Finished sewing = cute kids!

I would show them to you, but I didn't take a camera to my brother's wedding, so I am at the mercy of others who have yet to share their pictures! My own sewing was a bust. I stayed up way late experimenting with the dress idea that flopped miserably, and dashed off an ill fitting shirt the next morning. I may be able to fix it, but I haven't gotten around to it. I am a bit more concerned about being down to two items to wear on my bottom half...I unearthed a pair of capris since it hit 80, but I don't think it is planning on staying at high summer temps in April! My problem is compounded by the fact that my washing machine broke, and our new one won't arrive for another few days. Fortunately for me I haven't gotten my limited options too dirty, and I should be fine with only one more run to the laundrymat. I will admit that doing 9 loads in about 2 hours was wonderful, but a bit too expensive to make it a long term practice.

Almost fitted!

I have been wanting to make some more nursing shirts, and wanted to play with my new pattern software. I was fiddling around with it this weekend, and think I have a working pattern. I used my Curves software and the leotard draft. Now, I haven't figure out how to do anything with the pattern editing stuff, but I got a much better fit with the leotard than I did with the knit shirt sloper. I'll have to ask at the forums what went wrong (or if the armhole is supposed to be as huge as it is or if it was because I was 9 months pregnant when I took my measurements...), but I was too impatient to wait until I could take pics and get feedback. The leotard drafts with a back seam, but I wanted more ease around my midsection, so cutting it out on the fold added a bit in the waist area without adding extra bulk. I left the side seams slightly contoured, and need to fix the hip area (too much curve), but other than that I should be able to whip up a couple shirts in no time, which is good, because I am getting tired of wearing the same three shirts...

The First Step

to any sewing project around here is cleaning the sewing room up from all the half started, or even just though of, projects that are out. It also happens to be time for the great swap (i.e. pack away all the winter fabric that never got sewn up!). I also couldn't find any tape measures...

So today I had two sleeping smalls, and two other occupied smalls, so dove in. I started pulling all the fabric off my shelves, and found the missing fabric that I had intended to make the girl's Christmas dresses, along with two of my tape measures. I put the tape measures away securely, so that I can find them later this week when I need to plug new measurements into my wild ginger softwear so I can figure out how to draft a nursing top that will fit. I now need to find space in my containers for the fabric that needs to be packed up, preferably without totally filling up my shelves so I lose the fabric that is out at the moment...

So much to do!

My brother is getting married next month. My daughter is going to be a flower girl, and my son will be the ringbearer. And I need something to wear too!

After much discussion, I picked a burda pattern for my dd's dress. She will be in white, and with any luck will wear the dress next year when she makes her first communion. Probably with some lace added or something. This year she will wear it with a sage or coral sash (to match the bridesmaids or flowers). I need to find a tux for my son. My SIL's family has a couple floating around and I am hoping that one of them will fit...but I better find out NOW!

As for me...I need something that won't clash with my fabulous sling, though my sling won't really "go" with the bridal party. I obviously wouldn't need to wear the sling for any pics, but would want something so that I can wear it while I am nursing in church. At the moment, I am thinking of a dress with a bolero top that I can fit nursing access under somehow.

Now, just to find time to sew it all!

Much better.

I decided that the rings were too small. NOT being able to adjust the sling is more of a pain than it is worth. So I ordered large silver rings and it works much better! I took the opportunity to fix the mistake I made so that the "right" side is now the brocade, and I folded the end under so now the serged ends are hidden and it will be reversible.

Sling pictures!

silk and brocade sling
Originally uploaded by zerlindra

Here is the sling. I used two brocade remnants sewn end to end to make a long enough strip. I matched the colored stripes on the back and then cleaned up the sides, which made the brocade part about 18" wide. I then cut my silk 36" wide, so it would leave a border on either side. I stitched both long sides, then ironed the seams towards the silk. I carefully spread it out and pinned the borders so they were about 4 1/2" wide on either side. I top stitched through the seam allowance, then stitched on the sides about 1" in. I hemmed the more even end, (I think I stretched one side of the silk tighter than the other when I sewed it together.) and folded the other side to make the shoulder. I serged off the extra/uneven part, and stitched it down with some twill under it to hopefully hold some of the stress. I should have put the end on the other side (and tucked it under!), but I am going to cover the serging so it looks pretty on both sides and I can reverse it. I used medium aluminum rings from slingrings.com. It is quite secure in spite of the slippery brocade. I can't do my normal lift the ring for easy adjustment for nursing, I have to use two hands!

