I have this rule for myself. It is called my, "There is no can't' rule. I try (with a few very notable failures, so there is a TRY in my world) not to say I can't do something when in reality it is a 'won't' instead of a 'can't.'*

For the longest time, I said that I couldn't sew for myself. I'm fat (and there is no shame in the word fat. Spades are spades, and I am fat. Not curvy, buxom, or padded. I'm fat. I like cupcakes and cookies too much and if a day ever passes that Dr Pepper doesn't cross these lips at least once, i will be a very sad person. I'm fat. And I don't mind being called fat. End mini-rant.) and patterns just aren't really designed for fat people - the curvy ones, yes. Fat ones, not so much.**

Then I learned how to grade a pattern. Slash and spread method works best for me - measuring a couple of key fit points then cutting the pattern and spreading it apart to match the measurements. But that is time consuming. It takes me DAYS to do that with a commercial pattern. Usually, I will get through about 3/4 of the pattern and be so worn out and sick of it because I'm not even to the fun bits yet that I give up, and wear one of my 4 remaining tops and cut off stretch pants combos.

But I had been thinking for a while that maybe I could do with my own stuff what I had done with Elizabeth's - make a pattern. Only trouble is that none of my stuff fits like I want it to. Sigh. Well, I certainly WON'T be spending boatloads of time on a task I hate for small rewards. So, back to making clothes for Elizabeth.

So I just would not sew for myself. Time consuming, poor fit, and kinda stinky choices for patterns. Nope, I just won't do it. I can. But I won't. Then one day, I am poodling around on Instagram and someone whispers about a grown-up version of Amanda's (of Kitschy Coo fame) Skater Dress. At the time, Elizabeth was messing around the house in a diaper, mismatched leg-warmers (classy) and one of the tees I had made for her from the Skater pattern. Suddenly it hit me. If this really happened, maybe I could.... But I shut that thought down fast. Grading is hard. It takes FOREVER. UGH.

I watched as excitement grew over this Big Girl Skater (as it was called then.) And I kinda got bitten. I've made Elizabeth FOUR of the  little girl dresses, the construction is easy enough for a blind monkey to do it. MAYBE.... Maybe I'll buy the pattern and just *try*. 'Cause trying is allowed here (no Yoda, ya know?) And if it didn't work, I know a bajillion other people I could make skater dresses for. Easy wearing, comfy. Elizabeth loves hers! Yeah, I'll try.

I went out and bought four yards of fabric. Clearance table, half off the clearance price, so $3 a yard. $12 isn't much to gamble on a maybe, especially since I love the fabric. And I came home and waited.

Lady Skater was available yesterday morning.*** I bought it, taped it together and got to cutting it apart. Four and a half hours later, I was done grading. Gears screech to a halt, I take on the look of someone who has just found Jesus, and nearly fall over myself getting to my fabric.

Lets have a picture, shall we?

You will just have to click the picture for all the awesomeness that is this dress. A small image just doesn't do the fabric justice. And A couple of things - 1) we covered fat. 2) i have alopecia aerata. And one more, 3) you can Google alopecia aerata.

SUCCESS!! I am so glad that Amanda lives a whole ocean away. My squealing over IG was bad enough, I'm sure. I would probably have frightened her half to death if she lived any nearer.

I LOVE THIS DRESS. I'm wearing right now. And I see it going to church on Sunday with me (skulls, hearts, and all.) I goofed in grading the skirt, so the sides hang a little weird, but this is me not caring. I have a dress, that I made with my hands that fits and doesn't look like something my granny or a hooker would wear!

Well. Okay. MAYBE my granny would have worn it if I'd asked her to. She was kinda cool.

But wait! There's more! Elizabeth has little Skater tees. Why shouldn't I? Exactly, I should. So I do!

It is a tee. That is long enough! And doesn't look like a tent! See, not only am I fat, but I'm 5'10" tall. Back neck to hem of 29 inches? Might as well be a tube top. I'm considering re-cutting one of my favorite tees into this pattern. I am not sure if it will work but I'm definitely going to give it the once over tonight.

I am the happiest woman alive right now. I have clothes that fit. That I made. THAT I MADE!

* there is one thing I simply can't do. And that is be someone's biological father. Tho, with the way science is advancing, there may be hope.

** some lines have options for bustier gals, but very few allow for room for a belly. Sadface!

** I picked the winner of the Doli Tank pattern yesterday and emailed her, but I have not heard back. Be sure to check your spam folder! If I don't hear from my winner by Friday afternoon, I'll pick someone else.**

In case you didn't know, I am an energetic seamstress and a lazy blogger.

