Projects for the week of Feb 18th

First off, it turns out that the large bird my husband had to chase out of our yard with a broom is a swan, not a goose.  Yes, I’m a transplanted city girl.

I want to share my “maybe, just maybe, I can get this all done” list for the week.

I am sewing jumper style dresses for a friend.  I’m almost done with the first one.  I just need to gather and attach the skirt, let it hang for a day, then hem it.  She has brought me fabric for 3 more and says that JoAnns pulled her in and she has bought more fabric.  These are pretty simple jumpers and are fairly quick to sew up.  I want to have at least 2 and hopefully 3 done to take to her on Friday when our 15 children get together to play (10 for her, only 5 for me).

Next up, Retro Femme stocks this week, on Friday.  But I want to have my items listed for preview on Thursday morning at the latest, so I’ll be working on these later today and tomorrow.

Top left:  a basic half apron, with towel loop and pocket.  The floral will be the body, the dots will be pocket, loop, ties, waistband and a border across the bottom.

Bottom left:  a zippered wristlet/pouch, maybe with a beaded pull for the zipper if I can find my beads.

Right side: a coming & going bag, my favorite bag pattern.  Hopefully the slim profile magnetic snaps I ordered will arrive in time, or I’ll have to use the huge ones from JoAnns.

And when I’m not sewing, I want to finish the blue crocheted string grocery bag that I posted about last week.

If I can get all that done (ha!) I want to do a tutorial/sew-along for the reversible toddler dress with the fabric on the left below

The fabric on the right is a lovely lovely lovely stretch twill which will become a skirt with a knit waistband for me. 

After I finish those (ha! ha!), I have some grocery sacks/bags to make for a swap at SewingMamas.com (link —>) from these spring colored home decor weight fabrics that have been living in my stash for quite some time.

I probably won’t get to these until at least the weekend, but I have this stack sitting at the end of my cutting table, just so I won’t forget.

 Time to get to work!! 

Reversible A-line toddler dress

I’m very pleased with the first dress from the pattern I drafted the other night.

I had to cut off about 3″ in length…don’t know how I thought my 3 yo was that tall!  Even now, it still comes just past mid-calf on her, so I think I will shorten in a bit more next time.

It’s also a little tight when she is putting it on, so I’m going to deepen the armhole just a bit.  The chest is perfect once it’s on, it is just the getting there. 

Other than those pattern corrections, I will be praticing my tight turn stitching.  A close look reveals that the tabs are not uniform.  In fact, out of four, only one looked good when I turned the dress right side out and then I mucked it up during top-stitching due to SWT.  Sewing With Toddler.  My 13 mo had gotten up a bit early from his nap, but I really wanted to finish the topstitching.  Of course, he wouldn’t consent to being entertained by one of his four older siblings, but had to stand on his slightly unsteady legs and pull on my arm while I sewed.

The evidence:

Maybe easier to see here:

 It’s good enough for a first-off dress and S. loves it.

Other things to work on or change:  I need to clip corners more tightly, there is too much puckering in spots and I’m not thrilled with the button closures.  I just know her hair will get caught in them.  I have a snap thingie…not a press, but the kind you use a hammer with.  If I make bunches more of these (remember,  I have 3 daughters), a real snap press would be well worth the expense.

I’m also toying with the idea of making some to sell…it’s hard to find cute and modest little girl dresses nowadays.  I’ll have to make a few more before I decide.

 Thanks for looking!

What I’m working on tonight

This is hopefully going to be a reversible A-line, slightly swing-y dress for my 3 yo.  I’ve drafted a pattern tonight, but it’s too late to start cutting. 

All my girls (I have 3) prefer dresses and skirts to pants, and since we prefer (okay, make that require) their skirts cover their knees, well…that’s one of the reasons I started sewing more than curtains and pillows and quilts.

Check back in a day or two to see how it turns out!