My Sewpbox

I had the most fantastic time making these dresses for my niece, Lily!  Both of them were made as gifts for her Christening.  At this point, they are both a little on the large side (I wanted them to fit her once summer rolls around), but you can hopefully see how cute they are in the pictures.  The green dress is New Look pattern 6796, and the purple is 6578.

6976 is made with two different fabrics (I used Tutti Frutti fabrics from JoAnn’s for both dresses).  The main body of the dress is the pink, and then there is a green border at both the top and the bottom, and two green pockets.  The dress ties on above both shoulders.  Unfortunately you can’t really see the layout of the dress (Lily is such a little peanut!  I’ll try to get another picture when she is a little bit bigger and you can see better).

6578 is made using only one fabric and is just a plain, simple dress with an adorable matching head scarf.  6578 calls for a button on each shoulder strap, but I replaced the buttons with snaps to make the dress easier to put on and take off for my sister.

I can not recommend these two patterns enough.  Both were quick and easy (I think it took me longer to trace and cut the patterns than it did to sew them.. definitely for 6578) and fun!  The instructions were clear and easy and the dresses are just too cute!

I’m planning to make a matching dress for my own daughter from pattern 6796.

Well, I gave the Favourite Things slippers pattern a go before we left for Minnesota, but I definitely wasn’t impressed.  The stitching is “hidden”, but only from outside view.  The way that they have you sew them, you are just left with bulky seams on the inside where feet would go.  Also, I think that the instructions for inserting the elastic are shoddy and that you don’t end up with a professional looking item.  I would definitely not recommend this pattern.

I still really want to make a pair of slippers for Anya (and myself), though, so I am looking at other options.  I finished drafting a pattern for Anya’s feet just before we left for Minnesota, but haven’t had a chance to sit down and work on them as we just got back late last night.  Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to devote some time to them, but we shall see (Dan works from home tomorrow so we may end up spending the day doing things together when he isn’t too busy with work).  In any case, I’ll be sure to update on how the slippers are going!

After this post I will be up to date on my sewing voyage (although I am, of course, planning much more sewing in my future).  I wanted to make something warm and snuggly for my new niece, Lilliana, as a Christmas present.  I picked out this lovely polka-dotted brown fleece and decided that it would be absolutely perfect for a snuggle sack.  I used McCall’s pattern 9407, view B.

This was my first chance to really use my serger (I have used it on two sets of rat hammocks, but they really aren’t the same) and it was just wonderful.  I have to say, the serger makes seams so much neater and I absolutely adore the underarm, especially.  It does also, however, make me nervous!  I was so afraid that I would do something wrong and then the fabric would be ruined, as it would already be cut so there wouldn’t be much point in ripping the stitches out.

I took it slow and steady, though, and did not end up feeling like I needed to rip out any stitches.  I found the instructions for the cuffs on this pattern to be rather vague (with pictures that weren’t much help) so I just kind of winged it.  I do believe that they turned out as intended, but even if not they still look very nice.

Unfortunately, I misplaced the pattern piece where the snap goes (up top, by the neck) and ended up having to wing that as well.  It definitely turned out crooked, which has me extremely disappointed, but hopefully no one aside from me will really notice it..

My review for this pattern can be found here.

This week / weekend I need to sew two rat hammock sets and finish my sister’s Patriots bag, but after that I am planning to put my skills and patience to the test by trying Simplicity’s Project Runway 2961 pattern! Supposedly the Project Runway patterns are designed to make you feel like a clothing designer because you need to mix and match the pieces how you want them. I’m imagining that it will take me a while to put together a PR shirt, so I’ll probably update throughout the process.

My second tackled project (and my first garment) was Simplicity pattern 2825.  My daughter and I found a lovely Christmas mice (we think they’re rats, but the description says mice) cotton.  Anya absolutely adored it and begged me to make a dress out of it for her, so I picked up another Simplicity Sew Easy pattern and set to work. This pattern was even easier, I would say, than the bag pattern.  It only took me a few hours to put together.  

Unfortunately, Anya was not home with me when I made the dress (she was in New Jersey visiting with my sister) so I couldn’t try it on her as I went.  I find that the hem is a little bit crooked and the waist is a bit baggy.  I would really like to add a nice red ribbon around the waist to give it a little definition but Anya is vehemently opposed to the idea.  The zipper also went in crooked, but that was completely my fault and had nothing to do with the pattern.  After a bit of trial and error I have now figured out how to correctly install a zipper.

As to my dislikes with the pattern — because it is so simple, the dress has no liner and I find it extremely thin for a long-sleeved dress.  If I make a dress in this pattern again I will either add a liner on my own or make it out of some heavier fabric (such as corduroy). Really, though, I think that this dress is an excellent starting piece for a new seamstress.

My review for this pattern can be found here.