An Inner Child Indulged

After making that Rainbow Brite Dress for my daughter, I think it took me all of 3 days to wonder why SHE got to have all the fun. Fortunately, the fabric I used came in two scales, and I'd picked them both up. The Striped Swallow Desert Breeze is available in Girls and Womens' sizes, so it was a logical jump to make a coordinating "mom" outfit for me!

Fortunately, the large scale was about perfect, and I had plenty of the coordinate left over from my daughter's dress. For myself I used both the Desert Breeze Women's pattern, and the Slim Fit Add-on;  I did size the Add-on up, though. The Slim-fit add-on is designed for negative ease, but I just wanted the top to be shaped, not clingy. I measured a L but made a 2XL to get the fit I wanted. I paired the slim-fit bodice with the 2XL flutter sleeves from the original pattern, but I did take 2" out of the sleeves to tone the flutters down a little.

Here's the final product, next to its inspiration. As with my daughter's desert breeze, this was a really quick make - even faster, since I didn't have to spend time gathering and attaching the skirt.

I did go with the wider strap option, which was *supposed* to cover my bra but doesn't. Not entirely, anyway. I figure I've go long hair though, so complete strap coverage isn't critical. But in my next Summer Breeze, I'll probably widen the straps even a little further.

And there will for sure BE a next Summer Breeze - This top is flattering, easy to make, and I love being able to coordinate with my daughter. High fives all around!

A Childhood Shared

Like a good nerd, I am into many fandoms these days. But I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the very FIRST fandom I participated in as a little kid, namely Rainbow Brite. I was 4 when the series came out. I watched all the episodes, collected all the dolls, read all the books, and even owned a record or two I think (vinyl, of course).

So obviously when I saw this fabric being offered, I had to jump in. The characters, the color palettes, it was like seeing my childhood books brought to life. And as always I love a good border print!

This time the lucky recipient was my daughter - she'd admired the print a while ago, and she's also a fan of the books I saved from my childhood. She's also fast outgrowing the Care Bears and JoJo Summer Dresses I made her last year. Last summer I didn't *quite* get around to making a Striped Swallow Desert Breeze, and I've been chomping at the bit to use it ever since.

Striped Swallow Designs does do a really nice job with patterns - the instructions can be confusing at times, but the cutting instructions are consistent, and the garments are easy to assemble. I was pleasantly surprised at how fast the Desert Breeze came together, especially once I figured out that my sewing machine (a Janome DC2007 LE) would allow me to move my needle over to the side when triple stitching the binding.

And I was also quite pleased with how well received it was! My daughter isn't into Rainbow Brite like she used to be, but she loves this dress - it hasn't made it more than 2 days in her closet without a washing yet.

They say "out with the old, in with the new," but in this case, I think old & new are coexisting together quite nicely.

Holidays in June

My Dad loves Harry Potter, Trains, Stamps, and Disney; and as it turns out, he also loves shirts made by me! Over the past 2 years I've made him two shirts: an "Always" Shirt and a Magical Gift shirt. Both were Harry Potter themed, so this year it was time to branch out.

This print featured not one, but two of my Dad's favorite fandoms: Trains, and Disney. Technically it's a Christmas print. But even if Dad does only take it out for a few months of the year, he'll still have twice the fun wearing it, right?

I've had a previous success with the short-sleeved version of the Peek-a-Boo Patterns Yukon. It's a men's dress shirt with a back yoke, which makes it flexible when cutting. I am a devoted fussycutter, and this shirt was no exception - a lot of work went into making sure the tracks lined up, the sleeves didn't end mid-train, etc etc.

My one fussycutting oversight the collar - it'd been so worried about making sure the trains went *around* my Dad's neck, I forgot that with the collar has a collar stand. Technically if Dad buttons his top button, the trains will circle his neck perfectly, but they'll also be upside down. Ooops. Fortunately, my Dad is retired and as he puts it he "never has to button a top button again."

I gifted this shirt to my Dad for Father's day 2019; I know it'll be a little bit before it is seasonally appropriate, but he was in town and I was excited to show off his new gift.

And who knows, maybe he'll wear it to his train club meetings anyways. He definitely looks sharp in it! He confirmed that the bright blue was a really good call, and was delighted to find Donald (his favorite of the Disney Fab 5) waiting for him in the caboose.

And I'm delighted that he's got another, non-Harry Potter shirt from me to wear. So excited, in fact, that I splurged on fabric for a matching shirt for my Mom.

Here's looking forward to a VERY well dressed, homemade Christmas!

Some Berry Lovely Dresses for a Berry Good Friend

Some fabrics just speak right to your heart. Last year, a favorite fabric host ran a Nostalgia round and I gotta be honest, my inner child took my wallet and ran with it! I'm mostly a Rainbow Brite fan, but I still remember Strawberry Shortcake fondly. I have a friend who's the other way around, and when I saw this fabric, I knew I needed to get her some.

This was my first foray into working with a Double Border print. Border prints are interesting because there's only one "layer" of artwork, and it runs parallel to the selvage on both sides; in 60" wide fabric, that leaves a pretty substantial center section. It also means the artwork can be tall and panoramic, with long repeats and plenty of features interspersed along its length.

To show this fabric off, I chose the SLPCo Isla. Since I was going to make two (one for each of my friend's girls), I wanted a pattern that was simple and familiar.

I based the options off my daughter's well-loved Jack's Back Isla. Truth be told, it was storm season and most of this cutting was done while home with the kids watching the weather and hoping we didn't have to make a sudden dash to our storm shelter. Hey, you take your opportunities where you can get them, right?

