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've not been having a very good week. Things have gone wrong, been stressful, and generally unsatisfying. In the throes of a week like that, sometimes it is the things you think are going to fail miserably that end up being the nicest successes.

First there was this dress. I started it after finding the pink in the remnants at Joann's. I still think the neck is a bit big, and the dress itself may be too big. I cut it as a 4 instead of my usual 3 in this style. And it is also knit. But, even if it is too big, little girls grow. I like how this one turned out but all along the way I kept saying, "Oh no. Oh NO! This isn't going to do at all!" And who knows, maybe it isn't all that great, but it is cute and Elizabeth likes it. Those are the things that matter, right? It is a little heavy (it is interlock knit) so it may be better saved for fall.

Most Thursday's, I find myself at my mom's house around 9:30am having dropped Elizabeth off at her second playschool of the week. They need her at this one - she is the only child that talks in her class. They are all 2, but she's the talker. Well, while I am at my mom's, I usually take something to cut out. I took this last Thursday and got it all cut out, then when we got home, I put it together. SO FAST! And I am stupidly pleased with my 'matched plaids' that are only matched one direction. But hey! They match one direction and I'd never even tried before! Yay me!


Then there is this. I have no idea where the pattern came from, but you better believe that I'm going to make a blue-million more of them. I wasn't sure about it because of the tucks in the front, but now I am converted. Tucks are in, pleats can go rot. But this fabric has been laying around since I first started sewing. It didn't really go with anything and there wasn't much of it. There was barely enough for this dress, and that is with piecing the back! I'm probably going to do a facing instead of bias tape at the neck though. I'm NOT crazy about bias at the neckline anyway. And the buttons are three from the pile-o-buttons that I got from my grandmother's sewing room. And no. The Boy Scout did not pick them this time! He cried off at having too many options.

Really? He just wanted to play Final Fantasy 7 and be left alone.

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!

We still are not out of the woods yet health-wise. Elizabeth seems to be having a rough time of it now - she just got past a really bad upper respiratory thing, now she's got a raging ear infection in her left ear. Poor kid! It got so bad that her *eyes* hurt her.

Lots of ibuprofen and antibiotics seem to be helping, but she will miss the egg hunt that's supposed to be tomorrow. I can't let her be out in the cold wind with a gunky ear.

But I've been quite busy. Last weekend while she was at my mom's I guilt-sewed up several pairs of shorts (!!??) for her. It was so warn and wonderful outside! 70 degree weather, sunny, wonderful! NOW it is 34 and cloudy-rainy, but then.... Well, so are the wonders of living in Tennessee!

Aren't they cute? I was really worried about them being too big - I used my 4t pattern from late last summer. But my skills are much better this year and these fit great! The green plaid and the Pooh Bear ones are a touch long, but this is Tennessee and Summer lasts until October. I'll make a dress or something to go with the rainbow striped ones - I didn't even try to match the stripes and they don't look great. They were worse before I made them bloomers, tho! WHEW. Some things just don't need to be striped in rainbows!

The Sprinkle print is a cotton from Joann - I only got a remnant and it shrank so much when I washed it that I didn't know if I could get a pair of shorts out of it. But I did and they are adorable. And yes, we've made all the right jokes about carrying sprinkles on one's booty. The rainbow stripes are that wal-mart sheet from last summer. I have another whole sheet left so I'm thinking about making some sundresses to sell out of it. The green and the Pooh's are both recycled from old pants. The denim on Pooh is so soft! Elizabeth really likes these, but alas, hasn't gotten to wear them yet.

I also finishedup the Mickey Dress for the fundraiser auction! It turned out really cute - I used Rae's Geranium Dress pattern and added a collar to it.


You can tell that I don't really know much about adding collars. This was the first one I've ever drafted myself and if I'd been thinking, it would meet at the center. As it is, there's a little gap. I'm going with 'it's a vintage look' instead of the 'I'm kinda dumb and don't plan stuff very well' explanation. They have gotten it now and seem quite happy with it. I hope it will bring a nice high bid!

I've got a lot more stuff I've been working on - like Elizabeth's Easter dress and about four thousand Skater Dresses, but all the skaters are dirty and the Easter dress is not quite done (it needs buttons and my Boy Scout is at work.)

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!

It has been pretty bad health-wise for our little family the past two weeks. I've had the flu and an upper respiratory thing, Elizabeth had an upper respiratory thing, and the Boy Scout let his upper respiratory thing go so long that an excess of boogers has caused him to get pinkeye.

Due to the pinkeye, Elizabeth and I ran away from home yesterday. Every errand that I have been putting off and every errand I was planning for the next month got accomplished yesterday. We burned half a tank of gas, ate everything that was bad for us, and had a great time! I think my girl was just happy to have her mommy all to herself without any of the silly at-home stuff (chores, sewing) distracting her and I had a great time with her cause she's just awesome.

