Springtime jammies

I finished up the first set of spring time jammies for my little grand girls. Jammies are fun, usually not too difficult, useful AND I can be kind of wild and crazy with the colors and such. I think I vicariously live through my grand girls and create, bright, colorful, fun things that can only be worn when one is a child. Although I am beginning to think I may just start replacing MY jammies with the "illegal" stuff. Hmmmmm. Can't wear stuff like that in public, but just with my sweetie?

The motif is castles, dragons and princesses and such, very fun and cute. The girls are only two years apart, so the sizes are not too different, but I do different details on them so the girls CAN tell them apart. Oh, I wish they could come to their grandmother's house for the day, we'd have such fun. We could bake and sew and be silly and tell stories and go for a walk to the park. It would be a most delightful day. I miss them SO much.

Daisy Kingdom dress for Lulu?

This was a fun little dress to make, but like other Daisy Kingdom patterns, it is not the simplest and takes time and finesse to get it nice. I found the material a while back and was looking forward to putting it together in a fun way. One change I made was at the hem. Instead of a simple hem, I did bias binding in the pink and green. There are two skirts, each set as opposite squares of fabric.


I really liked the way they had the shoulder seams, finishing them and then tying them together. Very cute! Love all the colorful fishies as well.


The hat and back pack were fun to make and I am getting better at making them. The back pack is lined and I used heavy fusible pellon on all the pieces, so it is fairly stiff and sturdy. I think the back pack "needs" some more decoration, so may mess around with ideas and see what comes of it. It would be fun to have a fish, using the ones on the fabric as inspiration.


My hats are getting better and faster. This one is SO cute I wish I was a little kid. Grown ups get funny looks when they wear fun bright colors and I don't know why. I wear as much color as I can, but I think pink and green like that might be too much for an old lady.


The inside of the hat in lined with the fish fabric, with the green fabric lining the brim and dark blue grosgrain ribbon finishing the seam. I hope it fits my little Lulu.


The back pack back!


I made the dress a size five, but am finding my grandchildren are fairly slim and some of the clothes I make I am not able to "slim them down" enough. I am getting better though. This one will be a donation to CASA next year if Lulu doesn't like it for some reason. I had one child who was very particular about clothing and I understand. I like my clothing to feel comfy and sometimes, they just don't!

Happy Valentine's Day

I have the most fun, wonderful, dependable, supportive, encouraging, responsible, helpful, lovable, creative, fabulous, mature, fit, and smart husband on the planet. I thank God for him each and every day, sometimes several times!! I cannot even imagine my life without him. He has given me three beautiful children, taken me on numerous adventures and I know that life will NEVER be boring as long as we are together. He is open to just about anything, and surprises me continuously. He has given me the opportunity to reach FAR beyond what I thought was my own personal potential, and given me opportunities that I would NEVER have dreamed of when I was a young child. One I did have, visiting Pompeii, was a dream I achieved, thanks to him, and Florence, Italy was another. As I kid, I had what I thought were some pretty big dreams! I have gone FAR beyond in the adventure category.

He also gave me a family that he has fathered well, and we have children who have also given us every reason to be proud. They love us both and let us know. They share their lives with us and welcome us with open arms when we visit. They share their children and are the kind of parents that will raise responsible, creative, loving and capable people. The love I feel from my family, from where I came from and where my DNA is going, is a most marvelous, miraculous thing. There are even little ones who have been put into our family directly from the hand of God, little ones that are particularly special because they were placed "specifically" through God's grace.

So Happy Valentine's Day. Happy day full of love, happy day full of miracles, happy day full of fun.

This is the latest from the studio, Go Texas!! Hubby is all ready.



Just for reference, this is a size six I made for my little cowboy grandson last fall. Yeeehaa!

Big and Small

Finished a big boy shirt today, for my son-in-law's b-day and a little man romper for his little romper.

Tall and Slim

My older grand son is a tall slim guy. His sisters are also slim, so I can add length to clothing for the most part and they will fit them nicely.

I will wait to make a couple more of these if he needs them and IF they fit the way I am expecting. Loved working with the fabric. Nice.

