Finished Objects trickling down

 crochet cat / kitty toy  

(Available: mariemeyer.etsy.com )

'whale shark' woven sketchbook and pens pouch

I was working on keeping my mind off other things, so I started finding things that needed some work on them.

on the finishing table : crochet orange / yellow / gray striped rug (just have to tie up ends)

in progress : pink cat and grey sheep small knit toys (might be a bit on those)

Finished woven handbag purse in blues and greens

  This was woven on a picture frame set with evenly spaced screws and it took about two weeks or a little less to weave it up, since I had to take a lot of breaks with my shoulder joint. (not to mention I had the flu for a week in there, and it was tough, no thank you I don't want that again anytime soon).   It is a random pattern of a couple of colors of acrylic yarn, made on a navy acrylic warp.  I know a lot of people prefer to use cotton warp - but I like the way the same yarn weaves up evenly, and the fact that when I wash it (which I've done with a few others) it comes up soft and even then, as well.  

I left the 'self edge' from the bottom of the weaving on the side I wanted to put the buttons on - it looks a little decorative and yet it is rough and shows how handmade the item is.  I knitted the strap in a simple alternating stitch (not quite idiot cord) that stretches out nicely and is strong (on two double-pointed needles cast on 3 - knit, purl, knit - turn over, repeat - until length is proper)  I fussed up a way to put the buttons loops on because well, if they come loose, it's no big deal I just put them back on.  The buttons are a nice find out of my vintage sewing box I scrabbled around the bottom of it until I found something I liked.

 

The resulting purse holds my regular wallet, my phone case and a few other little things, which is just big enough.  Any smaller, (the finished cloth was 15 by 10) it would have been too small

 

It took several hours to get all the edge tails woven in and then I did a sort of complicated edge treatment on the dark blue edge there that I got better at the further I went - and will have to try to remember how to do it better next time.  I started out too much fuss, and it got easier and neater as I progressed to the left. 

Then it was just a matter of turning it inside-out and whipstitching evenly up the sides so that I got it looking finished on the outside, attaching the knitted handle and putting on the buttons.

 

I was telling myself that every single time - every time! - I start to make a piece of fabric like this I ask myself 'But, what will I actually do with it when it's made?'  I know there are a lot of things to do with it - but every piece takes so much work I start out from the point of futility sometimes, that if I wanted something, I could probably find it so easily - what do I want - do I want anything - why I am taking up this 'endeavour'?  Do I really need another bag?  I use the ones I have.  I use my socks, shawls, rugs, blankets, hats, gloves, net bags and woven ones, baskets, hampers, pillows, dishrags and potholders all over the house almost every single day.  So, why am I still so 'stingy' with myself thinking of what I must accomplish with the time spent?  The only thing I can figure out, perhaps, is that it is an attachment sort of thing - I am making certain that I am going to proceed, and use the item even before it is made, by investing such thoughts into it, defending it, and continuing to work to the finished item.  And then, when I use it, I reinforce that 'I wondered if I'd ever use this when I started it..' with 'see, here it is, and it is useful'.  I'm an odd duck... but I know I have my ways.

The Bits :

Oh one other little thing - I won a 'spinning tools - learn to spin' basket from a fiber site I started following.  I don't know when or totally what I am getting in the mail but we'll see!  I do know there is a drop spindle in there, and some fiber.  It has been 20 years since I had a real spindle, and I wasn't very good back then.  I did make one out of K'nex and work up some Jacob sheep yarn with Esme during the homeschool years - I might still have that package somewhere around here as well.  

One of my tasks today that I don't know if I'll get to it - is to find a box of screws I've hidden away on myself and put a few more posts into my small picture frame loom I did not finish making.  I scrounged around last night for it but did not find the screws - only the small frame and the screwdriver I had been using.  I'm sure I've hidden it away on myself 'in a safe place'...  I hung up my little painting in the writing nook, as I had taken it down from one place and then put something else up there.  Not much else to do - still getting over the last tiny bit of the cough from that flu, because it got into my sinuses.. and the weather is improving but still not good enough to be outside. Later we have to get some groceries, but I have to wait for the bank to deposit things.

