Recent projects

One of the fun things about freelancing is the variety of projects I get to complete.  This past week I finished a wedding dress, a Clara Barton costume and a romper. It sounds really random but that is how things go!

The wedding dress was for one of my childhood friends. She found a cute dress on-line but knew that she wanted a higher neckline and sleeves.

So, she bought two!  I draped a new bodice and used the fabric from the spare dress to construct it!  It was a little time consuming but all in all it was a really fun project!

The Clara Barton costume was for my cousin's school project.  I couldn't find any pictures of Clara Barton dressed as a Civil War nurse but I did find this doll:

Emily (my aunt) found a large long sleeved shirtdress at the DI which I used as the base for the dress.  Grace came up for a "fitting" so I knew how small to make a the dress.  It was pretty funny to see her wearing a dress covered in safety pins. After that I cut the dress apart and put it back together again. 

Emily bought a cheap white sheet that I used for the apron, collar and petticoat.

 I'm pretty happy with the end result, even though she does look a little bit like a maid.  It's an elementary school project, not a play!

 I made another romper for Mina out of the extra dress fabric from the last post. I over estimated the fabric from the baby dress, I really need to work on my estimating skills.

I used the pattern from her orange romper but I altered it so the arm holes are smaller, the body is longer and the waist band is a little higher. 

The only thing I would change is the width of the crotch, her diaper shows between her legs.  It's pretty nit-picky because you only really see it if you change her diaper.  Other than that, I'm really happy with the end result.

Gifts

I made a tiny baby dress and diaper cover for a baby shower.  I wish I had taken a better picture because it is hard to see the details on the dress.  The print is so cute but it obscures the details, like, the collar.

My current project is remaking the bodice of this dress to include 3/4 sleeves and a higher neckline.  It has been fun!

My cousin made some headbands for Mina.  They fit PERFECTLY!

Romper Room

Was it a TV show? Anyway, I plan on making a bunch of rompers for Mina this summer. Maybe enough to have a whole room full of cute rompers. I finally got around to making one this past week. It wasn't a total fail but it wasn't as successful as I had hoped. I guess that is what I get for finishing an outfit without actually fitting it on Mina. Lesson learned.

Pattern pieces, ready for fabric...

The finished romper!

A few views of Mina in her romper.

I was hoping that it wouldn't fit so well, at this rate she'll be able to wear it now and not later.  I used a 9 month onesie as a reference but I didn't take into account the lack of stretch in the orange material.  Despite the flaws I'm actually pretty happy with the result.  However, I did notice a few things: the arm holes are too generous, the leg holes are a little tight and the cute waist casing really limits the romper.  Since I took these pictures I took in the armscyes (it was a little bit of a pain because I was sort of meticulous with the finishing work on the inside.) I also added an inch and a half of elastic to both leg openings and removed the waist casing.  The romper turned into a bubble romper, hopefully these changes will make it possible for Mina to actually wear it as an outfit.  I dressed her in it on Saturday with a cardigan and a pair of BabyLegs.  It was cute but you couldn't really see the romper.

Mina's Easter Dress

I made Mina's Easter dress from leftover fabric from a show I did last summer, The Marvelous Wonderettes.  The main body of the dress was from the maternity dress from Act II and the trim was from a jacket.  (The leftover pieces weren't big enough for an adult sized costume so the producer said I could keep them. Thanks Steph!) Anyway.  I knew I wanted to make something for Mina out of the blue floral print because it was so cute. That lead to the bonnet, which led to the diaper cover, which led to the dress.  I just love making clothes for Mina!


Mina's Easter Basket

I didn't take any pictures of Mina in her Easter dress before church so we took a few that afternoon.  I was pleasantly surprised that despite taking a couple of naps in her dress it wasn't a wrinkled mess.

Happy Easter!!!!

Spring has sprung

The past month or so here has been filled with little projects as well as a few big potential projects. I'll write more about the other projects when we sign more papers and get some keys.

Until then write about the other projects..

I decided that I wanted to make an Easter dress for Mina and I had the perfect fabric in mind. I bought this piece before Mina was born.  I hauled myself up to Suppose in Preston to buy cute fabric.  I wrote about that adventure here. I used this particular piece to make a less than successful maternity top.  I wore it a few times but I really didn't like it.  I finally took it apart and made a dress.

It HAD to have puff sleeves, pleats and a peter pan collar.  Those elements are too cute to not use.

I wasn't sure about the length so I tried it on Mina.

Too long! I added a grow tuck and it was perfect!  It made the skirt look more interesting and it was no longer ankle length.

Mina showing off her dress!

The next project was an Easter bonnet for a local contest.  We didn't win but that's okay, now Mina has a cute bonnet.

 She couldn't just wear a bonnet without a matching outfit so I took inspiration from this picture.

I took this when I dressed her up in some cute spring clothes (wishing it was actually warm enough to wear them!)  I thought the ruffled shorts were so cute she needed another pair. I dug into my fabric stash and whipped together a pair of ruffled shorts.

As you can see they don't quite cover everything in the back.
A few alterations later and...

Ruffled baby bum!
I also made a dress to go with the bonnet and shorts.  I'll post a picture after she actually wears it.

Last up, pie making for pi day. I usually don't make very many pies during the year.  The past few years I've made strawberry rhubarb pies for James' birthday but that is about it.
I was pretty happy with the way the dough turned out:

Unfortunately I made too much filling and it made a mess.

oops

And finally, my stash of vintage patterns.  They belonged to James' Grandma and now they belong to me.  I really want to make some of these! James has already requested a cowboy shirt.  Funny guy.

I especially love the cute yellow blouse!

Last minute edit:

Here is the dress that I made to match the bonnet and shorts.

Sweater jumpers

A little while ago Mina and I went to the DI with the specific goal to buy a wool sweater or two.  I wanted to make a cute jumper for Mina to wear to church.  Jumpers are great because they last a little while longer than a dress because you can swap out the shirt underneath.  I found two nice Merino wool sweaters for $10 total!  I love the DI. I also love argyle sweaters and I don't think there are many things cuter than a baby in something argyle. Since I had two sweaters I decided to combine them into one design.  Actually, two designs.  Sometimes I have many ideas and I need to put them on paper to figure out which one I like better.

A bit of patterning later and I had an almost finished jumper.  I just needed to finalize the size of the bow and the belt.

Also adorable? Peter pan collars.  I am a huge fan.
Mina was able to wear her new jumper the next Sunday.  I even made a bow headband to go with it.

Sorry about the quality, we used my phone and Mina is a very wiggly model.

I love the shoe-tights, they make getting dressed so easy!

The second jumper outfit was constructed from the same two sweaters but this one wasn't for Mina.  Last week in Relief Society we had a service auction and I auctioned off "a custom baby item."  The night was really fun, we all amassed points by taking a survey and then we bid on items. I won a really cute garland for Mina's room and the girl who made that won my item.  A week later and this is what she won:

The headband, jumper and booties, not the baby.  She has her own baby.

 I made the top of the jumper out of navy wool and the skirt and details out the red.  The headband and booties are made primarily from the red wool.

It's official, I need to learn how to take better pictures.  Anyone want to give me some pointers???