So I only got two entries for the knitted dress. And with help of the random.org I got a winner.
Tianna, send me your (or your sister's) address and I'll ship it this week.
Rachel, you can tell me what you want me to make for you and I'll do it. How about that? :)
I started this dress a year ago, if I remember correctly. I was going to make it for my new baby girl. Then I had that said baby and she did not sleep as much as I hoped she would. Then we went from London to Bulgaria and I forgot about the dress. Couple moves later I found the dress in my knitting basket. Finished but not blocked. The only problem was that my babe is not that tiny anymore. She is pretty much huge now.
The dress should be warm as it's made from wooly yarn. It is sized 3-6 months. And because Sonia cannot wear it I decided to give it away. I don't have any friends or relatives having babies right now. And the dress needs to be worn this winter as it's been waiting for so long.
So who wants it? Let me know in the comments and if it will be more than one person I'll randomly pick one. Let's say this Sunday is the deadline.
Alyssa's teacher had a baby a month or so ago. I felt like I needed to make something for the baby as a gift. And as I am on the knitting kick right now, knitting a hat made perfect sense. I also got a little overall suit to go with it.
The hat turned out really cute. I made it and there was something missing. The pompom made it all better. I just love the splash of yellow on this boyish hat. The size is 3-6 months. Yarn - Plymouth Select DK Merino Superwash. It is very soft and perfect for a little baby.
This was a fast and easy project to make. Now I have to make 10 more hats for all my kids before we move to a cold country. Something's telling me I won't have enough time though. Eh.
So it's been quite a while. My baby is almost a year old and walking. Making lots of messes and getting into trouble. Life with four kids is quite a busy one. Thus my absence in this space. I've been making things (both sewing and knitting) as I cannot live without crafting. It is definitely one of the things that keep me sane and keep me going every day. It did become a luxury as all my time usually is taken by my girls. Oh, and don't forget about the moving. Oh, those annoying moves across the globe. When you ship your craft stuff off and then wait for it for months, when you have to pack or unpack instead of crafting, when you have to spend all your time on making a new home wherever you are. By the way, we are moving in less than three weeks to Kazakhstan so I might fall off the face of the Earth again.
But here I am, wanting to show off one of my latest projects. My oldest daughter wanted to be Dorothy for Halloween and asked me to make her a dress. I, of course, obliged. I don't make costumes every year, nor I make costumes for all of my kids in the same year. But one a year is a good rule of thumb for me. That way it doesn't stress me out and I finish it by Halloween and don't have those late night trying to cram the sewing right before Trick or Treating.
The pattern is Fairy Tale Dress by Oliver+S. Size 8. All fabric from JoAnn's.
As I researched the ideas of the costume I wanted to make something that she'd want to wear after Halloween too. So instead of making a blouse and a gingham apron I made a gingham dress and a white simple apron (not shown here). I stumbled upon this idea and shamelessly did the same thing. I am so glad I did! The dress turned out so cute! It is an intermediate pattern but I wasn't afraid to tackle it as Oliver+S patterns are so well written. It did take me a week to make it as I was working in the evenings mostly and then allowed myself one evening to do all the hand stitching required by the pattern. But the end result looks quite professional. The dress is fully lined and has some tulle to make the skirt fuller.
I really do like everything about this dress. I will tell you a secret - I already made another Fairy Tale dress for the same daughter but you'll have to wait to see it. I see myself making a couple of more dresses for her to wear to church because this pattern makes a perfect church dress.
She loves her Dorothy Dress! And she makes a beautiful Dorothy.
I've taken quite a break from this blog. I kept thinking about how I need to get back but at the same time had nothing to write about and nothing to show. I haven't sewn for quite a while. I kept thinking that 4 kids isn't a joke and I barely had time to take a shower let alone sew something. Though baby days are always like that, even if it's your first and only child. No time. At all.
Now when it's started to get a little better and I do have some time to spare here and there I have to clean, organize and get ready for the pack out. We are leaving Bulgaria in 6 weeks and the craziness that's called moving begins around now. So not much will change on this blog. Sadly. I will pop in here and there but mainly I will be absent until we get to DC and I get my sewing machine back, which will be in September.
I've made little things over these 6 months but I didn't really take any pictures and already forgot about most of them. Ha. You know those projects. I did take a picture of one that I finished couple of months ago. When Sonia started teething (and she started early) I made her some teething bunny rings.
They were very easy to make and fast. I literally made them in 10 minute breaks between feedings, cleaning, cooking and making everyone happy. As much as I like how cute they are, Sonia keeps untying them somehow with her mouth. The pattern and tutorial are from this blog. And the teething rings I ordered from here. Will definitely make again because they turn out very cute and make great baby shower gifts.
A couple of weeks ago I saw my friend's daughter's picture wearing this dress that I made her two years ago. She grew during these two years and the dress got shorter and you could tell it won't fit her for much longer. I was so happy to see her wear it that I had an urge to make her another one that fits her now. I had to make matching dress for her favorite American Girl doll as I did last time (though I forgot to show a picture on the blog).
I searched and searched for some cute and easy summer dresses and this big bow dress looked great. The pattern is called Aubrey Bow Dress. It is very easy to put together which I needed as I am still crunched for time. The shop had the same matching dress for the doll. So I made both. The dress is made in size 6. Fabric is from my never ending stash of quilting cottons.
After the first dress I was so happy to be sewing again that I quickly made another dress. This time I went with the pattern I know and love - Geranium by Rae. Again it did not disappoint and came together quickly and it felt like my fingers knew what they were doing. Matching doll's dress I made partly from this pattern, just changing the skirt and making a tiny signature Geranium's neck notch. Dress size is 6. Fabric from the stash. The only change I made was the skirt. It is supposed to be much fuller but I did not have enough of that fabric so I just gathered it from selvage to selvage. I also did snaps instead of buttons this time around.
This was such a welcome sewing time for me. I am not obsessed with sewing as I like doing other crafts too BUT I felt like I needed to escape and have my time and do something I enjoy. That was it. And so much needed.
Is it really 2014 already? It feels like we just started year 2013 last month. Happy New Year! I hope it brings you (and me) all the best and lots of crafty time.
Every year I think that Christmas gifts for my girls should be handmade by me. But then I realize that I have too many kids to start making those gifts far in advance in the year to be able to finish it all by December. This last Christmas I had a great idea to give K a Waldorf doll. I've been in love with these dolls for quite some time but never tried making one yet. And I did not make one. Ha. I bought an unfinished one (without hair and clothes) from an Etsy store and started working on it.
It turned out a bigger project than I thought it would be.
I forgot that I don't have a sewing machine here in London. I had to make all the clothes by hand. I never even thought of how much work it is. And let me tell ya, it ain't easy nor fast.
I actually liked making little doll clothes. But at the same time thought of how much faster and nicer it would be if I had some elves to help me my sewing machine.
I also bought a cute fabric suitcase to hold the dolly and her clothes. She fits in it quite nicely.
When K opened it she did not show much excitement and my heart fell. I thought, "That is why I don't make handmade gifts for my children". But then after all the craziness of the Christmas morning and opening gifts she started playing with it. I was very happy to see her playing with the doll and walking around with her suitcase. I think she might be a little too young for a doll like that but I just couldn't wait any longer to make a Waldorf doll (even if it was just partly). Too bad my other girls don't play with dolls.
Oh, and I got a little blog award from the Green Eyed Oriole blog which is kind of nice. Thank you, Anastasia, for giving it to me!