 

my Painting on wall : Johanna's Woods, in acrylic

We lost one chicken yesterday, Esme was sad.  I told her it's Nature sometimes that we don't know what gets them - she was a big fat fairly happy chicken with a little bit of a limp that started three months ago and had not gotten any worse or any better even through that terrible cold snap and freeze she was out with everybody else eating and hopping a little but not singled out and definitely not wanting us to separate her (I thought one day I might try to see what her foot issue was and she had NONE of it).  She was just sitting in a corner, on an egg, and gone - perhaps one of our eldest group which is about seven years old now, but we weren't entirely certain (half of our flock is that same breed, and they are hard to tell apart otherwise)

handcrafted meditation

 

I do a lot of handcrafts, still, even now.  My hands often hate me for it now, but still - I press on, although sometimes a project will sit until I can take the 'balancing point' again between I have to do 'other things' (like driving, etc) with my hands that are more pressing than this.

 That sounds a bit depressing, but it's not -really.  It's a nice thing to have 'in my back pocket' to do in the middle of the night or when I need to think something over.  I'm not solving deep math problems or physics or etc.. but I do let my mind wander far and deep and wide and sometimes that 'doing nothing while doing something' is valuable beyond compare.

 I do tend to use these things - washcloths, and bags, and baskets, hats and scarves and mittens.  They always get used somewhere.  And I do like the 'encapsulated time' effect I also have with items I have made.  I can remember where I was, some of what I was thinking - maybe a movie that was on, by looking at the work.

 A handful of washcloths in different cotton and linen yarns - and a crochet hamper basket, because FB keeps advertising one to me and I scoff and say 'if I wanted to - I could make something as useful, maybe not as 'chic' as that one - but it would be mine.

 

Red love bird

 Esme's drawing

Mom's handmade toy, with some bits modeled after a red ibis (scarlet ibis)

He has a lot of personality :)

Handmade Dolphin Toy

Scarves are in the KnitOwl Shop

 

 Dolphin for Esme, from my original design drawn on typing paper and cut out.  It could use some tweaking before it becomes an official design for KnitOwl Toys - but for a prototype, it turned out pretty good.

 She gave it a green collar that was a bracelet of hers.

Just ducky

 It was my first day of vacation - and Esme asked to make a bird.  I told her she would have to find a bird and draw it first - which she did, and it turned out to be a duck.

Then about two hours later, Ducky was here and she was giving him aerodynamic tests.

I used scraps in my table in the colors she had used and she popped back and forth from the tv to the sewing area to check on my progress and ask questions.

Daddy getting an action shot :)

It passed the 'sniff' test, too for the calico coonhounds, Sweetie (back) and Spud (front) who are both growing up!

Dodecahedron ball and previous attempt

Brain relaxing with platonic solids... highly reccommended.
All finished now... ok actually I'm thinking of making more...
 not sure exactly what, different sizes, maybe a tetrahedron and then an icosohedron...

The second attempt in progress.. looks like it will be as it should.  I did ti all handsewn to avoid the same problem happening as last time.

Esme with the original attempt, made on the sewing machine.   It is still a very fun toy, but shaped more like a two sided star with a circle in the middle.  She likes it a lot and it does bounce well.  As I was making the second one she told Daddy I was 'practicing again.'   Touche.. Touche.

Handmade art by Mom for Esme's room

I still get my paintbrush out once in a while -although not for anything as elaborate as I used to make.  Here is a pirate painting for Esme's room and also some animals I painted on her new closet doors.

Pirate dreams painting - details asked for Esme are the scene on the left with the treasure island and the dreaming pirate, and the stars, and a 'whale' which I made an attempt at by the sunset/sunrise.

