This is what happens when you let an almost seven year old pick out the pattern, fabric and trim for her Christmas dress.

It begins to look more  like something meant for a stage production of “King Lear” than for a Christmas church service.  BUT, she loves it; so I guess its all good.

(she wouldn’t smile, she’s was upset that I made her step away from an episode of Curious George!)

So Sunday evening I decided that with family coming for Christmas my daughter needed a special dress to wear.  The budget being as tight as it is, I thought I would make her a dress…thinking if I went with a simple dress I could get fabric for about $10 (with coupons) and all would be well.  Monday morning we headed out to look for fabric….but moaned and moaned over the fact that I would spend the rest of the day sewing the dress and how I didn’t want to.  So, we took a detour to Goodwill in search of a used x-mas dress.  No go.  On the way to the fabric store I got a call from Jaylee, I lamented to her about how I couldn’t find a dress and was going to have to make one.  She started laughing and told me that I was the only person that she knew that would determine if it couldn’t be found at Goodwill, that it must be handmade…as if I had no other options.  I saw her point and laughed at myself.  BUT, I was sure I could get the fabric for less than I could buy a dress at Old Navy (or this $40 one from the Gap).  Well, turns out this lovely Shakespearean dress cost about $28 to make a about 5 hours of my time.  NEXT YEAR I AM BUYING A DRESS, NEW!

To add insult to injury this pattern (Simplicity 2269) was a PAIN to sew.  It looked so simple.  I’ve been sewing for 20+years, but this pattern took the cake!  The yoke for the neck…the pattern pieces were a total nightmare to pin into place and get the fabric to lay flat (from the upper gathers).  The pieces also didn’t quite fit, I ended up cutting off about 2″ from the back neck yoke on either side, just to make it fit.  On a positive note, I do like the bubble sleeves and they were easy peasy to make.  Has anyone else tried this pattern, I would love to hear your review?

Momma got crafty over the weekend!  I scored nearly 2 yards of this Sherbet Pips fabric over the summer at SAS for something ridiculous like $2.99 a pound; and finally got around to using it.

Baby got some new pajamas!  The top fits well, but the pants are a bit too big.  I made them in a size 2, I’m hoping she can wear them through winter and even into next spring.  I used some vintage red/white bias tape I found in Globe last year (Go Arizona for great sewing finds!!).  I have been saving it for just the right project, I am really pleased with how well it looks on the pj’s.  I trimmed the pocket (not pictured) and the bottom of the pants in it as well.

I even got all fancy and finished all (but the underarm) the seams by flat felling them.  I’ve only done that once before, as it is a bit time consuming.  This time though, when I stitched the seams down, I didn’t stitch all the way through the garment, as I don’t like the extra stitching to show on the outside of the garment.  See this tutorial to see what I mean.

Baby seems to like them just fine!

If you follow me on pinterest you may have noticed that I pinned (and many people re-pinned) this lovely skirt.

When I saw Camille’s “Swoon” quilt pattern, that is exactly what I did, I swooned.  It makes me think of pretty snowflakes.  I pinned it to my quilts board and decided I was going to make it, in baby form, for a friend.  The very next morning I received an email from Camille with the quilt pattern attached!  I sent a text to the mommy to be, found out her nursery colors and went to work.

The colors aren’t ones I would pick, but I still love this quilt!  It is backed in the same brown fabric from the front.  I quilted around the smaller brown 8 point star, then around the outer star, and finally I quilted in large squares around the sashing (it looks really cool on the back!).   I *wish* I had the patience to make (and quilt!!!) a queen sized version.  I made a few mistakes while constucting it.  Which you can see in the full version.

You may notice that some of the purple points aren’t actually points, but rather blunt edges….that’s because I have problems with math.  I know where 3.5″ is on my ruler, but 3 7/8th?  Where is the mark for that?  I know, its totally embarrassing to be 33 and um, still not be good at math.  Besides that one “little” thing, the quilt went together really well, Camille’s instructions were great and the pattern is really simple.  I’m not a quilter by nature, I come from a long line of garment sewers and I was amazed how many pieces I had to cut out to make one quilt block.  Holy heck,  how do people have the patience to do large quilts?!!