Sling done!

I finally finished up my silk and brocade sling in time to wear it for a bridal shower. Of course, I was looking at it at church today, and decided I need to cover the serged end, since I am going to end up wearing it that side out...Some things are not considered when finishing projects at 12 a.m.!

I still need to work on some nursing tops. And I went to the store and brought home 5 or 6 pairs of pants, none of which fit me well enough to bother keeping them. I should just make some skirts and give up on pants for a few more months...

My new to do list...

I need to get back to my sewing room soon!

1) silk sling. I need to cut the silk, the brocade is ready to go. Now that I have my original sling, I can remind myself how wide I need to cut it. I am debating putting a zippered pocket in the tail...

2) one or two more of the Sweet Blossom cami's

3) two or more nursing shirts.

4) bra muslin. This is last on my list since I figure that waiting a couple more weeks will get me a size I can wear for longer...and I can make sure that I have all the notions I need on hand!

She has arrived!

sophia in the hospital
Originally uploaded by zerlindra

Baby #4 arrived finally on January 2nd. She weighed 7# and 7 oz, and was 20 3/4" long. Labor was fast and furious since I was induced with AROM. She arrived just over two hours after my water was broken!

She fit into my ELD 301 nicely to be warmed up after her first bath.

Sewing Goals for 2009

This year I am hoping to make a bra that fits well. Several of them, in fact!

I am planning on continuing to sew up my stash.

I want to sew something to enter in the county fair...I keep forgetting until it is too late!

I am aiming low...I am going to have a newborn for the first half of the year and two kids to teach for the second! I can't say that I will definitely sew more than I did this year, but hopefully I will sew better! I already finished two UFO's and sewed up a fitting garment today, so I have made a good start...

Final Fabric Stats for 2008

• Yardage Out/Used: 62
• Yardage In: 39.75
• Items Sewn: 106
• Fabric spending: $136.5
• Notions/Patterns/etc. spending: $63
• UFO's Finished: 5
• Items mended/altered: 20

Not bad...I didn't gain too much fabric!

Waiting around...

for a baby, of course. I did get some great sewing presents this Christmas! My grandma got me Wild Ginger's Curves, and my husband got me Click and Sew 1101. I spent the last couple days making up the fitting garments and seeing how they work. Now I can (theoretically) make nursing bras that fit for a fraction of the cost of ones I could buy. A small band and a generous cup size are not easy to find or pay for. And I definitely need some new ones; some of the ones I am using are from my oldest who will be seven in a few months, and they never fit right to start with. I am looking forward to being able to make some nursing shirts without struggling to figure out how much ease to add to the pattern, or how to make giant darts to make the shirt fit without hanging on me. I did okay with a pencil and scissors, but my life will be much easier if I can just print and go!

Christmas sewing progress

doll outfit
Originally uploaded by zerlindra

Here is the finished doll outfit for a 16" baby doll. If you click through to my flickr account, you can see the 18" doll clothes that I have done too. They are kind of boring to look at, since they aren't on the doll.

Yesterday evening I managed to convert the huge yellow shirt into a Robin cape, and have almost finished the shirt (I forgot to put on the all-important R badge). I need to finish the pants and the Robin belt, then I will need to finish the Christmas dresses and the diaper bag for the doll. Theoretically I will move onto the doll bedding for the waldorf doll basket and the purple shoes for my niece...

I'm tired.

I sent my kids to visit grandma today, and spent the day working on Christmas gifts. I cut out some baby doll clothes (7 items), some pj's (3 items), and the Robin costume (4 items). I dyed my play silks and managed to flood the basement in the process (Don't plug the laundry sink and fill it to rinse out the dye and forget to turn it off...it just might exponentially increase the cost of your cheap silks!). I finished up 4 stockings and started to sew the doll clothes together (all the items that can be finished in white thread, lol!).

Christmas sewing update

Today I had a spare moment without kids and managed to cut out a dress, shirt, and outfit for my oldest's 18" doll. I got the dress serged as much as necessary, then switched my serger thread and finished two baby blankets, one for me and one for the little dolly my 2yo is getting for Christmas. After they went to bed, I finished the dress (which I cobbled together out of a jumper and a shirt pattern to make it look like the dress I sewed my daughter) and one of the shirts, along with two diapers for the baby doll.

I need to dig out the yellow polo shirt I have somewhere, since I want to borrow the collar for my son's Robin costume. I did get red fleece for the "shirt" part of the costume, and I have yellow ribbon for the lacing.

