Valentine's Day Dress - Tiny and DONE!

Here it is!  Emmy's Valentine's Day dress!

This is the back, with the cut-out detail.  Ahh!I'm like 99% in love with the heart, but it's just a bit wonky.  I'm hoping that when Emmy is wearing it, it will sort of work itself into a better looking heart.  Unfortunately, it's 21 degrees out today, so I'd be jeopardizing my mother-of-the-year award if I took her out to model it today!  And there's not much natural light inside my house is a mess.  :)

The front...  My word - it's SHORT!But again I'm hopeful that when it's on, it will be utter perfection!  Or at least decent.  For a two year old who is used to flashing her diaper anyway.  :D

Here's a closer shot of the front.  Those we're by far the tiniest sleeves I've ever had to set in!  I literally almost fell off my chair when I turned it right side out and saw that they were good!  Miracle of miracles!  I think I'll be sewing sleeveless summery things for the next... ever.

And here's a closer shot of the back!  Squeee!For the top center, I sewed on hooks & eyes - I originally wanted elastic loops & buttons, but my machine really, really hates sewing over that tiny round elastic.  Sadface.  Does anyone have tips for sewing with that type of elastic?  I'd love to hear'em.
So that's the dress!  What do you think?!  If you missed the post about this dress coming together, here it be.
Look at the original sketch and the finished dress...

BOOYAH!  :D
So hopefully I'll be able to get pictures of Emmy in it before Valentine's Day, but if not I'll definitely get some next weekend.  Valentine's Day is my sister's birthday, and me and the Hubs dating anniversary (I know - so cheesy, we totally still celebrate that), and my moms birthday is the 17th, so we'll be having a raucous fiesta next weekend.  Hence the fierce dress.
EDITED TO ADD:

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Love to ALL!

The Making of a Dress from Scratch - Valentine's Day Edition

 Marnin'! So I said I would share the Valentine's Day dress making process if it were to go smoothly.  It has!!  Dude, this dress is ridiculous.  She looks like a mini Audrey Hepburn in it.  Ha!  So classy! 

 So here's how it came together.  It still needs sleeves and a hem, but this is the effort so far. First, I have a crazy fit of inspiration and draw out the initial ideas... 

Yeah, that's a heart cut-out.

I add details & whatnot's as they come to me... you can kinda see, I write down pretty random stuff so I don' forget!

 From there, I work out any kinks that I can foresee, and get to the math-doin'.  Fun! I use this large graph paper (purchased at Staples) and start making the pattern pieces. 

 The bodice was relatively easy to map out... Emmy is pretty much the same circumference from head to toe, so there was no fussing with darts or anything.  The bodice is lined, so the only tricky part for me was figuring out the varying seam allowances.  The skirt, same deal, I just figured out my finished measurements and went to town, no problems (or so I thought!).  The sleeve - yeeps.  I've never drafted a sleeve before (besides a little flutter sleeve - that doesn't count :), so I went scouring the interwebs for some direction.  Ikat Bag saves the day!  I followed the tutorial on her blog (written by Jen from My Measuring Tape), took a few measurements, and made a sleeve block!  WOOT!  It came out looking so... right!  While I was at it, I made markings for a full-length, three-quarter, and short sleeve.  AaaaweSOME. So, since I really had no idea how this dress would turn out, I knew I needed to give it a test drive in a fabric I was ok with sacrificing.  Here's the test fabric and the fabric originally intended for this dress.  I love the test dress so much that I don't even think I'm going to make it in the original fabric. 

Test run fabric.

 

Original fabric.

 Besides being madly in love with the navy dress, I've sort of realized that I don't like the literal-ness of the black fabric anymore.  At first I thought it would be adorable, but now I think a) the piping would get lost, and b) the fabric is too busy for the design.  Thoughts?



Business in the front...

 

Party in the back!  :D

I don't know if you saw on my CrazyNotes to 'not forget botton loops', and I'm happy to report that I didn't!, but my machine EATS little round elastic, so I'm going with hook and eyes instead.  So I just have to attach the sleeves and give'r a hem & it'll be done!  YAY!

