Three New One Year Old Dresses

I have been busy making a king sized Dr. Seuss quilt for my younger stepson but I found time to make these three little dresses for the same baby I made this modern circle quilt for, Lily.

Click here for the free dress pattern online and here to see a few of my previous versions of the dress.

Lily is the miracle baby of my good friend Sarah, a two-time breast cancer survivor. You can read their amazing story here!

Fruits and veg:

Changed the top on this one to tie like bunny ears. I like it! The bottom, blue one is super soft corduroy.



More Dresses and a Kimono

Hello again! I must be in holiday crafthorse mode because I can't stop making dresses! I made this little dress (above) for Gigi because she saw me making all the baby dresses and got jealous. I laid out 12 fabrics for her to pick from, and she chose Good Folks by Anna Maria Horner. Great taste!!! One of my all time favorite fabrics. You'd have to see it in person, it just GLOWS. I even remembered I had the pink and red version of the same pattern, but she stuck with her green/red choice. I think this one is the most favorite dress I've ever made.

I also made Gigi this little kimono from a free pattern by Habitual, using a print from the Sherbet Pips collection by Aneela Hoey. She loves it!

Lastly, I made one more 12 month old baby dress.

So now we have Strawberry, Lemonade and Orange Dreamsicle :)

Strawberry and Orange are Amy Butler fabrics, and again, the pattern was the free Oliver+S pattern.

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Enjoy!

I'm Back! With a Trio of Dresses

I've been making some little dresses lately for a friend of mine who wants them for her 1 year old. Click here for previous versions and a link to the free pattern of the dress from Oliver+S.

I made a strawberry dress....

And a lemonade dress!

Then for Gigi I made a size 4 version of the dress.

I made about every mistake on this dress that a person could ever make. I failed to realize my printer was printing the pattern at 3/4 size. Then when I realized it, I cut the back piece the right length and was going to add to the front, but in measuring them together I cut both the shorter length. Doh! Then I got them both the right length with the stripe, but sewed them together wrong side out. After taking that out and sewing them correctly, I tried to put it on her and realized it was doll sized through the chest. Because (duh) if it's too small one way, guess what? it's too short the other way. Sigh. So I took it all apart and added panels in the sides. And voila, a pretty dress. LOL.

So here you have it...strawberry lemonade dresses and a crazy mistake dress that's still pretty cute.

News Flash: I Finally Used a Sewing Machine! (and I hated it)

As all of you loyal followers know, I don't own a sewing machine and have never learned to use one. Every quilt on this site, for the last 13 years, has been made entirely by hand. Well, a few weeks ago I made this little purple dress for Gigi and was frustrated with the way the middle joined. The free directions were extremely vague so I improvised, but the seam kept coming apart in the middle gathers and I resewed it like five times. I was getting mad so my husband suggested that I dig out the beginner sewing machine my mom had given my oldest daughter 8 years ago that no one had ever used. I thought maybe he was right and it would hold that seam better so I agreed.

Well I took one look at the directions and my brain froze! So I made Mr. Babyquilts stop painting the kitchen to set it up for me. He'd taken home ec in highschool and claimed to remember how to thread the beast. I found a spool of machine thread I'd bought by accident long ago and we were off. I wasn't very good at it but I challenged myself to make an entire new dress with only the machine.

Here's the little dress I made, a copy of the purple one. Summary? I hated every second of using the machine and kept wanting to throw it out the window and go back to hand. It kept unthreading itself every ten seconds and I really didn't know what I was doing. Plus, to add insult to injury, I couldn't get it to sew over the gathers in the middle and ended up sewing it by hand again anyway!!!! Grrrr..... So guess what, this one comes apart in the middle every time I wash it too. I realize it's probably not the machine's fault, but I genuinely disliked the entire experience and am extremely unlikely to repeat it. You ladies can keep the machines!

At any rate, Gigi loves it and that's what matters. If I have to sew the middle a hundred more times, it will be worth it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go sew it again, it just came out of the wash. (I only wish I was saying that to be funny!)

