Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Pretty Potent Portrait Dress

Here's yet another project using some of the fabric I purchased at #craftsouth last September.
The body of the dress is "Pretty Potent" rayon by Anna Maria Horner
and the linen yoke fabric was also purchased during my #craftsouth trip.

The dress pattern is Anna Maria Horner Painted Portrait Blouse and Dress.
What a great pattern!
This one is by far my favorite garment pattern in quite some time.
I sewed the size medium without any alterations at it fits beautifully.
I love how the side panels taper down each side of the back yoke.
It makes for a flattering silhouette.
The dress closure is a button and a hand-sewn loop.
So easy, so clean, so effective.
The armhole openings are finished with bias tape, which I made from cotton.
To add the machine embroidery, I scanned one of Anna Maria Horner's designs
(from the Fields Aflutter hand embroidery collection) into my Bernina embroidery software.
Then I sized and digitized it to coordinate with the dress.
Stitching the design out on the linen before cutting the pattern piece eliminates the fussiness of
centering the design on a small piece of fabric after the pattern piece has been cut.

Have a most pleasant week, my friends, and stitch up something pretty potent.
I love to hear from you, so please leave me a comment or send me an email.


Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Stampin' and Stitchin': Handmade Baby Gift

#handmadeisthebest
Here's a sweet baby gift for a special couple who recently added a baby boy to their family.
The diaper carrier is based on the tried and true pattern that I've sewn up a number of times.
This go 'round, I added some little machine embroidered bees to the front.
If you look closely at the fabric, you'll see the fabric is printed with bees as well.
 I hand stitched an oversized snap in place for the closure on this one.


 The self-made binding on the pocket opening edges
was attached using the Bernina binder attachment #88.
#stampinupdemonstrator #stampinup #berrybasket
The Stampin' Up Berry Basket (Bigz L Die, item #137366)
is the perfect size to hold baby wash cloths and travel size toiletries.
 To make a fabric covered berry basket of your own:
 - cut the base from vanilla coaster board (Stampin' Up item #129392)
- choose a Stampin' Up cardstock color of your choice for the inside
- and finally, use some iron on stabilizer or interfacing on the wrong side of your fabric
and run it through your Big Shot (item #113439) one last time with the Berry Basket die
When you have those three sets of components cut,
spread a thin coating of Tombo Multi (item #110755) onto the coaster board
and adhere your cardstock to one side and your fabric to the opposite side.
I also adhered some ribbon to the trim piece.
Then assemble your Berry Basket and fill it up with gifty goodness.
I used a storage bag (not the kind with the zipper) to enclose my basket for gift giving.
#stampinupdemonstrator  #handpickedframelits #stampinup
The top of the storage bag is kept closed with a tab which I cut using
Stampin' Up's Handpicked Framelits Die set (item #137361).
The "sweet as can be" phrase is part of the From the Garden stamp set (item #137139).
Once again, cut this one first from coaster board, then cover it
with a piece of card stock stamped with your sentiment.
The final element of this sweet baby gift is a handmade garland for baby's room.
Using the Woodland Creatures Clip Art set from Amy J. Delightful's Etsy shop
I printed the images on card stock, carefully cut them out,
and then stitched them together using my sewing machine.
#amyjdelightful
 Here they are all packaged up in a cello envelope and sealed with washi tape.
Gift giving is so much fun!

Have a great week, my friends.