Sewing Adventures

I've been on a serious sewing kick lately. In fact, I've been sewing so many evenings that the sewing machine has taken up permanent residency on our dining room table. Now, just so you understand, I love sewing. But sewing and I kind of have a love-hate relationship. I'm a perfectionist, so sewing definitely stretches me in ways I've never been stretched. I also have a tendency to always make at least one mistake on every project. The seam rippers are a beloved tool of mine. I should just quote my mother-in-law and tell everyone that I am being like the Navajo Indians who always intentionally stitched a mistake in every one of their weavings because, they said, nothing is perfect except for God.

Anyhoo, I recently attempted my first project with real sleeves. Everything I had done up to this point was either a skirt or a sleeveless dress. I was rather nervous, to say the least. Still, I took my time (many of my mistakes come from impatience or exhaustion) and here is the result:

Pretty, right? It's a fall/winter dress for Shiphrah. I used a pattern in her size, but it still turned out way too big. But I just adjusted the wrap front part of the dress to fit. And this way I can move the snaps and she can wear it as a top with leggings next winter. (Oh, and by the way, the color is more pink than the picture makes it appear.)

Next I worked on a dress for one of Shiphrah's 2nd cousins (her birthday party is actually tomorrow so I haven't given this to her yet). I didn't much like the pattern I chose after I got started, but it turned out pretty cute. To add a little extra to the dress, I made three yo-yos and added big black buttons as embellishments. This was also my first experience working with elastic. Here it is, followed by a close-up of the embellishments:

Unfortunately, the little girl is rather skinny, so the dress seemed way too big when I finished it. So I had to add a couple of darts to the back, but I didn't cut them so her mom can let them out if she needs too. Hopefully *fingers crossed* it fits her...I think the color will look super-cute on her because she has fiery red hair. :)

And now I'm off to start my next project...a baby girl dress for a friend of mine who's having a little girl at the end of October. I'll be using dress 'A' from this pattern, in case you are curious. I'll let you know how it turns out! :)