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.

I did a ton of sewing this week, but the weather has been very Tennessee and I only have pictures of one project. However that project is the one I am most proud of!

I got the PDF Puppet Show pattern last fall and made a dress from it out of stuff I just had laying around. I have wanted to make another because the purple one is WAY too short now. But that just isn't to be, it seems. I keep having mismatches of fabrics AND I'm on a buying freeze right now too.

But, Elizabeth needs neutral shorts. I made the mistake of starting my shorts making with some very limiting (but extremely cute) options. So now we need solids and basics - like brown. And denim.

First, let me start by saying that I always get intimidated by all the little bits and bobs in Oliver + S patterns. I *know*! It isn't hard, follow the directions, it's really all very logical. But it gets me every time! That's why I never made these shorts. All those teeny pieces were overwhelming.

After making six basic shorts, I figured some of her more boring basics could be less boring with a cute pattern. And boy was I right.

I love being right. Don't you?

Ta-da! Now, they are sitting a little low on her in this pic. She's wearing a disposable diaper and the poor child has *no* hips or booty to hold her pants up. And the denim - yeah. Maybe not the best choice for this pattern. I had to trim out bulk til I was green in the face and the waistband still isn't snug enough. But, she wears cloth diapers most of the time (we were stripping them yesterday) so they will be fine with her artificial backside.

And they cost me next to nothing. After the pattern, the shorts themselves are made from a pair of jeans that a good friend of mine gave me to chop up! FREE! Whooo! Thanks Renee!

And yes, cold bribes are used in this house. Especially when it is 80 degrees outside.


I can't believe how big she is getting. Those legs are little kid legs! For real. You can't see it in this pic, but she had a BAD fall at playschool yesterday. There's a big bleedy cut on her knee, a big old purple bruise complete with road rash on the inside of that knee, and her opposite shin is scraped. GAK! went the mommy in me. She seems unphased.

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 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?

You should be more excited about the giveaway really. Cause this pattern is A-MAZE-ING. All I do is sew.

When Sarah at EmmylouBeeDoo asked me to give this pattern a test run, I sort of wibbled then squeed really loud. I hope I kept it together via email, but come on! Who am I? I got this blog, I sew some stuff, and I am alarmingly unimportant.

And here sits Captian Hosh Pants asking me to test a pattern! You would have moistened your pantaloons too, I'm sure.

So I did. She got lucky to catch me at the beginning of the Boy Scout's days off and I whipped this thing out in a morning. Followed directions too! Didn't just *herp put stuff together derp* my way through, really properly put it all together.

Then I had to wait til after naptime for pictures. That was a LONG wait.

But here it is! Elizabeth's first Doli Tank! I didn't really have much in the way of ribbing, so I had to work backwards from what I did have. The red rib went with exactly none of my girly fabrics, so this yard and a half of cheap $1 a yard stuff that the Boy Scout picked out a million years ago was pressed in to service.


 And pressed is the truth! The creases in that thing! YIKES.

Anyway, I think I used *maybe* a third of a yard of it for this. And that includes some very lovely French seams (FANCY!) And I have to tell you, I think I'm in love with this pattern.

Knit bindings. Woven main and back pieces. No facings, no fussing, pure bliss. BLISS I SAY. Do you know how many adorable prints I have in woven fabric that are like a quarter or a half yard? They are fast becoming useless on a growing girl, but that same girl is going to have a bajillion of these tanks. Plus, way less stress than sewing knit on to knit. Only one bit really stretches!


And speaking from personal knowledge, the wide, breezy, touching-no-where-but-the-shoulders style is fantastic for summertime in Tennessee *and* big ole cloth diaper booty. And, since it doesn't touch or rub, she's not trying to strip naked! Hurrah for not being a creeper-magnet!

My fabric choice may be unconventional, but any proper princess is not complete without a few fire-breathing dragons in her story. Don't you agree?

Now, for the giveaway! Sarah has kindly offered to GIVE AWAY one of these tank patterns to someone terribly lucky. All you need to do is follow her on Facebook or Instagram, then comment here and tell me you did and under what username! Ta-da! I'll pick a winner and announce it next Tuesday, April 23.

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who participated!

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.

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!

Well, I've learned several things this week. About myself, about my kid, and about sewing.

About myself I have learned (relearned) that I need lots of help in the patience department. These long weeks of summer with no playschool and the Boy Scout's mid-shift schedule have worn on me to the point that I struggle to not say No to everything, be moderately nice to my family, and not go absolutely crazy from the constant noise.

I have a real THING about noise. If there is constant noise (people talking, fans blowing, radio going, traffic, anything that makes noise) I can't hear anything. I can't hear people talking to *me*, I can't hear my own thoughts. I just can't hear over all that racket! I will NOT talk over machines, either. And when I can't hear, I get frustrated and angry really easily. This is not helped by the fact that the Boy Scout seems to think that the only acceptable tv volume is 'So-loud-we-have-to-shout.' That volume isn't good for him or for Elizabeth - he hears NOTHING else and she just zones out on whatever is up there because it is overwhelming her senses. And me, I just need and crave silence. The only time I really get it these days is when Elizabeth is sleeping in the afternoons.

