Mina's Easter dress!

Last year I made two Easter dresses for Mina AND a bonnet.  This year I unintentionally kept up the two dress tradition but only one is actually useful.

As with all of my projects I started out with a few sketches.  I had a few ideas that turned into three dress designs.

Then I did what any modern person would do, I posted the picture on Instagram and asked for opinions. The first and third dresses were pretty similar to dresses I had designed in the past.  I think that is why the shirt dress got the most votes.

It had been a little while since I had built something for Mina so I took her measurements and made a sloper.  I'm glad I did because it was kind of messed up.  It really didn't help that she was so wiggly when I was trying to fit her!

I made the pattern, serged the pieces and was feeling pretty good about my progress.

 I felt so good that I put the button holes in and sewed buttons.

 It didn't fit.  The shoulder seams were in the wrong place, the sleeves were oddly tight, the collar wasn't the right size, the skirt wasn't full enough and the lapel wasn't laying flat.  It was not a happy thing to discover on Thursday night.

I had a Stake training for Primary so I held off on the alterations until Friday.  I wanted to sleep on it and decide how to proceed in the morning.  I altered the pattern and cut out the new dress during Mina's nap time.  Some how I had this much done by Friday night:

I waited to open the last button hole until I tried the dress on Mina.  I wasn't sure about the length and I was pretty gun shy after the first disaster.  Luckily it fit and after a very busy Saturday I had it ready before I went to bed.

I even had time to make chocolate covered peanut butter eggs!  

Sure, they aren't pretty but since when does CHOCOLATE need to be overly pretty?

 Easter morning rolled around and Mina seemed pretty happy to find her basket.

I didn't get a decent picture before church so I put a bib on Mina and hoped she would leave it on during nursery.  Imagine my delight when I saw that SHE KEPT IT ON! HER DRESS WAS NOT COVERED IN NURSERY TREATS!

Then it was time to attempt to take a decent picture of Mina in her dress.

She would not hold still.

Or smile.

Or look at me.

 Or hold still.
So, I asked James to entertain her.

She was smiling at James who was playing with her swing.

Our little girl is growing up entirely too fast.

The last few months

And once again I am updating a few months' worth of projects on my neglected blog. Is it really neglected if no one reads it? 

I made another coat for Mina because the first one was too narrow for multiple layers or even a sweater underneath. I decided to use box pleats to get enough room in the body of the coat. I love the bright turquoise lining and the way it peaks out when the coat moves. 

Mina wore it without closures for a while. I wasn't sure what to use or the color to choose because of the coat's color. In the end I used some silver filigree buttons. 

Excuse the funny red cast in the picture, the playground equipment is very bright. 

I fell in love with the cute double collar on a few items in the Fall/Winter Hucklebones collection. I bought a really pretty purple turtleneck at the DI and decided it would be a great dress for Mina. The combination of the double collar and cuffs has lead to a few funny comments at church. Namely, "school marm" and pilgrim. 

I picked up a large piece of light weight dark teal wool at the "give and take" table at Relief Society on night. I loved the color and the fact it wasn't overly scratchy. I used a BabyGap dress as inspiration for the jumper. 

This is actually the second version of the jumper, the first was too narrow and short. I think Mina will be able to wear this one for quite a while. She wore it to her first official day of nursery. 

I made this colonial dress for my friend's daughter. She picked out the pattern and materials. I think it turned out really well. It was a very fun project!

Last up, monkey wings. My Mom's school, Oak Hills, is presenting "The Wizard of Oz" next month. I was asked to create 8 sets of monkey wings for the winged monkeys. I brainstormed a structure for the form and then created a set of prototype wings. Last week I took the wings to rehearsal and luckily, they worked. 

My hands were so sore from clipping all of the curves on the scalloped edges. 16 individual wings means a lot of curves to clip. I made the framework for the wings out of a dry cleaning hanger because that type of hanger is lightweight and it bends well. After that I added the felt wing and stitched them together. I made a harness out of woven elastic, foam core board and Velcro. I glued everything together after that. 

I think it was a success. We'll see how they hold up during rehearsals and performances. 