Son Shirt #2

Baby Boy Shirts

These are two little shirts for my baby D. Size two! I have no idea if they are too big, but will take them just before his second birthday, so they will fit . . . eventually. One of them matches his daddy's shirt. Really NICE fabric on both of them.

I found why I am not keen on making little boy shirts. They are really tricky. For some reason getting the lining to line up and lay smoothly is tougher on these little shirts. I did two versions. I did the one according to the directions and the other I added an extra back lining. I used the pattern to cut the lining, but it still didn't lay flat, I had to add a little extra tuck. It won't show.

I learn a lot working on these little shirts, one thing is I prefer big shirts, but also that it is tricky to get it to work just right. I wish there were classes to take to figure out what makes it not come together the way I think I should.




This the the inside of each shirt. One with and one without the back lining piece.

My son

I have a marvelous son. And I love making his dress shirts. It is a great time to think about him, and pray for him.

As I made this shirt I did pray for him, his family, his work and for God to keep His hand firmly on my son. I also marveled at the man he has become. I think anyone who knows him is fortunate, and his children are VERY lucky to have a dad with patience, understanding, firmness and humor. Those are only four of his many outstanding qualities. I am so glad that God blessed me with such a marvelous son.




I have started another shirt for him and bought enough shirting to make two more, for his sons. Not that they will wear them at the same time, guys don't do "matchy-matchy" but it is really nice fabric, washing and ironing beautifully. Great shirts. Great boys.

Silky dress for Lulu

My oldest grand daughter is a bit of a "fashionista". She is definitely interested in clothing and has very specific likes and dislikes. I try to pay attention to what she says she likes (pink and sparkly) as well as to what she doesn't say but shows in her choices. The last time we were visiting, she sacrificed warmth for texture, she wanted soft and silky. So . . .

I had a silky pink fabric from something my youngest chose years ago to try to make a pair of jammies out of. My mom also gave me fabrics to make slips out of. I tried it once, and wasn't satisfied with the results. Slips are inexpensive, so I set that fabric aside for "something" and in this case decided to build the slip into the dress. Little girls don't tend to think about slips and this dress definitely needed some type of lining.

The dress is floor length, with a small front panel and three sections front, four in back with a zipper. The tie in back helps the dress fit nicely through the waist.



This shows the flair. It will move nicely and swirl a bit as she spins, always a bonus for little girls.


This shows the little shoulder detail, tricky but nice.


Inside the dress front and back. The slip fabric and lace trim will let Lulu slip on the dress and go! The zipper was a left over, so doesn't match, but from the outside, it doesn't show.



When I do a little dress like this I learn about fabrics and details and other types of construction details. It takes just as long as a "big" dress, but saves on fabric. Hopefully Lulu will enjoy the dress. She is coming next month, so we will have the opportunity to try it out! Fun. Now, to make a couple more for her visit.

muslin sample

I made this to try on my oldest. It is a simple blouse that doesn't need tucked in so she can wear it with the style of skirts I make for her. Simple work clothes! There are two lengths, which is another reason I want to try it on her before I make the final garment. I will also use it for myself, but already know I will have to add more around the hip area. I might even leaves slits at the hip so the fit is less restrictive.





I find making a muslin sample for fit saves SO much time. I want to make something for my daughter-in-law, who is the only one in the family that I don't make garments for. I have made other things, just not garments. Maybe we can do this, even long distance! That would be cool. Finding the style and fabric may end up being the hardest part.

Work clothes

I finished up a couple of dresses for my oldest daughter for work. Now that she is a little mommy, it is harder to get it together in the morning. A "complete" outfit in one makes it easier. Sticking with basic colors also helps. Simple black shoes and a belt (which I will attempt to also make) is all she needs. They are really nice, with buttons from her grandmother that were passed on.





The blue is a polyester and rather silky feeling. The red is cotton.





I put a pocket in each skirt to make things easier and also, in the red put a little "secret" pocket inside the bodice. The only thing is I hope she doesn't "lose" anything by forgetting she tucked it in there.