Pink and orange dress

My model is not feeling so model-y this morning! So this is what you get...

A cute little number with shirring at the top and in the middle. My top shirring elastic on a regular thread spool (in the thread section) was not as tight as the middle elastic from a different section. I had to cut the top and still have to shape it a bit.

I'm just glad that DH was able to fix my bobbin problems a month ago. saved me $90. I was to scared to try shirring when I was under the "get it all sewn for the fun fair" time crunch. But now, if I bust a bobbin, I have the time to get it fixed. And it didn't bust.

Here's a picture for nanny. Rafael has his first loose tooth! We get several reports daily and he now only eats apples if you cut them up for him. We found his tooth fairy bag that he sewed last year. Much excitement.


One more thing, i got a blog award the other day from Two Little Seeds. Thanks for the award! I'm going to play along later. Have to wait for DH to help me figure out a few things in transferring buttons from another blog. Go check it out.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

little polka dot fringe

I whipped up this little number today while the kids played in the air conditioning. Is it hot where you are? Crazy man.



Anyhow, the top of the dress is a t-shirt that DH's cousin in Portugal gave us from her daughter. THe image was painted by her friend, so I wanted to do something with it, rather than wait until Neve was big enough to wear it.

I hemmed the sides and put a little ruffle on the bottom.


The dress was deemed "not pinny enough" Doesn't spin when she turns, but she wore it the rest of the day none-the-less. Please excuse the blurry photo, messy hair and dirty popsicle face. She was in a hurry.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

purple dress

We spent the day yesterday at the park with friends. one little girl was wearing a dress that was shirred on the top. I've had my eye on this technique for some time now, so I challenged myself to make one for Neve. The girl's parents didn't believe I could do it. Or should I say, were in awe that I said I could. haha.(nudge, wink)


I scored big time at a yard sale this past weekend in the fabric dept. Mostly quilting prints, but nice for little dresses also. So I paired the little purple flower print with a nice lilac linen I scored a few yard sales ago.
To shir the top, you use elastic thread and loosely load your bobbin. I marked out the appropriate spacing before I started shirring. Once you start, the fabric bunches, so it's harder to measure anything. If you have a husband in the room who can step on the stretched fabric for you as you pin other things, it helps. thanks hon.


After I sewed sections on, I serged them to keep the edges neat. the bottom band has a little gather in it also. the straps are made of the linen and just tied on the top. In order to get her to pose for the pictures, I bribed her with the goofy glasses. Nice thing about digital, they get instant gratification and ham it up even more the next photo.


Rafael decided to get in on the action as he was painting rocks. A nice dull afternoon activity. Especially the rock picking expedition before hand.


Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Neve wore a red dress, red dress, red dress....

Do you know that children's song?
Here is a snap of the dress I've made. i still have to do the hem and sew in the snaps. I'm too lazy to line up button holes and also the overstitch on the bodice.


But I did make my own buttons!!! And they turned out perfectly. I used the SU scallop punch on shrink art plastic and coloured it with white pencil. Cut the petals and put holes with my cropadile. They even turned out the same size. how cool is that?


Now I'm on the scout for more fabric. The regular fabric places I used to haunt are no more.... And to find really cool graphic, colourful fabric, I have to go downtown. ACK. I hate going downtown and trying to find parking. We'll see what happens.

Hope you're having a sunny day. It's rainy, rainy, rainy here. But we had another wonderful day yesterday with dinner at the sailing club. The kids just love it there and I can crochet. lol

Thanks for looking,
Amanda