 15" doll proved difficult but I found one for the 18" dolls that I was able to adapt.  I added a bit to the sides of this Stacy and Stella pattern because the bitty babies are wider and shorter than the full sized AG dolls. 

I also didn't do the contrast panel and finished the neck and legs with fold over elastic.

It wound up being much easier than I'd expected. My sewing machine didn't try to eat the slinky knit fabric even once!

The big girl leotard was made from this pattern from Etsy seller TumblenTwirl.  I did view A which had no contrast panel.  The pattern was different from other PDF patterns I've used but once I figured out how everything worked it was really great. The instructions were pretty clear and there were plenty of tips for sewing with athletic fabrics and even how to embellish.

My fabric felt a bit thin to me so I opted to line the whole garment (well, not the sleeves) with swimsuit lining.  That part wasn't covered in the pattern instructions but it was a pretty easy adaptation.

I'm thinking a ballerina version of both of these is going to be in order post-Christmas for the Bug and her AG doll, Emily.

 I hope this sweet little gymnast will love these super star leotards come Christmas.

~Lindsay