Anyway! It is Kids Clothing Week! Yay! This kind of marks a blogging birthday for me. I've been blogging in earnest for a year now. Not bad! The only two things I've done for longer than a year are be married and be a mom. Well done me.

For day one of Kids Clothes Week, I started a lot of things but only finished one. A Skater Dress made with some of the fabric that I got at Sir's on our Day Out when the Boy Scout was sick. This was the first time I actually did the arm bands (I follow directions so very well, you know.)

And I made this one in an 18 month/2T size. It fits perfectly! The 3T/4T was a bit too long and while this one may not last all summer, it will get a ton of wear right now. It is actually in the wash pile with ketchup on it as I type.

Elizabeth loves it. And I love it because the chance of unintentional moons is slim. This is the only pattern in existence that I can still make her a 2T in and it fit. Everything else is a 3 or sometimes even a 4.

Day Two featured a little less time, but I did finish up what I started the day before.

Pardon the car-hood pic. This fabric is SUPER thin and it is really windy. This is a patternless sunsuit that I put together from an old skirt. The top and legs are shirred with elastic thread and the straps have elastic. And I managed to get some snaps in the crotch (there has to be a better word. Really. We are intelligent people. Maybe we can think of something better.)

The original skirt came from the ether I think. I know that I did not buy it for me or buy it for my pile of recycling things. So I have no idea where it came from. But, it is pretty adorable as a sunsuit.

I also don't know if it is going to fit. Being patternless, I'm really second-guessing it right now. My hope is that it is going to fit and look a lot cuter on Elizabeth than it does on the hood of my car. I did manage to hold it up to her and I *think* it is going to be okay.

I started by making a dress - shirred top and straps. Then I followed this tutorial on how to turn a dress in to a romper. Well, sort of followed it. Again, with the following directions and just not doing it most of the time.

Then I polished off a couple of more Doli Tanks. Following directions is just not in my makeup this week, it seems. I just tugged too much at the bindings and got some wrinklies and bubblies. But, that doesn't change the cuteness or the wearability at all. And Elizabeth is already fond of the purple and white. She may take come convincing about the black and orange - but thankfully summer lasts until November here.



And today, Day three is Shorts-ageddon. Shorts-isbord. I made a bunch of shorts! The brown, pink, and purple are knit. The others are various forms of wovens. ALL of them are recycled from other things. Yay! For five pairs of shorts for $4!


There was another pair of shorts but it had an unfortunate accident involving a mud puddle and a gust of wind. So no pictures of those until they are washed. But, they original pants from those were free, so that doesn't add a cent to my $4 total.

Gosh, I love being cheap! Don't you?

Well, just one to be exact.

A billion years ago (last year) I saw Made By Rae's Rainbow Dress tutorial and this year I new that Elizabeth needed one. 'Cause she's gotten in to rainbows BIG TIME. So I started with the tutorial and round about step 1/2 (before I even began) I was already derailed.

Being me, I ran with it! My tiers are all the same height because I can't do math. And that reason applies also to why it's going to be a little tight on our best girl, too. And maxi length. But it was pretty all rolled up back in January when the most pressing thing was for me to be making fuzzy warm leggings for her instead of frilly sundresses.

But now, it has turned off hot and I'm all for frilly sundress action! Ta-da!

Oh dear. Someone was really unhappy about having her picture taken. However, it doesn't compare to the unhappiness expressed when I attempted (ATTEMPTED) to change her after her nap. You would have thought I was sawing her arms off with all the screaming.

Thankfully, Daddy showed up with a kite and Mommy became chopped livers after that. Sometimes, too much togetherness is just too much togetherness.

It is a bit tighter than most of her things, but she isn't complaining about it. She's rubbed on the shirring a little, but I think that is because it feels weird to the touch, not because it's hurting her. And as of this moment, she's sitting shoeless in the sandbox in it and seems very content.

Parting shot was the first one taken and my favorite. I know my backgrounds are not plain, neutral, or non-distracting. This girl is on the move and I have to take what I can get. Especially on a Wednesday afternoon.

I worked on this dress off and on for weeks. Then, on the last day of my Plague, I got it out and finished it. And now two weeks later, Elizabeth finally got to wear it!

I took these pictures today as we were leaving for church. It was so windy! Elizabeth is not a big fan of wind (tho if she were more a fan of headbands, her dislike of the wind could be decreased) but she was a trooper about having her picture done. Once she was bribed with some weedy flowers, she romped and played and I snapped pictures.

