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.

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.