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Sunday, April 28, 2013

KCW Days 5 and 6

Well I managed to sew for at least the hour on days five and six of Kids Clothing Week.

KCWC

But there was not a lot accomplished.  We are installing a new huge french door off of our living room so we're deep in door madness this weekend and I've spent the majority of my time corralling Bean away from the construction.  It doesn't help that the door is in the room in which we spend 90% of our time, bleh.  But other than a weekend lost, it will be SO NICE to have a lovely and more importantly functional door in that space.

So what I did accomplish days five and six is a big chunk of the spring jacket for Bean.


This is the Annabelle Jacket (affiliate link) pattern from Peek A Boo Patterns and I'm in love with how it's coming along.

The green corduroy will be the outside, with the pink quilting cotton as the lining.  I should be able to finish up the last of the details quickly so with any luck Bean will be wearing it before it gets too hot to wear it, hehe.

Friday, April 26, 2013

KCW Day 4 (and going strong)


KCWC

This is just a quick post to update on KCW Day four.  I finished the Beachy Boatneck (affiliate link) dress I cut out.

I thik it's hilarious that it looks like her bottle and snack cup are accessories

I inserted a shirred panel to give the dress a little length and shape, but there are still a few minor changes I want to make before I do a full post on it.

Hope you have all had a productive week!  Fingers crossed that I start sewing that jacket finally, hehe.

I have added affiliate links for Blank Slate Patterns and Go To Patterns on my sidebar as well as in some of the links in this post, but I sewed using their patterns long before even considering it. These are just great patterns that I truly stand by and I am excited about being an affiliate.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Bean's Birthday Dress and KCW Day 3

For Project Run and Play's final week the theme was special occasion.  I decided the night before it was due to participate.  I was really not going to sew along that week because I had WAY too many other projects going, but then I thought of a dress for Bean's birthday (in May) and I couldn't get it out of my head.  So I started, but did not have enough sewing time to be able to finish in time for the sew along.  I knew KCW was coming so I let it go and planned to finish it during one of the hours of sewing this week.


The main idea for this dress was to use a similar shape to the bodice from the Natalie Dress (affiliate link) from Peek-A-Boo Patterns (I am in LOVE with that sleeve so there will be a lot more of this shape to come), but to use some lattice smocking across the front.


I finished the lattice smocking last week and posted the pic on Instagram.


The neckline didn't stretch as much as I would have liked so I put in a button placket on the back.  I like the look it gives the back so it was a happy accident. 


For the skirt I wanted something full and a little longer than I normally like Bean's skirts to be.  Her birthday is in a month so she may grow between now and then and I wanted her to be able to run and play at her party without worrying about the wind blowing it up. 

Bean's 1st birthday dress

I thought it would be fun to use the same fabric I used for her birthday dress last year (the Ice Cream Social Dress from CINO), so that is what I used for the skirt.  I just put a band of pink around the bottom to weigh it down a bit and add a bit of color to the edge.


Whenever I use a knit for a bodice with a woven gathered skirt I find where they meet wants to pull the knit a little too much and it widens more then I'd like.  So I planned to add a band around the waist.  I thought this bright pink against the blueish green bodice would look a little cupcakey which is fun for a birthday dress.  I don't even know what cupcakey means, but it was the thought I had in my head the whole time, hehe.


This is Bean's newest "smile" face.  It makes me laugh so hard. 


I just adore this dress.  It turned out exactly how I pictured, and in spite of the number of days it took for me to finally finish it, it was a really quick dress to make. 

KCWC

As for KCW Day 3, I still didn't touch the jacket pieces. 


Instead I cut out and prepped a Beachy Boatneck (affiliate link) dress. 


I have been wanting to make a dress length Beachy Boatneck since pattern testing and decided it had to move up the list above the jacket. 


And of course I finished the birthday dress.  Hopefully day 4 will be productive! 

I have added affiliate links for Blank Slate Patterns and Go To Patterns on my sidebar as well as in some of the links in this post, but I sewed using their patterns long before even considering it. These are just great patterns that I truly stand by and I am excited about being an affiliate.

As usual, linking up to:
I Heart Nap Time The Chicken Chick Sew Chatty Photobucket  photo blogbutton_zpsb1fa0f6d.jpg Happy Hour Projects Photobucket

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Space Saver Chair Cover and KCW Day 2

Today I'm finally sharing a project I've been excited about for over a year.  Like many families with young children right now we have one of these:


To be fair this is the original cover this Space Saver Chair came with and the fabric is actually pretty cute.  But there is no padding to the cover at all and after a few washings the back fabric (not sure what it is, but it feels like interfacing) started getting some tears.  And honestly, what baby is clean enough when they eat that it would be reasonable to only have one cover for their high chair?

original cover front and back
So I decided to take matters into my own hands and a year ago I made a reversible chair cover for Bean. 


I used quilting cotton for one side and a fleece fabric for the other. 


Since the fleece gave a little padding, I didn't put any batting in between the layers.  The great thing about the cover being reversible is that if one side is moderately dirty it can be flipped to the other before having to put the whole cover in the wash.  This new cover alternating use with the original cover meant I didn't have to wash it CONSTANTLY.  Not to mention worrying about the cover being cleaned and dried in time for the next meal.

So what does this have to do with 2013, hehe?  Well, when I made the chair cover I also made a pattern.  And then a year went by and I never shared it.  Boo.

Then JoAnn Fabrics contacted me and asked if I wanted to review their new HGTV HOME line of home decor fabrics and I jumped at the chance.  I'm a big fan of home decor weight fabric and was excited to see their new prints.


I loved the bold colors immediately when they arrived (and even instagramed them) and my first thought was to make a cool poof for Bean to sit on. 


Then I took a look at the enclosed inspiration project and it was instructions for making a bean bag chair.  Now, do you think I could just do the project suggested?  No way, hehe.  I had to think of something else.


And that's when I remembered the Space Saver Chair Cover.  We have recently been doing a lot of renovation in our kitchen so the idea of a spruced up high chair was exciting.  It would also be the perfect excuse to get that pattern I had made, dust it off, and turn it into a pdf to share.  So I dove right in.

I'll have the pattern and a quick tutorial available next week so stay tuned for that.  For now I'll share a few pics of the reversible cover once assembled.


This Flower Tower print is so great for the Space Saver shape.  I was so excited when cutting it out.


But it's this side, the Groove Move (hehe that name cracks me up) side that I am IN LOVE WITH.


And here it is on the seat.  I bound the edges with a black quilting cotton I had in my stash.  It goes well with both fabrics so it works perfectly to border the two sides.


I really am so pleased with these two fabrics.  Even with a low loft batting in between the layers it was no problem sewing the cover together.  It's 100% cotton and has a sort of linen feel to it.  I think the left overs will make a lovely purse too, hehe.


Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores also sent me a coupon for you guys to use.  The home dec fabrics (including these new HGTV HOME fabrics) are on sale right now and this coupon is good even on the sale price!  It expires May 4th so there's still plenty of time to use it. 

KCWC

And finally, a quick update on KCW day 2! 


I shared on Instagram that I finished the hand sewing portion of Bean's birthday dress while catching up on some Project Runway.  I also have all the pieces of her spring coat cut out and ready to be sewn together.  Hopefully day three will see more of the coat come together.  Day two was a short nap day so there isn't much progress to report!

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores sent me the fabric for this review and coupon for my readers, but I was otherwise not compensated for this post.  All opinions are mine.

As usual, linking up to:
I Heart Nap Time The Chicken Chick Sew Chatty  photo blogbutton_zpsb1fa0f6d.jpg Happy Hour Projects Photobucket