A Winter Dress & Crochet Beenie for Elena

As much as I love PDF patterns, I have to give some serious love to this McCall's pattern that I have used at least 4 times in the past year. It is M6785 and it makes all sorts of raglan sleeved tunics or dresses. There are options for a neckband, turtleneck, or hood. You can make a tunic with or without ruching at the bottom or use the partial circle skirt option. There is also a kangaroo pocket piece, applique pieces, and a leggings pattern that I haven't tried. The possibilities are endless! And when you can buy it for $1 at a Joann's sale it makes me, a frugal person, very happy.

McCall's 6785: clockwise from top left: 1. Signature Style 2. Golden Days of Fall 3. Snowflake Dress 4. Version 1

This most recent version uses the turtleneck with the circle skirt in a stretch velour for a really cozy winter dress. Can you get any more comfortable than that? I added length to the sleeves because all my kids have long arms, but I went a bit overboard. They will surely fit all winter. And next winter too! 

Version 1

(Incidentally, her little purse is a free pattern I found here. It's the perfect size for her. I should have lengthened the strap more but I didn't anticipate her wearing it cross-body like her big sister does with her messenger bag. Monkey see, monkey do.)

So that plain version was fine, perfectly nice, but I had a burst of inspiration in the wee hours of one morning so I changed it up. I LOVE it now and am so glad I didn't leave it plain. It's mighty cold out today, but Elena asked to take pictures (code for I want marshmallows). She braved the cold and earned 2 marshmallows and a cup of hot chocolate. 

In order to crochet scallops to the bottom, I needed a way to attach them. I did a quick blanket stitch to provide loops to work through. If you do this, you have to be sure to have loops all the way around, even where you have to join in a new piece of thread.  

Then I did a row of single crochet all the way around. Here's a nice blurry picture of that step.

I'm no crochet expert and I make things up a lot, but the way I did the scallops was to do a single crochet, 3 doubles, and another single in one chain space. Then I skipped one chain space and repeated all the way around. The yarn is from my stash and the label was gone, but I do know that it is 100% cotton and I got it at Walmart last fall.

The beenie began with a magic loop and 11 double crochets. I alternated one row of double crochet, 2 rows of single crochet, and kept repeating until a few final rows of singles for the edge/brim.

I took these pictures in the driveway and front yard of my friend's house right on the lake. I guess I'll find out if she reads my blog or not!

"I can't feel my hands. I can't feel my hands!"

Project Run & Play Wk 2 - Refashion of Hand-me-downs

I am Elena and I am 3. My big sister is 16 and loves clothes - so that makes me really lucky. My mom made her clean out her room just before school started in August. She piled Mom's bed high with lots of good stuff she didn't want anymore. There was a plaid jacket she got at the thrift store but never wore once. There was a mint green t-shirt with a really low neckline. I'm not sure what "modest" means but I think it's the opposite of this shirt. (I'm learning opposites in preschool.) And there was a polka dot sweater my sister wore a few times but too many other people at school wore it too so that meant she couldn't wear it anymore, I guess. 

Can you believe that I am skinny enough that my mom made me a pair of pants out of just the sleeves of this jacket?! She says that if I was any bigger at all she couldn't have done it. It's this nice soft and stretchy material, and if that wasn't comfy enough, she also put some really soft, stretchy knit fabric around my ankles and tummy so they are really comfy and I can put them on and off myself! I love these pants. She said she used her own leggings pattern.

So I needed a new shirt and liked this soft green one. Mom won herself a copy of the GYCT Tinley Tee last week so we tried that one out and it's great. But Mom says this rib knit is too stretchy and she didn't like sewing it. I think it turned out nice and my favorite part is the beads around the neck. I had to promise not to pick at them because I did do that once before to a shirt Mom spent a lot of time on and she looked at me reeeeeaaal mean for that. But that's when I was 2 and, like I said, I'm 3 now so you can trust me Mom.

