Two Aprons Done, One to GO

I love doing small projects after dresses and blouses.  They go together quickly.  

So, here are two aprons for Asha and Kai.  

I used my two favorite Alexander Henry fabric from my stash (still sticking to the "use what I have" rule), and they turned out really cute.  

I have gone back to my fabric stash several times trying to finalize the fabric for Jerome's apron.  No success yet.  I came up with many ideas, but none seem to fit a nine year old boy.  I am going to have to do some Flickr research tonight.  

        

Oven Mitts for Little People

The first and second of several online Christmas shopping orders have come this week.  It is exciting.  I am well on track to finish most of the Christmas prep before December.    

I made some oven mitts for the kids.  Jerome and Asha have been taking turns helping as the chef's assistance during dinner prep.  They have both wished at one point or another that we had oven mitts their size that were also long and covered their fore arms.  

So these are what I came up with.  (Don't tell them if you are going to see them before Christmas.  The mitts are safely hidden now.)  You can see the size against my mitts.  I quilted it with my darning foot.  I still made a few jerky points, but I think I am getting better at it.  I just have to work up the courage to quilt my Christmas quilt before Christmas.       

Now I am working on aprons for them.  Jerome and Asha never wished they had aprons.   That is just me.  I hate it when their clothes get dirty.  I am a little on the obsessed side.  Someday I will post about my laundry routine.       

Two Tops

I made two tops from the book Stylish Clothes for Girls.  Thanks, Alison, for loaning this fabulous book to me!    

I had never sewn a blouse before, so this one was extra fun to try.  Attaching the callor was the new part and it was not bad at all.  I made size 120.  The overall fit is very flattering on Asha.  I did add an inch to the length to keep the tummy from showing when she wears it with her low-rise pants.  I love the design details in the front, but it is somewhat lost in the busy pattern.  If you look at the pictures in the book, you will know what I mean.  The cover picture shows the short sleeve version, and view n is what I made.  I have plans to make a few more, and will definitely stick to solid fabric for the bib.    

The batik-like fabric came from Walmart in Hawaii.  Cotton/polly blend.    

Comfy turtle neck shirt, view r in size 130.  Again, a great pattern.  The fit is perfect on Asha.  This one is long enough to cover her low rise Gap pants.  

Cotton lycra fabric from here.  I am impressed with the quality of the fabric and ease of sewing.  

  

Asha has always hated turtle neck shirts, but didn't complain about this one.   Did she grow out of it, or was it because we left some buttons open?      

Shimmery pink

Same pattern, different fabric.  This pink came from a yard sale in San Diego.  It is a shimmery satin with some nice weight to it.  We are looking for something dressy for the top, like this.  I still have two yards of this fabric.  Do you have any ideas for projects?  I was originally thinking of making a dress, but now I am not sure if I can pull it off without ending up with something that resembles a cheep princess dress-up.  

Next I am moving on to some tops.    

   

I gave Asha a new haircut.  She loves it.  It took some time to get the back somewhat straight because she has thick hair.    

Quinn had his first birthday.    

Pleated balloon skirt

This is a fun and versatile skirt.  It can be dressed down with a t-shirt for school, or dressed up with a pair of sparkly flats, blouse and a nice cardigan.  

I used a pattern from Everyday Bottoms, view Y, but made several changes to make it into a balloon skirt.  

1) I cut out the skirt 3/4 inch longer than the pattern

2) I sewed a lining of thin cotton in and sewed the bottom hem to the bottom of the lining to make the balloon effect.  The lining was cut about four inches shorter than the skirt.  (Thank you for the tutoring, Alison!)    

3) To keep the front tummy part flat, I only put elastic in the back.  The two top pieces were adjusted accordingly by making the front smaller towards the top and the back bigger.   

The fabric came from the RS closet.  Thin wale corduroy.  I am getting into the more obscure colors now.    

back view

  
front view  

Village Frock Dress

It is wet and too dark for nice pictures, but I am happy I can see Asha in the dress.  

The pattern came from Sugar City Journal, and it is called Village Frock.  I fell in love with the dress when I first saw it in their blog, and then I was very excited to see the pattern become available later.  At $16, it is far more than I have ever spent on a pattern, but I decided it was worth every penny after seeing the dress on Asha.  The instructions are detailed with many illustrations.  Very easy to follow.  The sizes only go up to a 6, but they suggest you make one size smaller for a more fitted look, so I went ahead and did that.  

No luck with the boots yet.  

   

Possibly the cutest dress I have ever sewn

Looking for tights and boots to complete the look.  

Can't wait for Asha to get home.  

Burda 9867

After Trick-or-Treating, we let the kids pick their favorite few candy, and pretty much threw the rest away.  

Here is Kai on Saturday morning, hiding out behind the leather chair in the living room with his lollypops.  He must have hid them before Scott and I gathered all the candy.      

Another warm pants.  They turned out great. I think this is the fifth pair I made with this pattern.  The pattern only goes up to size 6, so I cut everything out a little bigger.  It worked.  I added mock pockets in the front.  Made with fine wale corduroy, again from the RS closet. 

There are two more yards of this fabric, so I started making a dress.  Hopefully it will be ready for the primary presentation in a week and a half.  Stay tuned!

Burda 9769

Back to Asha's winter wardrobe now.  

I made view C of Burda 9769 in size 7, which the pattern says is for 122.  Asha is 48 inches (120 cm), average size for her age.  The pants fit her well with just a little bit of room to grow into.  I am pleased with the overall shape.  Just like the pattern says, they are "semi-fitted".  Not too baggy in the waist area like some children's elastic pants patterns could be.  Yet, they are jumps, splits, and flips proof.

I used light blue chino I got from the RS in Pittsburgh.  They were cleaning out the closet and wanted to get rid of the overwhelming stack of donated fabric.  Anything that could not be used for making quilts were free for grabs.