I'm kind of embarrassed

I'm way behind on blogging about projects.
Here we go...
My Mom's Lucy Wilde costume.  I still haven't seen Despicable Me 2 so I watched the trailer a couple of times and I looked at pictures from the movie. Here is my sketch of the coat and the approximation of the pattern pieces.

 My Mom was hesitant to spray her hair orange so I styled a wig.  I really could have used my friend Molly's expertise with that part!

 Mina the Ewok.  I was pretty happy with the results.  I made little boots but they kept falling off and one got lost. So, pink tennis shoes were her footwear for Halloween.

 I threw my costume together.  The pants were made from stretch denim with ribbon trim on the sides.  I was going to include a side zipper but opted to make them like stretch pants. I figured that my poncho would cover up the waist so I didn't even bother with a waist band.  I was also kind of nervous about how the pants would fit due to pregnancy bloat.  They seemed to work out fine and the poncho covered EVERYTHING!

This next project took a really long time.  It wasn't any more difficult that anything I made before it was just that I felt so rotten.  I had some problems with the lining and the iron. I remedied both by using a larger pressing cloth.  I wound up cutting THREE SLEEVE LININGS for one arm because I melted two of them. In the process I of melting the first one I burned my hand. My patience went out the window during my first trimester.

In the original sketch the sleeves as well as the pockets and yoke were going to be cut from the striped sweater.  I didn't have enough so I used the gray for the hood, sleeves and body of the coat. I painted the toggles black with acrylic paint and added black buttons to the sleeves for decoration. 

Last up, Mina's coat for this winter.  She can still fit in her coat from last year but it's kind of short.  Okay, really short. I took her measurements and started patterning.  I hoped that her wiggles didn't mess up the measurements too much.  

I was inspired to use a double collar after I saw this adorable picture on the Hucklebones website.

The shirt isn't available now but I loved the look of the collar.  I think I'll revisit it for a dress or a cute top.  

 Mina's coat was once a cashmere sweater that I bought for $5 at DownEast in Logan.  I was a poor grad student and I couldn't believe my luck! The sweater bit the dust in the washer so I washed it a few more times and then dried it in the dryer.  I shrunk up nicely and now Mina has a cute new coat.

 It's closer to purple rather than bright magenta.  I'm still working on my photography skills.

Pending projects

Once upon a time I used to be fairly good at keeping up my blog. Apparently it's a whole lot easier to do projects AND blog with a baby. Now that Mina is a toddler it's a whole different story. 

It's Halloween time so here are some progress shots of Mina's costume, Wicket the Ewok. I'm hopefully dressing up as Princess Leia and my Mom is dressing up as Lucy Wilde from Despicable Me 2.

First Ewok fitting. 

Second fitting, plus cowl addition. 

Mina in my Mom's Lucy wig. It's at times like these that I really miss the costume shop. I could really use a head form. And my old friends. 

Projects!!!

I've been pretty busy lately. I should blog more often. 

I made a baby shower present for my friend Courtney's baby boy-to-be. 

Shrunken sweater vest coat and wrap shoes. 

I lined it with an old tee shirt. I love stripes!

The next project I finished was an under the bust corset. 

Pattern and detail of finished front:

Next I made a costume for my brother for Comic Con. 

Henchman 21 from Venture Brothers. 

I altered a hooded shirt and pajama pants to make the bodysuit. Then I made the gloves, boot covers and "romper" out of gold cotton fabric. The wings, goggles and belt buckle were made from foam core that I painted after. 

We used red sunglasses as a base and added the foam core over the top. 

Jordan gave me an old pair of boots to build upon. I used Velcro to close the inside edge and I hot glued the fabric tops to the boots. Classy. 

James helped me test out the harness for the wings. He's such a sport. 

Ta-Da!!!

I'm pretty happy with the final results. Jordan said he took a lot of pictures with people during the two days he attended in costume. He appreciated that the pouch on his belt was functional so he could carry his phone and wallet. I also added Velcro to the belt buckle so he could remove it when he was sitting. 

Last up, a tree. 

It will hang on a blackboard and magnetized apples will hang on it. The apples will have songs on the backside. 

I'm tired.