Aprons

My friend, Emily, requested an apron after making one as a gift for a recent bride. After looking at some patterns and books, she decided on McCall's Easy stitch 'n save M5358. She selected fabric from my stash. I would have never thought to make the bands and ties out of the contrasting fabric - it turned out "sew cute!" The green vintage fabric was leftovers I inherited from my husband's grandmother's estate. This was a great pattern for trying out my new ruffler foot.





































My daughter has an apron for our play kitchen but my son has been playing with it more than she has, as of recent. I thought he needed a little chef's/BBQ apron, as well. He looks like he's working at a little restaurant in the photo. When we put it on him, my husband said it's time for him to help out with the grilling! When sewing this apron, I traced my daughter's as a pattern, but any basic apron pattern could be sized down, or I have seen child apron patterns sometimes included with the adult pattern.

Ties - Simplicity 4762

This pattern could be addictive. I think it will change the way I look at fabric (will this make a good tie?). Here are the ties that I made for my son. Unless you buy an entire set (pants, shirt,vest) for little boys, it is very hard to find ties. I decided to try this out and was very pleased with the results...very cute. The baseball tie will extend his black dress pants into the summer. The red tie will be worn on Easter with a gray and white seersucker suit.

Read my entry at www.patternreview.com (use link to the left side of this blog posting) for details on sewing the tie.

Last-minute Wrap for a Formal Event

The night before leaving for our church's couples' retreat, I decided I needed a wrap to keep the chill off. Frantically going through boxes of unorganized fabric due to a recent move, I came across two pieces of off-white organza. With a french seam down the middle, the length was just right. I used the rolled hem foot for the sides and on the diagonal edges, I used a decorative stitch. I tied it behind my back, received many compliments, and surprisingly, it kept me warm!

Sew Baby - Sleeve-Saver Bib

I made my son a nautical-themed sleeve-saver bib for his birthday. I found the perfect baby-blue stretch terry in the red tag fabric area at JoAnn's and complimented it with navy ribbing from my stash.









You can see here since it was his first birthday, that I made my own applique of the number 1 with nautical fabric. Instead of purchased bias tape, I made it from the same fabric as the applique.





























I have made this pattern a few times before. It is super-quick and perfect to pack along if going out for dinner after church. The terry from these two also came from the red tag fabrics at JoAnn's. The ribbing is actually dancewear fabric from JoAnn's.























This was my first sleeve-saver, made for my daughter's first birthday. The stretch terry was from SewBaby, as well as the daisy-printed knit that I used for the neck and wristbands. Also, SewBaby is one of the only places I know of where you can find ribbing for neckbands. They also have a new "sleeve saver smock" for sizes 3-6x, perfect for little crafters!

Fur coat reconstructed to stole-cape

My friend was given a mink fur coat from an estate. She asked me if I could reconstruct it into a stole-cape. This is the back.











The front.

















Interior view.












Original coat.

McCall's 5416 - Toddler Jumper

This is McCall's 5416. The envelope suggests using the pattern for a sundress or top with summer-weight fabrics. However, I used lightweight wool and my daughter will wear it as a jumper. While the pattern is easy enough for a beginner, it was also challenging enough for me (an intermediate) because I lined it. I used french seams and hand hemmed.