This dress is really a cobbled-together thing. I started with the Go-To Dress from Go-To Patterns. I used the cap sleeve with rib option and hacked off about three inches from the hem. Then, after seeing several patterns with the top shirred and showing, I decided that I would use that at the high waist mark. And I've been wanting to do a bubble skirt for a while, so the skirt is gathered and 'bubbled up.' I even eyeballed the button placement. While doped up on Nyquil, no less. Someone give the girl a cookie!

I will confess that I was TOTALLY winging it with this one! Why did it take weeks? Well, first the knit I had on hand is Evil Knit that stretches when you look at it. Next, I had just enough white rib, but I had to seam it together instead of folding it over because I'd cut it for something else initially. Somehow, I guessed perfectly on how much to cut off the hem, because this dress's finished length is 22 inches from the back neck - just what I want for her warmer weather stuff. Then there is the shirring - which itself is NOT hard for me. (I have a cheap machine therefore I get best results with cheap elastic thread.) But attaching the skirt at the waist after I had put the hemline together with the bubble proved both nerve-wracking and curse-inducing. Silly Evil Knit!

I was really happy with this little dress and was really looking forward to her wearing it after she got home. Then she got the Plague from her daddy, so she didn't get to wear it right away. It hung in our dining room the whole time, and several times I caught her admiring it. She LOVES the buttons and will tell anyone around that there are two yellow buttons on her dress.
The back isn't much to look at, but you can see the effect of the shirring a little better and the white rib on the sleeves.

I posted a crappy picture of this dress to my facebook account and something unexpected happened. A week before the Boy Scout interviewed for the job that moved us closer to my family, two things happened - one, an AWESOME couple got married and two, there was a fundraiser auction for Elizabeth's playschool. I had made a black and lime green Popover Sundress and donated it to their auction. Folks were very complimentary and I offered to do another dress this year. Good to my word, I contacted them a couple of weeks ago about when the fundraiser would happen, but I never heard back.

Until I posted that awful pic to facebook. Then the playschool's head teacher asked if I would do another of these dresses for the auction.

Of course I said yes. But, what they don't know is that they will get a very different version. No knits, no sleeves, and I'm adding a collar. I haven't decided whether to bubble it or not. This Mickey fabric (Hobby Lobby, by the way) is 100% cotton and just after going to church and lunch, it looks like she slept in it for three nights. I'm taking input from anyone who wants to give it! Bubble, no bubble?

And yes. She's wearing the crazy shoes. They don't match or blend well at all, but she's going to wear them!

I have a confession to make. My dirty little sewing secret, if you will.

There's this one thing.

This one thing that I NEVER do.

I never, EVER pick the buttons to go on Elizabeth's clothes.

Because the Boy Scout is NEVER, EVER wrong when he chooses.

This dress is a Junebug dress from Craftiness is Not Optional. I've made ten bajillion of Kristen's remixes, but never the original pattern. I just upped the size to fit 4t-tall two-year-old. My mom got the fabric at Sir's Fabrics in Fayetteville, TN and the buttons are from my grandmother's sewing room.

This is SO my county fair entry for this year!

And by 'nifty,' I totally mean 'lazy cheater-pants.'

I've been churning out leggings by the truckload around here. I should have learned by now that little girls grow. Often very quickly and without warning. So, while she's still the same size *around* she is not the same height!

And I had all these adorable dresses that I made that still fit, they are just a wee bit shorter than makes me comfortable. I have issues with little girls in dresses that hit higher than the knee. Call me a prude if you must, but that's just how I am about that!

So, being the lazy sewist that I am, I really did NOT want to have to re-thread my serger every time I made a new pair of leggings! I also did not want to have have white thread showing at the bottom edge or hem after I'd sewn up the legs. That last bit is because the leg/arm holes for Elizabeth's clothes are always WAY smaller than my machine without the tray on.

Cue cheating! This is how I handle this set of challenges.

First, I hem. I hem before I ever start putting a leg together (or a sleeve, for that matter.) Turn it up, press it, hem it. My double needle and I are on the outs right now, so I just used a narrow zigzag instead. Then, when I start serging everything up, I start just at the top of my hem. Just skip the inch or whatever the pattern calls for and start above it. Once it is all together...

Starting just in from the bottom edge, stitch up from the hemline, backstitching to lock your stitch. Stitch all the way up into where you serged, backstitching to lock the stitches there too.

Trim everything up, repeat on the other side and TA-DA! No need to change thread, have goofy white thread peeping out the bottom, or try to sew that hem without stretching it. Sit back, and admire your work!

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!)