Lightning McQueen Dresses

My latest sewing project was to make Lightning McQueen dresses for the girls.  They just love the movie Cars but the merchandise, especially clothing, is all geared to boys.  To be fair, boys don't get much merchandise to choose from when it comes to Cinderella.  There was a prince in that movie too!  That's ok, Mom to the rescue!  Gender-equity for Lightning McQueen!

I decided to keep it simple and avoid buttons and zippers.  I got a  new sundress pattern for Gracie that has a halter style top and an elastic waist. She has a dress this style already that I bought for her at Kohls, so I know it will work well.  I measured her and got it all cut out and sewn up fairly quickly.  Somehow, I still managed to get it too big around the middle.  I'll just add ties, I almost put ties on it to begin with but decided not to.  The pattern does not call for a waistband or ties.  I thought the waistband was cute though, because it broke up the busy fabric print a bit.

 

Libby's dress was easy!  I used the same pattern that I had just used on her Tinkerbell sundress so I knew it fit and I knew how to sew it already.  I made a couple of modifications, very slight.  I shortened up the armhole; I thought it was too big on the Tinkerbell dress.  And, I put the straps at the edge of the yoke instead of moving them in a bit.  With the Tink dress, I moved the straps in to be sure that the dress would stay up on her shoulders, and that worked, but, it made the yoke look goofy with the corners sticking out.  So, I shortened the width of the yoke and put the straps on the edge where they belong.  Ta-Da!  I also trimmed up the dress with some plain red to limit the busyness of the fabric print.  Lightning McQueen comes in some very exciting print!

The dresses turned out so cute! The girls were playing and dancing around me while I sewed waiting for me  to finish.  Very distracting! I decided to move my sewing machine to the wide space in the upstairs hallway. The light there is excellent. I can peek over the edge to see the girls downstairs, and I'm closeby to watch them if they are upstairs. Seemed like a good idea in theory.  But the space is small.

I've been sewing for 18 years.  My first machine was a Mother's Day gift in 1992 from my husband. He had no idea if I would even be interested in the slightest, and we sure didn't have the money for it! But he took a chance and it paid off. I love it!  For the first time ever, I got my finger in the way of the needle.  The needle went right down through the very tip of my middle finger.  It hurt!  I've had worse paper cuts, but in the moment I kind of forgot about that. The girls made sure I got a Dora bandaid and some kisses, ahhhh, all better!

I also tried to figure out how to work that serger of mine.  I still can't figure it out. I'm about ready to sell it and get a simpler machine. I wanted top-of-the-line so that I would never have to upgrade, but maybe that wasn't such a good idea.  I'm hoping to find a serger class, but so far I haven't had any luck with that either. I think my problem is tension, but maybe that is just the result of another issue. Hard to say.

In only one weekend, I was able to cut and sew the dresses!  Cute new Cars dresses needed an outing, so on Monday we went to Disneyland and California Adventure!  Highlight (one of many highlights) was seeing Lightning McQueen and Mater!

Manning up

My pink baby swing was just too girly to pass along to my daughter for her new baby boy (who has still not arrived!).  It needed to "Man-Up".

It used to look like this: (I had to find an image on google because I forgot to take a before pic, but this is the exact swing)

I very gently removed the seat and the mobile and smoothed them out on the table, then I laid tissue paper over them and attempted to draw a pattern of the various pieces. Then I tried laying the tissue paper under the swing seat.  All I got were crazy scribbles.  Sooooo.....

I ripped the thing apart.  Using each piece as the pattern for a new piece turned out to be the best way to get the proper shape and fit.  And, I just peeled off the pink top layer leaving the padding, backing, snaps, tabs, and straps that came with the swing originally!  Bonus!

Putting it back together was a challenge.  I forgot to take "before" pictures, and I forgot how the pieces all came off!  This turned into a swing seat puzzle.  I contemplated running out and buying a new swing.  $129.99 for a swing!  Egads!  Ok, motivation returned.

I even decided to try piping, something I've never done before.  It turned out pretty good!  I'm happy with it, but next time I will make the effort to go find my zipper foot before I do the piping.  Might make sewing it a lot easier.  And I really like the piping of the solid brown to break up the "wild" look just a tad.

I did it!  I put the pieces together, sewed the back attaching pieces on, added the bias tape trim and straps, put it back on the swing frame, snapped it and there it is!  Yippee!  Now, let's just hope it holds together.

I had a volunteer to test it and see if it would hold.  Only took about a minute and she was fast asleep!  Hmm, maybe I should keep the swing after all!