Once the closet was in place in her room the doors looked a little plain.  So, I grabbed a paintbrush and freehanded some animals onto it - I had intended two giraffes facing each other and instead made a tiger in pants and shoes, and a giraffe with a coat on :) 

We already have some dresses hung up on hangers inside and I am trying to get her to keep her boots and shoes in here at the bottom - socks and loose thins in the shelf above.  She has taken the dresses on hangers out and played with them saying it is dress up time - is this too small - is this just right?  Try this on, won't you?  I need to get more hangers - and looking at her clothes I know that August is just a little ways off.. I will need to get sewing if she is going to have something in decent condition for school every day. 

I just haven't had a lot of time for sewing since that last coat.. and even that took me weeks from cutout to finish.  Note to self:  Need pants too, have one pair cut out but they are summer length - and now that she requires nearly a full two yards for a pair of pants, they have gotten more expensive - not as much as jeans, though... still have to think if we might have her try on some jeans to see how they fit, and compare the investment now that she has grown so much.

 Esme with her horse pretending the pirate ship is a castle and she is a 'knight girl with the armor'

This is where the painting is in her room, by her sleeping light on the shelf. 

day off with cloning machine cardboard box fun

 Esme wanted to play with cardboard this morning.  I have a head cold, but this seemed like a better bet than wandering around outside behind her in the mud.  I robbed a length from my pvc tent bag for the rod and would like to get some plastic hangers and a few wooden knobs to finish the project.  She wanted a 'tube with the (lever) that you turn and open the door and there will be a sister inside, or maybe a brother - and it will be all the things and go 'boom' and it will be fun.  She told me this while she was in the bathtub this morning and was very upset we could not build a real one -- she has been on this kick for a while, actually... and we finally discussed we could make one like 'pretend'... 'no not the park with all the things pretend - the part with the (building) like pretend' (her strange words), but finally accepted that we would build the machine like pretend.  We found a few boxes in the garage and talked about how to build it.  She got inside it and pretended she was a Mummy coming out of a sarcophagus (like a Scooby doo mystery show) she said, and then we finally settled on putting doors on it.

The doors are laced on the side with yarn after punching through with a crochet hook and a double pointed needle (mom work)... She wanted to keep all the white part white (good!) and I insisted we paint more than just the doors so it would look nicer.. She had a mad fit about that - but then came back with the blue and we continued.

Helping me paint the doors yellow like the sun coming inside... the other door ended up pink after she used up most of the yellow paint ;)

This was earlier when she was playing Velma with her glasses and trying to make hot dogs out of playdough.

Handmade things by KnitOwl - and other bits

The KnitOwl shop is still open, and I will be adding things to it as I can.  There is so much handmade in this house and the 'fall to winter rush' for our own use is almost over - so there is time (I hope) to make some other things.

Scarves being made for the

KnitOwl shop 

 100% wool, basketweave hand knit 

brown variegated and (coming) blue variegated 

Esme talking to me about being out in the frost before we take her to school


Size 6 1960's smock dress with back zipper

Handmade toys in several styles
Bambi toy and blue summer - to - fall dress

Someone at Esme's school said they recognized her 'from the internet, somewhere'... if you made it here then 'Hi!' - this is our little corner, and where I post the clothing I make for Esme,   I was "just" a toymaker, making custom dolls and animals for people at my Etsy shop for five years before I had Esme.  But then I couldn't find anything that fit her right - and I dove into making clothing as well.   Women in my family have made clothes and toys for their families for generations. My mom passed along some general sewing knowledge but not much about clothes - so I had to learn as much as I could by doing, trial-and-error, and seeing what other people were doing on the Internet at the same time.

There are a lot of 'handmade' clothing shops out on the Internet - everyone is different, and my style of making is much more 'old school' than many of those out there now.  I don't know many who would hand work a buttonhole anymore, and my sewing friends think I am nuts to sew in a zipper by hand.  But, I do it because it turns out better for me.   I found out that these handmade clothes actually last a lot longer than storebought knits and were a better investment for our household in the long run.  And, I didn't have to fight dressing rooms and too-tight t-shirt necks.   Each piece takes about an hour to three hours of handwork and sewing machine work, and has zigzagged interior seams, turned and edged facings, handworked buttonholes and zippers sewn in by hand.  The clothes are sewn using 'antique' or vintage patterns (1940s to 1970s collection, size 2 through 10) and given alterations based on what the child needs.  I face with simple cotton fabrics and do not use seam or bias tape.

