Throwback Thursday: Little Lizard King Apron Knot Dress

Today's Throwback Thursday showcases an Apron Knot doll dress that I sewed up for a friend's daughter. The pattern is easy to follow and turns out great! I also used a combination of this pattern and the Scientific Seamstress Simply Sweet for my oldest daughter's birthday dress. It looked fantastic and is one of my girl's favorite momma made items.

Sneak Peek!

I'm so excited about this bitty outfit! This is a 0-3 month romper made using the Bebop top and the Reversible Romper bottom. As you can see, I'm still waiting on my snap tape to ship from Amazon to finish off the bottom but I couldn't wait to share a little preview.

Throwback Thursday: Scientific Seamstress Simply Sweet

When I first decided to start sewing last year, I borrowed my grandmother's old machine (older than me) and attempted a pillowcase dress. I spent more time fighting with the machine than I did actually sewing and by the end of the dress, I had almost decided to give up my new hobby. Then I started looking into getting my own cheap sewing machine. I fell in love with embroidery designs and chose to spend my money on a Brother SE-400. When I got it home, I got out the manual and read it cover to cover twice before I even took the machine out of the box. I was scared that I had just wasted a big chunk of money that could have gone to our Disney trip on something I would use once or twice. Turns out, my machine is one of the best things I've ever bought for myself!

Today we're going to look back at the very first items I sewed with my new sewing machine. I bought the Simply Sweet pattern from Scientific Seamstress after seeing rave reviews for it several places. Those people weren't overstating it. This is one of those patterns that is so versatile. It comes with so many options that you can make it over and over and never make the exact same thing twice (unless you're sewing two identical items as I always do!).

My oldest daughter really likes rainbows so when I found this rainbow fabric, I bought it up. The rainbow Mickey head design from Frou Frou by HeatherSue was perfect to go with it. I did make these a size larger than I likely needed since I was sewing in February for a trip we were taking in September and didn't want to risk a big growth spurt making them too small. I still think they came out wonderfully!

All-the-Rage Raglan Sew-Along: Success!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have completed raglan dresses! As mentioned before, I used Jeanine's tutorial from the Scientific Seamstress blog to turn the raglan into a dress. In this case, I used the width of the fabric and just folded it in half and had a seam on one side instead of measuring and cutting two pieces for the skirt. I'm happy with how they turned out, and more importantly, the girls love them. They especially like the hoods. The mark of success in my household is how long my daughters will keep clothing on. (Does anyone else have kids that like to change their clothes multiple times per day?!) These dresses lasted from the time I finished them up until it was time to put on pajamas.

I'm happy that I managed to get my Kids Clothes Week goal completed in time even though there were a few hiccups for me. I confess I did not have at least an hour every day, it just wasn't possible for me, but I did make up some of that time yesterday! Hopefully next week, I'll have 2 completed Ellie Inspired dresses to show off as well. (Don't hold your breath though, I've been working on these dresses for a very patient friend for a looooooong time already.)

Do you have a raglan finished? Make sure you add it to the sew-along album in the Scientific Seamstress Lab Group. In just one week we'll be randomly choosing a winner for a SB/SS pattern of their choice!

All-the-Rage Raglan Sew-Along: Moment of Truth

Today we're sewing the sides and sleeves together. If you're making a shirt, all you'll have left to do is the hem! I'm using Jeanine's tutorial for a raglan dress, so tomorrow I'll be finishing up with a ruffled skirt attachment! Here is my completed top.

I confess, even though I knew I had cut the stretch in the correct direction this time, I was still holding my breath hoping that it would fit my girl. I had to bribe my oldest into trying it on but once she had it on, she didn't want to take it off! That is how we judge sewing success in my household.

If you remember back to the beginning, I sized down a size for this since I wanted a more fitted look. As you can see from the picture, there's still plenty of room in it. I probably should have gone with her regular size or a size up for the hood though as my children have large noggins and it'll likely stop fitting over her head before it stops fitting her everywhere else.

I'm eager to see the raglans everyone else has been sewing. We'll have an album in the lab group for everyone to add to and then on February 10th, we'll select a random winner for a free SS/SB pattern!

All-the-Rage Raglan Sew-Along: Hood Time

Is anyone else now singing "Stop! Hammer time" in their heads? Just me? I'm ok with that. Today we're going to be attaching the hood to the shirt. The first step for me, since I'm making a lapped hood, was to baste the edges together. After that, it's time to pin. The pictures below show the way my hood and top look after using pins to mark the points where we're going to pin the hood and top together.

I'm using an overlock stitch on my machine to attach the hood to the top. As Carla mentions in the pattern, you can use a regular zig-zag if you prefer. After that's done, we're just doing the standard 1/4" seam using the straight stitch with the modified settings (longer stitch length, lower tension) and then the hood is on!

Tomorrow I'll be hemming the sleeves and sewing the sleeves and sides together. Then it'll be time for the moment of truth. Will this one fit over my daughter's head? Check back to find out!

Throwback Thursday: Elegance & Elephants Pleated Playsuit

It is currently 1 degree here in Pennsylvania. I confess I do not enjoy winter, not the cold temps or the snow or the amount of laundry caused by the need to layer. For today's Throwback Thursday, we are going to take a look at a perfect summer outfit in hopes that it'll make me feel warmer. Most of the sewing I did last year was for our Disney trip and these outfits are no exception.

I used the free Pleated Playsuit pattern from Elegance & Elephants which can be found here. I was still very new to sewing when I made these and still found the pattern easy to follow. I did modify the ties by using the scrunched elasticized straps from the Scientific Seamstress Simply Sweet (found here). My girls like to dress themselves and the elasticized straps made that a little easier for them. My daughters each got to pick 4 designs from this set by Frou Frou by Heather Sue for their outfits and they loved being able to design their own little outfit.

I'm looking forward to using this pattern again this year in a few months. Is anyone feeling a little warmer? No? Me neither.