Wordless Wednesday

Snow and a Sunsuit

What!?  I know, it's a little hard to think about sunsuit weather when you have this......

But I have already started dreaming about warm weather and started some spring/summer sewing!  Remember this darling little vintage pattern that I got a while back....

Well I made the trip to my favorite fabric store last week on one of the wettest days I can remember around here!  As I was driving through the rivers that were running across the streets I wondered if I should even be out that day but I was on a mission!  It's hard to keep me from the fabric store when I have an idea in my head!  Also, I was meeting my Mom and Sis there and was really looking forward to a girl's afternoon.  I know what you are thinking...didn't she just post last week about using some of the fabric in her stash before buying any more?  Well, yes but this pattern called for something new O.K.?  And since I had someone to help me make a decision I didn't end up with more than I needed.  Thanks for the help ladies!  I wanted a vintage inspired fabric for this sweet little playsuit and this is what we came up with....

No outside shots for this one!

she's getting serious about her modeling...

I love the little tie belt...

and the elastic leg openings for the "bubble" effect..

ta da...Now I need to find the perfect fabric for the cape!

Oh, and I just have to show you the buttonhole!  Isn't it a beauty? I am so excited about my new machine...It makes the loveliest buttonholes and it is so easy!  I have ruined more than one garment with bad buttonholes in the past, in fact I have basically avoided any pattern with them for years because it is SO frustrating to put so much hard work into something only to have it ruined at the last step!  I'm giddy!

Photo Friday

Happy Friday!

The Pocket Apron Skirt (aka Waitress Skirt) a Tutorial

Remember this skirt that I made for moppet last fall? Well, I made another one and she calls it her waitress skirt because of the pockets in the apron, she likes to carry a notepad and pencil and play restaurant.  I had originally planned on making a dress from a vintage pattern with this fabric but didn't have quite enough to make it work so I thought I would make a cute "retro inspired" skirt with it.  Apron skirts are pretty cute and trendy right now for little girls and I'm sure there are plenty of tutorials out there but I thought I would show you how I made mine, with the pockets.

The measurements for this one is for a size 6 so you will want to make size adjustments for yours.  Basically I just took the measurements from one of Moppets skirts for the length and circumference and since I wanted this one to be a little fuller I just added a few extra inches to the width.

 For a size 6 skirt you will need:

  2 pieces main skirt fabric 15 in. long x 40 in. wide (less if you don't want it as full)

  In the contrasting fabric (apron, pocket, waistband and ties) you will need one piece 18 in. wide x 13
  in. long for the main apron piece and one piece 18 in. wide x 9 in. long for the pocket.  Waist band
  piece is 32 in. long and 4 in. wide. For the tie I cut 2 pieces 30 in. x 4 1/2.

  Ric rac trim long enough for the circumference of your skirt and 1 inch elastic to fit your child's waist.

The pieces for the tie in this photo are actually smaller that what I ended up using.  I had planned on just hemming the edges of the ties and just use a single thickness since this gingham fabric is a little heavier than most but changed my mind so I cut 2 more pieces wide enough to fold over and a little longer.

first join the front to the back,  I used 1/2 in seam allowance.  Then gather the upper edge using whatever method you prefer.  I use 2 rows of basting stitches between the seams. You will gather to fit the approx. 30 inches of the waist band but don't attach yet.

Now you are ready to work on the apron.  Lay the smaller piece on top of the larger piece, both pieces right facing up. 

Next fold the edges over 1/4 in. press and fold over another 1/4 in. press and stitch, creating mitered corners if you wish (I am just working on this but it was a little hard with this thickness and medium weight fabric).

Now gather the apron piece and pin to the skirt, centering as best you can then baste to the skirt and remove pins

now pin the waist band to the skirt, right sides together and sandwiching the apron in between. Start pinning at one of the side seams and leave about 1 1/2 inches at the end of the waist band (you'll see what I mean a couple of photos down)

I basted the waist band to the skirt first to make sure there weren't any tucks or folds caught up in the gathers especially since I had three layers where the apron is.  Once it I made sure it all looked ok I stitched it with a regular stitch.

