Remember a million years ago I was bragging about the Boy Scout getting better at gifts? Well, since then we have been all in upheaval and madcap antics. Which is just another way of saying that the Boy Scout got Lord of the Rings Online and I haven't been anywhere near this computer for at least a week.

BOYS!

As promised, here's my first attempt at using what he got for me - screen printing stuff!

 Pardon the smudge, if you will. The butterfly is actually *really* clear. I just didn't realize that someone (probably me) had left the camera where small, sticky hands could reach it.

So, this stuff is great. The Boy Scout found it our local big-box store and bought it for me. He was really chuffed from the time he bought it until he gave it to me and was nearly unbearable. But I see why now. They are called Zip Screens. They have little paints and screens and everything on their website. But I've had more fun screening stuff!

This dress is just the same old Simplicity 2377 that I think I've made twelve million times now. It is going to be Elizabeth's Valentine's Day dress. I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm going to have to redo the neckline. I shirred it, but the thread is really making the neck bigger than I like. The sleeves are fine, but the neck is iffy. But I have time.

Also, I have this little dress to share with you today. I got the fabric and cut it out back in September but I did not actually sew it up until early December. We had a shot of warm weather (mid-50s) so I decided that I'd go ahead and make it up. And if her Christmas dress failed, this could be a backup.

She was so surprised by her red shoes. Love this kid!

The dress is Rae's Pierrot pattern, no ruffle, about 4 or 6 inches longer. The fabric is a flannel that I picked up a Joann's. I bought a LOT of fabric that day and didn't have the sense to realize that flannel is sold in 28 or 30 inch widths. So the long sleeves that I had planned and the bias cut? Yeah. That didn't happen! Also, to even make the dress, I had to piece the back. Yikes! Still, she loves her dress. Her most recent wearing was with old-sweater-sleeves red leggings and brown fuzzy-topped boots. It was so crazy adorable, I had to laugh.

I made the tights as well - using this tutorial from Thrive. Elizabeth has about four pairs of warm, snuggy tights thanks to that tutorial!

I bought this flannel because I wanted a warmer dress for Elizabeth to have. It didn't quite work out as I had planned, but it is her favorite dress in her wardrobe right now. It is a little long, but it only touches her at the neckline. As she has recently discovered twirling, she is thrilled beyond words.

(In the background of these pictures, you see the bear. I couldn't let any more time pass without introducing my online friends to Blue Bear. Blue was the bear from daddy at Christmas in '11, and from moment one, she has gone *everywhere* with Elizabeth. I've put arms back on, removed the 'I Love You' recording because it went crazy after being washed, sewed her neck back together and even bought another blue bear in case we have to do some franken-bear repairing. We all think that our small girl will give up her pacifier before she will give up Blue Bear. If I was Blue while she is awake, she constantly goes to the laundry room and watches while Blue spins and fluffs, all the while telling Blue how she will be 'all better' and 'all clean' really soon. And while Blue is special all the time, a warm Blue from the dryer on a cold day is just about enough to induce a euphoric nap. Love this kid so freakin' much!)

It has only been in recent years that the Boy Scout has gotten really good at gift-giving. Now, he never buys gifts himself for anyone except Elizabeth and me, but it took him a while to get the hang of presents for me. But this Christmas, he out-did himself.

Here is a sneak peek of what I've been up to with his present. And I have so. Many. Ideas.

 Guess who didn't take a single picture of all those wonderful things she made for Christmas gifts?

If you guessed me, you are so right! Good job you!

Sorry about that. I nearly forgot to make my uncle's rice pudding. Then I nearly forgot to give it to him! So see, it was a forgetful kind of day.

But, on December 23, one of my new friends here had a baby! They did not know if they were having a boy or a girl, so I manfully waited to start sewing for tiny people until she arrived. That's right! A girl! Yahoo!

I decided last night that I would make two outfits for this new baby. Initially, I thought that I would do two Itty Bitty Baby Dresses, but I thought better of it when I couldn't decide what fabrics to use. Also, it is cold here. Thirty-three degrees is cold in Tennessee. I had a nice long think about what to make and decided with another couple of Rae's patterns - The Pierrot Tunic and her Basic Baby Pants.

First up, I lengthened the tunic into a dress. I've done this before for Elizabeth (I'll photo dump later on, I promise.) but I've never done the ruffle at the neck before. I gotta tell ya. It's stinkin' ADORABLE. I think it is a little much on one this small, only because the neck is a little stiff. But that may fix in the wash.*


I have to confess that I don't remember Elizabeth ever fitting in to things this small. But I think I have a box of tiny baby things in the basement that would prove I just have a faulty memory. I cut this one to the 3t length and hemmed nothing. That's right, nothing. I just serged the edges on everything. I think it keeps it pretty casual and ties in the serged edges of the ruffle.

