Watercolor Mario Onesie

The combination of gamer fabric scraps and a new baby for my gamer SIL has proved irresistible. This past August I made a sleeper for my Godson (also a nephew) of the following two fabrics:

And when I was done I had... less than a fat half of the main, but still enough to make another onesie. So, out came the Peekaboo Lullaby Line Bodysuit, just in time for Christmas.

This time, I followed the instructions for the neckline properly (matching dots), and it made for a big improvement. I also used my Serger to finish the seams on this one, which was slightly nervewracking but also a good learning experience. The serger really does add a professional-looking finish.

I didn't get a chance to take outside pictures of this Onesie, because it pretty much went directly from my sewing table to under the Christmas tree. But my SIL was thrilled to receive it, and at 6m size, it won't be too long before my yet-to-appear nephew can wear it!

Ginger Beauty

Remember in my Grinchy post when I mentioned that the candy-cane binding wasn't *all* we picked up at my local quilt shop? Yeah. I gotta say, previous visits to the quilt shop with my daughter had been a little touch-and-go due to my daughter's attention span, but this time she was all in. We spent a good 45 minutes in the store, and she found tons of stuff to admire. But most of all, she found this unanticipated gem:

Sleeping Beauty character fabric. Aurora is my daughter's favorite Disney princess, and she was desperate not to leave the store without some. I was a little more leery (I'm trying to work through stash, not add to it), but in the end I decided that if I wanted to cultivate her love of quilt-store trips, I needed to be prepared to bring some fabric home now and then. So in our bag it went.

I tried to find a project that would put a dent in my sizeable knit stash after the Grinch dress, I really did.  But somehow this fabric was staring at me, my newly-acquired serger was staring at me, and fresh off my trip to the quilt store, I was REALLY tempted to go ahead and sew another woven pattern for curiosity's sake. I already had the Ginger and the Ginger Misses from a Violette Field Threads 4th of July sale, and if I wanted more woven patterns, I needed to prove to myself that I would actually make them. So...

Despite the dubious wisdom of making a halter-top dress in winter, off I went. The Ginger is elastic-backed, and it wasn't TOO hard to add extra 1/2" to the bodice and the skirt length, so I'm hopeful that even though I made it mid-winter, it will still fit this spring and summer.

This was my first VFT pattern, and after this, I am sure there will be others. The VFT Ginger tutorial was VERY well put together - well documented, lots of words, clear pictures with labels and stitch line marked where needed. I did find two mistakes in the pattern (slightly picky ones) but when I emailed the design team at VFT, they were corrected promptly.

And the result speaks for itself! A classic Marilyn Monroe style that my daughter can't help but pose in, in the perfect shade of pink and with her favorite princess...

No wonder she's got a big smile on her face!

2018 Completions

2018 was a year where aggressive buying in the first half the year turned to aggressive sewing in the second. Mostly, I suspect, because I started to run out of space for my stash. I continued last year's trend of really embracing knits, and this year I discovered a number of new "go-to" patterns, including the CKC Haven Hoodie, the Peekaboo Violet, the Peekaboo Bodysuit, and the MegaMax Raglan.

2018 was also exciting because got my first Serger (a gift from my parents) in May. It was closer to September before I finally got confident enough to actually start using it on garments - and then in October a broken stitch finger sidelined me for a couple of weeks -  but having the serger has definitely made me more enthusiastic about sewing wovens again. This year I made a custom woven shirt for my dad and a quilt-shop cotton dress for my daughter, and I'm looking forward to WAY more trips to my Favorite Quilt Shop in 2019.

Overall, it's a little weird to scroll back through 2017 and realize I'm only really 1.5 years into embracing knits as my preferred medium, especially since woven is now *re*entering the fray thanks to my new-to-me serger. For 2019 I hope to work through my (now sizeable) knit stash, and I plan to continue exploring woven as a medium for garments. Another year's worth of experience has me feeling a lot more confident now, and it's fun to see how I've grown as a seamstress throughout the year!

Scientific Seamstresses (link)

Completed: Jan 2018

Fabric: Geek Chic by Studio E

Pattern: Isla by Simple Life Pattern Co

A gift for the Daughter of a friend who'd had a rough year. 

