For My Daughter

My 3 year old daughter LOVES when I sew at home. Her favorite part is sitting on my lap and pulling the "binks" (pins) out as we sew and putting them on my magnetic pin cushion. She likes to help by putting her hands on the back of my hands as we feed the fabric through the machine. She asks me on a regular basis "are we gonna sew today mom?". I love it. Having her help me with the pins and the sewing is nice because her attention span can only handle a few minutes at a time. She helps me sew, then goes to play while I pin the next section we are gonna work on. Then she is ready to sit still again for a few minutes. The MOST exciting part is when we are all done and she puts on the clothes that we've made and runs to tell her dad that SHE made her own clothes all by herself. Oh, and mom helped a little. The pride and excitement that is on her face is totally priceless. I was thinking when she gets older that if she is still interested I may buy her her own little kids sewing machine. That would be fun for us to do together.

These pajama pants probably would have taken me less than an hour to do had I been working on the myself. But my daughter was helping and that about doubled the time it took. I'm ok with that though because we did it together and it was fun. My mom gave me the fabric I used for the pants to use as curtains. I liked the little ducks on the bottom and thought it would be super cute as a pair of pants. And so it was. They are a little bit big for her right now but she loves to wear them because she made them.

In all honesty I really do NOT like this shirt. It came out too short for as wide as it is (even though I followed the pattern), and trying to make the straps was impossible. Make thin straps then turn them inside right. Yeah, right. I finally gave up on the straps and used bias tape. I had never used bias tape before and didn't realize that one side is longer than the other AND that you are supposed to open it up, sew it, fold it over, and sew it again. At least I think thats the way it was explained. I was annoyed and confused with this shirt. It went in the "never gonna wear it but learned something anyway" pile.

Pattern Making Take 2 - The Asymmetrical Skirt

After the Triangle Dress I made this skirt. I had purchased the material for a shirt that apparently needed more material than I had. So this nice soft (forgot what kind of material it is because its been so long AND I don't know enough about textiles to know a fabric by feel) poly/cotton blend-ish material just sat in my pile unused.

Making this pattern was way more simple than the Triangle Dress. This was basically cut rectangles of fabric and angle them off. The back is the same as the front angled higher on the left front and right back. The black part is straight and even. The flowered bottom part is gathered at the top to give it a more flowy kind of feel.

This too is an unfinished work :( I just barely put an elastic in it, but I think its too small. I haven't perfected that yet. And the bottom hem is not done either. I think I hemmed this skirt about 5 times before I gave up. My sewing machine at the time was not great and did not work well with the material. There were several times I got the *CHUNK*CHUNK*CHUNK* noise and my bobbin (underneath thread for those of you that aren't in the know) was all knotted and destroyed. So, after unpicking several times I finally gave up.

I really like this skirt (I've wondered several times if it really is a skirt, or a strapless mini dress). I like the feel of the fabric and the way it flows and moves so smoothly. I really like the pattern of the black and white flower fabric too. And just like the Triangle Dress, making this pattern was also a fun and fulfilling experience. Hmm... maybe I can make patterns for a living. I hear they make great money. :D

Starting Out

This is totally new to me. I have never had a blog before. I know a lot of people that do, but never have myself. My mom recently started a blog for her sewing and quilting so I finally thought "Why not?". I am actually kind of excited about this because it will help me track my progression over time. I am also looking for feedback from other people as far as my designs, execution (i know its hard to tell in a picture), and anything else that you all might think of.

This blog is going to be about my progression as I go through the process of learning to sew and design clothing. Not everything that I make will be an original design by me. I am taking classes and making stuff at home that I buy and follow patterns for. But as I get more comfortable and take more classes you will see more altered patterns and original stuff by me. The plan is that if I have a sketch of something before I sew it that I will post both the original sketch and the finished product. I think it will be interesting to see how it translates from idea to application

I am always looking for new ideas, so if any of you out there in internet land have ideas for a design you would like to see sketched out/made let me know. I will do what I can to do either of those things and get them posted.

I am also completely open to making clothes for people. My only disclaimer at this point is that I am still learning. If you want me to make something for you drop me a note and we can talk about it and if I am comfortable enough to do it for you.

Here is to new experiences and having fun doing it!

*CHEERS!*