Next, I did the tunic at tunic length and a pair of matching pants. These are flannel and so cosy! One thing that my friend and I agree on is not wasting stuff. So the fabric for both of these is from receiving blankets - the good kind that aren't stiff.


Maybe it's just us, but Elizabeth's blankets were always so rough to the touch. We couldn't use fabric softener at all with her (still can't. Boo!) so that could have had something to do with it. I shirred the neck and waist on these and toyed with the idea of doing the legs and sleeves. I actually didn't make the decision not to do that - the elastic thread ran out. I see a trip to Joann's in my future.

 I hope I can deliver these things today. I'll call my friend and see if she's up for a quick stop-by to leave them.

*I never wash things for newborns. And I tell the parents this. We learned the hard and terribly painful way that Elizabeth can't be near fabric softeners at all. Ever since, I just don't even try! Most folks wash new-baby stuff first anyway.

So we decided this year that we would forego the practice of not giving gifts at Christmas time and instead operate on small budgets and themes. This year's theme was "make or give something to make."

Y'all! I've made so much wicked cool stuff the past couple of weeks! And I can't show you a bit of it because I have NO idea if my mom, sister, or brother-in-law read this blog. So all the *HONK!*, *BEEP!*, and rice puddings will have to wait to have their picture taken.

Well, the rice pudding will be made closer to the day of giving it and it probably won't survive 20 minutes once opened. So, no pics of that. And I know that my uncle doesn't read this blog so I'm safe there.

First off, I did get the pleasure of testing the Go To Cape for Women from Go To Patterns. And I have ZERO pictures to show for it. There was an incident with a sharpie that I am not proud of (don't trace out patterns with a sharpie. Ever.) HOWEVER! You NEED this pattern. Trust me, you just do. I am both tall (5'10") and large (off-the-rack size 26) and the XL size in long fits me just fine with room to spare. So even though she may not advertise it, this cape will fit you. Yeah, you! You who has to (like me) add seven inches to a pattern to get it to fit you. Guess what? You don't have to do that with this one. GO AND GET IT!

ANYWAY. Here's what I can show you!

This was Elizabeth's opinion of my saying, "No." to opening the playdough she got at the playschool gift exchange. We were still at school, so I wasn't going to get in to that there. So, she stuck her tongue out at me. I laughed because it was both funny and TOTALLY my fault! I do that when the Boy Scout tells me no, so she comes by it naturally. But my laughter diffused what could have been a complete fit and we moved on. Love this kid!

And this is that same kid's Christmas present from her parents. I have to tell you, these kits have come a LONG way from about 15 years ago! This one is pretty stinkin' solid and I'm about 95% sure that the only things that are going to come off will be the fiddly gingerbread pieces that have about a quarter of a millimeter of gluing surface. But I could be wrong and they will stay on great. Right now, it is sitting in the sewing room waiting for the roof paint to dry before I put on the last gingerbread parts. Then there will be a hair of touch-up painting and it'll be done!

Then there's this dress. It has been cut out for about 3 months now, I just never stitched it up. Now that I have, I'm not as wild about it as I feel like I should be. I think I'm going to take the sleeves apart and put in a little gather about the point where the sleeves would be shortened to short sleeves. Maybe that will give it some shape. Oh, and me and the facings for this one? NOT bff's. It is actually not even faced at all because I just couldn't make the facing work with the collar somehow, nothing lined up right! So there was a moment of freedom when I tossed the facings over my shoulder and cackled. Elizabeth came to ask me what was so funny. I told her that I was just happy to be liberated. She went and told her daddy, "Mommy is wibble-tated!" And she proceeded to cackle. I was so proud!


I saw this pin a while back about cutting the mesh off the pack and play to make a little low-to-the-ground toddler bed. Well, Elizabeth is having none of that (and frankly, I'm not either!) but I did like the idea of her having a contaned space to play in my sewing room. This is PERFECT. She is up off the floor away from stray pins, has her things (bigbigbig bear, lacing beads, and my old fisher price farm with the door that moos at present) and I've covered it over the top so that the cats can't dive-bomb her. She is so good in the sewing room, too. She knows not to touch the machines and that if she can reach out her little hand and touch the ironing board, she's too close. I don't bar her from playing in the fabric, but she favors the scrap heap most days.