Finally!

A previous colleague of mine did some work - some major work - to try to get another year or so out of my 6-yr-old macbook.  As a thank you, I made a few things for his new baby girl. 

Can I just say how nice it is to finally sew a little pink fabric?!  I love all the little boy stuff I've made, but a little pink is a nice change of pace.

Isn't this just darling?! I love the white trim.  I was really just cheating to get myself out of a rolled hem and the bias tape was such a compliment to the pattern, I decided to leave it showing.

This is Simplicity 4243.  Its labelled as an easy pattern and I can definitely agree that it is.  The only thing I changed was to switch out the zipper in the back for snaps.  I thought a zipper might be a little rough for the baby to lay on...

I will definitely be giving this pattern a lot more use in the future!

Introducing...

Blake Gerard Bemis



And what his momma said was his new favorite blanket. :)

I think this one is going to be just as well loved as I had hoped. (The blanket, that is. Of COURSE the baby is going to be well loved!!)

Baby Bemis' quilt

I posted earlier how I had finally jinxed one of my girlfriends into getting pregnant. Yay! And thankfully, it was a married one. In fact, her little man is due very near to she and her husband's second anniversary.

Anyway, I ordered some adorable Michael Miller fabric that I think is going to be just perfect for a little boy. It has titles like "Honk, Honk" and "Beep, Beep". I also ordered some super soft minky fabric to go on the back.

This weekend I was able to get started cutting and piecing the quilt top.





I'm about two-thirds into the quilting and hopefully will be able to wrap it up tonight. Its amazing how fast a crib size quilt goes together. I'm only about 4 hours into it, taking my sweet time, and I've probably only got another 2 hours before its ready for hand binding.

B4789

I've been holding onto this post for a few days waiting for my neighbor's internet signal to strengthen. No such luck. So unfortunately, you get crappy blackberry pictures. This will end soon. I promise. I'm having my own internet installed in the next month.

This dress, a Maggie London from Butterick, was hands down the easiest dress I've ever made. Four pieces, no sleeves to set, no gathers, just a little twist and some seams through the underbust and up the sides and you've got a dress. A great fitting dress. I was surprised and impressed.





I made this one out of an ITY knit from Denver Fabrics that I've had in my stash for about a year. Great pattern for a material like this. Especially in a print where you don't need to worry about matching the pattern. The only thing I would do differently if I made this again would be to leave out the center back seam and cut on a fold. Its an unnecessary seem.

There was some sewing!

This month has been absolutely insane! My girlfriend, Angie, got married in Punta Cana and I travelled with her as her MOH. It was a wonderfully beautiful and relaxing trip. The wedding was gorgeous and of course, so was the bride. I made these garters for her and embroidered her wedding date on the inside as her "something blue". This is one of the pictures I took as the supplement to the professional. (More to come!)

Butterick 5331

I have been sewing up a storm! This is the first item I've had a chance to wear. More to come. And better, non-crappy-blackberry pictures to come. This was all I had time for this morning.

And so... I made Butterick 5331, view B without the belt.


Here's the finished product.

(Please excuse the dirty mirror, I'll be cleaning that as soon as possible... eww)

I cut a size 12 out of medium weight Italian linen from denverfabrics.com. Although I really love this, if I make it again I'll probably cut and 8 or 10. Its just not as fitted as I would like for a light weight, unlined jacket. But, it is super cute and I was really impressed with how easily this went together. Thank goodness for ruffler and rolled hem feet! I used Amanda's, from Amanda's Adventures in Sewing, technique for finishing the insides with bias tape. I love how nice and professional this makes your handmade garments for those of us without sergers. More pics of that to come...

I really am crafty, I swear!

So I feel like I started this blog proclaiming my creative itch and then didn't show very much in that area. I really am crafty, I swear! And I really do have the itch. I just also have grad school and a brand new (to me) house to work on. So... I thought I'd share some of my craftiness from last year. Don't judge, all are blackberry pictures. I really need to work on reconnecting my camera to my face.

These are two of the onsies I made for a colleague of mine who had twin boys. There is also another elephant and another neck tie onsie. For some reason I only photographed two. I'm kinda proud of the elephant, I free handed him.



This is the scarf I knit for my sister. As you can see, not very far along at this point. This was my first successful attempt at ribbing. I was excited!


I made a set of these makeup bags and coffee cozies for my sister and best friend for Christmas. I also made spa wraps but... didn't photograph those before they were wrapped.



See? I swear I'm crafty. And in two weeks... I'll have more to show. I'm hoping for huge amounts of production between the end of this semester and the second summer session.

I NEED to start sewing.

This awesomeness came in the mail while I was home in Pennsylvania:

M6031

M5847

M5591

M5525

M5388

B5469

B5378

B5331

B5029


A few for summer, a few for next fall. I'm not taking classes first session this summer so I'm hoping to do some serious sewing during that time. Except for the week I'm in the Dominican!

I need a diet.

A fabric diet that is. I have boxes of fabric that are screaming to be made up into something fabulous and here I am purchasing more. But... they were on sale!

First up, a medium black linen that I'm picturing being made into Butterick 5331:




Next, a navy blue linen that I'm hoping will make a fabulous little dress. Maybe out of a Built by Wendy pattern.



Then, a green linen that I'm seeing a cute little safari style dress with pockets made out of.



And last, a turquoise matte jersey. I have got to find a sun dress pattern. I keep collecting these jersey knits for sundresses and I need to start making a few. This will be so pretty for my trip to the Dominican in June.



Who wants to think about unpacking and studying for grad school when you can start planning summer wardrobe additions?