One More Dress for Lydia

As I wait to go to Houston to meet my new granddaughter, I have made another smocked dress.  This one is from the Children's Corner and is their Bishop's Dress, Gwen view.  A coworker gave me her pattern.  (Thanks Wendy!)  I really like this pattern and know I will use it over and over.  It is multisized, so I hope I can use it until Lydia is at least three or four years old.

This was the first Bishop's dress I have made and it wasn't as hard to pleat as I thought it would be.  I held my breath but that fabric went through my Amanda Jane Pleater like butter.  That is, until I got to the seams. I only broke two needles!  Next time, I will trim the seams more and use a zig zag stitch.  Hopefully, there will be no more broken needles.

The smocking was a lot of fun.  This was a free design in this month's Sew Beautiful Magazine.  I love that magazine and am proud that Martha Pullen is from Alabama.

Hopefully, I can get one more dress made before I leave for Houston in a week and a half.  This one will not be pleated, so I should have plenty of time to complete it.

Maxi #2

I had so much fun making the maxi dress for my daughter, I decided to make one for me.  Someone on Stitcher's Guild suggested that the CJ Pleat Front dress might make a good maxi.  I had just made this pattern in a short version, sleeveless.  Unlike the previous dress, I remembered to raise the armhole 1 inch.  I also lengthened it 15 inches.

The fabric is from Gorgeous Fabrics.  I loooove this fabric!  It's a jersey knit that drapes beautifully and has some weight to it.  Last I looked, Ann had more of this fabric in three different colors.

This will be a great dress to have in Houston as I visit with my daughter, son-in-law, and my precious granddaughter, Lydia.  My daughter's due date is tomorrow, so we are all on pins and needles waiting for the new arrival.

What To Wear on Maternity Leave

My granddaughter is due any day now and I have been very busy smocking dresses and making a baby quilt.  But I must not forget Mom.  When we were shopping, Stefanie admired several maxi dresses, many of the striped and waaay over priced ($85 - $100).  I found this wonderful striped fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics and incredibly soft.  I think it is not only beautiful, but very comfortable.

I can't wait to get to Houston to see that precious granddaughter and my wonderful daughter, who I am so proud of!

Adventures in Color Blocking

I have been wanting to make a color blocked dress for quite some time.  I had purchased the light green and orange ponte from Sawyer Brook several months ago, trying to decide what to do.  I decided it needed something more, so purchased the fuchsia knit a couple of weeks ago.  This knit was lighter weight than the others, even though it was also a ponte.  So I doubled it at the bottom to make a band, eliminating the hem.

I used my Sure Fit Designs dress kit/ knit top with a dart and the leaflet instructions for making dolman sleeves.  The idea of the curved lines came from a new Vogue pattern.

Here I am on a very humid day.  The picture, along with the angle isn't great, but you get the idea.

I had enough fuchsia left over and some black and white knit stripe from Marcy Tilton to make a top.

These were a lot of fun and quick to make.  The drafting took less time than I anticipated.

THE LUNA TOP

I decided tops and blouses were the next thing for me as I lose weight.  First up was the Luna Top from The Sewing Workshop.  I had made the Stella top from the same pattern in a knit.  A few months ago, I found this fabric from Sawyer Brook and thought it would be perfect for this pattern.  It's a rayon, crepey fabric, that looks like patchwork in different floral prints.

The alterations I made were my usual - sloping, narrow shoulders and a high rounded back.  I did not need an FBA because it's fairly loose fitting.  I omitted the zipper when I realized it would fit easily over my head.  The bottom is buttoned, but I decided to sew the diagonal lines at the bottom and attached the buttons.  As I lose weight, I can take it up at the side seams.

The challenge was in the bias seams on the cowl front with slippery fabric.  It took lots of pinning, which I don't really enjoy.  After that, it came together like a breeze.

Here's a picture of me in it with a pair of white jeans I bought about four weeks ago and couldn't zip up at the time.  (Hurray for me for getting them on, and now they aren't even too tight.)  Pardon the expression on my face.  It's already 90 degrees in Alabama and the sun was in my eyes.

I wore it  on a road trip to Florida today to spend Memorial Day with my husband's Aunt Janie.  She was a surrogate mother to him and is still quite feisty at age 90.  I hope to be just like her.  Here's Aunt Janie and my stepson.  Can you believe how tall he is at age 16?  It was a wonderful day.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Sewing While Losing Weight

I am determined to lose weight with the help of Weight Watchers.  I'm at the heaviest I have ever been, and my eating was out of control.  Therefore, I took control by joining Weight Watchers at Work.  I am a Lifetime member, but what does that mean when you need to lose 30 pounds?  So much for Maintenance!

I decided to make my weight loss public through this blog to make myself more accountable.  I have a couple of partners in this endeavor - a coworker, and my stepson.  It's so much easier to do this with someone.  So far, I have lost 7 pounds, and have 27 more pounds to go.  I am confident I can do it.

While losing weight, I still want to sew, so I've been focusing on clothes I can alter while losing weight, starting with pants.  I made a pair of capris with my Sure Fit Designs pants kit, and loved the style, so I decided to make them full length in khaki and navy blue. The pocket design is from the new booklet from Sure Fit Designs.

I chose this design because it will be easy to alter during the weight loss without losing the pocket.  I can just take it up at the sides.  Also, I sewed the waistband with a 3.0 length stitch so it would be easy to remove and did not top stitch.  Here's a picture of the pants with a top tucked in.

This is how I will actually wear them.

And here they are in Navy.  I love these pants.  They are a cotton lycra, so very comfy.  I narrowed the pant leg and like the width.

As I lose weight, and alter, I plan to post more pictures.  When I get to my goal weight, I plan to take a picture and compare it side by side with these.  How fun will that be?  Something to work toward, and fun to see the results.

Every Baby Girl Needs a Pink Dress

I am traveling to Houston on Friday for one last mother-daughter weekend before Lydia arrives in June.  It was great timing that we could do this on Mother's Day.  It was miraculous that I could find an organist to fill in for me at church this weekend.

I was able to finish another smocked dress before I go.  This one is by Michie Mooney.  I love her patterns and her blog.  Creations by Michie  I found the material at a wonderful heirloom shop in Louisville, KY when I was at a meeting of the Southern Health Association in March.  The smocking plate was perfect to echo the print of pink flowers and green leaves.

The actual plate was for a bishop dress, so I altered it, omitting some of the design toward the end and repeating the border from the top.  I can't wait to take a picture of this dress on Lydia.

I will be taking the sundress, the quilt, and the daygown with me on Friday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.   I know I will.  I  am blessed to have such a wonderful daughter, who is already becoming a wonderful Mom.