Itty Bitty Remix at Me Sew Crazy

Today I'm joining a wonderfully talented collection of bloggers and sewists for a fun little series called Pattern Remix, at Me Sew Crazy.  Jess is our gracious (and extremely talented) host,  and today it's my turn to show off my itty bitty remix contribution.

Hop over to her blog to check out my project, and don't forget to check out the past entries.    

The Partly Cloudy Infant Sun Dress

So you're probably assuming that I'm pregnant with a baby girl, seeing that all of the sewing projects I've done lately have been baby girl related. The truth is that we still don't know.  Hopefully by early next week we'll have some news.  I had this idea for a little dress recently, but I only had enough fabric for an infant sized dress, so that's what I made.  I guess that by next week I'll know if I'm going to be keeping it for our baby bump, or giving it to one of the many baby girls that has been born recently.

The dress is simple in design, and has three pintucks on the bodice, and two at the bottom of the dress.  I used two different widths of ric-rac to have add a little peek-a-boo of color.

The raw edges of the dress are finished off with a coordinating bias tape, which also serves as the shoulder ties.

I did my best to match up the pintucks and ric-rac on the side seams.  I was pretty pleased that they matched up as well as they did.

I left the back of the dress bare, with exception on the two pintucks and row of ric-rac at the bottom edge of the dress.

I still haven't tried the dress on an actual baby.  I'm guessing that it will probably fit a 9-12 pound baby, but I'm not positive on that.  Once I figure out the exact sizing I'll consider doing a tutorial with pattern for the dress.

On a related note, I'm hoping to have a tutorial and pattern available for the piped baby skirt later this week.  I have the photos taken, I just need to scan in and prepare the pattern.

Thanks for reading, and happy sewing!

Charisma Dress

I ordered this fabric a couple of months ago. It was supposed to turn into a bag, and there is still a possibility that some of it will, but for now we have a dress.

 The print is from the Charisma line by Gail Kessler for Andover fabrics.  I love the print, and think that it will look lovely on my niece.  For some reason though, this fabric has given me fits.  I have made errors when cutting out every project that I've started with this fabric.

I unintentionally added an extra three inches to the neckline of this dress.  To make up for my mistake, I added a pleat, which would have looked nicer if the print was smaller.

To make the pleat look like it truly belonged there, I covered the top portion of it up with a faux placket.

 I have to say, that I love the way it turned out.  It was quite a happy accident.  I also love the mini pom pom trim that I used to line the dress and bloomers.

You may recognize the pattern from this past project.  Remember that bright sunny dress.  I miss bright sunny days, and warm weather. The pattern is simplicity, but has been discontinued. 

Thanks for all of your interest in my fleece slippers.  I'll try to write up a tutorial within the week.

I'll be linking here.  

Hip for The Holidays: Day Two with Guest Blogger Terra from Mama Says Sew

It's day two of Hip for the Holidays, and I am so excited to introduce you to Terra from Mama Says Sew.  She has some mad sewing skills and is always coming up with fantastic projects. Today she is going to show us how to go beyond the onesies, and dress our our little ladies up with this fantastic holiday dress.  I am in love with the black and white with red accents-great color choice for the holidays.

Hi, I'm Terra from mama says sew.  I am so excited to be guest posting here today! I love reading Tricia's blog. Aren't these baby booties amazing?  And she's got some great Quiet Book Pages. Her blog was actually the one that inspired me to start my own blog.  I usually blog about things I sew for my kids, especially my girls (my son gets the short end of the stick when it comes to me making things), but a few other things I make get thrown into the mix as well. Stop by sometime and see!

This is me with the super short haircut that I love, and my husband...well, he loves me, anyway.

For Hip for the Holidays, I'm going to show you a holiday dress I made for my baby.  I used Simplicity pattern 5695, but instead of making it out of one piece of fabric, I used several in different prints of black and white.

I also changed the way of doing the sleeves slightly. Instead of using elastic at the bottom, I added a cuff and button.  You can find a tutorial for doing this at this post on my blog.  The only difference is that I had to make the cuff rather than use an existing cuff.

Here is the whole dress.  I like the way the black and white looks with a few splashes of red from the buttons and the flower headband.

You may think she likes the look too, but really, she's just helping Mommy out by giving Daddy a hint that a serger would be a really nice Christmas present.

She's wearing one of these flowers.  The tutorial is here.

And that's my holiday dress for a baby girl.  Thanks for letting me guest post today!

Thanks Terra.  I think that we are all inspired.  I love the cuffs on the sleeves, a very nice touch. Be sure to stop by her blog and show her some love.  She is quite talented, just check out these fantastic projects (here, here, or here).  I hope that Santa leaves a serger under your tree, and drops one by my house while he's at it.

Link up your holiday apparel projects at our Hip for the Holidays link party.

