Atelier Mama

We've hit that point of winter during which the cold (-18F yesterday), just really gets old and you start dreaming of spring and summer, or at the very least, temperatures in which you can step outside without the snot literally freezing in your nose.

Since I know we've got a couple months of winter remaining, I am dealing with the mid-season funk by sewing a summer wardrobe for Natasha.  Z will get a couple new things too, but as the younger one, she's cursed with abundant hand-me-downs and doesn't need as much. 

In the last 10 days, I've sewn two dresses for Natasha.  There are tons of free patterns for 2T and 3T toddler dresses floating around on the Internet, and I'm taking full advantage.  I sewed the pink and black one using the Beginner Jersey Dress tutorial from prudentbaby.com.  I added a sash since I was using woven fabric for the bottom, and the join is a bit bunchy. 

My favorite thing about this dress, besides the fact that it is ah-dorable, is that the top is made out of an old shirt of mine.  I loved this shirt, but I recently had to come to terms with the likely fact that it will never fit me again.  Back when I was pregnant with Natasha and Jeremy was in Afghanistan, I used to put on this shirt every Tuesday morning and take a picture of my belly to send to him.  Here I am at 11 weeks pregnant, smiling because I thought I was showing.  Silly girl.

And here is the finished dress.

Next, I made this dress using the Ella Dress tutorial from livingwithpunks.com.  The matryoshka doll fabric (a Japanese import ordered from Etsy.com) is pretty sheer, so I lined the bodice with pieces of one of Jeremy's old dress shirts.  I had to play with the tutorial since I was adding lining, and I ended up not using bias tape for the neckline.  I think it turned out fine.  The arm holes were still unfinished when I photographed Natasha in the dress, but then I made my own bias tape out of more matryoshka fabric (my first time - success!) and you can see the finished dress below.

Birthday Apron

N's little friend S is turning two next week, so I made her a chef's hat and apron.  I love the lemon print, which I originally bought for dresses for my daughters.  I have a lot of it, so you'll be seeing more citrusy projects in the future!  I couldn't decide which fabric I wanted for the main portion of the apron, and which for the pocket, so I made it reversible.  Now the pressure's off me to choose - whew!  Free pattern is here.

A dress for N

Way back in April, I blogged about a skirt I shortened.  I used the leftover fabric to make a dress for Natasha, and today I finally got some action shots.

 

A parliament of owls

These guys are about to fly off to become baby gifts for T, A and L.  I don't think any of the recipients read this blog, so I'm safe to show them now.  Two of the ladies are having surprises, and one is having a boy.  The purple owl is for A's daughter S, who is going to be a big sister!  The pattern is here.  I left out the strip of fabric that should separate the front and the back pieces, making it deeper.  I prefer this shape.

Why is sewing poop catchers so much fun?

I wonder what kind of weirdo hits I'm going to get on this post title.

Anyway, the last week has been very busy.  I have been sewing a few things, but wanted to wait until I was finished to post a group shot.  We spent Saturday prepping for a barbecue we threw on Sunday, and then used Monday (a local holiday) to recover.  On Tuesday, Jeremy began his year-long stint in the political section.  I admit, I have been spoiled by the predictable hours he worked in the consular section.  On Tuesday he didn't get home until close to midnight, and on Wednesday it was 7 p.m.  Tonight it will be later.  I know I will have to get used to it.

This week we have also had two sick kids - one still down for the count, actually.  So I haven't finished all the sewing I had planned to.  But I did sew these four fitted diapers.  I used a pattern I made myself, which is predictably lacking.  They fit the girls (who both wear mediums) adequately and do the job for which they were intended, but I know I can do better.  So last night I actually bought a pattern and will try that one out for future diapers.

I've now used up all of my absorbent diaper fabric.  I had snagged some hemp jersey and bamboo fleece very cheaply from a WAHM (work-at-home-mom for you not in the know) diaper maker who was going out of business.  So I've ordered more and am anxiously awaiting its arrival.  Sadly, it was not near as cheap, but still better than buying disposables for the next two year.

