Princess Dress

I don't even know how long I have been holding onto the fabric for this dress, but I know I bought the trim at least a year ago. Finally, I just bit the bullet and used a Simplicity pattern and made it plain pink instead of trying to make it Perfect with an Overlay and a tricked out Bodice and.... And you know, I actually like how it turned out better than what I was thinking in my mind.

I modified the pattern by eliminating the zipper and by combining the back pieces into one piece. The most important bodice change though was probably using a cotton/lycra knit for the back so that the dress can just pull over the head. I stole the idea from my friend's kid's princess dress and am now totally enamored with the simplicity of modding costumes to make them simpler. Who knew?

Bodice and skirt are two different pink satins, with a sparkle organza overlay on the skirt. I think the skirt fabrics are Joann and the bodice might be from Vogue. I finished the seams on the serger so the satin wouldn't ravel. Skirt poofs are plain tulle, but I doubled it for volume. Trim is also from Joann, a gold wire lace on the skirt fronts and at the neckline and a rainbow foil gold braid thingy at the hemline and neckline. I have some sew on jewels I have been meaning to add, but maybe it doesn't need it.

Pattern: Simplicity 2817

Fabric: pink satin, pink tulle, pink organza, and pink cotton/lycra knit

Happy Campers Quilt Finished!

The batting is cotton/poly low loft. None of the fabrics were preshrunk because I was using the charm pack. It all wrinkled up nicely. I quilted it in a grid pattern and bound it entirely by machine using a decorative stitch.

Happy Campers Quilt

Happy Camper Napping Quilt

This is going to be a gift for my step-father.

Materials:

1 charm pack (42 5" squares) in Happy Campers by American Jane for Moda

2 1/8 yd yellow Kona (to be purchased)*
1/3 yd each blue, green, red, brown and cream Kona (to be purchased)*

(*I may substitute if I can find other reasonably priced fabric that coordinates.)

I am aiming for a finished size of 49 1/2" by 72".

Here's the color breakdown of the charm squares that came in the pack: 3 navy, 8 red, 7 brown, 6 blue, 6 green, 7 yellow, 5 cream

Pictures of the plan:

And the cutting diagrams:

Yellow includes sashing, quilt back and binding

1/3 yard cuts include some internal sashing

And finally, the diagram for the quilt back (just to make sure I cut the fabric correctly):

I am hoping to purchase the solids this weekend, and to begin sewing the charms together maybe even tomorrow.

Yoda, Finished

I finished the sweater for my friend's baby. This is my first sweater ever. I need more practice sewing up seams, but it turned out OK. The Sugar and Cream yarn was OK but not luscious, next time I might try a different yarn.



I discovered a good place for blocking (lots of air flow):


...and here's the finished project with the button and everything.

New Crate Pads

If only my turnaround time on all my projects was this quick! R and I bought the materials for new crate pads for the dogs last Thursday and here on Tuesday they are all the way done. The mattresses are convoluted foam (cut from a double-szie mattress pad) and the top is a lovely white sherpa knit furry chenille thing. The backs are ultrasuede, R picked the colors: "blue for Mar-wee and purple for Morgle." (sic) It's been a while since I've done a zipper and the first one took me two tries, but the second one went in easy enough. The two fabrics were quite dissimilar and the white knit stretched the first time I sewed the top and bottom together, but then I ripped and flipped so I was sewing with the ultrasuede on top and they came out OK. I did a lot of ripping for such a simple project, but part of that was just getting warmed up again after not having sewn in so long.

Here's a shot of the materials for a pad:


and one of us trying it out:


It's very comfortable. As I had hoped, the good foam gives quite a bit of cushioning and is breatheable, and the knit top was worth the $9 a yard cost as it doesn't detract from the texture of the foam and is a nice surface for the dogs to lie on. I did prewash the ultrasuede and it didn't run, so hopefully these will be nicely machine washable. The dogs seem to really like them, they've been playing musical crates testing them out.

In other news, I finished the other front on the baby cardigan and am onto a sleeve...

Baby Yoda Sweater

My best friend from 7th grade is due with her first baby at the beginning of next month and I really wanted to make something for him. I've never made a sweater before so I picked the Baby Yoda Sweater because it looked quick and easy. I found some fun yarn at my LYS and thought this would be a no-brainer.

It took me 3 tries to get a gauge calculation to alter the pattern (I planned to use a sport weight and the pattern is written for a worsted/heavy worsted weight.) I kept chipping away at the back which was easy stockinette knitting but kept putting it down in favor of other things, even non-knitting things.



Finally I had to admit that I just felt the colors were too girly for a first son, and that on the whole the yarn was better suited to this sweater I've been meaning to knit my daughter for ages.

I meant to go pick up some Blue Sky Alpacas cotton because I really love it, but after knitting a dishcloth in good old sugar n' cream, I decided that I'd try the Yoda sweater in it. Who knows if this late spring baby will even wear a sweater before he outgrows it, and the sugar n' cream felt OK to me and is on sale for $1.79 a ball right now at Joann. I have previously crocheted a baby blanket in this yarn and was happy with the results.

I guess this was a decision that needed to be, since after switching yarn I have been going (for me) like gangbusters on this sweater. I have the back and one of the front sides done and am halfway done (as of this morning) with the other front side. I may get it done by the end of the week!

Done!

Fast, fun, and FUN!



I think I *need* Mason-Dixon Knitting.