I do take custom orders - but only for those serious few who want handmade 'old made' things... the results will last a long time, hard washing in the washing machine and hard play outdoors in mud and rain.  However, they do require measurements and sometimes a try on to see where the 'problem areas' are.  For myself, the problem area is my wide shoulders.  For little one, it is also the wide shoulders, long legs and skinny waist.  When things are handmade, allowances can be discovered and made for such things that would require long searching in off-the-rack clothes!

All that said - I still work full time, and sometimes growth spurts here keep me from making much at all otherwise.  Maybe that will change over the next year - we'll see. I'll try to put up a few more things in the shop, and see if there is anyone out there willing to take the dive!

Black Friday, riding in the car in her handknit jacket, helping to take Mom to work

 

Size 5 Blue long sleeved dress and shorts from 1960s McCalls pattern with back ties 

Hobby Horse
 

run by thought on crafts and sewing clothes for toddlers

I saw on one of my email lists I subscribe to yesterday a mom that had no clothes for summer for her child, and was asking if anybody had any to hand down. I thought for a few minutes about contacting her to make a few items - but know that might be more work than I can handle with Esme needing her things made for this season as well. Also, she might find it strange and I can't guarantee the child's size of "3-5" storebought is the same as sewing pattern sizes without getting measurements. And measurements is work... work most people can't or won't do.

But anyway - the whole thought process ended in being very happy that I can make Esme her clothes for any season when she needs them. My collection of patterns is quite good - and I continue to pick up a larger size or different variation here and there on Ebay if the price is right. I try to keep myself reined in on the buying there even though I like to browse it daily to see what pops up ;) It is one of the relaxing things I do every day - browse all the new listings of used patterns and see if there is any inspiration there. Some things can be made from patterns I have, others can be printed out or saved for later etc etc...

Even with what I spend on used patterns and yards of new fabric in a year I do not pay anything near what I hear other mothers complaining the costs of childrens clothes are. Just the cost of JEANS (which Esme does not own/wear) is huge compared to the cost of nearly an entire season's wardrobe. Some mothers I work with pay ten or twelve dollars a pair for jeans that do not fit for very long. A medium weight chambray cloth at the store can cost 5.00 a yard but will make a jean-like pair of pants. She had one pair made up of those and I consider those 'heavy' for her, good for running through brush. Most of her other pants are just cotton quilting fabric and serve the purpose extraordinarily well in all but the coldest weather (and we're in the South!) Now if I could just make shoes ;) *kidding*

Sewing handmade does take more time at home, but I find that kind of work 'sweet' - when the time is right it gets done and is a lovely thing that rewards again and again. Sometimes the longest thing about the process is deciding on what to make out of what fabric. Once I've decided what she needs and have the fabric ready to cut it does not take very long to cut out and sew a dress or a pair of pants that will fit her well and last a good while.

It is also nice to know we can make MANY of the things we want in our house. Once in a while I do a roundup of what I'm using and it is nice to see the array of things that are handmade. I've sewn several things for myself this year that are in good use and continue to knit things that stay in use as well :) Our garden is becoming a good working project, as well :) We could make even more if we got the woodshop cleaned up and I got some practice in there again.

Today: I am off to work today until late. I'll bring the knit blanket with me to work on during lunch. If I can find a nice moment tonight I might be able to rack off a second pair of shorts for Esme. The pair I made her last night were quick and she really liked them. After three pairs of shorts the itinerary will be a few larger sundresses. She is still wearing the ones from last year but they are getting a skitch hard to get over her head. After that they are fine until ready to take off - and that tiny bit hard again to get off makes her frustrated at bath time etc. If I make the bodice front a little wider and longer that should work for the next size up :)

NIGHT Quote: About Fantasia 2000 the whale scenes. 'I've never seen whales fly! It's the Northern Lights, don't get much of that here in Tennessee, that would explain it. Uhh.. I had always thought it was the lack of whales.' That's the kind of humor that goes on at our house.

