A New Suit and The Rocking Horse

Adele and Mike are due back soon.  They just recently closed on their house in Chicago.  They should be arriving in town within the next two weeks.  In the midst of packing and house closing, Adele squeezed in a little shopping.  She needed a few more items for her teacher job.

The Insomnia line is growing.  Throughout the night, I managed to sew Adele a three piece outfit.

I am not calling it a suit because I made the jacket bigger than a suit jacket.  I will make another suit jacket and use this jacket with some jeans.  For now, it will work just fine with her skirt.

I made a cute little wrap blouse.  The sleeves are 3/4 length on Adele because I used my fashionista doll to measure the sleeves.  Ooops.  It still works. 

If you recall, I made a skirt from this fabric a couple of months ago.  I thought about using it with the jacket and shirt, but decided to whip up a new skirt instead.  Shocked me, too.  I like the design of this skirt better than the other one.

I'm thinking about adding a belt to this jacket. 

I'm feeling like my sewing mojo is slowly coming back.  

 I finished the wooden rocker a little while ago and listed it in the store yesterday.   It is made of oak and has a light mahogany finish.  It fits just about every toddler doll Mattel has made.  I am working on a new crib which I hope to have done by the weekend.

The girls really want Shay to get out of the rocker so they can ride.  

The Kids Got New Clothes!

Friday, I felt like sewing.  I never know what is going to happen when I start.  I started by trying to sew a couple things for the ladies.  After several hours, and nothing really to show for my time, I was slightly discouraged.  I knew I needed to push through the disappointment.  So I decided to go to sleep and try again later.  Later came at about 2am Saturday morning.  I picked up where I left off, which was trying to make Julian and Zahara some pjs.  Then something happened.  I got into a groove and started sewing all kinds of cute outfits.  When I looked at what I had made, I realized that I could 'mix 'n match' outfits for a totally different look. Remember Garanimals.  I am more than excited with the progress I made.  I patted myself on the back for not letting those seemingly unproductive 4-5 hours get me down.

The purple and red outfits you have seen before, but they are important to the 'mix 'n match' theme.  The blue pjs with the red hearts was one of my disappointments when I first started.  It will be just fine for sleeping in.  I haven't put the snaps/velcro on all the outfits.  That will come soon. 

Here we are with a slightly different combo.  The first outfit on the left shows that the t-shirt can be turned around to give a totally different look.  Kara's daughter has paired her red shirt with a school themed gathered skirt.  The red t-shirt in the middle, is the jacket from the first picture, turned around.  The green pants on the right are paired with a purchased SIS top.

Another look.  Julian and the girls can share t-shirts.  I also made yellow pants, that look really good with the SIS purchased top.  There are so many combinations!  The little girl on the left shows the more casual look of the red dotted skirt that Zahara wore in picture 1.

Julian is sporting his lumber jack shirt.  This was another shirt that was in the inital disappointing sewing time frame.  I will make him another one that fits better.  I started on the toddler wardrobe.  I was pretty wiped out, and decided to work on his wardrobe another day.

Yet another outfit that was in the disappointment pile.  I made this dress for Tina, but it was a little snug.  Thank goodness for all those different body sizes I have.  This ended up fitting BB 2.5 better.  I can see this with a belt and some accessories.  I decided I would have a little line called "The Cut and Sew Line".  I literally just took a piece of material and cut out a shape and sewed this little dress.  This was the first time I did it that way. 

I know.  It's a little short, but I think she can still pull this off.  After all, with that sexy husband she has, she wants to make sure she is still turning his head. 

So all in all, I am happy with the direction my sewing is going.  I have a long way to go, but I can see a path forward.  Once I get comfortable 'cutting and sewing' outfits without patterns or with minimal pattern usage, I will start embellishing more with lace, ribbons, chiffon, buttons, beads, etc.  We are not quite there yet, but that's where we are headed.

Not Much Sewing Done, but Zahara is Happy

I didn't have much time for sewing this weekend, but I needed to get my two weekly garments sewn.  I settled on a couple of things for Zahara, considering she has yet to get her red outfit back from Jada.



I started off making her some purple corduroy pants.  They are paired here with a coat I bought for Kelly (see the short sleeves).

I didn't feel like changing the thread, so I decided to make her a little jumper dress. The idea is to make her a turtleneck shirt and tights to go with this.

Then I put them together and got another little outfit.  Eventually I will add decorations to the kid clothes.  For now I will keep it pretty simple.

In honor of the snow the Northeast received, I made her a little coat.  It is a little small, so I have to remake it a little bigger.

I Forced Myself to Sew a Little Bit

I used to sew very well.  As a matter of fact, when I had my porcelain doll business, I used to sell doll clothes (11" to 18") in a local store.  That was back in 2003/4.  My motto was, "NO VELCRO".  Most garments had zippers, even the Barbie clothes. The rest had snaps, and hooks.  I was sewing pintucks, using double needles, lining everything, etc.  I have been trying to get back to my sewing, and I feel like I am starting all over again.  All those tips and tricks I used to know, seem to have left me.  All my pattern drafting skillls.... gone.   I know it is just a matter of spending a few weeks of doing it regularly and it will slowly come back to me.  Over the past year, I have made a few dresses for the ladies that turned out fairly well, but the process wasn't second nature like I want it to be.  So I am going back to the basics.

Last week I read a post by CorsetKittenWorkshop.  She made 90 garments in 2 weeks.  I thought surely, I can sew a few (that would be three) pieces in 2 weeks time.  Well, yesterday I needed a break from the furniture making, and I sewed a few garments just to get my feet wet again.  I am not thrilled with any of them, but I am thrilled that I have taken a step to getting back to sewing the way I used to.  Hopefully in 3 - 4 months I will be back in good form. Part of my "Ultimate To Do List" is to sew up as much fabric as I can and to use as many patterns as I can.  So I need to get started.

Danielle tore herself away from Rod so that she could model the new clothes. I think she understands that this will increase her chances of wearing them first.  She was happy with the bodysuit I made.

I paired the bodysuit with this pair of red trimmed jeans.  I didn't make the jeans.

I don't like these 2 pieces together, but I made the skirt and decided, as unattractive as it is, I still need to show it.  It will be something to look back on in a few months and laugh.  A belt and some jewelry would go a long way to make it look a little better.

This outfit is for Zahara, but she was busy picnicking, so the new kid on the block decided to model her new outfit.  The top makes a perfect dress for the Kelly doll.

"Get it girlfriend".

Maybe Danielle will take up yoga.  These new pants would be perfect.

I made this little skirt first. I needed to make something quick and dirty. I cut this from a swimsuit I bought from the $1 store.  It is meant to be for lounging or as a bathing suit cover up.  She may need something like this on her overnight trip with Rod.  He is probably thinking clothes is optional.  Oh, I forgot this is Rod we are talking about.

It doubles as a dress.

So I made six basic garments in one day.  I exceeded my goal.  If you notice, most of the garments are red.  That is because I had no desire to change the thread and bobbin during this project.  Any little thing like that could completely throw me off course.  My goal is to sew something at least once a week.  Let's see how I do.  I hope to be designing originals pretty soon.  Once I get there, I think I will rename my store Furniture, Food, and Fashions, oh my!  Just kidding.