Frankendress finished

"Send Help, I'm snowed in."

 I finished the franken-Tiramisu dress awhile back and was never able to get any satisfying photos, but I am just posting these anyway.  I might never get around to taking any more photos!!  Cabin fever is really setting in now...we have at least 3 feet of snow covering our yard still, no joke!

That ball of fur is my dog, Angus, FYI

Part 1 of this post is here if you want to see the progress.  I began with a Tiramisu dress, and didn't like the bodice, so I cut it in two and attached Jalie 2449 as the bodice.

 I'm happier with the dress now.  The best part about it is how it feels like pajamas.  I really didn't have any long sleeved knit dresses in my wardrobe, and they are very cozy for winter (or a winter which never ends).  The only thing that bothers me is the pockets.  This is a real heavy/thick interlock knit ($1 a yard!) and the pockets add a bunch of bulk at the hips I'm not crazy about.

In other news, my sewing studio in now complete! I don't know how I fit 4 machines into my little space, but I have an embroidery machine now.  I've been playing around with it a bit and I think it will be such fun to embellish some of my sewing projects with.   Here is one of my first test samples:

FUN!

Perfect Polo

I've been sewing like crazy this month but completely absent from the blog.  My photo-taking mojo is gone.  It's just been too cold and gray!  Please excuse the bad photos, I just had to post something!!

It's the Perfect Polo pattern made with knit fabric from Girl Charlee.

This was about as much posing as I could get out of Travis.

This is a pattern I can see myself using again and again.  The directions were straightforward, the placket was a bit confusing but came out fine in the end.  This polo would be great in many colors and patterns. 

AND.....A little bird told me that the KCWC Spring 2012 is coming up soon!  Are you on board?

Click on the link below to get the details!

Star Wars Pajamas

I just wanted to quickly post about these pajamas that I made the week between Christmas and New Year.  I love these so much!!  The pattern is the Sweet Dreams Button Up PJ Set from Peek A Boo Pattern Shop.

I love the piping around the neckline and sleeves.  I'd definitely recommend this pattern.  Travis got to choose his own fabric this time.

Here is one of my recent Instagram photos.  

If you love instagram too find me and we'll hook up --  I'm CraftyNHmom on there too. 

Here's a clue as to why he wanted this fabric, Darth Vader.

Tiramisu Dress Rescue in progress..

The last week or so I've been avoiding my sewing room. Here's why...

My miserable looking Tiramisu Dress!

I've made two attempts at making the bodice fit. I tossed my first try and started over. I still have this wrinkly weirdness at the under bust seam. I think it has to do with the gathers being wrong somehow. I've checked out the Flickr group for the Tiramisu sew along and it seems like the people who have this problem are the medium or small busted ladies. I'm average in the bust dept. so I started fiddling with this seam, and the more I adjusted the worse it looked!

Then I started to wish there were no gathers at all to mess me up. I mean it's a stretchy knit fabric anyway. I thought back to a top I had made from Jalie 2449 that fit really well. So instead of tossing my Tiramisu into the pajama drawer, I had the idea to combine those two patterns. That way I get the bodice I like on the really pretty Tiramisu circle skirt.

Here is the shirt alone, which I quickly made while I was kicking this idea around:

Here I made a chalk line at where I'd like to combine the bodice and skirt. I measured up 2.5 inches from the bottom waistband seam since that part is still pretty straight.

Snip, snip!

Snip snip here!

Surgery begins!

Then it was time to pick up Travis at school!

To be continued...

Operation Incognito - Sewing for School

Our school has a really awesome fundraiser each winter!  It goes like this...

Each class has a theme such as "Let's Go to the Movies" or "Let's Build Something", and each child brings in one or more items for that theme basket.  The baskets are wrapped in clear cellophane and raffled off at the Winter Festival.  This is a great fundraiser because each item is donated and all of the money made from raffle tickets goes to our school and directly benefits the kids.

My preschooler's class theme this year is "Let's Dress Up".  I specifically wanted to donate an item that was fun for girls or boys, since we all know boys sometimes get jipped in the dress up department.

I found this sewing pattern at just the right moment!

Get yours here on Craftsy!

It also comes with instructions for a yellow felt envelope to keep it all in, but I had only smaller felt pieces and I also wanted to position them so they will all be on display in the theme basket.

Travis really wants to win one of the baskets this year, he's saving up his money for tickets!

First project of 2013 - Cozy Sweatshirt Tunic

Here is a casual project that's been on my to-do list for quite awhile...

It's a quirky tunic length hoodie, European style! The pattern is Deborah by Mamu Design

Warm shirts are at the top of my sewing list right now. Christmas sewing is over and now it's just plain old winter. This hoodie fits the bill perfectly because it's cozy and fun. It also has a pocket for my ice cold hands!

I didn't make any adjustments to the pattern except shortening it just a bit. I could have fitted it a bit more as it is baggy in the waist. I may do that later on.

The fabric is interlock from Fabric Fix in Manchester, NH and the floral knit is from Girl Charlee.

I'm really not sure what to make next. I have project overload right now. I might need to make a list and prioritize so I don't waste time staring at my stacks of patterns and fabric.

 Recent acquisitions include: Sisters of Edwardia blouse and tiramisu dress from Cake Patterns, Angel Bootcut Jeans by Angela Wolf (which I am a little afraid of). I also got a few new books for Christmas including this amazing fashion book that I can't pull myself away from!!

I highly recommend this book, Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style.

Posted with Blogsy

Happy New Year!

So 2013 seems to have sneaked up on me!  I can't believe how fast time flies by.  During December my daughter hit the big SIXTEEN and we had a great relaxing Christmas!

I need to get caught up and show some of my recent projects.

I'll start with the big one!  A quilt for my mom for Christmas. 

This quilt was done to match my mom's quilt collection.  I seem to make one for her every 3 years or so.  This improvisational pattern I got from Craftsy's free Block of The Month class.  It is the block for May, Modern Frame Log Cabin.  I love Craftsy and you can't go wrong with a free class.  Check it out!

The quilting was done on my Bernina 530.  It was my first time free motion quilting and I was nervous but I'm glad I went for it.  I really like the texture it gives this quilt.  If you can't see from the photo, I used a loopy all-over design.  I was on the fence about whether to purchase the BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator) which helps you get even stitching when free-motion quilting.  I finally decided against it because A) It's outrageously expensive and B) I almost never make quilts!  I did fine without it, so it all worked out!

After that was done, I felt the need to do some quick and easy projects.

So naturally I needed a new pincushion.  This is also a free pattern by Anna Maria Horner.  It's available on Better Homes and Gardens.  For some reason I can't link to the page, but if you go to bhg.com and type in "wild flower" you can find it.

Next I made this cute doll for a friend's baby:

Pattern available here: Dot Dolly by Herbst on Etsy

then this Doodle Jump Guy:

For this one I made my own pattern on butcher paper.  

I used fleece from JoAnn's because of the wide range of colors you can find.

I think I can fit one more project into this post,

A skirt for Maura's birthday!

 Maura worked at the snack bar for her brother's basketball game, what a nice helpful teenager!

Exactly the kind of skirt I would have rocked at her age!

It's drafted using panels and bustled using elastic sewn into each seam.  I got the directions from a tutorial I purchased on Etsy, but it's since been removed.

That's it for today.

I hope you all had an excellent Holiday and New Year!