Owl Peasant Shirt

Sewed this up yesterday when I realized that Natasha will need long-sleeved shirts for a couple more months, and right now all she has that fits are turtle-necks.

I found the tutorial here. I made the size 2 but lengthened the sleeves. Cotton knit=no fraying and no need to hem the bottom. I see more of these in my future! Don't be surprised if you see the owl print again - I have a TON of it, bought for super, super-cheap from a diaper shop that was going out of business. (I thought I was going to be sewing diapers, but I'm kind of over that idea. In the meantime, anyone have any ideas about what to do with two yards of hemp fleece and two yards of hemp jersey?)

Jeans-to-skirt refashion and Natasha's cooking clothes

I read a lot of blogs. More than the ones on the sidebar. My bookmarks bar is crowded with sewing and knitting and cooking and baking and crafting blogs of all natures. Whenever I'm on a particular kick (sewing at the moment, if you couldn't tell), I tend to write posts that mimic those I see on one-topic blogs. I want to have a blog of each kind. But I'm too scattered, and not focused enough on one hobby, to really do that. Which is why this blog is so inconsistent. I probably alienate 90 percent of my readership every time I post. Sorry about that.

ANYWAY.

"Refashion" is a word that crops up a lot in mama sewing blogs. It means taking your old unloved clothing and making it into something fabulous. So, inspired by this and this, I set to work. I pulled out a pair of hastily bought post-baby jeans (you know, the ones that look great in the store but stretch out ridiculously after a couple hours of wear ... why can't they make inexpensive women's jeans without spandex anymore?) that were headed to the refugee bin. They looked like this:

First I ripped out the seams on the hems.

Then I cut with my pinking shears (figured it would save a step later, but it didn't, so I won't be doing this again). Also, I ended up undoing that leg seam later anyway to get some extra fabric, and because I had already cut there, I lost 3/4 of an inch that I really could have used in the length of my skirt. If I do this again I'll just rip the seams out instead.

When I was all done, I ended up with two of these (you can see I ended up taking out the back pockets too, to eke out just a bit more fabric).

I didn't take pictures of the rest of the process, but here is the result, which I'm pretty happy with.

(Don't let the sunshine or my light attire fool you. It's still winter here. Right around 32 degrees.)

And I finally got Natasha to pose with her cooking ensemble, which I sewed earlier this week (OK, "pose" might not be the best word to use here):

Sewing up a storm

I can't remember the last time I picked up my knitting needles. In the interim ...



This is the TAMI tee dress, again from burdastyle.com. Cute pattern but it's written as a boat neck, and when finished, it hung funny on Natasha. This project was saved by another seamstress' idea to elasticize the neckline.





This one is the same pattern I used to make the sundress I blogged about here. But it's fleece, and I sewed it in anger. Stupid winter. GO AWAY ALREADY.



Here's Zoia modeling a 6-9 month dress and hat I made for her cousin Tasya. Mental note - make Z's larger. Especially since she'll only be able to wear it for about a week in July before winter comes back ...



Here is the set with matching diaper cover.

Not bad for a first try

I got inspired to try my hand at sewing some baby clothes this week.  I found a free pattern online over at burdastyle.com and pulled out some remnant fabric I had bought on a whim for $3.  One day later, voila:

I had to add the ruffle because the dress was way too short.  I didn't extend the lining, so it's about five inches shorter than the rest of the dress.  And though I zigzagged my seams, I'm not confident we won't fray in the wash.  (Finally, it was 28 degrees today and I didn't feel like stripping Natasha down to model the dress in its summer glory, thus the tights and shirt underneath).

Needle on fire

Natalya took a long nap this afternoon, so I was able to spend a few hours at the sewing machine.  I personalized a $1 Target stocking ...

... and then I sewed this fleece earflap hat for her.  It was meant to fit her this winter.  Oh well.  Guess I'll put it away for Moscow!