The Story of an Unfinished Dress

This dress waited for its destiny for a couple of months. I cut it out during the April's KCW but never got to finishing it. It laid there on the cutting table untouched for quite a while as I lost my sewing mojo and did not even go to my sewing room. When this happens in the middle of a project I tend to not even finish unfinished things. They just go straight to the to-be-finished pile where they die from the slow and shameful death. I could not do it to this dress, however. I remembered how I promised to Alyssa to finish it and how excited she was to get a new dress. I got to work. It took me a couple of hours to finish it and I really like the result.

The dress is a dress R from this book (Happy Homemade Vol.2). Size 110cm. I used some shirting fabric from my never ending stash.

All the time I was making it I was thinking about reinforcing the front panel with interfacing but when I got to it I totally forgot all about it. Thus the panel is a little bit floppy. The instructions don't say to reinforce the panel which is weird as usually Japanese patterns are very well thought through. Overall, I enjoyed making this dress as I always do with making things from Japanese patterns. It was easy and very straightforward.

Alyssa likes it and it should last her through the summer. It is longer than any of her things and I like it that way. So now onto my long list of things to mend and make/finish.

KCW: Day 4

Which is my final day for this KCW. I did cut out another dress for Alyssa, but not sure when I will finish it. All the different things suddenly caught up with me so I did not have time for sewing these last days. That's okay though because KCW will be happening every season from now on. So no pressure.

On day 4 of the KCW I made a sundress for Emma. She is the one who needs clothes the most. Isn't it always the case with the oldest child?

Pattern is from the Japanese book Happy Homemade Vol. 5. Size - 130cm. Fabric - cotton from my stash. As usual, Japanese patterns do not disappoint. This one was quite simple and looks very nice finished.

I am glad I participated again in KCW. Usually I am so productive during the Kids Clothing Week but this time around I had some things that disrupted me from being fully invested in it. Good thing there's always next time.

KCW: Day 3

I have been drooling over Citronille patterns for so long I cannot even remember when this obsession started. I had purchased a couple of their patterns while on my vacation in Paris. And have been meaning to use them since then but did not have the chance. KCW was a good time and excuse to dig that pattern out and work on it.

I am so glad I made this blouse. It is perfect in every way. I love how easy it was to put together. I was a little intimidated by not being able to understand the instructions but I shouldn't have. There were some drawings which helped a lot. So I went with the drawings while making it.

Pattern - Capucine by Citronille. Fabric - lightweight cotton from my stash. Size - 6 but I lengthened it by an inch as my kids are giants.

Emms was very excited about her new blouse that she wanted to wear it to school today. Good thing the weather today is absolutely beautiful so I let her do it.

KCW(C): Day 1 & 2

Yesterday started Kids Clothes Week for me (and for everybody else who's doing it). I was very excited about it until the last minute. Then I realized that we are having friends come over for almost a two week visit next week and that I should be getting my house in order instead. That and some other things slowed my sewing down. So I don't have anything finished to show for the Day 1. But I did finish it today after K's doctor's appointment, thus Day 1 & 2 progress.

The pattern of this dress is out of one of the many Japanese books that I owe. Usually I love Japanese instructions as they are very clear because of all the drawings in them. But this book is like a comic book with no instructions. So I had a pattern and kind of went to town with it. Maybe that's why it took me longer as I love detailed instructions. Size - 90cm.

The fabric is from my beloved un-ending stash. (And, yes, I do have that much fabric. I am pretty much a fabric hoarder.) As much as I like the fabric color and polka dots, I really disliked how it behaved when ironed. You can still see all the wrinkles and, I promise, I did iron it many times.

Sorry, there will be no picture of K wearing it because she got shots today while at the doctor's and not in the mood for modeling.

Good Idea But Not So Good In Life

I've been a little absent from the blog lately. Not because I am not sewing. I was working on a lengthy assembly line project. With our foreign service life we are pretty much all given the same furniture all over the world. Some people choose to bring their own furniture with them, but we did not have much at the moment we started this nomadic kind of life, so we went with the standard state department furniture. Which is not that bad but it wasn't purchased with the little kids in mind. It is not as wipe-able as I would like it to be. The dining chairs get the most wear and tear with our kids. So I got an idea that I could make some chair covers that would be washable.

Well, it took me a month to finish covers for all eight chairs we have. It didn't help when I decided to add a water resistant layer and had to order and wait for the fabric to get here. It took me a couple of hours to figure out the pattern and make the first cover.

After that it all went like an assembly line. I was getting a little tired of sewing the same things over and over. Then I finally finished them all and sighed with relief. Hopefully I will never have to do it again. Too tedious.

I made two different types of corners. Not because I wanted to see how many corner types I can come up with BUT because I had limited fabric amount. First type consists of three valance (what do you call the bottom strip of a chair cover?) pieces and little tiny one in between of them.

The second one is just one long piece with two pleats at the corners. They kind of looked wacky so I had to sew little tacks to keep them together which looks a little better.

So after I put them on the chairs I got quite disappointed with them. As they look nice on individual chair, they look a little weird when all together on eight chairs. I don't even know how to explain the feelings I have about them. It just doesn't look as good as I wish it did. I would rather get some chairs that are easy to wipe but for a couple of reasons we cannot do that right now so I will have to endure this ugliness for another couple of years. Or if they bug me too much I will just take them off and Matt would have to go back to cleaning the chairs every week.

In other news I am getting ready for the KCW. It is happening in a week so I better be ready by then. Last time I was not prepared and it was not as enjoyable as I wish it was.

April 22 - 29

With spring comes the Kids Clothes Week Challenge. Now the challenge is dropped but the week stays. :) And Elsie Marley changed it from being twice a year to being every season. Woot! Now I won't stress out if I don't sew as much as I want in one week. And I don't have to wait for a half a year for another KCW.

So now with all the good news I should start planning what to make for the girls and start getting everything ready. Cannot wait!

Duck Soup Jacket

I have no idea why this jacket was named Duck Soup but I liked the pattern and had to make it for one of my children. And who wants to knit a big jacket for a six year old when you can make one for a two year old? So I got my yarn and started working on it in October. Yes, you read it right. October.

The pattern is easy and not complicated at all. It's worked from top and is all one piece. But it took me five months to finish it. The thing is that I ran out of yarn. Twice. Ha. Living overseas makes everything a little more complicated. I had to order online and wait for a month. Twice.

So I finally finished knitting the jacket and all I had left was making toggles. I looked outside my window and saw it was Christmas and too cold to wear the jacket. I put it away and decided to finish it later.

Last week the weather became very nice and warm. I suddenly remembered about the unfinished Duck Soup jacket. Finally I made myself sit down and finish the toggles and sew them in place. That took me an hour. Talk about procrastination.

I am very glad I finished it though. It looks very cute on and Katelyn seems to like it a lot. It is a little on the short side. I should get used to the idea that all the things I make are short for my kids and just start making adjustments. XXL for extra extra long.