It's not totally done yet.  I still have to "Man-Up" the pink head stabilizing pillows and the mobile.  I'd better hurry, my little grandbaby boy will be here soon! He's overdue!

Sewing Baby blankets!

Not much time left till I'm a Grandma!  I am not finding a whole lot of extra time to hide away and sew.  So, I moved my sewing machine downstairs to a temporary little sewing table where I can keep my eye on all of the action and still get something done. 

I am running up and down the stairs for pins, scissors, different thread, etc.  Who says sewing isn't a sport?


With my "sport sewing" I finished three baby blankets for Charlie.  My new little grandbaby should be arriving in about 4 weeks so I don't have much time.  I certainly don't have time to try to figure out how to work my serger.  I am very frustrated with that thing.  I wanted so much for it to be my new best friend, but it just doesn't like me.


I am not doing anything fancy with the blankets, just adding blanket binding or rolling the edges for a little hem.  I am making receiving blankets that are large enough to use forever and some soft and cuddly blankets.   Next on my list is a swing seat cover.  Charlie doesn't want a pink swing.

Here is my pile of fabric!

Finished the Jasmine Costumes

Yippeee! I just finished sewing the Princess Jasmine costumes. Two pair of pants, two hoochie belly showing shirts, two headbands. Everything is glittery and gold.

Gracie is so excited to wear her costume! She asked me sixteen times today at least if she could wear her Jasmine outfit. Every time, the answer was the same. Yes, tomorrow!

Libby's costume didn't get any beads. Sewing them was difficult and frustrating. Besides, she's a baby, she doesn't need beads on her outfit. Her costume is still pretty cute.

I'm taking the kids to Disneyland tomorrow in their Princess Jasmine outfits. They will be so cute! I'll take loads of pictures. I'm going to leave you in suspense; you will have to wait for Disneyland pictures to see the end result of all that sewing! It'll be worth the wait because you'll get to see the girls modeling them at Disneyland. Hopefully, we'll see the real Jasmine too!

Making Jasmine costumes

I've realized that my sewing skills are pretty rusty. My stitching lines are a little crooked here and there. Ok, fine. They are crooked everywhere. Oh well. It's still fun!

I am using a variety of patterns. The pattern for the pants is a sweatpants pattern, and it is unbelievably high waisted! I'm annoyed about the waste of fabric, I've had to cut both pair of pants down several inches. Princess Jasmine does not wear her pants up around her rib cage. She should, but that's another story.



Since I'm using a light satin and organza, the raw edges are a constant battle to deal with. At first, I just sewed up a quick seam. Oh no, that won't work. I went back and trimmed and tucked the seam in and made a french seam out of it, well, sort of. It's all tucked in and neat now, even if it isn't done correctly. I don't think this backward french seam would win me a ribbon at the county fair.





After I spent some quality time tucking in my seams, I went with french seams the rest of the way through. They look much better, even if the stitching lines look like I was drunk when I was sewing along. I wasn't, I swear!

Honest, Ossifer, I'm not drinking while sewing! Did I do that?

The tops either need a lining or facing. I just hate to use satin facing since it just adds to the fraying problem and doesn't solve anything. I ran out of fabric to cut out linings though, and didn't find a matching color at the store. hmm. I came up with a solution! I zigzagged the seam, tucked it french style, used Fray-Check where I clipped the seams, and top-stitched it all down. Now, you can see the seam right through the organza. No problem! I thought of that!


Princess Jasmine has a lot of gold bling on her outfit, Disneyland Jasmine does, not movie Jasmine. I got some gold trim and will be trimming right over the visible seams. Poof, they are out of sight! I used a loopy decorative ribbon on the armholes and will use the same on the neckline, and I used a pretty beaded ribbon trim on the waist. I did not realize the ribbon was beaded too. I thought it would be quick and easy, just sew the ribbon and the beads will hang. Oh, not so easy! The ribbon is beaded too. I did a "stitch in the ditch" trick that I learned from quilting, worked great.

Well.... it worked great most of the time. Didn't work so well when I missed the ditch.


This is Gracie's top. It isn't done yet, but it's close. I forgot that my child has a big head, and didn't make an allowance for that little problem. I had her try it on and I managed to sqeeze her big melon through the head hole, but just barely. Otherwise, it fit just fine. I will be making a faced placket in the back so she can get her head in and out. Might come in handy. Then I'll finish it off with gold trim around the neckline to cover the visible interior seams.

Sew All Night

Gracie commanded me to "Sew all night, Mom". I've got my orders! Her plan was this, "Sew all night and tomorrow we can go to Disneyland!" She must think I've got more energy than a firecracker. I'm not exactly that vivacious.

