summer dresses

Sewing for summer: Heather Ross's flower girl dress, from Weekend Sewing. Love how flexible this pattern is, and how quickly it comes together. (Note: be sure and measure for chest size before you make this - the pattern runs small, but it's easy enough to add an inch to either side of the bodice pieces.)

Jennie's apron tutorial

I have such a treat for you today! Our friend Jennie is generously sharing directions for making the cutest little apron I've ever seen. (I'm thinking about a garden birthday party this summer for my daughter structured entirely around these...) Enjoy, and then be sure to hop over for a look at Jennie and Allyson's blog. These ladies are amazing!

I created this apron for my 3 year old. She always rushes to help anytime we enter the kitchen. I wanted to give her something inspiring to wear while creating culinary masterpieces (or just hanging around).

T h e P a t t e r n:

The measurements I used will fit a 3 or 4 year old. For other sizes, use the formulas below (refer to diagram above):

1) From collarbone to collarbone, add 1 1/4" for seams

2) neckline to waist, add 1 1/4"

3) 1/2 of waist, add 1 1/4"

4) waist to knee, add 1 1/4"

5) 1.5 times measurement (3), add 1 1/4"

6) approximately 2 times measurement (1)

7) 28" plus measurement (6)

I often prefer to sew reversible clothing. It's more versatile and has a more finished look, not to mention all the hair I don't have to pull out as I try to make my hems look decent. The wonderful thing about sewing for children is how little fabric you need, so adding another layer isn't necessarily cost prohibitive.

I chose two main fabrics for each side of the apron, a contrasting fabric for the ties, waistband, ruffle, and pocket edging, and another contrasting fabric for the pocket. It was fun finding fabrics that all worked together so well.

Start by cutting out all the pattern pieces. If you have one, this is the perfect project in which to use a rotary cutter and mat, as most of the pieces have straight edges or are long strips.

1) P o c k e t s :

1. Pin one pocket and pocket edging, right sides together, and stitch. Press seam.

2. Pin second pocket to first, right sides together, and stitch.

3. Press seam.

4. Turn pocket right side out and press.

5. Turn pocket edging down about 1/4" and press.

6. Turn down pocket edging once more, making sure that it falls below the seam on the opposite side. Press.

7. "Stitch in the ditch" (right on the seam) on the front of the pocket.

8. The back will look like this. Make sure you caught the entire reverse side of the pocket in your hem. Pick out and restitch if necessary.

9. Using a basting stitch, sew about 3/4" from the top of the pocket (make sure to back stitch at the beginning of the seam, but not the end). Pull on the loose thread to evenly gather the top of your pocket until it forms a pleasing looking horseshoe-like shape.

10. Using a normal length stitch, sew two parallel seams over top of this one.

2) A p r o n S k i r t :

1. Position and pin the pocket to the apron skirt off-center, as pictured below.

2. Top stitch close to the edge (about 1/8").

3. Using a basting stitch, sew along the top of the skirt.

4. Gather evenly until it is the same length as the waistband.

5. Pin skirt and waistband, right sides together, and stitch.

6. Press seam.

3) A p r o n T o p :

1. Pin apron top to waistband, right sides together, and stitch.

2. Press seam.

3. So this is what you'll have - one side of your apron, no ties at the waist or the neck. Now repeat all the previous steps to assemble the reverse side of the apron.

4. Pin the two finished pieces, right sides together, and stitch according to the diagram. Make sure you don't stitch all the way to the edge of the apron top or to the edge of the waistband so you have room to insert the ties. Turn entire apron right side out and press.

5. Turn down the top edges of the apron top about 1/4" and press.

4) W a i s t a n d N e c k T i e s :

1. Pin two waist tie pieces together and stitch both long edges and one of the short edges. Clip corners. Turn the tube you've created inside out and press. Repeat with the other two waist tie pieces.

2. Insert the raw edge of the waist ties into the slots you left unstitched, making sure they are even with the waistband, and secure with pins.