I have learned this week that Elizabeth (at not-yet-2) can say and understand the word 'decorated.' From her mouth is comes out as 'dek-aw-ay-ted' but that still isn't bad! This is my fault. We played shaving cream in the bath one night and i decorated all her tub toys with it. Now, she uses her bubbles, glow-sticks, and anything else that comes to hand to decorate her toys. All the while talking about how ducky, seal, bear, and happy-face are decorated.

She's also been taking on longer and longer sentances. I'm inclined to believe that the people who set up the benchmarks of development are grossly underestimating what a small child can do. I mean, we have talked to Elizabeth from moment one and I have read to her since she could sit up on her own. But she didn't say anything past 'dada' and 'mama' until she was maybe 14 months? And then her vocabulary was limited to mama, dada, bubble, sticker, and cracker for a long time. It has only been in the past 8 or 9 weeks that she's really gotten to talking.

She can also say 'crap.' That is also my fault. When I have an accident or really mess up driving, I say crap! Well, now when I drop something that is loud or accelerate too hard in the car, she says crap for me. I ignore it, and she's said it maybe four times. Compared to what she *could* be saying, I'm mortified but not worried.

Sewing wise, I've learned what all those feet were, save one! Thanks to my friends N. and naiadkitty, I'm a lot more in the know than I was. That clasp thing is still elusive, but I suppose I'll just make something up for it. I've also learned that drafting a sleeve for a sleeveless dress is less hard than I thought. And that Oliver + S patterns are both cute and run big!

We can save this for fall.

I also have learned why everything I make comes out bigger than expected. I've been using 1/4 inch seams. Most patterns call for 1/2 inch. The half-inch seams on the Oliver + S Puppet Show Dress that I made this week seem HUUUUGE.

And I totally still stink at pressing and hemming on a curve. How on earth do you all do that without having wrinkles and folds?! UGH!

So, how about this frigid weather we are having in the southeast US? I'm about to break out the snowshoes to get to the grocery store!

NOT.

So, we live on the top floor of an apartment building. It's nice to not have anyone stomping around in hooker boots over our head and vacuuming four times a week! However, the very hot roof right above us isn't helping the 107 to 115 degree Fahrenheit temps. For about a week during the worst part of it, the air unit couldn't keep up and we roasted indoors at 80 every evening.

But, the temps have mellowed to a not-nearly-as-miserable 99 to 102 and the a/c can keep up better. Also, a fan helps.

But a friend of mine and a very smart woman mentioned hanging her little one's diapers out on the line to dry. (Yeah, I use cloth on Elizabeth. No, I'm not going to get spastic and flip out if you don't.) I thought about it and decided to give it a try.

Well, let me tell you a little about my experience. And my hatred of all things math.

First, there was getting permission to put up a line. See, we have a balcony, and we aren't supposed to hang things over them. so I went to the office and asked about a line. They said it'd be fine, but just to be mindful of it so that nothing fell over the edge or dripped on anyone. That was easy! I don't want my diapers disappearing so I just put the line in the deck-area instead of at the perimeter. Tricky to get enough line and still get the door open, but it works since I'm the only diaper-washer around here.

So every diaper got washed as usual (first goof-up) and I hung everything out willy-nilly (second goof-up!) and waited. It took about the same amount of time as in the dryer for most all of it, but longer for my natural fibers - except the bamboo, but they aren't that tightly woven. And the natural fibers got all stiff and felt weird. But everything else was great! And smelled nice, too.

Some discussion with the Boy Scout and I now have a system for this. I'll get to why I'm taking this seriously in a minute. But first, I should have rinsed the diapers again. Just throwing in an extra 15 minute rinse helped so much with the stiff-and-weird problem! Rinse out everything that could dry stiff and things feel much better. Our water has stuff in it tho, so getting completely rid of the stiffness just isn't going to happen. Ten minutes in a cool dryer with two wool dryer balls fixes it tho (if I am so inclined. Which I am frequently not.) And hanging the natural stuff (cotton and hemp) in direct sunlight spots makes everything dry at about the same rate. We have a big shady tree, so not everything gets equal amounts of sun.

Why am I taking this so seriously? Well, I did some math. And I hate math more than I hate cooking. I can do it, but oh, how I hate it! Numbers never behave properly at math - they are forever switching, flipping around decimals, and goofing off in general. Math stinks, the end. But I did do some math - in order for everything to get dry, it takes one 99 minute cycle in our dryer set to regular heat (the highest it goes.) I usually wash diapers 3 times a week. That works out to 1188 minutes a month (or 19 hours and 48 minutes.)

NINETEEN HOURS. and FORTY-EIGHT MINUTES. Of hot, miserable air belching in to our top-floor apartment in weather that isn't fit for man or beast to be out in because breathing super-heated air makes things die.


So now, so long as things are hot and miserable, our diapers can go outside to dry.