I've worked on the 4 foot wide blanket more today... will need another skein of yarn for that from the WM within a few days. Thought hard about starting another project but will wait until the KnitPicks yarn gets here and finish the grey scarf.... or I could start a band for that...? I'm still not sure if it needs one. Laundry is in the dryer and I'm going over thoughts of other clothing items for Esme but not enough time tonight to start anything in that regard. Bought a few more seeds and am hoping our carrots did not wash away with all this storm!

Purple Yellow Yarn Cardigan

handknit cardigan - 3 years

This is my first handmade completed sweater, ever! I've learned a lot in my dressmaking adventures that has helped me to make this one fit pretty well.

Esme's choice of yarn for part of her Christmas present from Nana in Minnesota - although she didn't know that :) She had a gift card from Nana and the toy she chose wasn't enough to use all of it - so I asked her to pick a yarn that wouldn't blind Daddy like the bright pink from her scarf. She picked this color and called it 'purple yellow yarn.' Eventually, I knew what I wanted to make for her out of it.

This is the 'seed stitch cardigan' from the Lion Brand Yarn website. But it is altered, of course, being me. The pattern has pattern pictures and measurements in it instead of just 'k1p1' type instructions all the way through. I am awful at following knitting instructions bit by bit - I want to look at the whole pattern like a dressmaking pattern... so that was perfect for me. I was able to knit to match the measurements with this yarn (Red Heart Melonberry multicolor) and make changes to it by treating it like a fabric pattern. I had size 10 needles, even though the pattern called for size 8... so I was further in 'No-Man's Land' to following the pattern at all. I had laid the front panel on top of her while she slept on our bed one night and it didn't even go up to her shoulder.... I added the 'peppered' seed stitch shoulder panels because I knew it wouldn't go over her handmade dresses. When I had done that altering the sleeve was not hard at all - and adding on two inches to the length of each sleeve because my measuring tape said their 10 inches was much too short for her! Seeing it on her I am very glad I did lengthen them - they are just right.

I would knit the collar on AFTER the buttonbands next time - not before. It is much too small for the rest of the sweater. In fact, it could be removed and redone. I am going to recast on and make some loose ribbing on the bottom for a few inches to keep it from flipping up like it is doing. I hope I'll get a good 'after' picture :) She does like it and put it on pretty readily after I had hidden her other coat at Grandma's *ha* Once she heard that was her 'new jacket' she put it on and didn't fuss looking for the one she had worn in. Mumum does things like that!

other note: The buttons are vintage somethings from a box of buttons Diana at work gave to us. I thought they were so pretty.. and so glad I could use them on something.


back of the cardigan
worn over handmade tieback 'Cinderella' dress and handmade pants


side and shoulder
Added more here so it would fit over handmade dresses

NOTE: While Esme watched Pinocchio tonight (and was entranced) I picked up the bottom edge on six double pointed needles and knit a 3-1 ribbing all around. It worked! It looks great and I hope it will still fit just as fine (it should). I don't think I'll mess with the collar - it is a functional garment and it will get a lot of good use :)

The whole cardigan took about a week of 'in-between' times, lunch hours and breaks at work and a few days off when I asked Esme to 'let Mumum work' during some parts of the day -- something I usually can't let myself do because I feel so guilty about it! She was giving me two of all of her toys today while I was trying to put the last row and bind-off on that ribbing... and I felt so guilty not playing with her - especially when she gave me the 'far-off sadness' look and THEN... of course... when I stopped knitting and gave her my full attention - she didn't want to play with ME, she was 'busy' with her lincoln logs throwing them between containers. ha. mirror child - what I give I get. She is sitting in bed now watching Cinderella and snuggling Daddy and nearly asleep.

