One-piece Smock

outsideback
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

pattern
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

A smock for the preschool based on one that they already had. I used a vintage sheet for the body, seam binding for the edges, and ribbing for the neck and cuffs. I posted a picture of the pattern that I drafted below so you can get an idea of the easy, one-piece construction. I was thinking that it would be even easier to buy a thrifted sweatshirt and cut off the bottom ribbing, some of the back, and add seam binding to the raw edge.

I've been doing some other sewing, but haven't had a lot of time to blog. That's all for now.

P.S. Ignore the weird black thread. Sometimes I revert to my lazy sewing habits and don't change the thread. Sorry, Sara. ;)

I Made It! Wardrobe (part 2): The T-shirt Replacement

Part two in the series of posts documenting sewing my own clothes over the past year-and-a-half.

These shirts are soooooo much better than my yucky old t-shirts. I just want to make more and more. This way I get to hang out with my stash on a daily basis. I've written lots more about how much I love this pattern over here.

Go over to the flickr set to see them embiggened.

P.S. I wanted to point out that on the shirts and skirts (previous post) I used a clothes pin to make the clothes fit the form better.

I Made it! Wardrobe (part 1): The A-Line Skirt

Part one in a photographic series documenting sewing my own garments over the last year-and-a-half.

I'm finally at a place where — when I look in the closet, or my dresser, or the dirty clothes — I see at least several garments that I made for myself. This makes me happy. Here is the garment that started it all: the A-line skirt. After reading on several blogs about the book, Sew What! Skirts, I bought it. The way the book is written appealed to my learning style. Yes, I did want to make garments that actually fit me. The book teaches you how to draft your own skirt patterns, including zippers. And, with a little extra encouragement from my mom, I finally got over my fear of the zipper. Once you can put in a zipper, you can make just about anything. I haven't gotten past the basic A-line, because it is such a perfectly simple skirt, but there are many more skirts to try in the future. So many things, so little time.

I'm trying to gather up names for the fabrics and will post them to my A-line flickr set as I find them. Leave a comment if you recognize any.

If you haven't seen my A-line skirt and zipper installation tutorial, it's over there, too.

Dress Love

I did not make this dress—although, I wish I did—it's by Miss Selfridge.

I saw it on one of the five hundred and thirteen blogs that I read. I'm sorry, I can't remember which one. Thank you, whoever posted it. I *love* it.

I would buy the dress if they had my size, but, since they don't, I'd really like to make something similar. Now the hunt begins for a great border print: maybe a Marimekko, if I'm feeling indulgent; or, an Ikea curtain, if I'm feeling frugal; or, a hand-painted, screen-printed jobby, if I'm feeling insane.

Anyone know of a similar dress pattern? Thanks to Alison's suggestion, I found Simplicity 3535 (shown in the line drawing at left) and think it could be a good starting point. A flickr friend also suggested this Japanese book (ISBN 978-4-579-1149-7) by Yoshiko Tsukiori.

I love this feeling of being inspired.

Real and Imaginary Friends

I have my first, actual, real-life knitting circle friends as of today. [Hi, new friends!] A mom from our preschool found me on Ravelry and invited me to her monthly group. We hadn't said more than hello all the school year — but, after she recognized my avatar in a local Ravelry group, she sent me a nice note. You know when you meet up with one of your imaginary online friends it's as if you've always known that person. Well, it was like that, but even better, because they live in my town!!!! The night had all the best things: good food, funny stories, sad stories, felting lessons, and best of all, good folk. I worked on my Vintage Vertical Stripe afghan — only thirty or forty more rows to go. See that copyright date on this old photo — 2006! It's been a long time coming.

If you haven't signed up for Ravelry, I apologize for all the linkage. Now go over there and sign up for an invite, so you can make some friends, be they real or imagined.

Tumbling After

Sun, sunflowers, friends, farm animals, ice cream, and, an ivy-covered hill: the perfect end to a preschool graduation.