Happy Anniversary or How a Scrap of Fabric Transformed a Dress

My husband and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage this month.  One way we celebrated was by going on an overnight trip without the kids (for the first time ever), staying in a B&B and having a lovely dinner together.  Several weeks before that event I decided I wanted to make something new to wear, not because I didn’t have something to wear, but more as a symbolic gesture.  I wanted to feel that I could still find the time to sew for me, especially for a very special occasion.  With my limited time I realized this would have to be something super simple and something that did not require much fitting.  I quickly decided to use my Pamela’s Patterns Perfect T-Shirt pattern (which I wrote about here) and lengthen the design to make a dress.  I used a buttery smooth knit for the dress and planned to trim the neckline and sleeve hem with a solid black fabric.  When I went looking for that fabric I also came across this one:

I picked up this novelty knit at a fabric exchange (I think at my friend Jane S’s house).  What you can’t tell from the picture is that the space between the wide ribs is actually sheer.  I’ve kept this small remnant for years with plans to make an evening wear shell.  I decided it would add a lot more interest to this dress than the matte black fabric I had originally planned to use.

I very much liked how the neckline turned out.  When I sent two friends pictures to see what they thought about the overall and sleeve lengths, one of them suggested using some of the same trim down the center front to add some more interest.  Here’s a picture of the dress before the extra trim was added.

I cut two long ribs from the fabric and simply zigzagged the strip to the front of the dress.  I then hand-sewed some dark gray, oval beads down the center space between the ribs.

I love wearing this dress.  It is as comfortable as a nightgown and looks stylish but not too overdone.  I think the trim really elevates this from a ho-hum garment to one with some style.  The pattern is a great one and sews up super fast.  Once it is fitted you can create dozens of unique looks.  I’m heading to the annual Sewing Expo held in my area later this week and I’ll be on the lookout for a piece of knit to make another one of these dresses.

Caramelized Onions

True confession:  my diet this summer was not the best.  I think I ate more pizza in 3 months than I ate the entire rest of the year combined.   We spent a lot of evenings at the pool which meant packing food for dinner, and the choices for portable food are somewhat limited.  So when September rolled around and the new school year started I resolved to get back in the kitchen more and resume my previously successful use of meal planning.  One of the first things I did was to make and freeze some staples that I can use on busy evenings.  I have been wanting to try making caramelized onions in my crock pot ever since I heard of the concept ten years ago but I've just never done it.

I started with a 5-pound bag of yellow onions.  I peeled and halved them (lengthwise).  A little tip to make onion slicing easier is to leave the root end of the onion in place to use as a handle until the slicing is complete.  Slice your onions up into a big pile of half-moons.

Place all of the onions in your crockpot and drizzle on some olive oil.

Cover and cook on low.  About 12 hours later add salt to taste and you will have a lovely batch of caramelized onions to add to your culinary creations.

I packaged mine in little plastic containers for the freezer.  Make sure you label and date your containers.  Couldn't be much simpler.

Pictures of my new dress coming soon.  I'll be wearing it tomorrow night for a special dinner out with my lovey and will post some pics and details after that.

Little Dresses, Five and Six

Here are the last two Little Dresses for Africa pillowcase dresses that I am making (hallelujah!)  Just in time since I have to take them to a meeting on Wednesday where they will be collected with others and sent off to their new owners.  While making these dresses I've tried to imagine what it must be like for a little girl who may have never even had any new clothes, let alone a pretty dress, to receive one of these as a gift. 

This little yellow dress is fairly simple, with patch pockets I drew myself on a piece of paper and a bouquet of little yoyo flowers at the neck.  Here's a closer shot of those:

I used my Clover yoyo makers for this project, and they really do save time and effort when making yoyos.  The one piece of advice I will give is this; when taking your stitches around the perimeter of the yoyo, try to place your needle as close to the folded edge as possible.  This will make for a much nicer inner circle when you draw up the stitches to close the yoyo.

I've saved my favorite for last.  This dress uses some of the same pink fabric from the yellow one above.  I made a gathered strip of fabric and sewed it around the hem (I made a narrow hem along both edges before gathering, a time-consuming task which would be better accomplished, I think, using a serger and a rolled hem).  I used my ruffler attachment to gather the strip before stitching it to the dress.  The pockets are a simple rounded bottom affair with the top edge slightly gathered and then bound with the same bias binding I used to make the ties.  I added another ruffle along the neckline to tie in with the one at the hem.  You can see that better in this image:

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my Little Dresses, and I hope these posts will inspire you to make a few of your own.  They are a great little canvas for some of your creative ideas.

I've actually been sewing a little for myself recently, and in my next post I will share a dress I have made for a very special occasion.  See you next week.

Flouncy Apron

Another girl's birthday party, another chance to sew a gift.  We were away on vacation all of last week so I only had a couple of hours to make something, start to finish.  I chose a simple apron.  I've made a variation of this in the past and combined it with a store-bought cooking item so I thought I'd go that route again.  This time I added a flounce to the bottom of the apron, shortening the basic apron pattern the depth of the flounce.  The upper portion of the apron is made from a heavy woven twill, the bottom from quilting-weight cotton.  I used the watermelon stripe fabric to make the bias binding and embroidered the recipient's name on the bib.  This is a fast and unique gift for the birthday girl (or boy, with some modifications). 

Preschool starts back up tomorrow and to say I am looking forward to this particular Monday morning would be an understatement.  My youngest will be hanging out with me at home for a while longer while we "perfect" the use of the potty, but I am hopeful he will soon be reunited with his friends and teachers, and I will have a little bit of free time all to myself.  Can't wait.

Joy