I ran to Joann's today, mostly because I needed to get wool, silk, and felt for my husband's class to do some sort of physics experiment. I picked up 5 yards of knit to make a moby style baby wrap, and some green panne...just in case I get around to sewing a shirt for me! I also got a silicon pan with 24 small snowflakes. I am making some bath fizzys for my MIL, and thought these would be more fun than square ice cubes. They look enough like flowers that I figure I can use them for other occasions as well (they make great finger jello molds if you don't want "waste" scraps like you get from cutting things out with cookie cutters).

Felt Food Fun!

A variety of felt food
Originally uploaded by zerlindra

An online acquaintance posted that she was making her kid some felt food for Christmas, and posted some links to etsy. Oh my! I HAD to make some! It is a really easy hand sewing project, and would be great for older siblings to make for Christmas gifts. I like the fact that you can make healthy food! I created a tutorial on making slices of bread. My magnets aren't quite as strong as I would like (or my bread is too thick!) but she is quite happy with it!

Along with the bread, you can see the bow tie pasta, an orange slice, an apple in quarters (that would have looked better if I had been a little less generous with the stuffing), and some pancakes. I also found some white plastic Easter eggs when I was clearing up my storage room, and made some flat eggs so they can "break" the eggs to fry. My 6yo is very excited about all the food that her little sister is getting for her birthday, and I think I may make her something like this cookie baking set for Christmas.

Waldorf Dolly

doll in sleeper
Originally uploaded by zerlindra

I finished up the Baby Companion doll last night. I still want to make some diapers and some clothes. I have a cute little basket and flannel to make her a moses type basket like our baby will sleep in. The doll turned out cute. I am not sure that the proportions are accurate, but since I didn't make the head, I can't blame myself entirely! You can see more pics in my flickr album.

Getting moving...

I have all but two birds done, and the machine sewing done for my Baby Companion doll. I will need to make "matching" outfits for the new baby and the doll. I found the perfect basket to make a moses basket type bed for the baby...just need to buy it when I get to Joann's this week! I need to work on a few more outfits for my older girl's 18" doll, and make a Robin costume for my son. I am pondering dyeing some play silks for my youngest...

Other things on my list to sew...a silk sling, if I can find the right color brown silk. I found the brocade last time, but I stopped carrying my youngest in the sling around the same time, lol! I need to make a new baby girl outfit for coming home in (and maybe a new boy one too, since I don't really like the zipper in the last one I made...I have plenty of the same fabric so I can still use the little jacket that goes with it!). I need to go through my diaper stash and figure out if I need any more covers or tiny diapers too.

My oldest girl needs a new warm dress. The problem? She can wear a size 3 around...but needs a 7 or so long. And she wants a DRESS, not a jumper. I have been meaning to make matching jumpers for the girls, but if she won't wear one, I probably shouldn't bother... I also want to make them dresses for the IL's Christmas party. They need to be comfortable, and they also need to be cool...their house is the reason that they make little girls Christmas dresses with short sleeves! I have some crushed panne that will work, just need to modify a shirt pattern into an A-line dress and I will be all set.

Christmas is coming apace...and I am due the week after! It is a good thing that the sewing bug is itching again...

My maternity shirt

Burda 1
Originally uploaded by zerlindra

Here is the first of the pictures of my Burda 7889 maternity blouse. I am very happy to have something new to wear! It gets a bit boring to wear the same 6 shirts all the time...

My grandma did a great job on the buttonholes and the collar and cuffs, much better than I would have! If you click on the picture, you can see two more pictures on flickr.

Yesterday I sewed up all but one pair of the birds I had cut out, and started work on my dd's doll clothes. I need to get to the fabric store for some velcro so I can finish them. The fact that the kids are under the weather actually gave me a nice chunk of sewing time yesterday when they all napped...I'm hoping they will do the same today!

Christmas Birds

Many thanks to Lindsey who posted the blog with the bird pattern! I have made up 8 of them (in semi-matching pairs) and have another 19 or so cut out of ancient scraps inherited from my great-grandmother who has given up quilting. After looking at the pictures again, I realized mine are overstuffed.

I got my shirt back from my grandmother with the collar and cuffs done, along with all the buttonholes. I need to put the sleeves in and sew the buttons on before Sunday so I can have a new shirt to wear. Oh, and I guess I need to add the bias binding for the drawstring casing. I have 5 more birds that need red thread, so I will have to dash those off and then finish my shirt!