Now this sweater was just a plain pullover and Mom used a pattern called the Aster Cardigan to change it. She says that's is a really nice pattern and she plans on making me a lot more of these kinds of sweaters for this winter. I did hear her complaining again about this thin super stretchy fabric while I was drawing on the chalkboard. But hey Mom, get over it. And, I can do the buttons myself so that tells you how big and smart I am getting. (Also Mom says to tell you she was afraid the fabric would stretch and wave too much at the front placket if she sewed it normally, so she used hem tape and hand sewed it.)

I told Mom I like hats now so she whipped up this fun one after I went to bed. She says she can't crochet with me around because I'm like a kitty cat. I'm not sure what she means by that, but I do like to play with the yarn and practice tying knots so I was sad I missed out. Also, Mom usually makes my hats really super big so I'm glad this one just fits and doesn't swamp my little face.

So I got a new sweater, t-shirt, and pants thanks to my sister, plus a hat . And did you notice my awesome shoes my dad's friend gave me? My mom says she had some like that back in the late 70's when she was a kid. 

So one last thing about taking pictures - I don't really like doing it so I didn't want to when Mom asked after dinner. But later, I remembered she would give me a marshmallow, so I said, "Ok, let's go do pictures." But it got dark while Mom drove around saying, "Where is that black wall? I thought it was on this block." I got a marshmallow just for putting on the clothes and going for a drive. Then we tried again in the morning, but I wasn't being very good. I just can't help playing with the rocks and there were so many of them! Plus this wall faces east and I guess that's a problem with the sun or something. I think we both felt like hitting our heads against a brick wall so we went home. 

Maybe Mom should sew for herself for a little while.

PRP - My Signature Style

I am really excited to present my signature style outfit for the final week of Project Run & Play. I almost didn't do it because I wasn't sure I had a signature style. I actually refrain from labels like that in most cases. "My" anything turns me off. For instance, I could never say, "This is my lasagna recipe." because I never make most things the same way twice. I don't want people to expect the same thing from me all the time. So I had to get over that and do some serious thinking and I'm soooo glad I did because now I understand myself much better and what makes me happy about sewing and creating homemade outfits. Thank you Project Run & Play.

My signature style is:

1. Rather old-fashioned in a lot of ways. I like little girls to look like little girls. I like ruffles and gathers. I like the late 1800's, the 1920's and the 1940's & 50's.
2. There is almost always a refashion involved or thrifted, reclaimed materials. 
3. I don't necessarily want it to be recognized as homemade but I don't want it to look like it came from one of the major retailers either. 
4. I like to mix in a modern component - tribal leggings, riding boots, high-low hems, etc.  

So, here is my look on my 2 year old who is now full of mini-marshmallows. 

The sweater is a refashion of my old sweater that I hadn't worn in years. It was super easy to cut down and resew together in her size and will still fit her next fall too - bonus.

The top is McCall's 6388. I added pockets and decorative stitching. I made it last week to sew along with Katy of No Big Dill for "P" week of her Sew All 26 Challenge. See here for more details.

The pants are self drafted straight leg leggings in charcoal gray cotton spandex from Girl Charlee. I love making leggings that fit her just right.

I crocheted the hat, folded it up, and sewed on a big button. It is made with a magic loop and then all double crochets until the final 4 rows of single crochets. To create a button hole, I chained 5 stitches and skipped that many for the second last row of single crochets off-center on the front. The big button is inherited and quirky.

So that sums me up pretty well. It's creative, it's comfy, it's practical and thrifty and no other little girl has the same outfit.

Toddler Infinity Scarf

 

 

I checked a Love of Crochet magazine out of the library, and set out to try some new things. First up, was the Winter Skies Cowl. I made this scarf for Elena, mostly because that's how much of this leftover yarn I only had. A happy accident. I only had enough to do the first 5 rounds, but it wraps around her skinny neck 3 times and looks great with her fleece jacket which was all she needed on a nice 50+  degree day in December. I love it. She looks quite stylish for a slightly ill 2 year old out for a hike at the duck pond and nature center.