Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Bathrooms and Bobbins

 I still have no toilet ....... or running water. Wonder what I have been doing?  Well, without benefit of running water, my options are limited. I have been hanging out in my sewing room. No water required for sewing and my little lair happens to be closer to the bathrooms on the side of the building. I am limiting my fluid intake.

I pulled out some scraps and made a few little things for my great granddaughter, Jailynn. She will be three this spring. I made some leggings and a top out of the green and lavender stripe to go with a little lavender skirt for Christmas. I found this scrap of green lightweight corduroy after I had sent it. It was a little short, so I added a ruffle, then decided to make a little applique of a purse. I couldn't find any buttons I liked, so I just used the extra cording form the purse applique and made some little ties to pull through the button hole.

 Then I saw another small piece of fabric. Is this just the happiest fabric? Reminds me of blowing bubbles.

 I liked the idea of a circle in a circle, so I stacked the buttons that I found in my button box. I was looking for orange, but they were four hole and didn't work with the big button.

 Another scrap. I call this the happy insect dress.

 Happy buttons. I had some ladybug buttons in mind, but I made the straps too wide and they didn't work.

 She will be able to whirl and twirl.

I fell in love with this fabric. This is for my 6 year old granddaughter. This is a combination of two patterns. I liked the rose, but there was only one ruffle on that one. My Jada is a multiple ruffle kind of girl. My main obstacle was that one of the patterns was for little girls and the other was sized for big girls. This was my trial run and I wasn't entirely happy with it. Then when I started looking for a top to match, I found an exact match impossible to find.

 Not to be defeated, I made some more. I decided to stick with solids and do a contrast thread color that I know the girls have in tops and tights. The two-tiered skirts are for the youngest. At age 3, Zara is tall for her age, but three tiers would still be too long.

 I really had to work to get all the pieces in this scrap of fabric. I altered the pattern completely and the tiers have no seams. At this point I decided to just make my own pattern. This fabric is shiny, but I don't know how it will fair in the laundry. I am afraid it may need to be ironed.

 This is a lightweight corduroy and launders nicely. And ..... I paid a little over $1 a yard! I did two rows of a satin stitch on one, just because I wanted to see how it would look.

 Two rows of different colors. This is a bottom weight twill. It wants to ravel. I am hoping the first laundering will eliminate the stringy look.

 Another twill. A jumper for Zara. I liked the idea of a zipper on the outside. I had a lime green, but it was too long. The white works and she can pair it with lots of colors. It should go into Spring and Summer, too.

 This pattern looked so cute. I was disappointed. I made this for Maya. Maya looks really good in vibrant colors. I only hope this looks better on.

Then I found some mending. I made this last year and it somehow got a hole in it. Good thing Gramma saves everything. I added another applique to cover it.

I made two more skirts today. Just trying to stay out of the way of he who fancies himself to be a plumber.

14 comments:

Joanne Noragon said...

How delightful! What happy little girls you will have. How nice you have girly girls! Go, grandma!

Sextant said...

I have my manhood to honor. No comment on this post!

Lorenza said...

They are going to love them!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Cathy said...

Hello Kathy
I love it when you show us what has developed from 'a few scaps of this and that'
I can do the same with knitting but never managed to acquire the sewing gene
Take care
Cathy

Teri said...

Cute outfits for the girls. When my daughter was little, long long time ago, I sewed dresses for her. Did you know that Janome is giving away 2 sewing machines? You have to leave a comment on their website and "like" them on Facebook to enter.

Brian Miller said...

wow you just made a few things...my goodness a while new wardrobe...lol...loving all the colors...like the bright ones...

joanne said...

sweet sweetness all around! Love those girly girl fabrics. did you say great-grand-daughter??

mamahasspoken said...

What cute and special clothes you've made for them! I'm giggling over here because I knew the two days would turn into more ;o)

Linda O'Connell said...

Thsoe littel outfits are precious and the girls will be delighted. I used to sew when my kids were small. Now, my adult daughter won't even pick up aneedle and thread.

luksky said...

Adorable!! You make me want to learn to sew!!

ellen abbott said...

the only way I can get plumbing done around here is to threaten to call a plumber.

All those skirts...so cute!

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

I wish I could sew it is not a talent I have mastered I tried when I was younger but no such luck the only thing I did worse then sew was knit...........lol

I love the dresses you have made....

Teresa said...

wow - you are so talented! i still need to get a sock monkey from you but now I need two of them! just haven't had the extra $$ that wasn't spoken for somewhere else. lol!

i wish i could make clothes for my granddaughters like that. your granddaughters will love them.

Whitney Lee said...

Holy moly! These are fabulous!!! I really want to figure out how to use my sewing machine after seeing this post.