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!

Well, look at this! I'm blogging twice in a week! Who ever heard of such a thing?!

Anyway, business first! Congratulations to Emily (Pickled Weasel) who won the Doli Tank! My initial winner never returned my email, so I picked again and Emily won. Yay! She hails from a place without proper summers it seems, so I hope there will be pictures of layering goodness to arrive in the LouBee flickr pool!

I'm afraid that my turnout for the past three days has not been as impressive as the first three. At least in quantity. And if you could see the inside of one item, quality is lacking as well!

 First up today is this number. It is only two pieces, the top being reversible. That top is just a standard issue wrap-around pinafore. The shorts are my go-to shorts pattern, but I gathered the legs and added a strip of grosgrain ribbon to make them more bloomer-like. They are not legitimate bloomers, though. They just look like it. I'm not sure but once I have more black thread, I may add some grosgrain to the top, too.

 Next is this Popover Sundress from Oliver + S. I made so many last year and even though my pattern collection has grown a LOT this year, I really love how simple this pattern is. And how foolproof! Daddy-proof too. No front or back. But. I'm not completely happy with this one. Construction-wise, I'm pleased. The white eyelet outer and the green gingham (not Gangnam! Sheesh!) inner are separate pieces joined only by the top panels and bias ties. It is pretty flawless. But. I really liked it better in theory than practice. The devil is in the details, I suppose.

 And I finally made my first pattern from the Sew Fab bundle sale! It is a Go To Shift Dress from Go To Patterns. And I have to tell you that I am stupidly proud of this one. I had just enough of this fabric (it has a teeny flower print on it in white) to do something super simple with. I knew that the bias on this one would make or break it, so I went to the bias tape drawer and nixed green, red, and yellow in favor of this blue. Which I ten decided that I needed to match with some screen printed butterflies! So I added some purple to some blue until I had something close. And I simply can't believe how spot on it is! The length became an issue when I measured for the hem. Elizabeth grew last week and so my hem measurements changed from the time I cut it to the time I stitched it up. Oops! So instead of a hem, it has the same bias tape around the bottom edge. I have plans to cut off leggings into bike-shorts when the hot weather really arrives, so a pair of white shorts will set this off nicely, I think.


 I have never in all my life sewn a pillowcase dress. And the past year, I'd almost sworn it off because they have been soooo trendy and soooo all over everywhere that touts handmade items. Those two things are generally the kiss of death to me. Hip? Trendy? Overpriced boutiquey? Hand me my hatchet! But. I inherited a sizable number of hand-embroidered pillowcases from my dad's mother. And I seem to have inherited kick-butt sewing skills from my mom's mother. So I decided to bite the bullet and just do one. Next time, I won't do this style, but I WILL still use the pillowcases. And I do think this one is pretty cute.


 If you ever meet this Geranium Dress in person, do not turn it inside out. It is BAD. The combo of piping and attaching the lining separately just didn't work for me. Actually, I won't be trying to separate-step lining attachment again any time soon. Ppfftt. Really, I just don't have time for the ripping it out and redoing that it took to get it looking presentable on the outside. And the inside? I will invoke Tarder Sauce and say: NO. This is also the most expensive fabric I have ever bought! It is from the Little Lisette Collection at Joann's and I only got 30% off. But, I had to have it. And it is stinkin' cute! Elizabeth loves it too - I had to make a skirt for one of her dollhouse animals out of a scrap she found. It has about four popsicles on it but she doesn't care. 

So maybe it isn't that bad for three days work. I have another outfit that I worked on just a bit today, but it is extremely fiddly - facings, overlays, and a wave-edge hem. I may have lost my mind.

HA! MAY! AHAHAHA!

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!

So, after this I expect to have a note from Kristin of skirt as top revoking my right to ever make another dress even vaguely resembling a Sweet Tartan. I will *totally* understand too. I promise, promise, promise I'll do my level best to not make another one until spring!

And let me tell you, after working out the sleeves (without realizing I made it way too hard), realizing they were weird and wonky, ripping them out twice to fix them, then getting the skirt on backwards and realizing it was about 6 incihes shy of being full enough, ripping it out, cobbling together a better skirt then realizing I didn't have enough of the off white to do a full under-skirt, there is *very* little that will induce me to make another of these before April.

