Category: Garments

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The Lorelei dress: Gemma’s first Easter dress

A woman and child in the middle of a field.


I know I’m getting a little off my usual topic by showing you some recent garment sewing, but I like to mix it up a little bit, and to be honest, a good variety of projects keeps me excited about what I’m doing every day.  This post is ALL about selfish sewing.  I took a little break from my other projects to make this and loved the result. 


I’m not a die hard mom that makes every little thing for the baby, but I did want to make one special occasion dress for Gemma as a baby–her first Easter dress.  I opted for the Lorelei Pattern from E-Beth Designs because I know Elizabeth and love, love, love the dress she made for her adorable little girl.  Plus, I purchased the mommy and me package to make matchy matchy dresses, but I was a little ambitious and didn’t leave myself enough time before Easter got here.  One of these days I’ll get to it, but I’ll make it in a print I love instead of matching my baby girl!  Also, there is a fantastic petticoat under the dress, and the pattern is so well written that there really isn’t any chance you can mess it up.  I was so happy with the results.  You can purchase the pattern on Elizabeth’s website and sew it up for any special event that you have coming up.  The only suggestion I would make is to use a cotton lining fabric instead of polyester, especially if sewing for a young child.  Our church is kind of hot and Gemma was a sweaty little baby by the end of the service, so a more breathable weave might be a better option if you know you’ll be in warmer temperatures.


A woman and child in the middle of a field.
Photo of the Mommy and Me bundle- from E-Beth Designs website

For the fabrics, I just went with some regular quilting cottons that I had on hand and had already prewashed for another project.  Sometimes I get too excited to sew a new garment pattern and don’t want to wait or go through the hassle of making sure the fabrics are pre-shrunk, so I was happy to use something already prepped.  I used a purple gingham for the accent pieces and a very light purple and cream floral fabric that I thought was really sweet.  I usually am not such a reserved person when it comes to fabric selection, but I wanted baby girl to look sweet!


A dress hanging on the wall
Front


A dress hanging on the wall
Back
And here is the finished dress-I made the 6 month size, even though Gemma was only 4 months and it worked out well.  I wanted her to be able to wear it for a little bit before she outgrows it completely, and the sizing was pretty spot on.  She’s a little over 6 months now and can still fit in it comfortably, which makes this momma extremely happy!  I was pleased at how professionally the dress finished–sometimes in children’s clothing patterns, steps are skipped or the patterns aren’t very well written, but this dress finishes with a petticoat and is fully lined.  I really enjoyed each step in the pattern and even learned some new things along the way.  Happy sewing until next time!  

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Penelope Dress with Double Dutch by Latifah Saafir

A pattern of different types of ice cream.


Hey Guys!  I hope your week is treating you well thus far!  Recently, I had the opportunity to sew up the adorable Penelope Dress (pattern by Violette Field Threads) in Latifah Saafir’s latest fabric collection, Double Dutch.  The prints are absolutely awesome, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the entire line once it’s released!  

Latifah had sent me the raspberry waffle cone print and the white ice cream print with some matching tulle to use as the skirt.  The ice cream print is so adorable–and detailed!  I was blown away with the attention to detail of each different kind of ice cream treat.  It took me back to my childhood and thinking about ice cream trucks and summery treats.  This print was perfection in the Penelope dress, but I can’t help but think of how amazing it would look after being fussy cut and put into a quilt project.  It’s definitely on my to-do list!!

A pattern of different types of ice cream.
Ice cream print-photo from Hoffman Fabrics website

 Here’s an in-progress picture of the skirt from sooooooo much tulle.  And there was a layer of glitter tulle as well.  I will have glitter on me permanently after sewing this, but it was so worth it!  

A pink tutu is on top of the table.


 And then a finished picture of the front and back of the dress:

A pink dress with a collar and long sleeves.

A pink dress with butterflies on it hanging from a wall.


The raspberry waffle cone print was used as an accent for the collar and sash, and the ice cream print was used for the bodice, sleeves, and ties.  Latifaah has a picture on her Instagram account of her gorgeous niece modelling the dress, and her adorable nephew modelling some garments embellished with the fabrics.  

The Penelope dress was a pretty straight forward pattern, and I love Violette Field Threads’ patterns.  They are always a good choice for little girl outfits and are very well written-even for a beginner sewist.  You can make the dress with tulle, or you can opt for a standard garment fabric (or even quilting cotton).  It is a little bit time consuming, but totally worth it and a great dress for spinning in 😉

Be on the lookout for Latifah’s line and make sure to snatch some up before it’s gone!  Happy sewing 🙂

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Quilting is my first love, but garments have wooed me!


This summer I had the amazing opportunity to do some work for Janome.  I made a few garments and a bag for them to use in a photo shoot, and even though it was stressful, seeing the finished products come to life on other people was maybe the best feeling in the world!  

I can’t post the video yet, as they haven’t released the advertised equipment yet, but I did screenshot some of the items I made to share with you.  I never thought I would have an opportunity to do something like this, and it was a blast!  I only recently started my trek into clothing, even though I’ve dabbled in bags since the beginning.  I must say I’m smitten and sometimes so in awe of the pattern designers.  

I can’t wait to continue my journey into exploring different garment fabrics, and even incorporating some into the quilts I make.  Even though I adore quilting and the process that goes into it, sometimes trying things you aren’t comfortable with are really refreshing and have the ability to breathe new life into your work.  Now that the school year has started, I’m back at quilting, but it’s really nice to know that garments will be on the sidelines waiting for me the next time I want to stray away and try something new 🙂

This bag.  I could barely let it go!  Love those colors so much 🙂
Sorry for the blurry picture on this one, but those are 2 
of the 3 pairs of shorts I made for the photo shoot.
And the top.  My pattern and the embroidery was
 all new embroidery designs from the sewing 
machine company that come stock with the machine.

 Then this little guy.  Literally.  He was 17.  31 year-old me had to 
dance with him.  It’s okay…I left my walker on the side 
of the dance floor 😉  That denim jacket was embroidered by 
my friend Danielle who does such beautiful work–the girl has got mad skills!

These are the two other girls from my guild that were in the
photo shoot I was in with the denim jackets.  We had so much fun.
I couldn’t seem to get a good paused part of the video with Toni…

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Getting ready for state convention


FFA State Convention is in three days–so to get in the zone for leadership stuff and prepare…I decided to make some applique shirts.  So the first one, I was pretty satisfied with (I actually did it after the gray one).  The second shirt…yuck.  Did not turn out how I had planned at all.  I spent about an hour piecing these tiny strips of fabric, and didn’t even end up using them.  Really should have been paying closer attention instead of rushing since it was for me and not someone else!

I’m thinking about putting the first style in my Etsy shop…but we’ll see.