In our ramblings, we first went to our local Hobby Lobby. I've agreed to make another Mickey Mouse dress (post coming soon)  for the fundraiser auction that Elizabeth's previous playschool has every spring. I needed the Mickey fabric for that. Then, while my girl ran around and around the racks, I looked at the bolts on the wall and found the other two. The tiny hearts print is what I tried to talk Elizabeth in to picking out, but she clearly has a better eye than I do - she picked the adorable vintage looking one with the animals and babies on it.

I have a couple of patterns in mind for that one! SO stinking cute! The hearts I'll save for August - That's the next time the color of the month at playschool is red. And I'll make that one a Geranium dress. We also got her some Angry Birds stickers which she loved.

Our next stop was for milkshakes, then a 45 minute drive to the closest Stride Rite for some summer shoes for Elizabeth. Now, everyone knows that I DO NOT spend much money on her wardrobe. Clearance racks, thrift stores, and buying a size too big abound. So how do I justify spending $30+ on shoes for her? She has my feet - long, narrow, flat as pancakes. Until she outgrows them, we will get her main shoes from there. Usually, we just get sneakers and other everyday shoes - like this time, we were gunning for summer sandals and fall sneakers. What we walked out with was a tiny bit different!
Sandals for everyday this summer, nice and sturdy and cute.


Then there's THESE! She found them, sat on the floor, put them on and would only take the display ones off after the sales-gal brought her some in her size! I don't do dress shoes from there as a rule, but she's going to wear these every chance we get until she outgrows them. They go with nearly everything, so we will make it happen!

I'm such a pushover.

Next we had pizza for lunch and I got Birded on my leg.She must have out half of her new stickers on my leg. I must eat very slowly, but when I have to cut hers first and make sure she doesn't dump water down her front, it kind of slows my own progress.

Next up was a quick trip home and to the grocery to get a balloon and some juice for the Boy Scout (which we left on the front porch.) Then we were sort of at loose ends. I asked her if she wanted to go on a loooong car ride and she was peppy and glad to go. So we traveled to Fayetteville, TN to this place that I really love, Sir's Fabrics. It is right downtown in this pretty small town, but OH MY! They are celebrating this month - 65 years of business! WHOOO! So there were some things on sale and I was pretty happy just going in. They were not busy and ALL the employees we saw were thrilled with my little bug. I'm sort of outside of their target demographic, so I don't think many toddlers come in. Certainly not many who are as chatty and content as Elizabeth was.

But the best part? On the first table that I came to, just inside the door, was the biggest pile of adorable knit fabric I've seen! And every bit of it was $4.99 a yard! 60 inches wide, $4.99 a yard! I decided we could pick two of the kid prints (most were spring pastels and kid prints, but there were some grown-up ones too.) Lizzie picked the first one and I found the dogs. She was excited about both! So I let her pick which one was a dress and which was a top.

Dogs for a top (or maybe two!) Flowers for a dress. Now, to just decide what top and what dress patterns to use. I may do another Skater dress (we already have two, and one tee made from the same pattern) and I just don't know for the top. Maybe another Banyan? Or wing it for a strappy tank and make two? Who knows!

I just know that I really waffled about driving the hour and a bit down there, because we'd been in the car ALL DAY. but I am SO GLAD we went! And on the way back, Elizabeth caught a little nap. Short and unsatisfying, but she managed.

And she was really amazing all day. I was concerned about attempting this, but she proved that my worries were for nothing. She only fussed a small bit when she was tired and really enjoyed herself everywhere we went. When we pulled in at home, she cried and asked to "Go on AVENTURR again!"

That is my best girl.

And as of this writing, the Boy Scout is crust-face free, and slathering himself in hand sanitizer every time he touches his face. And without a minute to lose, too. Elizabeth woke from her nap today crying for him.

So we have gotten moved. THANK GOD.

This move wasn't as bad at the last. I didn't get hurt until the last day and that was minor and over after a day of staying off my feet. We also didn't really expect help and are EXTREMELY grateful for the help we got! My mom bought moving help for us (load and unload in 3 hours? YES PLEASE!) and my friend Rachel helped out by giving opinions and cleaning the kitchen at the old place.

Elizabeth came home and we all managed to settle in fairly well. The dust has settled and the curtains are almost all up!

Sadly, our male cat Oliver isn't adjusting so well. He is a shy, skittish sort and spent the first 24 hours hiding in the litterbox. Now, he's licked himself bald and raw down his back and on his missing boy-parts. I'm going to get some of what we call relax-a-cat for him. We had some from the last move, but he didn't need it. I have no idea where it is now. I'm sure that he will be fine once he has had a few relaxed days here. He just doesn't have his Spots picked out yet and can't find a place where we are not moving around all the time. It will work out just fine once everything is in its final home.