Just sayin'.

Anyway. Here she is. The fall/winter Sweet Tartan with puffed, banded sleeves. And buttons selected by the Boy Scout because he has Crazy Button Selection Skills.

 The fabric is some from my Grandmother's stash that has probably been around since the 80s at least. The off-white is a sheet from Goodwill that I threw in the sink with a bunch of tea bags until it was the color I wanted.

So, a couple of tutorials helped me make this dress.

1) skirt as top's Sweet Tartan dress tutorial. duh! I've made a blue-million of them and the sleeveless versions are too too adorable.

2) This indietutes tutorial on how to puff a sleeve. I totally drafted one from the pattern which was both dumb and time-consuming. So I'll add this - if you are adding a sleeve to something sleeveless, just grab a basic sleeve pattern piece and puff it extra. if it wasn't a perfect fit to start, the puffing will allow you to take up any extra and will just be extra puffy. Which is the point of a puffed sleeve.

I think I'm Sweet Tartaned out. This one has whipped me!

I'm one of those DISGUSTING people who seems to be able to do just about anything. Tell me I can't do something and you better believe that I will. "Can't" only seems to exist in my world as a challenge. Really to the point of craziness - "You can't rob a bank!" Well, yeah I could. But *will* I? Nope.

And therein lies the difference! See, some people have gotten can't and won't mixed up. Just like need and want. I can do anything. Base jumping, dishes, vacuuming when Elizabeth is home. All things I can do. Also, all things I will not do!*

But in sewing I think I've finally found something that I'll not be doing again for a VERY long time because it just about become a big ole CAN'T right out of the gate.

And here she is. A Raggedy Ann doll for Elizabeth's birthday. I will start by saying that she is done with plenty of time to spare (about a week) and that she will have more clothes than just this one dress. But...

I go on record here and now stating that I Will Never Make Another Doll Of This Pattern Again.

It's not the hair or the wig or the clothes or the 'putting the body together with the legs and arms rammed inside the torso' or the seam ripping to restuff the head. It's her neck.

Less than an inch wide to start with and having to be sewn on to a curve with just enough room inside of the circle for the presser foot and half of my pinky finger the neck of this thing is the stuff of my nightmares. Sewing this thing should replace all forms of torture used and in some instances could be used as a substitute for the death penalty.

If I were not already nuts I would have been put in a home by now.

But, she's done, she's cute, and I don't think that Elizabeth is going to mind some of her wonkier points.

After all, she loves Annie almost as much as her Auntie M. does. And Auntie M's guest bedroom is decorated with Annie's.**

Fun things to note about Annie: The buttons on her shoes and the rickrack on her dress are both True Vintage - grandma's sewing room to the rescue! Also, her tights probably look familiar - I've still got BOATLOADS of that sheet left, too.

*In reality, there is only one thing that I simply can not do. And that is father a child. I do not have the biological capability to do that.

** Not like creepy-dolly decorated. There's a couple of Annie prints on the wall, M's own Annie doll for her youth, and a couple of figurines and a throw over the chair. And I think the bed linens are in the reds and blues of Annie, but are NOT Annie print.

So I've had to rearrange my sewing space a few times since we moved. I've just got so much stuff! But in the rearranging, I've found all sorts of treasures.

And one whopping fat spider that freaked me right out by hiding in the safety pins and being invisible. Talk about screaming like a little girl! But the spider died* so everything is okay now.

Oh God, it was RIGHT THERE.

But, there are these THINGS. These things that I have no idea what they are or where they came from or what they do! Well, I do know where most of them came from, but the doing-with is lost on me.

As I've mentioned, my uncle has been so wonderful in letting me raid my grandmother's sewing room. Every time I've been tho, I have been a bit pressed for time and I've ended up with some oddball stuff that I really like, but i don't have a clue what to do with it.

Mimi used to make Majorette uniforms.

Like the little gem above. It was in with buckles and clasps. I really love the look of it and I'd love to use it on something for Elizabeth. But how do I use it? Attach it? What on earth IS it?

Eenie, meenie, miney, moe. What to do with feet without toes?

And then there's all these feet. I needed a zipper foot about 3 months ago having believed that I'd lost mine forever (it was in my sewing basket that landed in storage, of course.) But I could not find just a zipper foot for less than $20 and this collection of all these feet was $12 on Amazon. But, what ARE they? And what devilment can I get up to with them?

