April sewing

• White cotton slip for Twirly Girl to wear under her Easter dress. I used Ottobre 1/2005 #19 because it has a dropped waist as does her dress. I eliminated the upper ruffle and lengthened the lower ruffle to be a couple inches shorter than her dress. She didn’t want the bulk of a zipper in her slip, so I used a single button and thread loop to close the back instead. This was the perfect project for me to work on while being available to answer her sewing questions, as we could take turns with the white thread.
• My lace insertion dress and slip, already blogged about here.

Hints of history

As some of you already know, Twirly Girl made her own Easter dress this year. She cut it out right before my trip to Indiana, but still this made for a rather agonizing Holy Week. . .she does come by her procrastination honestly. . .but as I said while nagging cheering her on last week, she has one less fair project to worry about in July.

She used the same Hint of History pattern that I used for her pink dress earlier this year. The blue linen (and white trim) were left from Baby Boy’s sailor suit last Easter so we only needed to purchase the white linen. There were some challenging moments for her (that procrastination came with a healthy dose of perfectionism), but she really did a very good job! She also learned several new skills: how to sew a collar and a placket, making buttonholes, applying bias binding, and hand stitching the hem.

Speaking of procrastination, I finally cut my dress out the day before Palm Sunday. I know! (said in my best Sybil Fawlty voice) I also used a Hint of History pattern, the Lace Insertion Dress with Drawstring Slip. I used an ivory handkerchief linen for the slip and chose my size based on my shawl collar dress. That fit well except that I decided to do a narrow shoulder alteration for the dress itself; I may redo the slip armholes later. By-the-by, the slip pattern would make a lovely summer nightgown and I will be watching for a breezy yet opaque cotton to use to that end.

My dress is a lightweight linen in orchid, not one of my usual colors but it was too lovely and springy to resist. That same size is a bit snug in the dress itself, at least while dressing: the neckline barely fits over the head in spite of the buttons on the left shoulder and it requires some wiggling to get the waistband to the waist. Once on, it is fine. . .in fact I wore it all day Sunday.

Please excuse the odd expression on my face! I would love to tell you I was looking at something riveting, but I was just trying not to think about the fact that the neighbors were outside while Larry was taking my picture. Anyhow, as you can see, the design of the dress is fairly simple: it’s the lace that makes this dress. I used a 2 1/2″ wide lace, a bit narrower than suggested on the pattern but keep in mind that I also needed to shorten the skirt 4-5″ so it is a matter of scale (as well as a matter of finding affordable-yet-lovely lace!. . .Swiss Cluny from Farmhouse Fabrics, for the curious). This led to a fair amount of head scratching when it came time to sew the waistband, since the lace only goes most of the way around (there is lace in back as well, but as in front it stops 3″ shy of the left side seam). I did, finally, get it done, and while I was hand hemming on Holy Saturday I was not up past my bedtime.

February sewing

• A simple wool vest for myself, using the remnants of the coat I made Twirly Girl the winter of 2006/2007. Picture coming. . .sometime.
• Two rice bags (with lavender. . .mmm!) out of the last scraps of the wool: one is short and fat and mostly used to keep my feet warm in bed, the other is long and thin for draping over shoulders or tucking behind an aching back.

• A long overdue knitting bag for Gina. She actually did most of the work on this one, knitting the exterior of the bag and choosing the lining and notions. . .I just sewed it together for her in exchange for a couple bottles of Chocovine.
• Hint of History 1913 Drop Waist Girl’s Dress for Twirly Girl. She plans to use this pattern for her Easter dress/fair project, so I agreed to sew an everyday dress first to check the fit. I am glad I did, as the directions were a bit spotty for some steps and I think I will have her make some changes in the construction (in particular fully lining the bodice to simplify seam finishes). I was able to trace and cut out the dress Sunday afternoon, and sew it on Monday, ignoring some chores but still working around cooking & laundry. Anyhow, it fits! Now she has a summer play dress, even though it’s far too cold to even thinking about wearing it for a couple months.

The contrast fabric is leftover from a really cute blouse I made her four years ago; the bodice and skirt are fabric I bought at JoAnn’s when we lived in Iowa, intending to make a summer dress. . .a few summers ago.

I like that the design is definitely girlish (instead of miniature woman), and that it is simple enough to allow for quite a few variations. She just likes her new pink dress and in fact is wearing it today. <brrr> At least she put on her pantaloons after pictures!

And, although it’s far from complete, I spent quite a bit of time working on my coat from Ottobre 5/2008 this month. I should be able to finish it in March, if I can keep from distracting myself with other projects. . .

January sewing

Wow. . .this begins  my 3rd year of monthly sewing reports. I don’t know that they make interesting reading, but they do help me see what (if anything) I’ve accomplished in the sewing room that month!

• Sewed patches on yet another Scout shirt: this one for the Assistant Scoutmaster. I decided to follow Katherine’s tip and simply unstitched the bottom half of the pocket, sewed on the patch by machine, and reattached the pocket. Thanks, Katherine! It was definitely faster than sewing it on by hand.
• 4 dog blankets. Four because. . .I cut a ratty old blanket into fourths and finished the raw edges on the serger. I’m tired of George shredding his way through my collection of old towels, so I decided to give him something which had no other purpose than to take up space in my storage room.
• 1912 Shawl Collar Dress, a pattern from Hint of History. I made the plainer view but with 3/4 sleeves, using quilting cotton from stash–probably not the best fabric choice for the design, but I like the colors and I was aiming for “wearable muslin” anyhow. I started with a combination of 3 sizes based on the size chart but that looked a bit like a potato sack. I ended up taking in the waistband and adding back darts to the skirt–in other words, removing a size from the bottom half. This is my first time using a Hint of History pattern, and I found the directions to be clearly written. It could be sewn by a relative beginner except the waistband and overlap closure are a bit complicated (moreso if one, say, cuts the waistband 6″ too short the first time ).

A closer view of the bodice:

I will definitely sew this again; in fact, it may appear at Easter if I find the right fabric.

Plans for February. . .I’ve started a simple vest for myself which should be finished soon. Wool coat for me. Perhaps a dress for Twirly Girl.