Dress #9

About a month ago or so when I started making dresses for the girls, Tash declared that she needed 10 dresses. I've asked her several times since she tossed this arbitrary number out there, why 10, but she has no concrete reason for wanting 10. Lucky for her, I have a lot of dress patterns and fabric.

This is another dress that as soon as I saw it, I wanted to make it, but for some reason I waited forever to buy the pattern and make the dress. And like Analise, it proved to be an easy pattern to follow and I sewed it up fairly quickly. :0)

Since summers seem to be so short here, I decided to make it 1 size bigger than what she is currently wearing and long sleeve. So hopefully it will last her through the fall/winter. :0)

I have plans to make a 2nd one using Patty Young's Playdate Collection for Kate in a size 2.







Pattern: Kyoko by Patty Young/ModKid
Fabric: Lotus Collection (Morning Glory in Linen, Full Moon Polka Dot in Cherry) - Amy Butler

Vacation Sewing Part 2

Earlier in the week I went to Value Village and bought several Men's XL button down shirts to make dresses for the girls. Dana of MADE had posted a tutorial (almost 2 yrs ago now!) on how to turn an old Men's shirt into a dress. Owen did not have any old shirts that could be re-purposed (we actually cleaned out his closet in the spring and I completely forgot about this tutorial!) so that left VV.

I managed to find 4 or 5 shirts I liked the pattern/colour of for 4.99 a piece. So far I've sewn up 3 for the girls for our vacation;




I made Kate's a bit bigger so that it would still fit in the fall. I think it will look really cute as a tunic with leggings or skinny jeans. :0)

Vacation Sewing Part 1

In August we are all heading to the cottage in NB. We'll be there for a week and I want some nice breathable, cute clothes for the girls. I don't want to pack a lot of separates. The perfect solution to this is Dana of MADE's awesome Summer Vacation Dress + 1 Shortie Pattern.

I'll admit I was pretty intimidated by the whole "make your own pattern' concept, but really, what's easier then raiding your husband's closet for a cotton tee (or in my case getting it on sale for $10 - I checked the thirft store and all the ones I liked had some gaudy logo or what not on the front), measuring the length you want it to be on your kid and then making a crotch? Easy Peasy right? :D

I will say that it definitely was. The one thing though that I'll do different next time though is probably only use a size L shirt, not an XL. I did about 11 rows of shirring and I steamed/ironed it to make it shrink up, but it still wish it was a bit less loose. I'm going to through it in the washer/dryer and see if that shrinks the elastic up a bit more.

Dontcha just love the pink crocs? She picked them out. Kate is quite the fashionita for a 1.5yr old

No more photos!! hah

Next up, using another one of Dana's tutorials to make a dress for Tasha out of an XL Men's button down shirt. This one I did cheat on, just a teeny bit.

GAP Poster Children

Every year I have family photos done and every year my child(ren) always look like an advertisement for GAP. Now, I did work there for almost 4 yrs, but still, with just a teeny bit of sewing skill(which I do have), it's not that hard to make something in a fabric/pattern that not every single kid on the street is wearing.

So with that in mind, this year (photos are next week!) I decided to make the girls their own dresses instead of trying to coordinate them both in GAP clothes. To be honest, I did start out with GAP dresses for them, but both of them had a bit of a growth spurt and outgrew them before the photo shoot. hah

Tasha will be wearing the Analise Dress I posted yesterday, and this is what I made for Kate, from the same fabric line by Sandi Henderson, Ginger Blossom. Instead of the "typical" pillowcase dress I folded it down 2" at the top, made a 1" casing for elastic and then added a cute yo yo flower with a sweet button.

I debated going with pink ribbon for the straps, but I think the blue really makes it "pop". I can't wait to see how the photos will turn out of both girls together in the dresses. I tried to bribe errr have N come outside to play with Kate but she declared it was too hot for such nonsense, like getting her photo taken.

Of course I can ride big sister's bike!

Are you done with that camera yet?

And this is how our little photo session ended, with her stripping down to her diaper and taking a dip in the pool. I swear this kid spends 90% of her time naked.

Next, I'll be taking a couple Men's XL tees I bought on sale (Owen is only a Medium, I needed a bigger shirt hehe) for a whopping $10 and making Miss Kate a few pairs of Shorties and Tasha a few "Vacation Dresses" (from fabric in my stash) from the very talented Dana of MADE fame pattern. I'm also going to try and upcycle some button down men's shirts I got at Value Village for $4 each and make some Shirt dresses for them both. :0)

We are going to be heading to the in-laws' cottage in August for a week and I want to pack some items that are light weight, do not take up a lot of space in the suitcase and that I don't have to worry about getting ruined at the beach. :0)

The Analise Dress.

My little Twirler. Well worth the time to piece together that super full skirt

Over a year ago at least, I fell in love with this dress pattern by one of my favourite designers - Sandi Henderson. I was just starting out sewing children clothing and will admit I was still learning. It did not stop me from ordering the pattern, but when it arrived I was intimidated enough that it was not until a couple of months ago that I finally pulled it out, traced the pattern pieces, cut the fabric and finally made it for my oldest daughter.

I'd like to think it was worth the wait, as the dress is as gorgeous once made as it was in all the pictures I saw of it online and on the pattern book itself. And thankfully, Tash loved it and it's become one of her favourite dresses in her closet. I think it's one of my favourites to date as well.

As for the difficulty of the dress? I'd say it's of intermediate level and more time consuming sewing the patchwork part of the skirt together and the ruffle along the bottom then any real difficulty. As always, Sandi Henderson's patterns are well written, concise and even include "mini" tutorials on any stitches or techniques you might not have done before.

The dress was created using Sandi Henderson's now discontinued and long gone from the fabric shop shelves Ginger Blossom and Farmer's Market. One of my all time favourite fabric lines.