Proud of Myself!

I'm very proud of myself today! I have been making the same easy little sack dress over and over for my three year old, and I decided I MUST try something new. The little dress and some newborn pants were the only clothes I've ever made so I was a little afraid to try a harder dress.

Well, it wasn't smooth sailing the whole time, but voila! I made this super cute dress! It only took me two days here in all-by-hand land. I got the pattern free from Made By Rae. If you want to make one too, you have to print out the pattern for the three year old, but the instructions for the itty bitty one. The instructions weren't overly elaborate, but I just filled in the gaps with my general sewing knowledge. I lined the bodice with lavender solid and accented the middle and bottom edge with fabric from the same line.

That line was Tula Pink's Parisville. I love it! It's soooo much prettier in person though. The lilacs and dark purples really pop. Do you see the cute mice hidden in the design? I love all the delicate details, you notice more every time you look at it.

Well ladies, it turned out super amazing, if I do say so myself! Gigi loves it. It feels more like a real dress dress than the sack-type ones I was making before.

She feels like a princess in it!

Even the cat had to come check it out. Well, enjoy looking and now go make one for your little girl!

Toddler Dress and Newborn Pants

I made a little 3 year old dress for Gigi using some gorgeous purple/blue Amy Butler Love! Haven't gotten a photo of her in it yet. I used this free tutorial again from Oliver + S. That's the same tute I used for this pink dress and this blue dress and this orange/brown one. I think I'm a little afraid to try a new pattern! It's not as easy making clothes without a sewing machine.



I also made these little newborn pants with cuffs for our new grandson Kyler. I used this free tutorial from Made by Rae.

Lookin' good, baby.



I really enjoyed making them from Japanese elephant fabric and putting on the little cuffs - no big deal, just like binding a quilt.

Enjoy!

Three Year Old Dress

I made G another little dress, but this one is a bit bigger, that's why it looks a little funny. I made it in three year old size to last until next summer. The fabric is Arcadia. I used the same free Oliver+S tute as I used for the blue Amy Butler Belle dress and the pink Amy Butler Wallflower dress.


She refused to smile...


...until I brought out Wolf's new kitten! His name is Flash.

Another Little Dress

Whipped this little dress up for G last night from the same Oliver+S free tute that I used for this pink dress. The sharp-eyed among you will notice it isn't hemmed yet, but I'll do that tonight. Couldn't wait to get it on her! Used my whole half yard of precious Amy Butler Belle line flowers.



Have a great day ya'll!

I Made a Dress!

Emboldened by the success of the pattern-free skirt I made from that lovely free Oliver+S tutorial, I decided to make the leap into clothing patterns, something i've been scared of for a year now. Success again! I graduated to the slightly harder, but still free, Oliver+S tute for the Popover Sundress.



Gigi is still extremely grumpy (note presence of paci outside the crib) so believe it or not, this is the BEST photo I could get of her in it, out of about 20 photos.


I really like it! My favorite Amy Butler Wallflower in pink, and a little flapper fringe from Joann's. I went in to get rick-rack, but all the rick-rack was gigantic for some reason, and I would have only gotten about three ricks across the front. So I went with fringe. Like it!

Enjoy!

Sashay Shantay

Here is my grumpy little dress model showing off her winnings!  Thanks again to brownpaperpackages for the gorgeous dress!  She saw me open it and demanded to put it on right away. After which, she immediately got grumpy.  Almost two year olds are always frustrated about one thing or another!

Maybe petting a kitty will cheer her up!  Nah, probably not.

I also got fabric in the mail!  Yay!  My first batch of Red Letter Day, plus birds.  Annie got it for me as a thank you for fixing her resume.  I do that on the side if you need me to look at yours too.

Have a great day!

We have a Winner!