And speaking of home, my sewing machine came home on Monday! The serger is still at the shop, but I'm sure it will be done soon. The daughter of the shop's owner runs the *business* while the owner does all the repairs and tune-ups. The daughter is also the one who does sergers. I'm next on the list, but she's got business things to do, too. I can be patient. I have the sewing machine and it sounds AMAZING. Humming silently and better than brand new! I can't wait to have them both back, but I'm patient for now.

And what's the first thing that I sew when it got home? Blackout lining for the windows in Elizabeth's room. I hope that I NEVER have to mess with anything like that again! I don't think I've used such foul language at fabric before. But the blackouts work great - her room seems to be south-facing and is blistering hot during the day as well as nicely lit by the neighbors at night. All of those problems have been solved now.

I'm off just now to lint-roller the couch again and remove a little more of Oliver from it.

An hour, right? Weeeeeell.

How about 4? 'Cause see, my little person decided to hoot in her bed for two hours before finally falling asleep. (We have a 'you-will-stay-there' rule here. Mommy and Daddy need a little down-time, too.) Then she napped for two hours. So, in the four 'down' hours today, I think I got caught up.

Then these two from the same pattern! The print is a thermal knit that I got from Joann's off the Red Tag rack. I think it is some of the last that I bought before we left Knoxville. I've been saving it up for just now. The purple refused to be photographed properly in the drizzling rain, but it is an old tee of mine and shh. I didn't have to hem a thing!

Then there is this. I really think this is the GTSD at it's finest. I'd not done a waistband of any type yet and I *really* waffled about it. I waffled until both sleeves were in and I just had one side-seam left. Then I decide to just do it and if I hated it, I could rip it out. I'm so glad I did it! I'm also glad that I just did the internal casing - this fabric was so STUPIDLY expensive (to me, $9 a yard is a small fortune) that I want every inch of it to be as visible as possible. And it is so cute! And I'm so proud of it.

There is one more top that I didn't get finished - another turtleneck that is a turtleneck for the same reasons as the other one - a lack of matching or coordinating rib. But that can be done tomorrow. I'm making a serious dent in this pile! The serger being back in the game is helping so very much!

So. Over the years I've been proud of stuff. Usually, it falls to pieces because it's not really stuff worth being proud of in the first place. Like my hair. Long, really dark save for some silvery-grey streaks, mad-as-snakes kinds of curls. Then, I nurse Elizabeth and it (almost) all falls out. Stupid alopecia. Stupid DNA.

But I digress. I've been really, honestly proud of nearly all the things I've made for Elizabeth to wear in the cooler weather. Now, that may spell their doom in some plumbing disaster, but for now I will be proud.

See, age has taught me some wisdom.

You all might remember the pile of racerback dresses that I made back in the summer. They have been great! They fit well and were very cool and comfy. Well, it has been 42 degrees around here in the mornings and little sleeveless dresses are a thing of the past. I'm making over all of them (including the white one if I can find it.) I finished the first one tonight.

Please forgive the un-amazing lighting. Elizabeth is wearing this to playschool tomorrow so there will be no daylight pictures for a little bit.

But seriously! I cobbled together two patterns - the Racerback Dress and the Go To Signature Dress, lopped off the top of the original and attached this cute owl print that I found at Joann's (I only got a half-yard. The price was a touch high, but it is good, sturdy knit.) The neckband is the rib from the original $2 shirt.

I'm not sure why I'm so proud of this playdress. Maybe it's the franken-pattern. Maybe it's because I didn't think the colors would work. Maybe it is just nice to know that my skills are coming along nicely. Whatever it is, I hope it keeps up!

And that all stray sparks, weird weather, and odd animal mishaps can hold off long enough for me to know if these little things can hold up to toddlerdom!

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!

Just in time for cooler weather (hey! low 70s is cooler around here!) I decided that Elizabeth needed a few new dresses. I've done three this weekend - The 'why-did-i-ever-buy-this-fabric' dress, the 'very-nearly-free' school uniform style dress, and the Little House on the Prairie dress. Here's the 'why-did-i-ever-buy-this-fabric' one!

 This pattern is my own personal go-to pattern. When there's a play-dress needed, this is what I use for wovens. It is Simplicity 2377. When I bought it, Elizabeth wore a 2. So I also have Simplicity 5695, which is the smaller sizes and fewer options version. I've made both but this is the first one I've made with the next size built in.

See, I sew for keeps. And play-dresses are kind of a dime a dozen. But I *know* that before winter's end Elizabeth is going to be firmly in a pattern 4. She's already in a store-bough 4t due to being a tall little person (she's just topped 36 inches tall. It's genetic!) And come to find out, this print of fabric is one I really like, tho it matches NOTHING on planet Earth except the other two fabrics in the series (which are both awful and hideous equally busy prints.)

