Miles was quite handsome in his dedication outfit made by Mommy. Mommy used Baby Jumpsuit pattern #138 and the free "Cross" smocking design. Made from white Imperial Batiste, not only was the outfit stunning but also practical.
Mommy might be fairly new to smocking, but she certainly is not a beginner. Great job Carrie!
Michie'
I would like to think that he was excited that Nana was making him a new outfit, but I knew that he was checking to see if it was a hat. Everything is a hat, including Nana's bracelet and Grandda's biscuit pan! Yes, the boy does have a real hat he just stays on the outlook for more.
Michie'
"Excited" is a little mild to describe how Anna and I felt when we left the guys to watch football while we headed to Florence, Al to take an Alabama Chanin workshop. Not only is Anna an avid "Chanin stitcher" having made several projects from Natalie Chanin's books, but I had the opportunity to learn something new and be the student and not the teacher!
We were able to meet other stitchers, enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of stitching, and loved getting a tour of the studio and examining the fabrics and creations in person. It really was hard to leave and head back home, but there was a group of hungry guys watching football and waiting for dinner.
Home was only an hour away, so as we enjoyed the drive through the country while Anna stitched on her project, we had time to talk of all we had seen and plan new projects. An easy dinner was prepared, I had time to play with Christian, and was finally able to catch Rex between ballgames and head back home.
I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and energized! Apparently a change of scenery was exactly what I needed! :)
Michie'
Do you like to match the prints when sewing a garment with a straight front seam such as a Jon-Jon? To tell the truth, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't bother. If the urge does hit, I have a few steps that I follow that are easy and gives a good match.
1. Cut out one front and mark the center seam allowance using a ruler and a wash-away marker. You will only be marking the straight section of the front.
2. Fold under and press the seam allowance that you just marked and laying it down on the uncut piece of fabric, position it until your prints match and pin in place. Here you will see that my elephant is divided in half. Using the wash-away marker, mark close to the pressed fabric edge the length of the seam on the new piece of fabric.
3. Unpin the fabric and being careful not to shift the fabric, lay the cut out front, right sides together, on top of the fabric so that the previous markings match up. The pressed line of the front should lay directly on top of the marks. Peek and make sure everything looks good before cutting out the second front.
4. I like to baste the seam with a stitch length of about 3.5 to make sure that everything lines up just right before stitching the normal seam.
If your prints match perfectly on the first try you are entitled to a little victory yell!
Keep in mind that matching the prints will take extra fabric depending on the size and pattern of the print.
Michie'
If you know me at all you are laughing over the title of this blog. I never have caught on to football and finally came to terms last year with the fact that I will never understand it and that is okay! But, I am the only one is this group who is not excited about the coming season, so I have learned to plan some really good parties and to have a couple of cute outfits for the kids.
Anna created the dress out of a plain white tee shirt with a hand stitched Alabama "A" on the front. I then gathered gray gingham for a skirt and zigzagged it to the bottom of the shirt. How simple is that?
The Jon-Jon was made from the perfect print fabric sporting little elephants and is lined with black and white gingham. A white tee shirt is waiting in the closet to go under the Jon-Jon for those cooler fall days that we are all looking forward to.
Michie'
I decided to revisit the Candy Corn Bishop after receiving several emails inquiring about the rickrack on the neckband. First of all, what a wonderful surprise that the bishop that I made last year for Sew Beautiful Magazine now fits our special little one! Now, on to the sewing.
The rickrack is stitched to the right side of the neckband 1/2" from the raw edge, which is the seam allowance for the bishop pattern. A normal straight stitch down the middle of the rickrack is all that is needed, and the rickrack extends all the way to each end of the neckband.
Next with right sides together, pin and stitch the neckband to the bishop as indicated in the pattern instructions. You will be stitching right on top of the previous stitching line.
Just the right amount of rickrack will be showing when you finish the neckband!
The same technique' is used for adding piping to a neckband. :)
Michie'
Have you ever had a favorite blouse that you wish would last forever? Well, I did and the blouse finally fell apart on the very day that Anna had dared me to use the old one as a pattern and make a new one. Since I find it hard to pass up a dare from Anna and I happened to have 2 yards of $4.99 fabric on hand and pretty boring weekend ahead of me, I stepped up to the challenge.
I split the old blouse along each seam, pressed the pieces, pinned them to tracing paper, traced around each piece, and then added the seam allowances. I did discover along the way that carefully labeling the pattern pieces would have been helpful. :) I was pleasantly surprised at how well the blouse turned out and have already worn it several times!
Sewing for myself is something that I rarely do, but I must admit that I am now inspired to try another project. This is one of those times in sewing where you must look at the project as an experiment and a journey and hope for the best.
Michie'
