Dresses for Me

In a effort to expand my wardrobe and my reproitire, I am making dresses and tunics from vintage sheets.

Here are a few:

little guy took a picture of me happily sewing.

I saved the elastic from the fitted sheet for the sleeves.
It made for  a very  puffy  sleeve that doesn't fit into my style of throwing a cardigan over!

A Tunic For Mama

I am always sewing, stitching, and creating for others.
It brings me joy to make, create and to give.
But, lately I have been thinking about my wardrobe, much of which does not fit.
I decided to start to make clothes for myself.
I also set a few rules for myself. (I have a really hard time following rules!)
I will use patterns, finish seams, and follow the directions.
This might not seem difficult, but for me it really is.  My husband calls me "Vera" in many
aspects of life. I tend to start on one path and veer in another direction pretty quickly. For example, I started with a crocheted squirrel (another future post) and he ends up with a lot of changes from the pattern. Including using felt to speed things up a bit.
So here is a tunic made for me by me.
I followed the pattern, but left off the sleeves.
Umm, yes, my trees are upside down, but the seams are finished and I even used interfacing!

Two Dolls to Norway

These are the dolls I made to send to our friends in Norway.

One for big brother and one for new sister

Nana's Birthday Coasters

Well Pretty Proud of myself at this moment.

Cut material, made hand prints with the boys, finished coasters

and blogged about it all in one day!

First Doll for Aria from Vintage Hanky

This past Sunday morning, I awoke early to the news of my nieces arrival.  All my boys decided to sleep in so I created a little doll for Aria on her birthday.

Following are directions for making your own. My directions are "loose" because that is how I make things.  I often use scraps and repurposed material.  My motto, "Use what you have".
1. Sew a tubing for head and shoulders from old white t-shirt. About 1 1/2 " by 3 ".
2. Turn right side out and stuff head tightly with wool.  Tie off head (with strong thread or floss), then fill shoulders.
3. Fold bottom of shoulder seam under and zig zag closed on your machine or by hand.
4. Now take strong floss and tie head tightly in half where eyes would be to add shape.
5. Place inner head inside Hanky's middle.  Fold over and tie floss around head tightly.

6. Now place a tight ball of wool where hands should be.

7. Sew thread in a running stitch around each hand. Sewing through entire cuff a couple of times before tying off.

8.  Now add hair and hat and she is ready to play.