I tried it on Emmy over her clothes and it's so flipping adorable, I can't even tell you.  However.  The skirt is tiny!  It's short and um, snug.  Hopefully that's because I put it on her over her jeans...  If I do make it again, I will definitely make the pleats deeper so the skirt has more poof & room for the poor girl to walk.  She's going to look fierce though.  :D

We're going away this weekend, so I won't be able to post pictures of the finished dress until sometime next week.  I can't wait to show it off on the little bean!  :D

Have a good weekend everyone! 

GO PATS!



The Dog Days of Winter

 

 Good day to you all!  Just popping in to say hi, and to show you that adorable time-lapse. :) Currently on the sewing table... a Valentines Day dress for Emmy!  People really, if all goes to plan, this will be the cutest, epicest (yeah) dress I've ever made her.  We'll see!  I designed it myself and made the pattern myself!  Eeep!  I think I'm going to take photos as it comes together, so if it seems like it's going to come out a success, I'll share the process with you!  If not, I'll curl up in a shame ball.  Wish me luck!

Hello, beautiful babychild. :)

 Love to all! Pin It

Playroom Inspiration and Ideas - Part II

Good Wednesday to you! Let's jump right back into the playroom eye candy, shall we?  The last post was mostly about storage and the bigger things in the space.  This time it's all about the decor - because what fun is a playroom without lovely things to look at and spark the imagination?  NO fun! Seriously, the first thing I'm putting in the room is a pink Christmas tree.  Fo' real.  This past Christmas was the first one where Emmy sort of 'got' what was going on, and let me tell you - the tree and the lights were the most amazing things to her - it was true love at first sight.  So I'm going to have a tree in the playroom for us to decorate for every different season and holiday!  And pink just to save the real green one for Christmas. :)  The hubs even agreed to it!  :O BEHOLD! 

Source: foreveradriana.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

  I have no words.  We're getting one. To counterbalance the overwhelming artificiality of a pink tree, I want to bring in some living stuff.  I think either a cool potted plant or a terrarium!  I'm leaning towards the terrarium because of the scale of it - I think it'd be more interesting to Emmy than a random houseplant.  Here's a really cool set: 

Source: marthastewart.com via Sarah on Pinterest

  Pretty kid friendly!  And we could have many!  Totally dig the painted lid with the critter on top, too.  The only expense for these really would be the plants themselves!  Score. I'm sure that in time the walls will be covered with Emmys various masterpieces (masterpi?), but until then, the walls'll need some lovin'!  I came across this sort of mini gallery wall below... What struck me was the dress!  I am a big fan of gallery walls, especially ones with unexpected elements; ones that aren't solely framed art. 

Source: covetgarden.com via Sarah on Pinterest

  The first thing I thought of when I saw that was the Sunshine Sunsuit!  It's not going to fit her ever again, so what a nice tribute to hang it on the wall for all eternity, no?!  Plus the bright yellow will be a nice burst of color, since we're talking basement here.  Oh, and I love everything else in the above room too. Another beautiful space with a dress on the wall: 

Source: withtwocats.com via Sarah on Pinterest

  How awesome is like, all of that? Even though we are getting the Expedit units for most of the toy/book storage, I am head over heels in love with this idea for books: 

Source: dejligheder.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

   Right?!!  All of her favorites right there for her to flip through!  I think it's genius.  And really, what are we talking here - an old dresser drawer and some legs?!?  LOVE.  Making one. Now if I've left any room for anything else, I'd love to have a dedicated art area, like this: 

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

  Epic, right!?  I think I could make a mini version of this and be just as happy with it. :) And lastly here's what I'm thinking for a rug.  Since rugs are bananas expensive - the ones I like anyway, I think I'm going to use this throw from Ikea, and just put a no-slip pad under it:

Source: ikea.com via Sarah on Pinterest

  It's just a basic black and white striped job, and it's $19.99.  No joke!  I could get two and stitch'm together to cover the whole flippin' basement!  I love how it adds visual interest, but it's still essentially neutral. So there you have it!  I can't wait to really sink my teeth into this!  I know Emmy's going to love it for years and years, and it will certainly help us stay in our small house much longer! Have any of you made a dedicated playroom in your house?  Leave a link in the comments - I'd love to see it!   Much loooooooove!