a (very) full skirt (mccall's 5631)

Since the rule is that you can't wear white until after Memorial Day, I thought it appropriate to make myself a white skirt, and post about it on Memorial weekend. I wanted something full and fun, so I chose McCall's 5631.

I chose this view (maybe because I wanted white, and maybe because I liked the hem line on it, but it was this view nonetheless:)

I used a white on white calico print from JoAnn's for my fabric. Since it was white, I decided to add a lining, which the pattern does not call for . . . after all, I want what is under the skirt to be left to the imagination! I also added four inches to the length, but that is because of my freakishly long legs. (Finished length on the pattern is 23".)

The sewing itself was not that difficult, but more time consuming than it originally appeared. The pattern asks you to pleat the main fabric, and then gather it to fit the waistband. Can you just hear the skirt getting fuller and fuller by the second?

And this is the final product. Fuller than the picture on the front of the pattern, but still more or less what I expected. I like it, but I'm not as in love as I wanted to be.

I do, however want to try it again in a darker fabric so that I don't feel the need to line it, and see what that does to the volume.

Now I have a conundrum that maybe someone out there can help me solve:

To this point, I have never owned a white skirt. There are four very good reasons for that, and they are ages 6, 5, 2, and 8 months! It seems that any time I try to wear anything white, my freshly bathed children appear before me looking like this, wanting hugs and kisses and wiping their faces all over my clothing:

I have seen other mothers wearing white, and I have to ask myself whether their children just never get dirty, or white is more forgiving than I'm giving it credit? Any thoughts?

bubble dress (butterick 4176)

Sometimes when I sew, I need an ego boost, so I like to finish a project in just a few hours. That's what this pattern was for me when I bought it.

Just before making it, Sarah and I were talking one day, and she said, "I saw (insert cute friend's name here)'s girls wearing the cutest bubble dresses at church on Sunday!" The wheels in my head started turning, and I decided to make this dress with a bubble hem:

I wanted to make this view without the sleeves, so I cut out a lining in my daughter's size (size 2.)

Next, I cut out my main fabric, which was a silky print from JoAnn's, from this view, except I cut the hem line all the way to a size 5, and widened the skirt area by about 20 inches.

After sewing the side seams together, I ran a gathering stitch around the hemline of my main fabric and sewed it to the lining right sides together, gathering the main fabric to fit.

I then made the rest of the dress as the directions said.

Just like any dress for a little girl, the most important quality is that it makes her feel like a million bucks, which this does for Rora!


I love the three-button detail on the front:

I also like the simple one-button back closure:

And the final perk to this little dress is that I can add a cute colored ribbon around her waist or an adorable sweater to change up the look a little bit.

This pattern gets two thumbs WAY up!

stylish head gear part II

A bald head and sunshine do not mix.



Problem solved with a little help from You Can Make This. I used the same pattern as on this post.

attractively bunchy (mccall's 6034)

My friend, Sarah of Sew Saucy turned me onto leggings last year, and I have fallen hard for them. For the Disneyland trip, I wanted to look cute, so I decided to attempt sewing something for myself again. I picked out this pattern, but decided it needed a few alterations, so here's what I did:



I wanted the main body for view A:

except with the collar/sleeve line from view B:

with the band on the bottom of view C (I have a thing about having my bum covered while wearing leggings:)

I've got to be honest. The alterations were not easy, and I don't even know how I would go about a tutorial for them, or even duplicating them, but I love the end result!

**One word of warning for view A . . . there are pleats in the back which tend to accentuate a girl's rear end. I wasn't that worried about it since I have kind of a flat rear end, but it would definitely be something to be aware of should you decide to make that top.**

next year's dress (simplicity 3943)

I made this Easter dress for Rora this year. During the sewing process, I realized it was going to be too big for her and got discouraged. I finally finished it today (1 month later.)

Could I have altered it to fit her . . . sure, but since it was going to be 2-3 inches too big around and roughly 4 inches too long for her, I just decided to make it true to size and let her grow into it.

The sizing was no fault of Simplicity's. The dress will fit the size girl it measures to on the back of the pattern. I guess I just hoped that Rora could fit into a size 3 because those patterns are so much cuter than the toddler patterns!

a disney miracle (simplicity 3543, new look 6131)

This past week, my family and I went on a trip to Disneyland with my husband's family! It was tons of fun, and as a little surprise, I told the kids I had written to Mickey to let him know that we were coming.

When we got to California and checked into the hotel, we left for a walk, during which time Tinkerbell stopped by and left each child a pair of pajama pants!

The kids were all so excited! I only took a quick picture of my daughter's, and one of my sons' pajamas, but there were five pair in all.

The infant pajama pants were made from Simplicity 3543:

And the bigger kids' pajama pants were made from New Look 6131: