[Mama_Knowles]

Well I still haven’t finished those two girl pj’s! I don’t know why but these are seeming to take forever, maybe the ruffles? Sweet pea’s birthday is Saturday so I need to finish them. While “finishing” them I have made a Christmas tree skirt, a bubble dress and a pullover sweater this week. On the bright side I have about three more people wanting me to make tree skirts, yippy!

I hope to get to baby C’s coat tonight and finish it this weekend. I am so excited to make the school days coat. 🙂

[DianaH158]

Justsewit – I am glad you have a reprieve for a bit. I have friends in eastern Australia and have been seeing their facebook posts the last few days with reports of the temps! Hoping too that all stay safe in regards to the fires.

Mama_Knowles, I too took forever to finish my daughter’s pj’s and I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t into it. Once I did they did look super cute and I was glad I had gotten them done – you can do it!

We did get a smattering of snow last night and the kids are begging to go outdoors before school (there is a delay this morning to let the roads warm up) and before it melts! So its off to find what little bits of snow gear we have that fit and out to play!

I’ll be finishing my cutting today hopefully and Lillian has asked to work on the doll pj’s more this afternoon.

[Tamara]

I found a pair of denim sketchbook shorts that I hadn’t quite finished so I was working to complete them today, however, I didn’t. I completed the blue ones I was originally working on. So tomorrow I can just do the leg hems on the denim ones and move on to the pj shorts. Hopefully I can get them both done tomorrow and then move onto the sketchbook shirt Sunday.

And then it is onto periodic sewing with pink things!

[meleliza]

Yes, Tamara, I’m trying out the hem stitch functions on my machine, which is not very fancy. Im a little intimidated by the precision required for heirloom techniques, but I’m going to try it out. It just so happens that I’ve got a pile of scraps of linen cotton blend that I used for P’s St Nichola costume and I’m making up some samples out of it. There was a he stitched secured tuck shown in A “white” issue of sew beautiful that is really divine, but I’m not sure I could achieve that, I may stick to simple tucks and lace insertion. I want to have some swatches to show the little girl tomorrow morning. Don’t you think the fairy tale skirt is the perfect canvas, though?

Melanie

[Tamara]

Melanie it will be out of this world divine! The fairy tale reminds me of something little girls would have worn back in the 50’s for their first communion. It is just so chic and classy yet not over the top. I never got to do anything like this for my niece when she had her communion. She wanted what the other girls were having which were like mini wedding dresses! I think simple with a little embellishment if far more elegant than over the top “lets pile on all the bling we can”. They are after all little girls not Hollywood movie stars.

I think Claire Schaeffer’s book has a segment on heirloom sewing with lace and also the hem stitching techniques. The trick is not to stretch the lace and to match the patterns as you sew them together. Testing the stitches out is ideal because then you can note down what looks best when you go to put it all together.

Probably will have to put sewing on hold today. The house is beckoning for my attention. I would like to get in there sometime today though, to hem the denim shorts and whip up a pair of pj shorts. They don’t take long to do and seem to be required. After lunch maybe.

[meleliza]

Agreed, I do not like the mini bride look or too much bling. It is a holy occasion, after all, and they’re only little girls. But I also don’t love the overly frilly kind of heirloom sewing either. I hope to find a classic look. I’ve made muslins and am making swatches of tucks and insertions to work out the details. Not having good luck with the machine hemstitch just yet. But, I received Carol Ahles’s book in the mail today. It is absolutely wonderfull! So much detail with really clear instructions. But it will take some time to go through it all. Clark Schaeffer was under the Christmas tree (Ok, i put it there 😉 and I have been reading carefully through. All the details of the cutoure houses – like a fairy tale. If only I hadn’t been such a good student in high school, I might have tried fashion design. Unfortunately I was always told I was “too smart” for such a “frivolous ” career.

[Tamara]

Whoops sorry I think I got mixed up with authors and super sewing experts! I have both ladies books and I think it is Carols you need. She goes into a lot of detail and you really can’t go wrong she’s got everything all there.

I agree that heirloom sewing techniques in itself are very pretty and you can have too much of a good thing. You could go crazy with this pattern and the many techniques and have it come out looking like something for the stage rather than a ceremony marking an important step in a child’s faith.

I love pin tucks and lace together. You don’t have to do the fancy band thing but a couple of rows of lace on the skirt would be ideal and maybe compliment the sleeve (if you re using them) with a bit of lace also. Flanked with pin tucks would be awesome.

I don’t know what to say about the hem stitching other than maybe the wing needle is too big or the stitch sizing isn’t quite right? I have tried it but never really had a lot of luck with it by machine.

I have a dress pattern design in one of my many issues of Australian Smocking that has faggoting and that looks stunning. It was done around the collar and attaching some print fabric tube and then again at the hem to attach the print band. Simple yet stunning.

I absolutely cannot wait to see this!

I’m off to hide in the sewing nook! The house can wait I have a date with sewing blue things so I can make another Jumprope view b – she is wearing the green one today and it looks so good I have decided she needs more! But blue things first!

[Sarvi]

Wow, did your teachers really put air quotes around “too smart”? That’s just mean. If you hadn’t been “too smart” we might all be sewing Meleliza + S designs right now! Well, everything happens for a reason, as they say.

I’m eager to see what everyone does with all their heirloom techniques. Just the other day a friend mentioned a site with images of dresses from different eras, and it was so interesting to see the way that silhouettes and embellishments changed over time. I agree, justsewit, often just a few elements added to an otherwise plain dress can really elevate it.