Last spring I bought some fabric to make Gracie a flower girl dress for her big sister's wedding. Got home with it and the bride informed me that the fabric was not mermaid blue, it was pool blue! Duh! So, this lovely pool blue fabric has been sitting around hoping for a future as something pretty. I finally decided what I could make with it. And I sifted through my patterns to find pieces of this or that and get the project started. The fabric will become:

Princess Jasmine! She wears pool blue pants and skimpy little top with beads. Frankly, I'm really tired of her Sleeping Beauty dress. Gracie could use a new princess costume.

Gracie got so excited when I told her what I was making that she demanded I work hard and sew it right now. Sew all night! Then, she can wear it in the morning and we'll go to Disneyland.

I let her watch me smooth out the fabric, lay out the pattern and cut out the pieces. I have enough fabric so that both girls get a Princess Jasmine outfit. The fabric is a light satin and I have some matching sheer beaded organza. Should be very pretty when the costumes are done, but these aren't my favorite fabrics to work with. In fact, they might be frustrating in the machine. Two Jasmine pants, two Jasmine tops, two fabrics... cutting took me over an hour. Gracie fell asleep supervising the cutting process.

She also needs the headband and necklace with a big blue jewel on it.

I hope I'm not in big trouble when she wakes up (which should be any minute now) and the Princess Jasmine outfit isn't done yet. It's just a pile of funny cut pieces! Guess what my little slave-driver will be demanding that I do today; I'll bet she will make sure I get in a lot of good sewing time this afternoon.

Moving Again, but not going anywhere

Another bedroom shuffle is in the works. We are preparing to move Baby Libby out of our room and into a shared room with her big sister. Problem is, Gracie's pink room is too small for two beds. We've had two beds in that room before and it just didn't work very well. So, Libby and Gracie will move into my sewing room (which is bigger than the pink bedroom).

When I was moving Gracie out of our room I wanted to put her into the room where she and Libby are now going. This room is the biggest of the two bedrooms and it is a straight shot from my room making it easy to check on Gracie. Plus, the larger room has a very nice window and catches the morning sun. But, I was outvoted. Not sure how my vote counts less than my husband's vote but it always does. He wanted her in the smaller room around the corner. He won the location; I won the color. Much to his disgust, I painted the room pink!

Gracie loves her pink room. She always calls it "My Pink Room". She's not going to be happy to have to give up her pink walls. I have a feeling I will be buying pink paint again before too long.

The little girls will share the pale dull green room. The pink room will become a reading library/guest room, and my sewing area is going back into the far corner of the master bedroom again.

The moving begins!

Serging like a Newbie

My sewing skills are rusty, but my serging skills are just plain "New".
*update: "Define serger" ok! Click here!

I made the first little dress for Gracie and then I made a pinafore dress and bloomers for Libby, a sundress for Libby, and the two Snow White dresses. I also serged up some tears in my favorite worn out jammie pants and I sewed patches on Lexie's jeans. That was on the sewing machine though.

I've been able to find little snippets of time to get in my sewing room and spent some quality time (that's using the word loosely!) with my machines and patterns and scissors and fabric... love it! I love the room. It's too dark in there at night, I need a better lamp. But otherwise I just love the room!

I finished the Snow White dresses just in the nick of time! I decided Snow White's sleeves were too hard to mess with, so I incorporated a red ribbon at the waistline to give the dress that bit of red that it needed to make it authentic. I omitted the white collar and didn't make a red cape either. Gracie said she needed a red cape, but I told her it's ok, Snow White doesn't wear her cape except when she goes in the woods and we weren't going to the woods.

I made them from a light glitter infused satin. Satin is hard to sew! It frays so badly. Both girls' dresses had issues with fraying. Gracie's dress frayed right through the threads and got a hole in the shoulder seam. I was at Disneyland and kept focusing on that hole. It drove me insane! And Libby had a spot right on the front neckline that wanted to fray out. That'll teach me not to topstitch!

I wonder about my serger knife. It doesn't cut well with gathers and thicker seams. If there is a spot where the fabric is doubled, it seems fine, but if there are more than two layers of fabric, the knife often times does not complete the cut, making the seam absorb the excess and sew a big lump.

I need to learn how to use the differential feed.

Here are the dresses. I did receive several compliments and comments on them, but best of all, the girls loved wearing the dresses!

Sewing Class - Let the serging begin!

I went to a sewing class at JoAnn Fabrics the other day. I was the best student there! Top of the class! Star Student! Teacher's Pet! Yeah, yeah, you guessed that right, I was the only one there. The One-on-One was great though.

