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T-Shirt Dress, April 2004

Pattern: Kwik-Sew Sewing for Toddlers book (doll dress pattern is my own draft)
Fabric: Floral knit from Hartsdale Fabrics, rust rayon from Fabric.com

These match Lucy's and my dresses that I made before. Pictures coming soon. Don't you love how Kelly looks bigger than my daughter? LOL!

Pattern: Kwik-Sew Sewing for Toddlers book
Fabric: Disney Princess flannel from Fabric.com for skirt, unused adult T-shirt for bodice

I made this dress for Melanie (also modeling her Purim mask) by adding a skirt to the KS Toddlers' T-shirt pattern. I shortened the T-shirt quite a bit, as it is supposed to be dropped-waist and I wanted it slightly above her natural waist. I also made the skirt about twice as long as the book called for! I satin stitched the applique with gold metallic thread (my first time using metallic thread). I had to fiddle with the settings on my sewing machine and use a metalfil needle but it came out nicely. You can see though that it did get a bit wavy around the edges; unfortunately after I washed the dress the edges got even wavier. I think that's because I didn't fuse the applique fabric to the bodice or starch the bodice fabric before stitching the applique. Live and learn. I also did a scallop stitch hem because I felt too lazy to do a blind hem, even though by the time I got the settings right for the scalloped hem it probably would have been quicker to do the blind hem. I had to sew the scallops very slowly for the satin stitching to look right. However, I like having another instance of gold thread on the dress to tie in the applique stitching, and the hem came out very nicely. Closeups of the applique and the hem are below; as usual click any picture to see a larger view.

Pattern: Flower Hat and Todller Mittens from More Polarfleece Pizzazz
Fabric: Purple Malden Mills polarfleece from Fabric.com

The mittens look a little funny open, but I'm hoping they'll be easier to put on than Melanie's current ones. I want to add some flowers to the mittens as well, but the size I used for the hat was much too big, so I'm going to have to fiddle with them a bit and I didn't have time tonight. Click on any picture to enlarge.

Pattern: T-Shirt Dress pattern from Kwik-Sew's Sewing for Toddlers book
Fabric: Cotton/lycra stretch knit from Stone Mountain and Daughters

Melanie decided to dance with some of my fabric scraps.

Toddler Pajamas, November 2003

Pattern: Kwik-Sew 2360
Fabric: Cotton/poly sweatshirt fleece from Trimfabric.com

Well, I cut these out Saturday night and finished them on Monday, which is lightning fast for me. They sewed up quickly, even with some frog-stitching. I used jiffy-grip on the feet and put a layer of polarfleece between the jiffy-grip and the penguin fabric. I figured it didn't matter what color polarfleece so now the soles are slightly yellow, where the yellow polarfleece shows through the jiffy-grip fabric. LOL! Also the collar edges are not equal distances from center front, but I decided to leave them because they're good enough for Melanie to sleep in, which she's doing right now.

Pattern: Vogue 7904 (A-line dress, left) and Kwik-Sew Sewing for Babies (gathered dress, right, plus bloomers below)
Fabrics: Green satin and organza (poly) from The Fabric Mill, Carle Place, NY

I made these dresses for my daughters to match a formal dress I made for myself over the summer. They were supposed to be for Rosh Hashanah, but I didn't finish them in time, so we wore them on Simchat Torah instead. I did my first invisible zipper on Melanie's dress and it came out great! In fact, it was easier than doing the buttons & buttonholes on Lucy's dress. We got many comments and compliments on our matching dresses.

See us wearing these dresses in our Family Portrait.

Pattern: Emma's great directions
Fabrics: And old towel and washcloth from Target; trims from HomeSew

Not much to say here. Emma challenged me to try this and I did. She was right, it is SO easy. Took me maybe an hour. I used some trims I got in a grab bag and some old towels I had lying around (actually these are the towels I first bought when I moved away from home...it was time for them to have a new life). I used entirely nylon monofilament thread, so I'll have to remember not to iron this with the other towels...and if you believe I iron my towels, I have a small bridge to sell you. LOL! I'm definitely going to make more of these, and I may have to get MIL to do some embroidery on them as well! As usual, click on the pics for larger views.

Infant Jumper, July 2001
Pattern: Kwik-Sew Sewing for Babies book
Fabric: Yellow cotton interlock (formerly a Lands' End skirt of mine)

This was actually one of my very first sewing projects, but for some reason I never took a picture of it until now (2003). It was plain, but cute. I think it would look nice with some embroidery--maybe I'll see what my MIL can do. I'm realizing that I really like re-making something unusable into something usable. Since I didn't have a serger at the time, I was able to use the original cover hem from the skirt for the dress, so I didn't have to hem it. The back also shows my first two buttonholes. I'm also using these pics to show off the adorable letter hooks that my brother-in-law's family gave the girls when Lucy was born.

Toddler Hat & Mittens, November 2002
Pattern: "Watch Hat" from More Polarfleece Pizzazz; "Easy Kids' Mittens" from Polarfleece Pizzazz
Fabric: 200 wt polarfleece from Malden Mills

Well, I had to re-do the mittens (first pair turned out doll-size!) and I learned that you can't subsitute a strip of polarfleece for ribbing just because it's stretchy. But, these were very easy to do and I'm especially proud of the leaf applique on the hat. It was my first attempt at applique and it was easier and more fun than I thought. It also gives the hat a lot more personality, I think. Oh dear, now I'm going to have to start embellishing everything!

Toddler Dress, September 2002
Pattern: Kwik-Sew Sewing for Babies book
Fabric: Rust rayon for the bodice, floral knit print for the skirt

Isn't she cute, even from the back?

Pattern: Child's Bib with Sleeves (free pattern from Elna USA)
Fabric: Tablecloth vinyl and quilting cotton from JoAnn's Fabric & Crafts

I lengthened this to the knee and left off the pockets (no time!). I have no idea how it fits because DD screamed when I tried to put it on her. Hope she doesn't do that with her teachers! This was a fun and easy project, although next time I'd rather not be doing at 10 p.m. before the first day of school. I had never done bias binding before and it was very easy. One touch I'd like to add is DD's name in the red rectangle on the front--not sure whether paint, applique (which I've never done), or just glued-on letters would be best.