So this little dress is sewn to a size three but cut to a size four! HA! Smarty pants Mommy!
 There are some pretty glaring changes that I made to the pattern. One is the shirring at the neck. There's very little of it, but it looks different from the pattern because of it. Also, the ultra-deep hem. About and inch and a half of it shows, but there is another inch folded over within that. And the sleeves did not get the elastic either. I decided that while the shirring is easy and the casings are easy, I am LAZY. Or I could blame it on wanting to be able to layer it in really cold weather (and shut it! 32 degrees Fahrenheit is COLD!)

 She wore this dress to playschool today and the Center Director pointed out the color of the month to her. They have a color focus for each month, and I think I may be a sneaky-pete and make a few more multi-colored dresses so she's nearly always wearing the color of the month. Next week, I'll show you the Little House on the Prairie dress that I made so she's got two days worth of brown to wear. Brown is this month's color and she only had one little Old Navy shirt in brown. Problem SOLVED.
 And here's just a couple of more pictures of my bubble-master girl. Another lovely thing about this dress - it doesn't show the bubble drips too much! Bet you didn't even know they were there, did you?

Once I buckled down and set to it, getting my sewing area in order did not take long at all. After all, it is only a linen closet with the door off! AHAHAHA!

See, there's a weirdo hallway leading from the master bedroom to it's attached bath and that is where the master closet and the only linen closet in the place is.

All I did was rip out the bottom shelf and stick this old Singer sewing table in there. Well, it is the iron base from the table with a plywood board on top, but it works! Lots of yardage, buttons, trims, odds, and ends are on the remaining shelves. I even have a radio in there - and THAT is a treat!

We stashed the door in the bathroom and all my recycling clothes in the bedroom closet. Sadly, the serger has had to be put on a tv tray in the bedroom. I never use it a wild lot except for finishing things, so the aggravation of it being across the room isn't too bad.

But oh, the things I've made so far! I've started keeping a list of everything that I sew up just so I know later on where stuff came from. And who knows, maybe someday someone will read through it and laugh their heads off at my scribbled notes in the margins.

Anyway, here's some pics.

The first thing I worked on was another Oliver + S Popover Sundress. I really like this pattern, but this poor little dress seems ill-fated.

I made it from a $5 twin sheet that I got at Wal-Mart, a leftover bit of a pillowcase, and some bought red bias tape. I love the print on the sheet and I've been struggling to not use it on every single thing I've made so far.

And the dress is too cute on the sweet girl. But the first time she was supposed to wear it was to church three weeks ago. The Friday before, she comes down with a viral infection and can't go. Then, the Sunday after that I go out to the car with her only to find it overrun with ants. Inside and out! Cue me freaking out and not going to church.

I didn't even tempt fate yesterday. She wore something else entirely.

Next comes the big runs of things. Usually, I make one or two of something and never touch it again, but in the past month, Elizabeth has outgrown so much that I needed to replenish her wardrobe.


 Cue the Warhols! I don't think I did them right and I sure didn't do them in knit. Knits I'm hoarding for fall and winter. But these came out pretty good, I think. Good for the 100+ days since they barely touch Elizabeth at all. I've had the fabric for the one on the left since before the small girl was born and the green on the right is a pillowcase I picked up at Goodwill a few days before I made them.

Sidenote: we have an amazing Goodwill! First Saturday's are half off everything in the place. Every day there's 50% off a different colored tag. And Wednesday's and Sunday's are $.99 on the colored tag of the day. Guess where I'm going to be August 4?


Then came the racerback dresses. Now, I bombed making them before and I was determined not to do that again! So I cheated the binding, redrew the yoke on the back, and used tees that I'd found on sale at our local Dollar General for less than $2 each. There are actually three of them, but the lime and brown one was in the wash. That one is actually the best of the lot - the purple binding is a little too lightweight and there's not much stretch to the pink print binding. But none of that is bad enough to make them be tossed in the pile to be scrapped.

I've also made about four pairs of shorts and this adorable top, but shorts are boring to photograph so there won't be any pictures of those.


Now, Elizabeth is about to turn two. For her first birthday, I made a quilt for her crib. This time around I'm doing something different. I'm going to make her a dolly! She loves to read her Raggedy Ann book, so I found a pattern for a little Raggedy Ann. I don't think I have ever in my life pressed a pattern, but I am this time. And I'm also ironing the pattern pieces on to butcher paper - a temporary solution for making them sturdy enough to work with. Since Annie is one size, I'm not concerned about cutting this pattern. There are some little stuffed pets too, and another of her gifts is a vet set, so I see a pup or kitty in her future too.