More April Finishes

A couple of recent finishes.

This was in an earlier post but now it is finished.

The pattern is "Fetch" from the All in a Row book. 

The orange fabric is for the binding.

Here it is quilted and bound.

Since it is a piano runner it has very little quilting.

The back is one of my favorite floral prints.

The binding was sewn down by hand.

This is the second Ava dress for Ava.

I made the buttonholes in the bodice before I attached the skirt.

That makes it much easier to sew.

In this version I added fusible interfacing before I sewed the top together.

I think interfacing makes the buttons and buttonholes more stable.

The pattern does not call for interfacing.

I put the cap sleeves in before I sewed the sides together.

It is much easier to sew the very small sleeves in when the fabric is flat.

I zigzagged the trimmed armholes to keep them from fraying.

Most of the seams are either inside the lining or French seams.

It takes a little longer but I think it is a better finish.

The front of the dress above.

The back below.

Close up of the covered buttons.

Covered buttons are easy to assemble.

Another finishing touch that is above ready-to-wear garments.

All caught up.

Next - work on Color Theory and maybe a mini quilt.

Happy Sewing!

 

Spring Dresses etc.

Here is the finished Sadie dress for Ava.

The outer panels are Kaffe Wobble fabric and the center is pink lightning bolts.

Very Ms Frizzle combination.

The back was changed from a button closure to a zipper.

When we bought the fabric I didn't take into account that Wobble is directional.

So the back center lining was the only place to put this sideways piece.

The pattern calls for a wide facing at the hem.

I didn't have enough of either fabric to do that.

I was able to cut a bias strip for the hem.

I think it worked fine.

All the seams are finished or enclosed in the lining.

Here is my new blouse made from the Liberty lawn I bought in London in October.

I'm pleased with the finish. It will be perfect for our hot summer days.

I have two thread cases of my mother's thread.

After dropping the opened cases several times,

I decided to dump all the thread out and organize by color.

Now it's so much easier to find the thread I need.

Working on one more dress for Ava from the Children's Corner pattern -Ava.

Photos next time.

Happy Sewing! 

 

Sewing for Ava & other finishes

A few weeks ago Jessie, Ava, and I visited The Sewing House to choose some fabric for Ava.

She found a pattern called Ava and had to have a dress made with this lovely Liberty Lawn.

The pattern had multiple sizes but the largest was one size too small, so I added some to the length and width. I wanted to remember how I finished the armholes and gathers of the skirt.

The pattern instructions were confusing for the version Ava wanted. 

I looked for more information online but didn't find anything.

I made French seams for the side seams and zigzagged other seams.

I chose white shank buttons for the back closure.

I tried two buttonhole stitches on my sewing machine.

I found stitch #152 was better for this pattern and fabric.

Here is the Ava dress for Ava. It has cap sleeves. 

I used width of fabric for the skirt panels so it is very full.

Lawn is light weight and will be perfect for spring and summer wear.

The dress above has two skirts.

Ava chose the moth fabric and Jessie suggested the peach stripe.

Above is a new Violet Fields pattern - Sadie.

It is fully lined. Ava wanted the rainbow fabric - Kaffe's Wobble pattern.

Jessie paired it with the pink print.

The pattern has buttons down the back but we decided a zipper would be more comfortable.

The pattern calls for a facing for the hem. I'm going to cut bias strips instead of the pattern pieces.

I will share the finish in my next post.

In other sewing, I made some little felt bunnies for my little choir friends and grandchildren.

Below are the ones for choir and some tea towels for the choir workers.

The tea towels used leftover fabric from spring napkins and some stash muslin.

I made 16 bunnies and 10 tea towels.

Uncommon Threads Quilt Guild's monthly challenge is to make two blocks and share them each month.

I'm making runners for the piano.

I found this pattern in the book All in a Row.

I changed the layout a little. 

I will share the finish next time. 

Below are some Kaffe squares.

I'm trying to decide what to do with them.

There are so many possible patterns, I can't decide.

The irises are blooming here.

Martin put these on the south facing wall.

This seems like a great place for iris and dianthus.

Yellow iris in one bed, purple in another.

I'm making one more dress for Ava, then a blouse for me.

Happy Sewing!