(like the rod stewart song)
i'm a millennial living in the bay area who loves dark beer, the environment, and sewing for the tiny humans in my life. more
All tagged maya
for halloween a few years back maya asked for a wednesday addams costume.
is this thing on?!
Between the new house, trips, lots of visitors, and a generally busy millennial lifestyle, I haven’t had time to sew, let alone blog recently. however when maya specifically requested a back to school dress three weeks ago I knew it was time to change that.
mk 2.0 (aka my niece maya) is starting first grade, so a new dress was in order!
so you want to know the best part about planning a wedding? everyone wants to help!
early on in our engagement my nieces indicated a strong desire to contribute to the wedding. my mom came up with an idea: have them make pot holders as favors for the guests.
another back to school post!
maya started kindergarten this year and is the third generation in our family to attend the ann arbor public schools. so naturally a new dress was in order.
lets talk fabric selection.
back in may we went up to heldsburg for a wedding. the wedding venue, our Airbnb, the rehearsal dinner venue, and a fabric store were all within 800 yards of one another. combine this with the fact that we referred to the groom as "sargent substance" back in college and what do you get? I'll give you a hint" it rhymes with 'funk maverick bopping'.
it's back to school sewing season!
first up is maya who is starting kindergarten this year. after i saw this post from gail over at probably actually i decided to make her a lunch box.
when we last left off with maya's dress it was in pretty good shape.
let's get these flower girl dresses started shall we? first up: my maya.
we have a new addition to the family! meet charlotte, maya's new doll.
while bay area weather is just about always beautiful and perfect my hometown of ann arbor, michigan has some pretty intense winters.
maya has developed quite the fashion sense, we're calling it 'ragamuffin chic'. (see her second birthday tunic in there?)
quick post today....
i first saw this joel dewberry print at gather here a few years ago. it was beautiful but i wasn't sure how i would find coordinating fabric so i held off.
a few months later i saw it for sale on fabric.com when i was order something else and this time i couldn't help myself.
coming off my awesome (if i do say so myself) peacock and paddington bear costumes the past two years i was a tad nervous for maya's hallowen costume this year. i mean how could i top those two gems?
well i did.
one snowy day back in cambridge I bundled up and headed to gather here. on the store dress form was a darling rendition of the book report dress by oliver + s. inspired i started looking for a fabric for my own version. i came across this ikat print and knew it would be perfect.
as previously mentioned nora and etta are quite girly. i, however, am not. so finding fabric that appeases them yet i can stand is often a challenge.
when i came across this rose and coral abstract print at gather here a few years back i knew immediately they would love it and bought a few yards.
last summer while in jackson hole for a friend's wedding i visited a local fabric store and picked up materials to make victor a flannel shirt, the scraps of which became the lil' man flannel.
at the same time i came across some pretty awesome snowflake flannel. so i got a few yards with every intention of making holiday pj pants for the girls. however a month before the holidays my sister abby informed me that her girls (nora and etta) didn't like to wear pants to bed, preferring nightgowns.
so like any good liberal arts graduate i had some iced coffee and came up with a plan b.
quick post today.
i had never heard of, let alone made, a bubble hem until i made my first bubble dress from oliver + s.
then suddenly this poofy hem was everywhere and i knew it would only be a matter of time before i came across another pattern with it that i simply had to try.
sometimes it's the simplest and easiest projects that bring my nieces the most joy.
my sister sammie is exactly the kind of mom i, as the biggest recipient of her nurturing instincts for 26 years, always knew she would be. that is to say she's amazing. she's warm, caring, disciplined when need be, and most of all really fun. so when i see maya idolizing her, hanging on to her every word, and wanting nothing more than to be like sammie, i can totally relate.
a few years ago when i was just discovering the glory that is oliver + s patterns i went to visit vic's family in pennsylvania for the weekend. now i've already talked about how i find hand sewing to be a great way to bring your sewing when you travel. but another thing is pattern tracing.
when done right pattern tracing is time consuming, especially if the pattern has a lot of pieces. add into that doing the same pattern for multiple sizes and you're looking at hours and hours of work. fun work, but work. so i brought along the croquet dress pattern and traced both versions for all three girls that weekend. not a small task.