Ever the fussycutter, I elected to put the border on the skirt and try to center the strawberry house as much as possible. I was also able to coax the entire outer bodice + 3/4 sleeves out of the center section of the fabric. I did thin the skirts slightly from what the pattern suggested (24" instead of 28" - I didn't want the artwork to get lost in the folds), and both the flounces and the bodice linings came from inexpensive Purpleseamstress solids.

And.. the dresses were a hit! I was lucky enough to be able to hand these dresses over in person, and both girls were happy to try theirs on right away. I also have it on good authority that they wore the dresses to daycare the next day, where they received much admiration from teachers and staff.

Little C even recognized the characters from another gift I had given her mother long ago - A Strawberry Shortcake stuffed cat that might be a little worse for the wear now, but is clearly well loved around the house.

It's good to see a long-ago sewing project getting such love. And It's also exciting to help cultivate the next generation of Strawberry Shortcake Fans!

I am Woot!

One good turn deserves another! Or perhaps more accurately, one growing toddler deserves another shirt. After my success with the Stormtrooper set, I couldn't resist digging into this fun Galaxy print for another Father/Son pairing.

My son loves Rocket Raccoon and my husband loves Guardians of the Galaxy, so it was a natural pairing. To preserve the artwork on the panel, I made T-shirts rather than raglans.

For my son, I made the Zee's Tee by Tie Dye Diva. I will admit, maybe it was just to coordinating purple playing tricks on me, but despite the fact that the TDD Zee says it's specifically tailored to boys, the sleeves seemed a little narrow/short in comparison to the body. On my son, it wasn't so noticeable, but next time I make it I think I might change the angle of the underarm seam to widen the sleeves a bit.

For my Husband I used the Stitch Upon a Time Huntsman, which I've made before. SUAT is a reliable if not particularly earth-shattering pattern company, and the shirt came out pretty much as I had hoped it would.

I still have a little bit of that fabric from the back left over, so hopefully with colorblocking I'll be able to make another matching shirt as my son grows. Because this set is definitely a success! My son in particular was excited to wear his "Raccoon" shirt, and at the end of the photo session both recipients happily showed the seamstress some love!

Stormtrooper Set

Since I've started sewing knits, I've made my son plenty of raglans. I'd wanted to give my husband a similar gift, but he's harder to please than my son is, and pickier about fit. That said, my shelves were starting to get full of fabric FOR father/son sets, and it became obvious that if I wanted to buy MORE fabric for Father/Son sets (which I always do) I was going to have to take the plunge.

Enter this gorgeous stormtrooper print. This particular fabric host will occasionally pass along savings to her customers by screen printing designs, so this cost about 30% less than your typical custom print. Which made it a prime candidate for an "experimental" set of shirts.

For my 3-year old son, I used the Max & Meena Max Raglan (size 4/5). And for my husband, I used the Cole's Creations Jerry Raglan, size 44. I fussycut a little bit on my husband (and a lot on my son) to get the stormtroopers front & center, but I'm glad I did. Both shirts fit great, and my son in particular was excited to have a stormtrooper shirt.

And I even have a little fabric left over for a another shirt as my son grows! Once I was all done, I remembered the R2D2 Raglan I had made for myself, with fabric from the same supplier. Sadly I could not convince my daughter to put on her "Rebel Princess" dress for a full-family shot, but here the rest of us are in our Star-wars Themed Raglans.

Stay tuned, because clearly, my daughter needs an R2D2 Raglan too!

There's no Place like Complete (A Decade of Oz)

It's been a long road, but my Oz set for my MIL is finally done!

I started this set in 2009 - The Good Witch/Bad Witch Panel was actually one of my first quilt-shop purchases, EVER. My husband and I were just dating at the time, but I knew his mom had an Oz obsession, and that pillows would be a fun gift.

Little did I know that over time, Quilting Treasures would release six of these panels. There was a Sepia Beginning, some Good Witch/Bad Witch, the Yellow Brick Road, the Emerald City/Great Oz, Scenes from the Witch's Castle, and finally a No Place like Home panel. By the time the final panel rolled around, my (soon-to-be) husband was fully trained to go into the quilt shop and pick up the panels himself on the way home from work.

Also sometime early on, it occurred to me that since the panels came with a "reel" of scenes from the movie at the bottom, and I was collecting the whole set anyway, I had everything I needed to make a storyboard quilt. So in 2011 (our wedding year), I cut into the fabric and over the next 3 years I put together this beauty. It became my first-ever Quilt-Show Quilt in Central Oklahoma Quilter's Guild Quilt Show in 2013 (Display only, since I did the piecing myself and sent it out to be quilted). I finished the dedication on the back (not pictured) and gifted it to my MIL in 2014. To date, it remains my most ambitious project.

But... back to present day! After gifting the quilt (and birthing my daughter) I have to admit that the pillow-making slowed to a trickle. In fact, I think the final set of pillows was up on my design board for close to three years before my MIL finally asked me if I was still planning on completing it. But complete it I did!

The final "No Place Like Home" pillow wasn't gifted until May 2019, making this Oz set reflect a full decade's worth of learning and progress. Early pillows were quilted with the walking foot, but although I haven't free-motion quilted in a while, I found it was like riding a bicycle when I brought the final pillow out.

And My MIL is thrilled! At her new place in Oklahoma she has an entire guest bedroom dedicated to Wizard of Oz memorabilia, and on display front and center is her quilt and pillow set. Her "Pride and Joy", she calls it, and shows it off to anyone who comes to visit.

All in all, I'm pretty proud of it - it's a big accomplishment, and I know this whole set is in a place where it is cherished and loved. And what more could a quilter/sewist want for her creations?