a productive sewing day

I recently heard about this musician, Eric Royer. Also, check out his amazing guitar machine that he built! Amazing. and coordinated. 

Pretty sweet, huh? 

A question... Do you ever stop short of finishing a project that is 99 percent done because you are (temporarily) sick of the thing? Or are you the type to plow through till the very end?

I have always been the latter type, until I realized that plowing through to the very end often resulted in a lot of shoddy sewing: mostly crooked, lumpy hems and wonky armholes and necklines. So I am trying to be better about this. Good night to you, dog blouse!

Earlier today, I finished up some ufos; Shirts 1 & 2 for my nephew, Franklin. DONE! I love this child to bits.

All that needed to be done were the snaps. But I do the snap applying outside, and it was so hot for the past few weeks, and... and... anyway, they are done.

      

Hand embroidered name/labels

I love adding details, like the red button, and embroidery and the seersucker accent fabric. I also used the seersucker for the undercollar (I am going to call it that, because that's what it is).

Pattern: McCall's M6016
Fabric: 0.5 yard gray linen (Jo-ann); 0.5 yard gingham shirting from the Michael Levine Loft
Time: about three months... but honestly, it should take a few hours

Baby!

My friend, Nikki sent me this picture of Baby E. looking just so comfy.

Hey Doll!

Emma Dress

I drove my mom to Koreatown earlier today. While she ran her errands, I hung out at the adjacent shopping mall. The mall has a market, a food court and some random stores. But a tiny children's clothing store caught my eye. They carry adorable stuff-- all imports from korea. I bought a couple of t-shirts for my nephew and left wanting to sew something for a little girl.

This is what I whipped up. 

It's for a sweet little girl named Emma. She and her lovely parents were gracious hosts when I went out to NJ for a wedding earlier this month. 

Pattern: None. Just a basic little bodice shape with armholes, tying straps and a long rectangle for the skirt. I went straight to cutting/eyeballed everything. *hopefully it'll fit--at least until the weather gets cool. The bodice is a double layered, and the inside layer is slipstitched to the skirt. If you wanted to make the skirt a double layer, the dress would be reversible.

Material: < 1/2 yard cotton gauze and seersucker from my stash.

Time: Quick! About 2 hours start to finish.