Itty Bitty Baby Girl Gift

A friend of ours just recently had a little baby girl.  I jumped on the opportunity to indulge in a pink project.  I found this adorable apple corduroy at Joann's and thought that it would make a fun autumn dress for the new little lady.

I used Rae's free Itty Bitty Baby Dress pattern.  Because this would be a winter baby, I thought that I'd have to make some coordinating long sleeve onesies to go with the little dress.

I used Rit dyes to color a couple of packs of onesies.  

 I experimented with a couple of dyes to get a range of colors.  I have some green onesies on hand for a couple of little boys that are on their way.

I also whipped up a pair of these baby booties to go with the new dress. I had intended on making a pair of ruffle bum leggings, but my sewing machine is on the fritz.  I might have to send them off later.

I'm linking up here.  Thanks for reading.

A new dress. A new baby. An old pattern.

I recently visited a friend of mine who happens to have a huge collection of patterns.  She offered to let me borrow a few baby patterns to make gifts for all of my many pregnant friends.  I, unlike her, do not have a large collection of patterns.  I love free online patterns, and I have recently attempted making my own patterns, but I just can't see spending the money on a pattern that costs as much as an item in a clothing store.  Isn't one of the ideas to save money by making things?  Now I realize that you can reuse patterns, and I am slowly being won over, but still $15 for a pattern seems a bit excessive.

One of the patterns that she lent me was this 30 year old Simplicity pattern.  She mentioned to me just how cute and simple it was, and convinced me to try it out.  I must admit it was super simple, really quick, and I think pretty cute.  I am not so sure that I want to return the pattern.  I am also saddened because I don't think that the pattern is still in print, although I am sure that it can be found online.  

If you decide that you want to find the pattern, or one like it, here is the information.  It is Simplicity pattern number 9513, printed in 1980. The pattern includes both the dress/tunic, and a bloomer pattern.  

I also recently read that whimsey couture has a similar pattern for sale if you are interested.  

I love the criss crossing straps

Jumbo RicRac trim

Here is a little bit more information about the dress.  The fabric I used was Monaco Circle Panes Yellow, with Del Hi Stones Blossom for the lining.  I love the pink and yellow together.  The pattern calls for embroidered eyelet edging, but I used a jumbo ric-rac trim that is attached at the seam rather than to the top of the dress.  

I might just have to cut out 5 more dress pieces before I return the pattern.  I really love the simple dress.  This would be the perfect project for a beginning sewer who is afraid to sew clothing.

Itty Bitty Baby Dress

I don't know if it is something in the water around here, but I don't know a single pregnant woman that is having a boy.  It seems that there are lots of girls waiting to make their entrance to the world.  It is actually quite a treat for me because it gives me the opportunity to try out some new projects.  I recently purchased some Joel Dewberry fabric, it is actually decor fabric, but the moment I got it I knew that I wanted to make a baby dress out of it.  Made by Rae offers this free online pattern for an Itty Bitty Baby Dress.  The pattern is for personal use so don't go out and try selling anything that you make from the pattern.  I was surprised at how simple the pattern was.  It really didn't take much time at all to make.  Rae's pattern is for a premie to newborn baby, but you can add to the pattern to accommodate a slightly larger baby.  Small babies don't really run in our family so I am always afraid to make anything that would be too small.  

I decided that this cute little dress needed some cute little booties to accompany it.  Normally I make a 3-seam baby bootie, just because they seem like they actually stay on the baby's feet, but this time I decided to try something a bit different.  I found this pattern for kimono booties at Home Spun Threads.  I used the same Joel Dewberry fabric and some dark green cotton for the sole.   The booties turned out cute, I hope that they fit the baby's feet.  Clark seemed to have huge feet when he was born; they were puffy and wide so I don't think that they'd have been able to squeeze into these dainty little things.  When I'm sewing for others I always strive for the cute factor more so than the practical factor. Hopefully the recipient of these booties has babies with narrower feet than mine.

Like I mentioned earlier I know multiple people having baby girls.  I had to give this Itty Bitty Baby Dress another try.  I decided that the second time around I would make a few modifications.  I chose to put pleats in the dress rather than gathering the skirt (I dislike gathering...I always break a thread).  I also squared the neckline off a bit.  I like the way that the dress turned out, but I did have a more difficult time lining up the seams with the pleated skirt.  I haven't made any baby booties for this little number yet, if anyone has some suggestions of where to look let me know. My camera's battery died mid-photo shoot, so I don't have as many photos of the little aqua dress. The fabric for the aqua dress is Michael Miller.  Now I think that these little dresses need some cute little headbands to add that last little something.  That will be a project for a later post (hopefully not a failed project).

I also no several babies coming this winter...anyone know of some great projects for winter babies?