Now this is where you wanted to leave about an inch and a half so at the end you could fold the end over a 1/4 inch so you don't have a raw edge where you will be inserting the elastic. Now, when you get close to where you started stitching the waist band, flip that part up, fold the raw edge over a little and stitch to the end.  You will then fold the other long edge under a half inch and press then fold the waist band in half and press

 I hand stitched the other side of the waist band to the skirt.  You could also machine stitch in the ditch, from the front side if you want but I prefer doing it this way, I just never seem to be able to make it look good on the inside otherwise and even though I'm the only one that sees it, it still drives me crazy. Now measure your little ones waist and cut a piece of 1 inch elastic 1 and 1/2 inches shorter than the waist measurement, run the elastic through the waist band at opening you left.  Once you determine that the elastic is the right size, stitch it up then machine stitch the opening closed.  This should be at the side seam and will be covered up when you attach the tie.

Ok, now it's time to make the tie/sash.  Take your 30 inch piece, fold in half length wise stitching one end and the long edge together using 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Trim corners, turn right side out and press then do it to the other tie.

Now fold edges in on the raw end and stitch as you will be attaching this to the skirt and you don't want a raw edge.

Sew the ties to the waist band, at each side seam and covering the stitching you made when closing the opening for the elastic.  Since the tie was wider than the waist band, I made a little pleat in the tie.

I straight stitched a line up the center of the pocket section to divide the pocket in two and added a button at the top of the pocket to add some detail and reinforce the center seam.

Now to hem and attach the ric rac.  I turned up the edge once and stitched then I sewed the ric rac to the outside of the skirt just above the hem, then turned and hemmed again so half of the ric rac is below the hem like this

one line of stitching from attaching it to the front, the other line after it was turned and hemmed.

And her it is!

My model decided she had to wear her (faux) fur scarf.  It is a removable trim piece from one of my coats and she loves to use it for dress up.  I think it adds to the retro look of her ensemble!

It's a little big on her now but she will grow into it soon enough.

There you have it....The Waitress Skirt!

Aprons-All Done!

Whew!  I finally ran out of my Frida Kahlo fabric stash so no more aprons this week!  One of my "goals" this year is to (at least try to) use some of the fabric in my stash (I said some) before going out and getting more.  I was able to make 4 more aprons, including one for myself and even a little one for Moppet out of the lovely Frida fabric.  As of now I still have one more in the shop if you want one!

One was a birthday gift for a friend so cut out an image from the fabric and stitched it on a piece of card stock to make a tag.

a sneak peak as to the contents of the bag!

I was actually able to finish another project this week too, using fabric from my stash of course : )

Stay tuned for a look at it and even a tutorial!

Getting Back to Work

I know I know, I've been a bad blogger...the holidays got hectic and I spent time playing while Moppet was on school holiday so I have not had much to blog about.  I took a break from sewing until I got the tree down and all of the decorations put away.  I didn't want to add even more clutter around here!  Well, now that's all done, moppet is back in school and we are back on a regular schedule and I have been able to spend some time getting to know my new sewing machine this week.  I have been working on more Frida Aprons so it wasn't really very exciting to blog about.  It's actually pretty boring however I discovered aprons are the perfect thing to make on a new sewing machine when you are just get used to each other.  It's all very basic sewing and makes the "breaking in" period go smoothly. I love my new machine!  I have some other projects planned once I get a few more aprons done and I'm excited to get started on them.

In the mean time this is how we spent some of our winter break...

Taking walks in the woods....

playing with moppets new pop up doll house (this is awesome by the way)

making masterpieces with a new art set...moppet wants to be a famous artist like Wassily Kandinsky or Claude Monet, work in a museum and teach art to children.

hmmm, I just noticed she is in her pjs in these pics (she was also wearing them under her clothes on the walk)  can you tell we had some lazy days?

I also enjoyed..... a manicure....

a shared foot bath and a pedicure...

on this day she decided she wanted to have her own spa someday so I got the royal treatment...I think she changed her mind when I asked her if she really wanted to wash strangers feet...

we enjoyed some much needed down time...

Happy New Year!