Before the class, I thought I should at least try out my new serger and see if I could familiarize myself with it before I go to the class. I figured I should do my homework so I don't walk in totally dense. The machine was all threaded and set up with a scrap in the feed when I got it. I hadn't touched a thing.

I looked it over, fiddled with a few things, reviewed the manual. Then I did it. I stepped on the gas.... Oh baby! I grabbed another scrap to run through the machine. Wow!

I ran out and got some cute printed fabrics and some new patterns - sundresses for the little girls. After getting them all cut out, I whipped up a sundress in lime green with Tinkerbell all over it for Gracie. The serger was smooth as butter!



I used the 4 colors of threads that came on the machine. Are you kidding me? I wasn't going to attempt to even think about finding the thread trails! Four colored seams are just fine for practice. They weren't perfect, but I'm a newbie.

I had my issues. I was having trouble sewing curves. Wondered a thing or two about when you get into this situation or that. Hmmm, good, now I know what types of questions to ask when I go to class. Good. Here is my practice dress:





As you can see, it's a bit wide. Ok, it's really wide! I followed the pattern! I ended up taking it all apart and skinnying it up enough to fit. Looks about the same on a hanger, but it does fit. I have another dress cut out and ready to serge.

When I was in class, I did ask my questions. The instructor/saleslady was glad I asked and she said they were good questions.

Before I could do anything in the class, the lady checked out my machine. I had to take my own machine to the store, accessories and all. It was a lot to lug around, but whatever. She checked it out and said it was in pristine condition, probably only a few seams ever ran through it. Mechanically it was in perfect shape and it sewed like a dream. Really! A Dream!

She discussed the mechanics of the machine, terminology, how to oil it, etc. We talked about what types of needles to use, how to replace them and the light bulb, what kinds of threads and fabrics to use, how and when to change all the settings. Fun stuff.

Then we went over threading. The serger has 4 cones of thread to weave in out under around and through all sorts of gizmos and hookymajings. She showed me a couple of times how all the threads go here, there, here, there, don't forget that one, this one over that one or you'll screw it up... Ok. Then she cut off the threads, pulled them out and said it was my turn! Ack!

Guess what, I did it just fine. So I threaded the machine three times for her and she said that I was ready for the next class, which is how to coverstitch. I forgot to ask how to do a rolled hem, so I will consult my instructional dvd and see if I can figure it out on my own.

For now, I have a great start on how to use my machine and I am not as intimidated by it. I'm ready to make Snow White costumes for the girls! Wonder if I can get them done before our next trip to Disneyland? Hmmm... that might be asking a lot.

All I need is Time in a Bottle

My sewing room is all set up!


This was a lot more work than I thought it would be to set this all up! First, I had to clean out the teenager's stuff. Lordy! What a chore that was! Once I got her disaster picked up and cleared out (mostly) I was ready to start making it my own.

I taped and painted. Taping is such a pain. And a lot of good it does me, I still manage to get squiggly lines at the corners. And how do I get blobs of paint on the ceiling? It's an amateur paint job but its all done. The color doesn't really show up well in the photo on my monitor, but it's a light sage green. It has a grayish hue more than a yellowish one. A good neutral color without being tan or white. Took me forever to paint the room too. I only did a little at a time because I had so much "help".

After the carpet had been vaccuumed really really really well (proving it needs to just get yanked out), I moved in a table and my little plastic storage bins. The room was ready for machines!

I unpacked and set up my Father-In-Law's machine in the corner on a little sewing table. I inherited these things from him when he passed away a couple of years ago. I'm sure they belonged to my Mother-In-Law. I'm glad he kept them. It's a Viking sewing machine circa 1950. It's in excellent condition and all the parts and accessories are in the case, including the instruction manual. Can't wait to give it a run.

Next I moved my Singer sewing machine into the room from the far corner of my bedroom. It was happy to move into the light. This is a great little machine and I've sewn a lot of miles of thread and fabric with this baby.

The Grand Finale! I took my new serger out of the box! First exposure to the great big world! It's a nice machine, Husqvarna Viking Huskylock 936. You can see it still has all of the initial thread cones on it with the nice bright colors. Once I learn how to use it, it's going to be my dream machine.

Last but not least, I put a baby gate in the doorway! Ta-Da! My sewing room is ready for me. Now, I just need to find time to get in there.

Present Peeking!

I'm getting a present! A big lovely present!!! My husband let it spill that he's getting me a Mother's Day / Graduation gift and before he buys it, because he has no idea if he's getting the right one, he wanted to ask me what I thought. I was so neglected on Mother's Day last year, didn't even get a card so this sounds pretty good already! Sure! Whatcha thinking?!!! [big silly grin]

Hubby: You want a serger?