Would you believe I forgot dress #6 yesterday??? My favorite one, too! Anyone know the answer to this one? The skirt is Heather Bailey Freshcut Paisley, but what is the top? I'll give a prize of their choosing to whomever names it first! Edited to say: free indeed won this little giveaway! It was City Girl by Kitty Yoshida. To tell the truth, I actually didn't know who it was :) so thanks freeindeed!

Congratulations Kathie Comfyquilter! With 14 points, you were the runaway winner of the contest! Here is the winning comment:

"Hi, this is my first visit to your blog, and I picked a good day! Happy birthday to your Mom, and your daughter is adorable, as are all of the dresses. You stumped me on Dress#1, I'm afraid, but I love the dress. Is that an original design of your mother's? I love the little cap sleeves.

Dress # 2 is Sole' Flower Stripe by Valori Wells. Dress #3 is also Sole' by VW, and Amy Butler Martini. Dress #4 is Joel Dewberry Sparrows from the Aviary line, and Amy Butler Fresh Poppies from Midwest Modern. Dress #5 is a batik, and a novelty fabric."

Good job! You really know your fabrics! Here are the answers:

Dress #1 - Alexander Henry Bangle Dot

Dress #2 - Flower Stripe from the Sole collection by Valori Wells

Dress #3 - Flower Stripe by Valori Wells and Amy Butler Martini in gold

Dress #4 - Joel Dewberry Sparrows and Amy Butler Fresh Poppies

Dress #5 - The top is a batik and the bottom is Asian or a novelty

Second place went to Brown Robin with 9 points. Honorable mention to freeindeed who started from scratch trying to look these up on the internet and came in third with 8 points!

I really want to thank you all for the sweet comments about my mom and daughter and the great birthday wishes you sent our way. Thanks ya'll!

Giveaway Contest! Happy Birthday Mom!

This was my mother, Margot and me (with my baby cousin) in 1974 at age 30.


And this is my mom 35 years later! Not bad, huh? Don't you hate when your mom is cuter for her age than you are for your age??? That's okay mom, I don't hold it against you. So anyway, happy birthday! In honor of your 65th, I'm having a giveaway of pre-cut Amy Butler triangles!


You will win at least 75 triangles of EACH of four Amy Butler fabrics (I didn't count). Plus, I'm throwing in about 75 slightly larger triangles in various shades of white on white. You could make a heck of a cute table runner or baby quilt, especially if you add more of your own white. You could make something great, like this or this. The 375 triangles i'm giving away will make at least 187 squares at 2 1/2 inches square when sewn together, so a 2 inch finished size. The fabrics are from this quilt and this quilt. Shhhh, don't tell anyone, but i'm also going to throw in a special surprise of the winner's choosing! Could be a vintage feedsack, could be fat quarters, could be a soft toy, no one knows!

I present - the Cavalcade of Dresses!!! Here are the rules: This is a contest for fabric lovers. You must name as many of the fabrics and designers used in the below dresses as you can. My mother made all of the below dresses for Gigi, so it's a tribute to her work! I will not approve any comments with guesses in them until the contest is over so no one can see your answers. On Saturday at noon I will look over the comments and count how many fabrics each person got right, then select a winner from the group with the highest number correct. Want extra entries? If you become a follower, add me to your google reader, or add me to the side of your blog as a clickable link, I will give you two extra correct points for each! Just comment to let me know. So even if you aren't a fabric expert you can at least get a few points there, plus you can probably get dress #5. Ready? Go!


Ok, dress #1. What's the name of the fabric and the designer? 2 points. (Click any of these photos to enlarge.)


Supercute dress #2 - What's the name of the fabric and the designer? 2 points.


Dress #3 with satin flower pocket - What are the names and designers of both fabrics? Hint, the red one is the same as the dress above! 4 points.


Dress #4 - What are the names and designers of both fabrics? 4 points.


And dress #5 - Alright, on this one I don't expect you to know the names or designers. On this one, just give me a general fabric category for each of the two. An example of a fabric category would be "30s reproductions". 2 points.

You can also tell me which one is your favorite or say happy birthday to my mom. Enjoy!