If anyone knows what these things are, I'd LOVE to know. And how to use them would be awesome too. 

*House Rule #2 - Spiders may reside all over the place outside the dwelling (and hence eat like kings/queens) but the minute they put one crawly foot inside, it is squish city.

Well, THAT was a nightmare! We have been here for two weeks already and I think every one of us is still trying to recover from this move. I don't feel like talking about it simply because I'm so happy it is over! Over. Done. Moving forward now!

Lots changed during this move - we swapped out lots of furniture for what was in storage and a lot of things that were stored are now living with us (like my books and the bales of Elizabeth's clothes that she has outgrown.) But, as the place is bigger, this isn't too much of a problem. Her closet could sleep four, so storage isn't an issue.

While unpacking some of the boxes we hadn't seen in a year I found some things. I thought that I'd share them with you all and get some input. Most everything is a pillowcase, and I didn't photograph everything that I found. One dresser scarf is now residing under my sewing machine and it is pretty stinkin' cute there.

Without further ado, I present you with some of the handiwork of generations past.

Have a great day!

I have been working on a lot of boring organizational stuff this week. After KCWC, I spent a week doing patterns for myself and hating every minute of it, so I've given up on that for now, When I stopped throwing my tailbone out of wack by sitting on the floor tracing patterns, I realized that my whole sewing area was a HOT MESS.

It isn't hard for this to happen. I sew on our dining table. While the table itself seats 6 comfortably, the room it resides in is lucky to hold the three of us for one meal a day. And it is open to the kitchen (nothing I hate worse than an open concept floor plan. HATEHATE.*) and our pantry is a massive antique corner cupboard that did an excellent job putting a knot on my head breaking my fall when I passed out cold while sewing one night.** I don't even have room to trace out my patterns on the table, so you can only imagine the state it gets in to.

So I set to on Wednesday trying to make sense of the chaos. And I now at least know where everything is again. My poor mother would still have eye-spasms over the chaos, but at least it is a controlled one and I know where my tweezers are.

I did get a little carried away with the tossing stuff and tossed my machine oil. Oops.

I also did a big tidy-and-pack-up of Elizabeth's clothes. And I have realized that he needs for summer are met. Unless she grows another inch. Half of which she grew this week during naps. *Sigh*

But thankfully, I have plenty of coordinating fabrics that I can use to add ruffles to the bottom of dresses! And my mom sent me a lovely Mother's Day present that I have used to get some new patterns, so all is not weeping and packing the toddler in a box to prevent further growth. I managed to find some oliver + s patterns that I have been coveting for a while, so I've ordered them.

I am just bitterly disappointed that Paypal is stupid about gift cards. I SO want the Charlie Tunic and Dress add-on from Made By Rae. But, with my gift card, Paypal attempts to verify it and it goes ppfftthh and declines it *every* time. And yeah, it's Paypal doing it. I tried to add the card to my account and it spit it back at me again. But, it will be a while before Elizabeth outgrows the pattern. Maybe when she starts to Kindergarten, she'll have one.

I did manage to finish a couple of Popover Sundresses, but I've been lazy about pictures. And it is hard to take pictures when Elizabeth is helping wash the deck chairs. But they are little mirrors of one another - one will be delivered to its new home tomorrow, the other is being auctioned off tomorrow for a charity event to support Elizabeth's playschool. The other project will find its home tomorrow too - but I can't post pics of it as it's a surprise present.

I'm working on a post about the lovely lady in the picture above. That's my grandmother who sewed. There is a rumor going around the family that I am an awful lot like her. I consider that a compliment. A big one. And I'm not sure that it is always meant as one.

* has anyone ever thought about what a nightmare it is to entertain in a space where your guests can see the disastrous mess one makes in the kitchen while putting a large party together? open plans only produce more entertaining stress! and don't get me started on combination mud-and-laundry rooms. STUPID!
 ** i'm fine. i have low blood pressure and didn't eat much that day which led to low blood sugar. Add that to having just gotten done with a very heavy period and you get me, falling over. The knot did go away about 6 weeks later and now I always sew with a pillow strapped to my head. That was a lie.