Strappy Open-Back Dress

Part 2!  See part 1 here for a full explanation.  It's the same garment with additional length and a slightly different strap configuration.

I love this fabric.  I don't know its original origins, but I know my mom has had it since I was young.  I would pet it and dream of the day I could find a worthy project.  I'm so glad I waited.

 

 

Strappy Open-back Top

Another self-drafted pattern.  We'll call this the-garment-that-finally-convinced-me-to-stop-being-lazy-about-test-fitting-mid-process.  We almost had a fail on our hands - but luckily, after a few tweaks, it worked out.  (And then I went and took a terribly focused picture.  Oh well.)

(Direct inspiration from here and here.)

It's fully lined, bodice & skirt.  I love this orange ginham - I picked it up at an estate sale a couple of years ago - so soft and light.  Perfect for summer.

I am such a frequent user of buttons/button holes you would think I was all easy breezey about them.  But I still get palpitations EVERY TIME.  I hold my breath and triple check my settings.  Not just every garment - but every hold.  Hate making them, but love using them.  Necessary evil, I suppose.

 

But only if evil could possibly look this cute on a baby's back!

 

 

 

I don't know what it is, but orange is a great color on both my kids.  I'm pretty sure they don't get that from me.

 



 

I was so happy with the outcome, that I immediately made plans on a slightly longer version she could wear as a dress.

 

 

So I suppose this could be considered a to-be-continued...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evening Sprinkle & Saying Goodbye

 

 

 

We're losing this great big tree with its little tiny leaves this week.  It's hanging dangerously over the house, as well as crowding the two other large trees it lives between, so it must go.  I will miss the lacey evening light coming through, though.  It feels like a fairy tale under this tree.

 

 

Of note: I am by no means a professional photographer.  I know a little bit about my camera and light and composition.  Mostly I just know when a photograph speaks to me.  This blog is about creating, and I love creating photographs that call my name.  Even if my name is the only one they call.

Good Morning

good  adjective \ˈgu̇d\
          e : free from infirmity or sorrow <I feel good>

morn·ing  noun \ˈmȯr-niŋ\

2 : a period of first development : beginning





Of note: I am by no means anywhere near a professional photographer.  I know a little bit about my camera and light and composition.  Mostly I just know when a photograph speaks to me.  This blog is about creating, and I love creating photographs that call my name.  Even if my name is the only one they call, that is enough for me.



Black and White and Green (all over?)

This was one of those make-it-up-as-you-go kind of projects.  I wanted a summer top or dress.  I had pleats on the brain.  So I went stash shopping, started measuring, sewing, pressing.  More measuring and sewing.  Added some buttons.  And this is what we ended up with:

I kinda love it.  I originally bought this fabric (at Joann) to make a skirt for myself.  That plan failed, and I'm happy it did!  When I started the pleats, I was going to have them on the outside, but as I was pressing them, I loved the back so much more.  The white lines don't match up perfectly, but they're good enough for me. 

 

 I made the green bias tape myself with some more stash fabric.  I had envisioned this top as a slip on, but got scared at the last minute that we wouldn't be able to actually get it on, so buttons were in order.

 

I can't be the only one who holds their breath the first time a newly finished garment is tried on, can I?  But looky looky - a sigh of relief. 

 



 

A nice breezy summer dress in a cool linen with a more modern (sophisticated even?) color scheme.  And with plenty of room for a couple summers of wear: a dress this year, a tunic next?

 

 

 

Smile if you love summer dresses, Lisi Loo!



Hoop Tent

I can't remember where I first saw this project - it is by no means an original idea - but I did sort of wing it, so there may in fact be original aspects to my end product.

 

 

As may be obvious from the lack of leaves on the trees and the long sleeves and pants on this 90 degree day, this picnic tent was made in early May.  With the sewing backlog to post, this got pushed aside.

It's simply a hula hoop with a king sized sheet strung on it and tied up with clothes line rope with loops and carabiner for easy set up and take down.  It was a bit windy this day, so we needed some rocks to anchor it, and found we were limited in direction we could face. 

 

 

 

 

Still a great spot for an after-pre-school picnic, though.  Look - even got myself in some pictures!  That resolution may not be a total wash after all!!

 

And just because I can't resist...

 

...dandelioned baby pig-tails.  Love finding forgotten photographic gems.  I suppose that's a primary reason for taking so many pictures.  Surprise memories.  My heart.

Double Dot Top

This new top is just a modified version of this peplum top I posted last month.

 

Here's the back, although it's hard to see a difference in this picture, I realize.  There are, of course, buttons...in a row...down the back.  Theme.



The main differences are the better proportioned flutter sleeves:



 

And the circle skirt (vs the gathered skirt):

 



 

The fabric is a printed dotted swiss that I picked up at Joann when I was pregnant with Lisi Loo.  Here's a close-up of the texture. 

 





 

(It looks pink, but it's actually white.)  I had just found out I was having a girl and saw this fabric as a baby sunsuit.  Needless to say, the sunsuit never happened and this has been sitting in my stash every since.  I'm happy with it's final home.

 



 

And so is she.

 

 

(These last four were taken with my phone.  It was just one of those days.  Gotta do whatcha gotta do days.)