Me: (totally overcome with excitement, can barely breathe!) Really! That's so great! (heart pounding!) I've wanted one for a long time! (10 or 12 yrs, but who's counting?)

Hubby: yeah, I know. Even though I don't know what the hell it is. Look this one up and see if its what you want - Viking 936

Me: Viking! OMG! YES!

Hubby: It says its a good one with all the bells and whistles, I don't know what any of this means but there is a long list of features. And I figure you won't upgrade, might as well start at the top.

Me: (Having a mini-heart attack of joy and wondering if this is all a dream) true, I've had my sewing machine for 17 years and haven't upgraded. I'll look up the 936. Hope it has a differential feed.

Hubs: If that's not what you want, pick one and let me know. Unless you want something else for Mother's Day and Graduation.

Me: No, it's a great idea! I could make all the princess dresses for the little girls!

Hubby: What does this thing do anyway? Why is a serger so special?

Me: It ....oh, how do I explain this.... it, it takes the "home made" look out. Things will look more like you bought them at a store. The stitches look like... um, the stitching inside your clothes, see that, that's what it does.

Him: hmm. ok.



So, I've been looking up the Viking 936 and its an amazing machine. I'm not finding any bad reviews on it, but I am not really finding a whole lot about it either. Most people have a Singer or a Brother or something popular like that, which is giving me second thoughts. But... the more I look at this machine the more I drool over it. It's a Husqvarna Viking Huskylock 936.

Anyone know anything about it? Do I really want this one? Or should I consider another brand/model? I don't want to start with one I'll outgrow in a year, why upgrade, just start with the one I will keep and use forever. What do you have? Do you love it?

I'm so excited!!!

Princess Party!

My oldest princess really is a princess! She was hired to act as Belle from Beauty and the Beast at a birthday party for a 4 yr old girl named Mia. Mia was speachless when she saw that Belle came all the way from Disneyland to be at her birthday party. And she was 100% convinced that Katie was the real Belle! Here are some pictures from the party, Gracie was invited and had a good time too!

The princess costume was an adventure. The party mom asked her to come dressed as any Disney princess. Katie tried on costumes at the costume shop for Snow White and Cinderella and Belle. I've never seen my daughter look so awful in a dress! The costumes just hung on her and she just looked like a girl wearing a cheesy cheap costume. And the wigs weren't very good either; Poor Katie doesn't have the right hair for Snow White or Cinderella. She can't let this little girl down! Mia has an annual pass to Disneyland and she knows what the princesses look like!

So we ran to Walmart to buy fabric since everything else was closed at that hour. By the way, this is the night before the party around 9pm. Luckily, they had a bolt of beautiful golden satin. Whew! Belle will be at the party! We came home and put Baby Princess to bed, Katie ran off with her friends and I was left with a job to do. I laid out the satin on the dining room table, pulled out some patterns for guidance since we didn't have a pattern to work from - I had to piece some old ones together and size it with our best guesses. I worked on it till 1am when Princess Gracie woke up for the first of her night-wakings. (she wakes up 2 or 3 times a night and needs to be fed, snuggled and lulled back to sleep). I went to bed after that. Gracie woke up again at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep till 6am, her next normal waking time. We slept till 7am and then it was back to the piecing together the dress. Between Gracie's demands, and Katie's fussiness about looking perfect, I got the dress done at 12 noon. We grabbed her tiara that she wore to prom last spring, and we were ready! Party in two hours and we had an hour drive to get there!





The neatest thing that happened at the party was Katie's connection with a down's syndrome girl. Jandi does not socialize and prefers to be left alone in her own space, and nobody is allowed to touch her paper and her markers! Nobody until Katie came along dressed as Belle. Not knowing Jandi's personal space issues, Katie was able to interact with Jandi which drew attention from her family. I heard whispers of "Look, she's talking to Belle!" Cameras started coming out. Then a collective gasp from the crowd as Katie took one of her markers and began to color with her. Katie and Jandi drew pictures together and talked together. Tears were being choked back by the grown-ups in the room. Jandi gave Belle a hug and a drawing, Belle gave Jandi a hug back, a drawing and a piece of candy. Katie has a gift with children and her interaction with Jandi was the gift of the day for everyone! Katie was thrilled to pieces after she learned that her interaction with Jandi was a major accomplishment. I'm so proud of her! She has once again been refueled with desire to become a special education teacher. Thank you, Jandi!