Outfit for Emma..

Jumper Top with frayed flower rosette
Back of the jumper
Pant/Capri's with rushing detail
I taught myself how to do this rushing detail and love it!

Never mind the disaster that is my house (with exception to the kitchen) , forget about the huge mountain of dirty clothes piled up, just take a look at this adorable outfit I made!! It really is a terrible thing that I cannot manage to keep house and craft at the same time. Something always suffers if I clean I don't craft and if I craft I don't clean. The crazy thing is I craft to keep sane, but if the house is messy I feel a bit crazy... LOL No matter the cleaning or the crafting happens in between my needing to be mommy.

Sewing is not something I can just sit down and do. It is a few days in the making. Today I cut out the pattern, tomorrow I pin the pattern on the material, next day, I cut out the fabric, and finally the day after that I will sit down to sew. Basically what should take two or three hours takes me around 72 + hours. Even though I have been sort of sewing since I was 13, I am still a novice. Well I will give myself a little more credit and say I am a senior novice, ready to graduate into intermediate sewer. Here is a little bit on my sewing history: My mom is a beautiful seamstress who made many dress, pants, costumes, etc. over the years. She hasn't sewn in a long time, but if I can get to be half as good as my mom I will be very happy. She was not the first to show me how to sew, in 8th grade I had Home Economics. We had to complete a sewing project and I chose a skirt. I did not finish the skirt, but I did learn how to thread a sewing machine. Fast forward 5+ years later, I was pregnant with Noelle, had lost my job, and was bored out of my mind. My mom told me to start sewing, so I went out bought a sewing machine and with my moms guidance made a maternity dress. This was a maternity dress of yester...yester year, but I made it with my own two hands ( and machine) so I wore it. Well that and the fact I really couldn't afford anything else. Several months later it was Noelle's 1st Halloween and I made her ( again with my moms help) a cow costume. To this day I have yet to see such a cute cow, I mean really she was the cutest cow ever!!! Well life got in the way and I didn't sew again for many, many, many years. I think the cow was the last thing I had sewn until about 3 years ago when I started to sew for Abigail. In the last three years I I have sewn maybe 10 times. I will say that I am mostly self taught, in that I research on-line and read books. I take a class here and there but really the last few years has just been me. I need to learn how to make button holes and sew a zipper, which is a goal I would like to accomplish this year. I have an awesome serger that my hubby bought for me back in August. The fact that I have the Babylock Imagine is crazy considering my sewing skills. If I had a good metaphor I would insert here but I don't. All I can say is this machine is for the Merlot sewer and well I am still stuck on the wine-cooler level...okay did I do it, was that a good one??? LOL We got this for a steal, really! A customer had purchased it, used it in a class and a couple of days later traded it up. The store couldn't sell it as new and voila, it was mine! I am still learning about this machine, but I use it in conjunction with my sewing machine.

Here is the latest thing I made. This is a two piece outfit for my niece Emma. I have not actually met my niece nor have I met her mommy yet. I know that doesn't sound right, but it is true. I have two sisters from my biological fathers side. I never knew about them because I had never had contact with him. Well back in November through Facebook my sisters and other family made contact. My "new" younger sister has a beautiful daughter, Emma who will be 8 months tomorrow (I think). Now, this is risky to make an outfit for little Emma even if I am a slightly elevated novice sewer, but I just couldn't resist. I have had this Michael Miller Fabric for about 2 years. I had a custom outfit made for Abigail (she has long since outgrown it) using this fabric. I love this fabric and I never wanted to sew something myself using left overs because I love it so much. I didn't want to ruin the fabric, but I got over that and made a top and bottom for Emma. I am pretty sure it won't fall apart but I am worried about the fit. The pants pattern is sized 6 to 12 months and the top is 12 months. I used the serger and sewing machine on both pieces. The pants gave me a little problem because there were curves and serging curves is tricky. I also don't know how to do button holes and the straps were suppose to have buttons in the front. I ended up just sewing the straps on both front and back. The outfit looks great from the outside unless you start looking for my mistakes (please don't) the inside could use some work, not a ton but this is where practic will come in. Overall I am really pleased with how it turned out and can't wait to see a picture of Emma wearing it.

I also have some left fabric ( I originally bought 5 yards!!) that I will use to make Abigail a little short set. Hopefully in July when we go and visit my new family the girls can wear their outfits together... photo op!! Well I am tired and when I get tired I don't write very well. I tend to go back the next day and correct my postings, so I better go that way I won't have too much more to correct. My next projects will be a skirt for Abigail, shorts for Mason, and a handbag tote.