Sunday, November 16, 2008

This & that

Yes, I'm still around. And I have no excuse other than laziness for being silent for so long!

My niece turns one later this week, so I made an outfit to send to her. Originally I was intending to use a pattern from my recently acquired Amy Butler book, Little Stitches, but the pattern sizes in the book only go up to 9-12 months, and I didn't want to make something only to have it be too small. So I went through my BWOFs and settled on this dress and bloomers set from the French children's label Jacadi. I made the 18 month size.




BWOF tells you that you need 1 yard of 59" fabric. If your fabric is 44", as most cute, quilting-weight cotton fabrics are, you'll need closer to 2 yards. I purchased a yard of the print and a yard of the solid and used most of both. They came from a local fabric store, Stitches.


This is the first time I've ever made baby clothes. It wasn't the super quick job I was expecting, I guess because I was trying to make it look nice on the inside with French seams, bias tape covering the crotch seam, etc.

I stitched a little tab of fabric in the back waist of the bloomers to indicate the back.

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I'm psyched for PR Day in Seattle, which is finally happening tomorrow! I'll have pictures and a full report very soon.


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For a while now, I've been meaning to address some comments.

geertje said "Btw I live in Europe but I´ve never been able to find any Vilene Bias Tape either...so I just leave it out...Do you find it makes your dress look better now that you´ve used the iron-on bias tape?"

Vilene bias tape is hard to find in Europe, too? I don't feel so left out now :) Before I purchased the iron-on bias tape, I just made my own by cutting bias strips of tricot fusible interfacing, so rather than changing the look of my dress, it's just more convenient to have this already cut and on a roll for me!


NurseByrd said "I bought my first copy of BWOF from Borders bookstore. They are a couple issues behind.How could I purchase the Oct. issue. I am a beginner, and I don't want to subscribe."

Well, now that a few weeks have passed, maybe your Borders bookstore has the October issue! Otherwise, try GLP News (the US distributor), Fashionista Fabrics, or Sew Baby for single issues.


brocadegoddess said "Oh, btw - there's a sisterhood for BWOF? After years of buying from the magazine shop I finally took out a subscription for 2008, which brings my current total to something like 60 issues. Is that enough to be part of the sisterhood?"

With 60 issues, you are definitely part of the sisterhood!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Christina,

Your niece is very lucky :)
This is just gorgeous!!

ZanetaX

cidell said...

I was looking for a baby pattern too. A good friend is pregnant and moving this week to California :( But, i was hard to find a gender neutral in BWOF, and I too thought it was going to take longer than it looked. But, now, I'm kicking myself because this is ADORABLE.

Anonymous said...

Please pass on the word that you can get Vilene bias tape in the UK from SewEssential.co.uk (they ship internationally, too). I also have it on good authority that the rolls are in 50m increments if you want the full package rather than a long loose strand! I ordered 10m a few weeks ago and they were really quick with the shipping, too.

Melissa said...

How precious, I'm sure it will get rave reviews!

Tini said...

ooohh cute! My nieces are now nearly 6 yrs old and I haven't sewn as much for them as I should have.... sigh...

Meg said...

Absolutely adorable. I love taking a break from big girls' clothes.

Leslie said...

oh gosh that is so cute! And I love the little tag in the back. You're not the only one with lack of blogging mojo. :-(

flanthrower said...

This is adorable! (I just used that apple fabric in green for some kitchen curtains.)

Anonymous said...

Squeeeee!!! So Cute!! And I totally know what you mean about the amount of time it takes to actually make this stuff, but there is particular sense of fun while you do it, isn't there? I've just kept thinking to myself "Hee hee hee, it's all so wittle!"

p.s. Thanks so much melissa for the Vilene tape heads up, I'm gonna go check it out toute suite!

Christy said...

I love that fabric! and welcome back to blogland!! =)

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

That is one cute, cute baby outfit!

liz said...

love the apple fabric. i've used it in a couple of projects too:

http://tracyandlizsblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/mom-can-you-make-me-dress.html

and the jacket i made was the feature picture for sew mama sew.

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=544


so fun!

christine mills said...

This is a great classic piece. The apple fabric is timeless.