3. Pin the two neck tie pieces together and stitch on one side.

4. Turn right side out and press.

5. Using a basting stitch, stitch along the raw edge of the middle 18", or formula (6). Evenly gather so that it is the same length as the curve of the apron top.

6. Pin the gathered neck tie in-between the two turned down edges of the apron top. Err on the side of too many pins!

7. Now you have a portion of unpinned neck tie on either side of the apron top. It has one seam on the top (at this point on the inside of the neck tie) and raw edges on the bottom and side. Turn this unpinned portion wrong side out so that the seam is now visible. Stitch the raw edges of the neck tie to within about 3 inches of the apron top. You are left with a tube, wrong side out, and a small opening next to the apron top through which you can turn the tube right side out. Do this and then press the tube. The small opening will be completely closed with top stitching in the final step.

8. You're almost done!! Top stitch around the entire apron.

9. Top stitch along one edge of the neck tie. Stitching along the edge of the waist ties is optional.

If you want to add anything to the pocket or apron skirt as I did, paint (or appliqué) it on prior to sewing any pieces together. Sit back and watch your daughter romp about in her new apron.

hand-made doll for a four year old

Since watching the magical slideshow of Kiki and Coco in Paris this summer I have been obsessed with making a doll for my three-now-four year old's birthday.

Now we too can have idyllic adventures, charming doll in hand as she does adorable things like jump on the couch, get her haircut, and (I'm most excited about this one -) sleep.

I must concede that it might not totally be the same, seeing that we are not in Paris but rather suburban California, nor am I a professional photographer with a fabulous eye for adorableness (although I do have a very adorable 4 year old subject. :) )

Also, I need to convince the child that this doll is better than the hand-me-down Barbie (with a chewed-off hand thank you very much family dog) she currently favors.

I guess you just can't force love.

Good luck, Daisy.

(To see where Coco's gorgeous doll was made - shown in the link at the beginning of the post - look at Jess Brown's beautiful blog. Unbelievable.)

Quicky A-Line Skirts

My seven year old is growing too fast. She is like a very cute and emotional weed. So I made her some skirts this week, because I happen to be a firm believer that kids need to wear clothes that cover their bums. Here's a quick run-down of my very unprofessional hack-save-as-much-time-as-possible technique:

1. Measure around the hips. I couldn't find my tape measure so I used a ribbon.

2. Choose your fabric. Skirts require surprisingly little - for my daughter's skirts, I used half a yard. (By the way, the fabric: Heather Ross's Far Far Away II that I've been hording, and some Echino dots. I think a heavier weight of fabric works best with this kind of skirt). Fold your piece lengthwise in half, and then in half again (visualize when you fold in half the first time that you are making the back of the skirt (on the bottom), and the front of the skirt (the top) - and then for that second fold, you'll be folding the whole thing right down the middle. Sorry, is that really confusing? It's kind of late as I write this). Using the same idea, fold your ribbon in half and then in half again, and put the edge of it on the top of the fabric, lined up with that middle fold. Mark the end of the ribbon (or, probably in your case, a tape measure) with chalk. The ribbon represents the waist, and on the right side of the fabric is the fold (see picture below).

3. Take a yardstick, and line it up perpendicularly from the end of the waist. Determine the angle you would like for the A-line. Totally up to you how much you want it to flare it out. Also determine how long you want the skirt to be. Mark accordingly with chalk, and cut through all four layers of the fabric on the sides. Round the bottom.

4. Unfold the fabric. It should look like this:

5. Sew the side seams. If you have an extra two minutes, you can zig zag the edges to neaten the inside - I didn't here, and it made the threading of the elastic a little bit more difficult.

6. Hem the bottom (my quick trick on these skirts: zig zag as close to the raw edge as possible, then flip the hem under just once and stitch with a straight stitch).

