• This and That •

It has been a few days since I posted last!  :)  Life happens, work is busy, and the little bit of sewing I do accomplish does not get shared very often.  I have been making a few things though, so I thought I'd share a couple of them with you!

First up is a rayon dress that I finished a few months back - it suffered as a UFO for probably 2 years but I finally got it out and completed it!  It has definitely become one of my absolute favorite dresses - so comfy, it fits perfectly, and I love the look and feel of rayon.  Definitely will be making more from the same pattern!

Another UFO I finally finished was this gingham number (sorry for all the mirror pics!), which went from being something I hated to one of my very favorite dresses!  I had the bodice and skirt sewn but not attached, but the fit was terrible and without any trim it was really homely!  I refitted the bodice, added the pops of red and pockets, and it came out just right.  AND it doesn't require a belt, which just makes it that much more fantastic in my opinion!!  :) 

Next up is a baby quilt that I finished just a day and a half before the baby shower it was intended for; I did take some good pictures, but haven't gotten them uploaded yet.  This was such a fun project - I had originally intended it for my nephew, but then his nursery ended up with a completely different theme that it would not have matched.  I just hung onto the fabrics for a while, started sewing it, and then ended up finding out that the theme for this baby boy's shower was a woodland theme!  It could not have worked out better!  :)

It was such a fun project and I really was very happy with how it came out!  It might not win at the fair, but it sure makes me happy.  :)

And lastly, this is a little dress that I just made on Saturday for my new little niece.  I used the new Simplicity reprint (#8617), and it came out so cute!  I made it from a small piece of vintage fabric my mom had found at an antique shop; I don't know what the fabric had started out as - you could see where a stitching line had been removed, so perhaps a sheet?  Curtains?  I don't know!  In any case, it was not quite a yard of maybe 50" fabric, and I squeezed this adorable little full-skirted dress out of it, with ties and bias binding!  :)  I can't wait to see the precious little one wearing it!

I am currently finishing a polka dot 1920s dress, and once that is done I will be working on a SPARS uniform, several 1940s outfits for a reenactment, and a new 1812 ensemble.  At least, that's the plan!  We'll see how it goes!

• VSFLO • 1950s Gingham Baby Dress •

(That's vintage sewing for little ones...just in case you'd forgotten)

Back about 4 months ago, I shamefully admit, a friend at church's daughter had a birthday. Someone procrastinated - namely me, and didn't get her little dress done until now. I think, however it was worth the wait! I absolutely love how it came out!

Of the humongous number of vintage kids' patterns that we have, (three), none of them are for a 1-year old. Problem. But around here, creativity is sometimes present, which caused me to start drawing up a pattern! I never dreamed that it would come out this good - it's actually dress-shaped and everything! ;)

I didn't want to make a tiny little dress into too big of a deal, so I decided to make it a one-piece (no seam at the waist) dress. It definitely needed some sort of accent, so I dug out some checked pink fabric that I had in the stash. It really sets it off perfectly and gives it the color that it needed. (And it's all gingham. I LOVE gingham.)

Once I had the bodice drawn up, I knew I was going to have to tackle some sort of sleeves. Oh. boy. I just really love the idea of making up sleeves! Or not! I decided to steal a sleeve from the size 6 dress pattern that we have and try to make it baby-sized. Amazingly enough, it actually worked.

The only thing I would change on the next dress would be the size of the armhole. I got a little carried away with the size of it, but it still shouldn't be too much of a problem. 

I gathered the waist area of the front on each side and topstitched on a faux waistband which continues into ties.

Originally I was going to put a little collar on the dress, but when I made the collar, I ingeniously forgot to allow seam allowances for the neckline. The result? A collar that would have been too small for a ladybug. It ended up being all for the best, however, because the bias neck binding is cuter than any little collar could have been.

And for the first time in my life, I made more than a 5/8" hem! Since the dress is for a little one, I wanted it to be able to be made longer as she grows. I literally had never made a hem that wide before, so it was a completely new experience. It turned out much better than expected! 

I can't wait to make more little clothes for little people! It's so much fun! If and when I ever get enough things sewn for myself (I think that sounds selfish, but....), I am going to start sewing little clothes for my own future use. The box of leftover fabric from my sewing projects is starting to bulge! :)