I should've posted earlier....

I meant to create this blog to chronicle my adventures in sewing, only I've been woefully behind in updating anything that I've sewn. So for my own memory, I've made a quilt (it still needs to be bound), a fleece jacket for Ally that still needs to have the bottom finished, 4 pairs of pj bottoms for Ally (2 out of a monkey flannel, 1 out of a plaid fleece and 1 out of a pink polar bear fleece), 2 pillowcases for Ally (Hannah Montanna and Ariel).

Along with her Christmas dress:


Dress was made with MCCall's M5793 (I used view C)


I used a stretch velvet for the top and a flocked taffeta purchased from Fabric.com.
The dress was insane idea I had about 3 weeks before Christmas. I got the fabric 2 weeks before Christmas. I told EVERYONE I knew I was going to sew Ally's Christmas dress. I traced off her size, cut the fabric then prayed to the sewing gods since I didn't have a CLUE what I was doing. The bodice went together rather easily. Well, after I realized that using the same fabric for the bodice and the lining was insane. I had no clue what I was looking at. After having to rip the same shoulder seam 4 times I finally figured out to put it together. I skipped the back zipper and just hoped and prayed the velvet would stretch enough.

The netting petticoat was another nightmare. Gathering just wasn't happening so I gave up and pleated it all by hand. I hand basted the skirt to gather it and that went better than using the machine. Sewing the skirt to the bodice, I somehow folded the bodice and sewed it to itself. Of course that's also where the machine got caught up and sewed the same spot with about a thousand stitches. Took over an hour to rip that out! I hand sewed the hem which I was very proud of. The finish touch was a band made of a separate velvet I had and a white flower pin. I finished the dress with ohhh, 2 hours to spare on Christmas Eve. LOL


and finally, my latest creation a nightgown:


Its made out of a silky, Tinkerbell material Ally picked out from JoAnn's. I used the bodice pattern from the dress above, then just attached a skirt to it. It wasn't "just that easy" though. Never is, right? Since the material wasn't stretch, it didn't fit around her head. I ended up cutting a V out of the back. It was also then that I noticed, I cut the back upside down and poor Tinkerbell was head down. Oh well!!

I used bias tape for the 1st time to finish off the arm and neck holes, since I wasn't adding a liner to a nightgown and also used it to hem the bottom. Can you believe I did all of the bias tape WITHOUT noticing the upside down Tinkerbell?!! I thought the bias tape would give the bottom a little extra body compared to just a regular folded hem. I love bias tape ;). I really wish I had some lace or extra fabric to make a nice ruffle at the bottom, but had nothing that would really match.

My gathering skills are improving. I still hate gathering, though. I can't figure out how to get it even for the life of me. As you can see from the Christmas dress, I had areas with TONS of gathers and then flat areas.

Next up - Waiting on my next fabric order from Fabric.com to make some tops for me. Also thinking of making a dress for Ally with some shirring. Want to try my hand with elastic thread.