7. For the waist, fold over the edge twice to make a neat casing (like a tunnel) for your elastic, and sew, leaving a small space open to thread the elastic into. Because of the a-line of the skirt, it will seem a little bunchy when you fold it over, but persevere! Once you thread the elastic in to the skirt the waist will all be bunchy. On purpose.

8. Measure your daughter's waist with your elastic. You want the elastic to actually hold the skirt on so don't make it too long that it just slips off.

9. Once you've determined the right length for the elastic, use a safety pin to thread it through the casing. Stitch the elastic in place (I kind of like to make the front of the skirt flatter, with most of the elastic gathers in the back), and voila, all done. If you are not interrupted by a sad baby, mad that she wasn't allowed to eat buttons from the button jar, you may even finish this in less than thirty minutes.

Happy Halloween!

This year we have in our house an Indian Princess (with a baby in a papoose), convict, and the Indian Princess's pet cat, Gumdrop. (And a baby with a panda bear hat, not pictured because she was eating breakfast. Go Giants!)

off-set pocket dress

It's been such a long time since I sewed... but the 6 year old wanted a new dress and what could I say?



It was kind of fun. I didn't use a pattern (which if you look closely - or even not so closely - you can tell). I've had that off-set pocket thought in my sketchbook for awhile now. I might make another one with long sleeves and a hopefully more successful neck (there is a reason she is wearing that scarf!). Or I might not.





She's really happy to be posing for the camera instead of eating her english muffins before school.

it's a GIVEAWAY...

The nice people over at Make Good: Crafts + Life recently sent Melissa and I copies of their new releases, Carefree Clothes for Girls, by Junko Okawa, and Felting for Baby, by Saori Yamazaki. I loved them: beautiful styling, great patterns, and best of all, INSTRUCTIONS IN ENGLISH!! They've kindly offered two copies each of the books for us to giveaway here, so make a comment and we'll do the random number generator on Thursday to select the lucky winners.



So far I've made the Coat with Scarf. I love the swing-style of the jacket and the high collar (it's hard to see under the scarf, but the neck is mandarin-style) and it took me just two hours to whip it up (the scarf took me a little longer to knit; I'm slower at that). Am excited to try another (I think the white melton hat must be next).



(Full disclosure: the six year old did admit - "I like it mom, but it turns out it's not good for scooterin'." Apparently the best outfit for that activity would be her bathing suit, underneath her ballet skirt. Not pictured.)



...and super excited to try felting. The slippers on the cover have new baby's name all over them. Whatever that name will be.



Good luck!

the sofa dress: some fallish sewing

It used to be that when one bought a sofa, one bought it to last, for a long, long time. So the fabrics had to be heavy and durable and stain hiding: none of this white twill business. A sofa was a major investment that needed to last and last. My family had pretty much the same four sofas from the time I could remember until the time that I was married. My husband's grandparents resorted to the comfy plastic covers to preserve their sofas.

In fond memory of the ultra-durable sofas of yore, why not use a little oldfashioned-ish sofa fabric for a simple squared-neck dress? A swirl of gold in a heavy velvety brocade: the perfect fabric to last a long, long time. And no plastic covers necessary...

3threes

How cute are these clothes? All made and available for sale in our brilliant cousin Allyson's new etsy store. Better shop quickly - these will fly away! (For those of you who have the Quarterly - this is the same Allyson who wrote the essay on Ambiance)

Quarterly Preview #2

...includes a pattern for Sugar Loom no.3, The Six Swans.

Sugar City Quarterly preview!

Slowly, slowly between all our motherly cares Lynne and I have been finishing the details for the first Sugar City Quarterly, she in California, and I in New Jersey. Along with interesting articles and stories, there will be several patterns and crafty projects. Here's a little preview of what's to come in the first issue: a Little Red embroidery pattern (and Wolfie pattern too!), perfect for imbuing a dress or library bag or skirt with all your good karma and loving stitches.

What kid wouldn't want a frock with her mum's love and karma sewn into it? This Quarterly is chock full of such pleasurable slow-living activities.