My own current project is based on the Bubble dress — gosh, that seemingly simple bodice is just so well designed that a few curves really transform any type of skirt into something more wonderful. I’m making a very, very simple gathered skirt to pair with it from a leftover length of cheapo linen from JoAnn, so I can test out an indigo dye kit I bought. Excited to see how it turns out as I’m pretty new to the technique. Dipping my toe into dye, you might say!

[Tamara]

Good golly! You know I have to get the flower girl dress out that my niece wore to my wedding almost 12 years ago. It has pin tucking on the bodice done diagonally. I have just had a vision of your Fairy Tale dress with the collar and hem done like this! Will get it out, take a pic and upload it to show you what I mean. This way you’d get your tucks but it would be unique and you’d be able to do the lot on a block of fabric.

What fabric are you using again?

Ok blue pj bottoms done minus elastic and I tried making the Sunday brunch skirt I’d enlarged and started this time last year (or was it the year before…) it is too small! And I mucked it up and the waistband piece has walked. So the first muff for the year has been had.

Oh well. There is more in the box to work on.

[Mama_Knowles]

Sarvi it sounds wonderful! I am ecited to see it finished!

Last night I slept so I didn’t even attemt to sew the pj’s but she does have her new dress and a pink rose birthday cake. Sweet pea is just excited about the cake. Three year olds are so easy to make happy! I am wanting to dive into a School days coat for the baby. I am going to the store later this morning for snaps and flannel lining. I will be using the snaps for his coat seeing how everything goes into his mouth.

[Tamara]

That makes sense and it would probably be easier to do up in a hurry to get out the door too.

[Sarvi]

Oh, I’d love to see that, the diagonal pintucks do sound very pretty. Have you seen Clever Charlotte’s Olivine dress? It has three pintucks in a sort of sun ray pattern. I’d seen the technique in either the Claire Shaeffer (sp?) book on fabric manipulation, or perhaps another book (can’t recall the author’s name). I am using white linen.

Oh, a pink rose cake sounds wonderful. I made a pink rose filling for some macarons and was a bit amazed at how much it really conveyed the taste and smell you imagine when you think of big, overblown roses.

justsewit, bummer about the muff!

[meleliza]

Sarvi, It was more of my parents attitude than the teachers. They never came out and said anything like that, but they are generally more interested in career paths that they could envision as lucrative. Anyway, it was also the 80s, the great “you are what you earn” era. And I suppose too many women felt they fought too hard to “make it” in the corporate world to go back to doing anything that might be considered “women’s work.” I’m not really upset about it or anything, but I find it interesting to look back on when I think about how I want to raise my own daughter.

Anyway, we have decided on a cotton organdy which I will probably line with batiste or fine lawn. There will definitely be tucks in the skirt and sheer tulip sleeves, but the lace is up in the air. She is not a very girly girl, and prefers simple, which is fine with me. I may order some lace anyway and try it out to see what she thinks. Her mother likes a little bit of lace. We will do the full size bow, but with a sash that goes all the way around.

I will absolutely share pictures when it’s done, but I haven’t even ordered the fabrics yet, I had a photography offer I’d like to take advantage of, so as soon as the fabrics come in, I will press on!

I’m also excited about Sarvi’s bubble dress. There is plenty of room for interpretation, but alas my babe has grown out of it.

[Nicole]

I am a-sewing my Lisette Traveller shirt.

I’m a-cutting a Vogue camisole and skirt for Elsa.

And I am a-blogging the Fairy Tale dress,its a huge post,it will require copious wine and cheese to read it.

[Tamara]

Sarvi, we had the exclamation placed on N by the teacher last year as being “very clever” and “not reaching his potential” yet he was only year one and doing a lot of year two stuff! I think they drew that conclusion from the results of his PIPS test in preprimary ( like on entry testing) where it was off the chart. To make those sorts of claims and to treat the child in that manner isn’t helpful. Meleliza, I had the opposite from my parents – wanted to be a teacher or a nurse and was told I “wasn’t smart enough” for either. Either way I think it tampers with the self worth. We are all designers in our own way, just let your creativity flow – it’s obvious already as you’ve come out with some pure gems!

Ok if she isn’t a girly girl, how about adding some little beads at the corners of diagonally placed pintucks to give it a teeny bit of a girly vibe without going all out? Maybe add a little bit of lace to the ends of the sashes – that way she won’t see it. And maybe some narrow lace edging on the lining layer to make it like a petticoat?

Oh yes Sarvi I have the olivine pattern and showed it miss 10 the other day. She wants one but I’ll have to size it up as she is larger than the stated measurements. That’ll be an interesting project to do. The pleats remind me of my wedding dress bodice – had it been available back then ….. Sigh! That would be another pretty pattern to use for a first communion, or confirmation.

Bah! I’m not too angst about the skirt. It was one that was sitting there for ages and I used it to try out a few things on the cover stitch machine that didn’t really work anyway. Next one I make will have a zipper in the back so she can get into it – the bottom thing! That is what was stopping it from fitting. That way I will be able to fit it better and have the band closing with a button. I was wanting to see what it looked like with a view of possibly using the pattern to adapt into the new school skirt style. Oh we’ll, will just try again later.

Sharon I saw the thumbnail of Sweetpea in her dress. It looks divine! I have to take a closer look. I have that pattern but haven’t used it yet but it’ll be a ” what the heck I’ll make it anyway” pattern to use this year. The birthday all sounds so wonderful. I think we’d have a contender for “My kitchen rules” with the sounds of those macarons.

Today, I will be sewing pink class picnic shorts! And getting stared on school stuff – pencils cases reading folder chair bags and the like.