Long Live Having Fun (link)

Completed: Jan 2018

Pattern: Haven Hoodie by Create Kids' Couture

A fun hoodie dress for my Descendents-2 loving daughter

Care Bear Kimono & Footie (link)

Completed: Feb 2018

Fabric: Knit solid & Jason Yenter Shark Print

Pattern:Baby Kimono & Footie by Brindille & Twig

For my nephew/Godson W

Care Bear Dresses (link)

Completed: Feb 2018

Pattern: PeekaBoo Violet

Matching Dresses for W's Sisters

Cuteness Report! (link)

Completed: Feb 2018

Pattern: Explorer Raglan by Made By Jack's Mum

A quick sew for my Growing Son!

Rainbow Mermaid (link)

Completed: March 2018

Pattern: Haven's Hoodie by Create Kids' Couture

One good turn like that Descendants dress deserved another!

King of Pop Cardi (link)

Completed: March 2018

Pattern: Women's Fairy Jacket by Ellie & Mac

A gift for my MIL, the ultimate Micheal Jackson fan!

Jack's Back for Spring (Dress & Shirt)

Completed: April 2018

Pattern: SLPCo Isla & Made By Jack's Mum Raglan

A "spring" dress made with fabric my daughter picked, and then a Raglan for her brother from the scraps !

Cinderelly Mash-Up (link)

Completed: May 2018

Pattern: CKC Haven, PaB Violet, and SLPCo Isla Mash-up

A short-sleeved sew for spring! Originally this was *supposed* to be a dress, but Daughter prefers it as a nightgown.

All in the Ohana (link)

Completed: May 2018

Pattern: PeekaBoo Violet

A sister set for a friends' 2 girls

Cute Dress Countdown (link)

Completed: June 2018

Pattern: Sofilantjes Solis

Dress inspired by a stikeoff in Kammie Lou Lou's Custom Fabrics FB group

Rockin' the Aurora (link)

Completed: June 2018

Pattern: Stitch Upon a Time Aurora

JoJo might be a little "of the moment," but my daughter went crazy for this dress!

Gone to the Dogs (link)

Completed: June 2018

Pattern: Cole's Creations Jerry's Raglan

A bowling shirt for my dog-loving brother

Zany to the Max (link)

Completed: July 2018

Pattern: Candy Castle Patterns Bubblegum

Another (slower) sister set for the Ohana family

Mario Memories Sleeper (link)

Completed: August 2018

Pattern: Spencer Sleeper by CKC

A trip down memory lane for my nephew/godson

So Awesome! (link)

Completed: Sept 2018

Pattern: Tie Dye Diva Easy Peasant Dress

A gift for a newborn girl and her MLP-loving big sister

Lego My Batman! (link)

Completed: October 2018

Pattern:  Max Raglan by Max & Meena Patterns (hooded version)

A fun new hoodie for my sewing-neglected son

Spooky Dinosaurs (link)

Completed: October 2018

Pattern:  Max Raglan by Max & Meena Patterns (plain version)

Trying the raglan version of this pattern - it fits better than Made by Jack's Mum did

Another Selfish Sew (link)

Completed: October 2018

Pattern:  Shirtzie by Stitch Upon a Time

Sliding a Halloween shirt in for myself, and learning so sew for my postpartum body

Always Serendipitous? (link)

Completed: November 2018

Pattern:  Shirtzie by Stitch Upon a Time

A gift for my Dad, who loves his first Harry Potter shirt made by me

Power Up Onesie (link)

Completed: November 2018

Pattern:  Lullabye Line Bodysuit by Peekaboo Patterns

A shower gift for a Gamer SIL & my nephew due in Feb

Gone to the Dogs II (link)

Completed: November 2018

Pattern:  Huntsman by Stitch Upon a Time

A second shirt for my Disney Dog loving brother

A Grinchy Love Story (link)

Completed: December 2018

Pattern:  BubbleGum Dress By Candy Castle

Made to match a kindness from a stranger, with a panel my Daughter adored last yer

A Ginger Beauty (link)

Completed: December 2018

Pattern: Ginger by Violet Fields Threads

Fabric: Princess Heart by Camelot Fabrics

An impulse sew after my daughter found Aurora fabric at our Local Quilt Shop

Watercolor Mario Onesie  (link)

Completed: December 2018

Pattern: Lullabye Line Bodysuit by Peekaboo Patterns

A Christmas present for my SIL & Unborn nephew

Stats:

Garments: 30

Woven vs knit: 2 vs 27 (1 is both)
Dresses vs. Shirts vs Other: 17 vs 7 vs 6
Kids vs Adults: 26 vs 4

WiPs without any progress in 2018: Star Wars II, Christmas Traditions. Quilting is shelved while the kids are little, sadly.