Homemade Reminiscing

I look about at our house often and count the number of things in plain sight that I have made or recycled out of something else. Sometimes I hardly realize I'm doing it - but it always brings a nice feeling. The number of washcloths, clothing, pillows, toys, containers - every item says something about who lives here. Other items that were made by people I have known in my life...

I also think back to things that still resonate in my memory from my childhood home. I walk to those places in my memory, see them as if they were right before my eyes. The house itself was made by my grandfather - right down to the built-in cabinetry, small little doors in the walls where one would usually not expect them - a broom closet, a linen closet, a closet for garden tools by the basement door etc... Many of our household items there were handmade - curtains and couch cushions, macrame wall hangings, handpainted animal pillows on our beds, quilts made by grandma, drawings made by Mom, handcrafted benches and clothes chests and bookcases, flower pots and placemats...

Sometimes I wonder if Esme will live in a world like that as the future continues.. or if everything will become 'stock'. I hope we can give her that empowerment to alter and create. I hope to teach her to dream of what she can make her world be - using her hands and eyes, time and space...

I am still working to perfect the pattern for the raglan dress. I think I've made six now and still working to tweak a few things (haha!). I'm hoping to post it to BurdaStyle soon, a website where sewers share their patterns and projects with each other. I've posted a more complete set of instructions (with more pictures) at this link.

UPDATE: I think I did it! I made a few small alterations to the last pattern and tried it out - and it fit perfectly the first time with no fixes! YAYAYAYAYAY! I even made it a short-sleeve with no changes to the rest of the bodice. I think this pattern is ready to go 'all out', ie: make a few for other toddlers this age and see how it fits them. Plus - I'm going to make another one for Esme with the green fat quarter I was saving!

Red and turquoise dress

the red-turquoise dress
she doesn't even look like our Esme in this picture
must be the ponytail...

Working on the 4T dress. Esme is in her bed, because she wouldn't leave her hands and feet off the sewing machine and she's getting strong enough and tall enough that I can't just work over her head and keep her out of the way at the same time.

I am using some vintage wide patterened ribbon a lady at work gave me to cover where the front ties attach. It kind of makes the dress remind me of lederhosen ;) But Esme agrees the colors are pretty and the ribbon is pretty. At the moment (after the timeout) I've gotten to the point where I need to sew the zipper in by hand and pin the sleeves in before sewing them on the machine. Then the hem will be finished and it will be ready for a try on.

Once I kick myself and actually get over there to do it they don't take very long. That is, without "help" from little fingers ;)


Now THIS looks like our kid hehe

More about making the dress:

Pattern is Simplicity 7196 copyright 1975, size 3 & 4T
I'll try to add pictures of the steps if I make a second one soon.

Step 1: Choose fabrics, cotton and prewashed. I had the turquoise leftover from a quilt project and the red plaid was a men's shirt from a rummage sale. Trace, cut and set aside all of the pieces necessary for the project.

Step 2: I made the waistband ties and turned them inside-out.

Step 3: Gathered the front skirt and pinned it to the front bodice. I actually don't really 'gather' but give a few pleats at equal distances from either side of the center - it works out better for me.

Front pleats and ribbon

Step 4: Pinned the waistband ties at the pattern marks and zig-zag sewed their ends in place near the center of the front bodice, just above the skirt.

Step 5: Found some vintage ribbon in my collection that matched the colors well. Pinned it to the front of the bodice in vertical stripes that would secure and cover the zig-zag sewing of the waist ties underneath them. At the bottom of each ribbon I folded it up under itself about a half inch. I left another half-inch loose at the top that would be sewn into the facing seam and trimmed off. It would be possible to machine sew the ribbon into place, but I did hand-sewn stitches up each outer edge of each ribbon. I took an extra care to see that the flower pattern of the ribbon was in the same places on each side.

Step 6: I made the facings for the front neck (2) and back neck (2). Pin and sew the facings to the bodice pieces. TIP: Use a pinking shear to clip extra fabric on the round parts of the facings before they are turned right-side out - it will help them turn smoothly. Once turned and pointed, sew the front bodice between the ribbon pieces to keep the neckline flat during washing. I also sewed a little decorative stitch at the back neckline top on each piece for the same reason.

