Is this dress cute or what? I unfortuately don't remember what the pattern was that I followed to make it. It was pretty easy to follow, but it was very slow going . It takes (at least for me) a while to sew something with gathers and layers like this.
And the bloomers with it were really stinking cute.
Pattern: I didn't think to write it down, but I want to say it was maybe a Vogue pattern
Fabric: Mystic Forest by Fabri-Quilt
-Jessica
This is another of my very favorite sewing projects for baby. It's the Quick Change Pants from Anna Maria Horner's book. These pants are adorabe with the contrasting butt of the pants and the large cuffs on the legs. They're reversible, so if you get tired of one fabric being the main print, flip them inside out and you can see the opposite fabric for a while. I love the fit of these pants on my little man. They're easy, fun, and fast to sew. The instructions are well written and I just love the finished project.
Pattern: Quick Change Pants from Handmade Beginnings: 24 Sewing Projects to Welcome Baby by Anna Maria Horner
Fabric: Mystic Forest by Fabri-Quilt
-Jessica
If you sew for little babies often (especially baby girls), the book Sweet Booties might be one for you to consider adding to your sewing library. I've only sewn a few things out of this book, but there are a lot of really adorable projects in it for babies.
This Oh, Kimono pattern was easy to follow and went together nicely. I didn't love the way the button-with-elastic-cord closure on the inside stayed closed, but it is probably better on a tiny human than on a plastic hanger. I also prefer a bigger hem on the bottom, but that would be something easy to change in the future. Other than those minor, nit-picky preferences of mine, I really liked sewing up this pattern.
And don't you just love the elephant print? I think this might be my favorite from this line. It's so bright and happy.
Pattern: Oh, Kimono from Sweet Booties!: And Blankets, Bonnets, Bibs & More by ValerieVan Arsdale Shrader
Fabric: Mystic Forest by Fabri-Quilt
-Jessica
I've made these pants before, too. They are simple little britches to put together and look adorable in super cute just about any sort of fabric. The book shows them in a striped fabric, I've made them in flowers and rain drop prints in the past. I think this subtle blue polka dot looks pretty cute, too!
As I mentioned in the previous post, I really like Heather Ross's book. Her patterns are so well written and are really easy to follow. I think these pants took me around an hour to make, start to finish.
I'll say it again, just to drive my point home... If you don't already own Heather Ross's book "Weekend Sewing", you should. It's a great book filled with awesome, useful patterns that real life people would actually use. It's a great book to add to your sewing library.
Pattern: Huck Finn Pants from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross
Fabric: Mystic Forest by Fabri-Quilt
-Jessica
I love Heather Ross's book Weekend Sewing. If you don't already own it, you should. It includes patterns for an awesome bag, baby pants, adult clothes, and this amazing dress. There's also a whole bunch of other things, too, but those are just the few projects that stick out in my mind. I love the way the projects are illustrated in this book. Sometimes hand drawn illustrations just get the point across a whole lot better than computer drawings. There's just something in the quality of a drawn line that seems to make a lot more sense to me than reading a perfect computer drawn diagram. (That's saying something, since my last "real job" was as an architectural draftsman/technician/CAD monkey/whatever you'd like to call a girl who draws architectural stuff on the computer all day.)
This dress is a super simple project to sew up. It is four identical pieces for the bodice (2 for the inside, 2 for the outside), 2 straps, and 2 rectangles for the skirt. It's adorable sewn up and goes together so quickly.
Pattern: Flowergirl Dress from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross
Fabric: Mystic Forest by Fabri-Quilt
-Jessica
I love little boys' clothes. Yes, little girl clothes are adorable and fun to sew, but little boys' clothes just seem to be used. I like it best when things I make are going to get some love. This little romper was fairly simple to sew together. I wish I would have thought a little bit more about it because I think the alternate neckline included in the pattern probably would have been better suited for this fabric. The fabric is just a basic quilting cotton, so it's not really intended for things like this. Probably nobody is ever going to wear this little outfit, so it's just more to show off this cute monkey fabric line that Fabri-quilt is just releasing this month. Can you tell the neckline lays a little bit funny? Well, that's because clothes like this shouldn't really be made out of non-stretchy materials. They should be able to stretch over your head and then shrink back to fit your neck nicely. One other problem I had with this was snaps. I hate doing snaps. I had to pry three of the five snaps off of this and do them again because I smashed them with the hammer trying to get them in. Thank goodness for my kind husband who was willing to come to my rescue. Other than those two mistakes on my part, this pattern went together easily. It included a lot of photos to help you along the way.
Pattern: Austin Lee Coverall & Romper by Fishsticks Designs
Fabric: Mystic Forest by Fabri-Quilt
-Jessica
This little dress was a breeze to sew. The binding on the inside of the neck and arm holes through me for a bit of a loop. I think if I would have understood where they were intended to go, I probably would have done them out of the same fabric as the top of the dress. That'll teach me to read the whole pattern before beginning, right? No... probably not.
After I made the dress, I thought since the "pocket friend" didn't take too much extra work, I'd add that to the dress, because really, what little girl wouldn't need a little pink polka dotted monster attached to the bottom of her dress's pocket?
Pattern: Simple Sewing for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter
Fabric: Mystic Forest by Fabri-Quilt
-Jessica
I have long been a fan of the Oliver + S designs, but until recently had yet to stitch anything of their patterns up. For this year's spring quilt market, Fabri-Quilt let me use some of their Mystic Forest fabric to make a pair of hats to be displayed in their booth.
These hats went together pretty easily and I think they're adorable.
Pattern: Reversible Bucket Hat by Oliver + S
Fabric: Mystic Forest by Fabri-Quilt
-Jessica
I've been sewing up a storm lately. Quilt Market is coming up very soon and I sometimes sew things for Fabri-Quilt for them to display in their booth to show off their latest fabric lines. This time I mostly sewed baby things from the new Mystic Forest fabric line they have, but I also made three quilts from the Marblehead - Global Brights line.
I'm not sure if I've explicity mentioned it on here before, but I'm a fan of a lot of the work from the modern quilting aesthetic. I like the clean, crisp use of solid fabrics or minimal prints. I like the bold colors. I like the intentional wonkiness. I was really excited when Fabri-Quilt asked if I wanted to come up with a design using this fabric because it spoke to me. I came up with about two dozen different designs and sent them off. Well, instead of picking just one design for me to make, they picked three. Woohoo!
The quilt above is my favorite of the three. It's titled "Sunset Boulevard". I love how it flows. I developed a strip piecing rhythm to do it, so the piecing was really fast. I think it's beautiful.
I quilted it in swirls within tiles... another of Angela Walter's quilting designs.
I found a new favorite place to photograph quilts, too! How fun is this little orange truck? My little guy loved playing on it while I snapped away. I think the photos are cute with him running through them.
The quilt above is titled "Library Stacks". It's quilted with a simple all-over meander. Nice and simple for a kind of complex-on-the-eyes piecing pattern.
This quilt above is titled "Dresser Drawers".
I quilted it using Angela Walter's wood grain pattern. Easy to do and it looks cool, too!
If you'd like to read more about these quilts, Fabri-Quilt interviewed me about them and featured them on their blog yesterday. Check over there to read about my inspiration and such for these three quilts.http://inspiredbyfabric.blogspot.com/2013/05/playing-with-marblehead.html
I have posts lined up about various projects I did for quilt market sewing from now until sometime in June, so be sure to check back often. I made some really cute things that I'm sure you would like to see.
-Jessica
