sewing

KCWC – Days Five & Six

 

Oh, my. Even on the hanger, this looks big. No off-roading here, just excessive enlarging. It’s McCall’s 4817 and this is my fourth time around with it. Caitlyn’s been wearing a version of this dress since the spring of 2009, (I think). She’s wearing a yellow one in her school photo from her second year in preschool, she has a blue one, and a purple one (her favorite). The pattern pieces are cut at size 5 and I’ve dropped hems and repositioned shoulder straps on all the other versions. She’s two years bigger now, at least. But I don’t really …

sewing

KCWC – Days Three & Four

 

It’s not that I mind the laying out and cutting part of sewing, it’s just that sometimes it takes so darn long. Measure twice, cut once, so the saying goes; I’m more measure four or five times, obsess a bunch, then cut, and pray I’ve not forgotten to adjust consistently across all pieces. I tend to always add length (necessary in a family of tall people) and sometimes add a little width for Caitlyn (so that maybe the clothes I make for her this year will still fit next year) when cutting pattern pieces. Even though I don’t think I’ve …

Caitlyn, sewing

KCWC – Day Two

 

For the first time I can recall, I really wanted one of my dad’s wooden trouser hangers, the kind that have two pieces of wood that press together to hold a pair of pants. And I’m officially jealous of anyone who has interesting textured walls or closet doors. Photographic difficulties aside, here’s the first completed project for KCWC: a “salad bowl” skirt. I love the row of radishes on the front: … and these peas on the back: The skirt is loosely based on McCall’s 5841 and the rainbow skirt I designed for Caitlyn in December. The vegetable theme had …

sewing

KCWC – Day One

 

I’m already hip-deep in fabric for elsie marley‘s Kids Clothes Week Challenge. I started tracing a pattern for one project, then realized I’d never held any piece of the pattern up to Caitlyn to see if if needed adjusting. I pulled out a project that’s been on the to-do list since last fall, then decided I need to check measurements on that one, too. This is what happens when I don’t do the prep work before she heads off to school on a Monday! Fortunately, I have a project that’s straightforward enough not to need a pattern or terribly precise …

quilts

Now you see it…

In preparation (sort of) for Kids’ Clothes Week starting in the morning, I’ve finally managed to finish (sans borders) the top to the disappearing nine-patch I’ve been occasionally working on since late last year. I found Rachel’s tutorial for this pattern about a year ago, probably when I was looking for something else and decided that I needed to make one, immediately. I’m particularly pleased with myself for not buying a charm pack for the starting squares, instead digging through the stash for Things That Worked. Most of these fabrics were part of a fat quarter bundle I received from …

homesteading

Taking Inventory

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With the return of our farmers’ market, it’s time to take stock in the pantry and start planning what will be put up this year, even if the weather is acting more like late March than early May. Excepting the jam, which I apparently made in large quantities two years ago, and the apricots, which Caitlyn refuses to pack for her lunches, I think we actually did really well in eating through much of what I put up last year. We have tomatoes left, but probably just enough to get us to tomato season in a few months. The same …