Step 7: Sew the front and back pieces together at the shoulders, right sides together. Sew the sides of the dress together from the armhole down. Zig-Zag over the edges of the side seams.

Back, ties and zipper

Step 8: Pin in the zipper from the top down in the back of the dress. At the bottom of the zipper pin the back together and machine-sew down to the bottom of the skirt. If you have a zipper foot, sew the zipper into the dress. Again, this is a part I choose to do by hand.

Step 9: Sew the hem under on the edge of the sleeves. Sew sleeves together at sides and zig-zag well over that seam (it will get pulled on a lot). Pin the sleeves into the dress. I find the easiest way to do this is to pin the bottom seam of the sleeve into the armhole at the side seam, then the top of the sleeve to the top of the armhole at the shoulder seam. Then make up the extra fabric by making two small pleats at the front and one larger pleat at the back. Make sure that these pleats are at equal distance from the top so they look 'supposed to be there.'

Step 10: Sew the sleeves into place with the machine. Leave a good seam allowance here. Armholes get pulled and tugged on all the time when dressing a toddler, this is one seam that shouldn't be skimped on! Zig-Zag around this seam as well afterwards.

Step 11: Pin under and sew a quarter inch hem all the way around the bottom of the dress.

Step 12: Check all seams, cut loose threads and you're DONE. Try it on and adjust if necessary.

Handmade Ragdolls for Christmas

Rag dollies

Rag dollies - new larger size, 9 inches sitting, 12 inches standing.
in the shop

Finished making the second pinafore dress for Esme

I weep for literate humanity when I read articles like this one on 'how to make clothes for your toddler' But then, I know there have to be some people who need the precautionary elements like 'don't let your toddler sew clothes, it can be dangerous'... so maybe they're on to something. And for those that this kind of information is common knowledge, along with 'you will need scissors sharp enough to cut fabric' - we can have a giggle or two.

I finished the second pinnie dress, all but the buttonholes again. I put Esme in it to visit her grandparents and it fits much better than the first one - still some gape at the armholes but not as much. They said she looked like 'a real little girl' in a dress - she is a real little girl ;) but she did look like Gretel or Heidi wearing it, very cute and 'storybook'. Next thing will probably be some more shorts again. I like having a hobby that is productive.

There are a few things about making that dress that would make a USEFUL article - like how the inner facing of the bodice attaches to the frilly sleeve in such a way you can hardly see it yet it seals the edges in nicely. The same thing with the waistline but I haven't made that happen perfectly yet. There is a lot to learn from these older patterns.


details on the second pinnie dress

I only had a 'fat quarter' of the teddy bear and locomotive fabric. I've been saving my piece for a while - I bought it as part of a set of fat quarters last December. It's Japanese, but it says in French on it 'The train has arrived, we are going on a trip' and 'We will end and exit the train in a forest of apples' My translations are not perfect ;) but I think that is the gist of what it says! The plaid fabric was a pair of curtains in the remnants box from the yard sales. I used red thread on the cream bedskirt fabric to make fancy details on the sleeves and the waistband was hand sewn onto the bodice.

made with this vintage pattern

CPSC Grants one year stay of testing on children's products until issues can be resolved

The ban, which was to go in effect February 10th for all non-certified (tested at third party labs for lead and pthalates) has been lifted for a period of one year until they can resolve the issues brought up by the public.

Read more at the official site: CPSC Grants one year stay of testing and certification for certain products

That's a little progress!

Get a Long Little Doggy draft stopper

Available at the shop - draft stoppers (draft dodger) for keeping those drafts out from under your doors in the cold season! He is 40 inches long and an original pattern suggested by a custom order at KnitOwl and friends shop.



Get a-long little doggie! He is great at guarding shelves, couches and beds as well while you're out of the house.  He makes an excellent tv watching partner, or just hang out around your neck while you're reading.