Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas Dolls

I had such a fun time sewing Christmas projects this year!  I can't believe how much I enjoy having granddaughters to sew for.  I adore Jack, but let's face it, it's more fun sewing for girls.  Here's the proof.






I made each of the girls one of these cute Black Apple Dolls with the leftover fabric from their Christmas dresses.   After taking this picture, I decided that I didn't like the face on the doll with the brown polka dot dress.  So it was off with her head!   The moral of this story for me is to paint the face on before assembling the doll.  Here's the dolly with her new face:


She got a new hair color also!


On another note-- I got a mention on the  Britex Fabric blog.  Check it out!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Hemming Tip

I can't really post what I've been working on for Christmas... so, here's a little tip on hemming a dress with a curved overlay.

First mark the hem.  Obviously this would be done while the dress is on the girl that will wear it!

Next mark were the finished hem will be and take out the pins holding up the hem.  You can see that I mark it with pins.




 Slide a piece of paper under the edge of the curve, trace around the original hem and cut the paper along the line you just drew.  Now you have a template for the new hem's curve.

Place the template on the dress, line the edge up with the pins and mark the rest of the curve--again, I just use pins.


Now you are all set to hem the dress so that it looks just like it did before it was shortened


If you are doing a tiny rolled hem like this one, don't forget to unpick the old hem several inches above where the new hem will start so that it will be a smooth transition.


Here it is--nice and curvy!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Beautiful Fabric

When Eric was a little boy he could spend a lot of time in sporting goods stores just looking at stuff.  I agreed to take him once and stay for an hour-- it wasn't enough for him, but I was bored silly.  I guess I know how my husband feels in a fabric store!!

Last month while on a little trip to San Fransisco I  stopped in at Britex Fabrics.  What a great store!   On the fourth floor where they keep the remnants and other bargains I found a beautiful piece of wool tweed.   I thought I'd try making this skirt again with a lining and higher vent in the back.  Here it it:





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Monday, December 6, 2010

My Favorite Christmas Stockings

It's a good thing we have  double-sided fireplace because our family is growing very fast and we need the mantle space for Christmas stockings!!  I'm not a big fan of most Christmas fabrics so I used various colors and types of Corduroy and cuffed them with quilting fabric scraps.    I've identified each stocking's owner by adding a little silver charm of their initial.  The grandkids also have a little boy or girl charm.