SewBaby News

Does your fabric ever talk to you?  I ordered this beautiful watercolor floral cotton gauze from FabricMart at the beginning of this month, and it has just been screaming "Make Me!  Make Me!"  ever since it arrived at my house.  I really didn't have time to sew, but yesterday, I just couldn't stand it any longer and gave in to the calls.  Most of my fabrics can sit for months, even years, before they get sewn up, so this was highly unusual. I also had a pattern that has been more lightly whispering, "make me".  That would be Butterick 6021, an Ivy+Blu design from a couple of years ago.  You know how a book just opens to a certain page every time?  That was happening with this pattern.  It had a hem that was longer at the front than the sides, a lined bodice, and tie belt. So, I thought- well, let's just get this over with- the pattern is pretty simple, I should be able to sew it up in a couple of hours, and get on with my life. Right?  Wrong. 

Do you lust after the pretty pillows at places like Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn, but scoff at the $50 price tag?  Me too!  I'm always on the lookout for interesting fabrics to make them myself.  I picked up this leaf pillow panel print remnant this Spring, thinking that the colors would be lovely in summer.  The piece was about 3-1/2 yards and just under $10, and I decided to take the whole cut.  This print was clearly meant for pillows, as it was divided into panels with square shapes.  But I thought it looked fine as a whole piece as well, so I decided to turn part of it into a new tablecloth.  For the tablecloth, I used about 2 -1/2 yards of the piece, and just hemmed it.  That left me with two rows of the panels, which was enough for 3 pillow covers.   I had a couple of old throw pillows that were getting holes in them, so I just covered them up with the new fabric, not worrying about a zipper.  For my third pillow, I wanted to use a down feather pillow i

Have you ever heard of a convertible skirt?  No, it's not a skirt to wear while you are riding in your convertible.  Or maybe it is!  It essentially is a skirt with a wide fold over waistband that doubles as a strapless dress when you don't fold the waistband over.  I have a slight obsession with travel wardrobes, and whenever I hear of anything that could potentially serve two purposes on a vacation, I'm all over it.  There are several patterns for this type of skirt available, but I liked the handkerchief hem on New Look 6379.  I found this gorgeous abstract art rayon knit at Fabric Mart, and I thought it would be really cool in this design.  The pattern is basically just two pattern pieces- a waistband and a front/back skirt that are the same. You do insert a thin piece of elastic in a casing at the bottom of the waistband, where it joins to the skirt. Here it is as the strapless dress.  I probably won't be wearing it this way, except as a beach cover-up

Would you call this a short jumpsuit or a romper? Jumpsuit sounds so serious: "You must put on your suit to do the business of jumping."  And I can't help but associate jumpsuits with prison attire.  I blame  Orange is the New Black  for this stereotype. Romper, on the other hand, sounds very light and carefree.  No cares or worries- just skipping and romping in the sunshine.   Romper also reminds me of  Romper Room .    If you are under 40 or from outside of the US, it was a very innocent children's show.   It had a huge bumblebee character named Do Bee that taught manners with advice such as "Do Bee good boys and girls and help your parents."  Here is a fun look at a  Do Bee book. Image from Modernkiddo.com I watched it, and my husband knew about it, but didn't watch it.  Can you guess which one of us has better manners? I've digressed.  Back to rompers or short jumpsuits: whatever you call them- I've been seeing quite a f

I've not been doing a ton of sewing lately, as it is garden season!  It's been so beautiful outside, that I really just want to soak up as much sunshine as I can.  We took these photos in my rose garden.  I adore roses.  They are fussy and unpredictable, but when they are good, they are really, really good!  Hmmm....they sound a lot like some of my favorite fabrics- I detect a pattern here. In my last post, I talked about my most versatile skirt pattern.  This skirt is not from that pattern, but it is probably my favorite skirt.  It is from Butterick 5892   I made this last year, and it always brings me happiness whenever I wear it.  I realize that not everyone is fond of ruffles, and I'm generally not either, but for some reason, this one calls to me. Perhaps it's the hi-lo hemline.  It's a lot easier to walk in than a maxi-skirt where the length is the same all around. I don't have to worry about picking it up when I go up stairs.  The upper s