a Summer outfit for Alyssa . . .

So I got in the sewing room quite a few times this week - yay! And made a new Summer outfit for Alyssa. Once again, I was a pattern tester for the Handmade Dress and this is the new Miss Olivia Paige pattern for the top and the Miss Claire pattern for the skirt. The red sunflower fabric had been sitting in my stash for probably ten years and the yellow fabric was from a box of fabric that was donated to me by a thoughtful aunt. I think this outfit is so stinkin' cute and my little girl was more than happy to wear it until bedtime (which is a big thing around here, because she usually changes back into her pajamas every time we turn around, or walks around in her underpants).

I'm linking this to Sew and Tell Friday. Go there to find some sewing inspiration!

Miss Mary dress (again) . . .

So this is my second time with this pattern from the Handmade Dress and I was a little more creative this time ~ mostly due to the fact that I only had one yard of the Andalucia fabric and made a couple dumb mistakes with my cutting (I shouldn't cut late at night). I love the way it turned out, my favorite part is the ruffle along the neckline and most importantly, she loves it!
I'm linking this to Sew and Tell Friday. Go there to find some sewing inspiration!

Janome felting machine . . .

Some time ago, I came across the ReVamp contest hosted by Janome. The idea was to submit pictures of something you turned from unuseable to useable. Since I already had the pictures on my computer, I uploaded before and after pictures of a ladies blouse that I turned into a baby doll top. I had made this some time ago and Alyssa's worn it many times.

So I had forgotten about this contest up until a month ago, when I was contacted by Janome to let me know that I'd won a judges choice award! And last week a beautiful new Janome felting machine was delivered to my door!

I've played with this machine a little bit and the idea is that it meshes fabrics or fibers together. I experimented on a pair of jeans (that Elayna refused to wear) by putting ribbon above the hem and punching it from the top side. Then I cut some different shapes of fabric and punched them through from the wrong side. It's definitely a fun machine to work with and so easy to use because there's no thread, bobbin, or even tension, just needles punching anywhere you choose. I hope to get better at this and use it more often for embellishing. I think it would also work great for patching up holes in the knees of kids jeans, but in a fun way. And even though I need a lot more improving in this skill, Elayna loves the jeans now. :)