Here’s hoping the momma to be likes the quilt, I’m delivering it tonight.

I ended up with not quite enough of the Amy Butler print to make the set; so I had to start again with this cherry fabric.  I really love how this turned out!

It feels so classic and clean to me.  I can just see a sweet little girl wearing it this summer while wandering in the deep green grass with a slice of watermelon in her hand, can’t you?!

I think the little leg ruffles are my favorite!  The set is listed in the shop….

What a week its been!  Tuesday morning I interrupted my morning bike ride with a trip to the ER for dehydration & vertigo.  Super fun, really…..  I’ve spent the rest of the week at home on the couch, giving myself permission to take it easy.  However, yesterday evening I just felt the desire to sew!

With the temperatures expected to top out today at 97 (holy freaking cow, right?!), I decided baby needed some new summer duds.

I used some Bliss that I picked up months ago…I trimmed the bloomers with some bias tape made from the floral top fabric to bring the set together.  I’m quite pleased with how it turned out!

I could tell you that I have another set cut out of some Amy Butler fabric that I want to list in the shop.  BUT, every time I promise something like that it never comes to fruition.

Have a fabulous weekend!

I can totally understand now how house remodels start….all you want to do is replace the leaking moldy vanity and sink in your 30+ year old bathroom.  After many many hours of hoofing it ALL over town you realize they just don’t make vanities in the same size as your old one.  Oh- and your bathroom is TEENY TINY and you can really go only an inch bigger in width unless you want to lean like the tower of Pisa when you sit on the john!  But “wait,” you say, “we’ll go narrower!”, except you realize that your floor tile is CUT to fit the old vanity.  They no longer sell your late 70′s sandy colored floor tile.  Your husband says “It’s a small space, I can just retile the whole room”.  Visions of the children using your bathroom until they are 18 while you wait for your husband to finish the project run through your head.  “This”, you mutter to yourself, “this is how people end up remodeling  a whole room/house, it starts with something so simple and multiplies into this!”

And, on a completely unrelated note…I sent out this lovely surprise in the mail today.  The recipient has no idea its coming, so I think its safe to post.

I tried so hard to get the baby to wear it for the photo shoot but she was having NONE of that, so there it sits next to my irmi lamp.  It’s hard to tell in the photo, but I sewed on pink and silver sequins randomly on the hat.  Oh- and this is completely made out of cotton, NOT PAPER.

I’m hoping to make more for the shop, but in the mean time I will take custom orders if anyone is interested.  I also make them with embroidered embellishments (see here).  Just email me, heather-at-heatherhalesdesigns-dot-com.

Elsie Marley hosted a sewing for kids week and after seeing so many cute creations, I decided that I wanted to participate too…

I found this sweet brown floral knit at JoAnn’s a few months ago, I bought it knowing I would use it for the baby.  All I did was trace a pair of “short-alls” that she already had to create the pattern.  This was my first time sewing with knit, and I am really pleased with how it turned out.  It will be perfect for the warm weather here (each day we inch closer to our first triple digit day).

Best part?  It fits perfectly!

Sewing for little girls is really fun, you can add extra touches to make your pieces special….things like bum ruffles!

I used some Japanese fabric that I had been saving and paired it with some of my Bubble Gum Basics.  I modified the rise on these (because the last time I made them the rise was WAY to high), but I went too far i guess, as the rise is now too short!  I will be unpicking it tomorrow and adding a casing out of the polka dotted fabric to bring the rise up a bit.

I still think they turned out super cute!  Next up, the little one needs a jacket…i’m thinking linen with embroidery.

This is what 5 looks like…

pattern to make your own crown here, just add glitter.