McCall's 6237: A Birthday Dress

My daughter's birthday is December 26th and I can not believe she has turned 2!  How those baby-months fly by and before you know it you have a "big girl" on your hands.  I decided to make her a pretty party dress for her birthday and I settled on McCall's 6237 because it had long sleeves and a classic shape. 
But, would you look at the sample from the pattern cover??!!

It is hard to tell but that dress is made with "contrast pockets and bodice".  If you ask me that dress is NOT made with "contrast" anything, rather it is made with really similar, almost the same, black and white prints.  The skirt and sleeves print has a kind of green wash which I guess they were trying to emphasize through the addition of the acid green bow.  McCall's - thumbs down to you for your horrible sample dress!  Good thing your adorable model is a professional and can work it in any crazy thing you put on her!

Ok, now for my version of McCall's 6237, view A ...

I used a nice cotton print by Anna Griffin that I picked up at my local quilt shop.   I love the vintage feel of the print and I think it made for a really sweet, kind of casual little girl's dress.  I went for contrast pockets and bodice lining but skipped the bow and kept the bodice, sleeves and skirt in one print.  The pockets and bodice lining are from Kona solid.  I wouldn't normally recommend Kona for a garment lining but it was the perfect color, just sitting there in my stash ready to go! My daughter's favorite thing about the dress is the pockets - she loves a pocket! 

And the fact that she gets to wear her boots with it - she also loves a boot! 

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

Sitting Room Renovation: Window Treatments

So far my sitting room renovation has gone from this...



To this!

I've been sewing miles and miles of curtains.  I made 6 panels for this little room and these babies are 114" long.  I used a large scale print from the AMH Loulouthi line - it is called "Clippings" in the Glow colorway.  

I ended up using quilting weight cotton because I really wanted this print and felt I could make the cotton work as a drape as long as I used a good drapery lining. 

This is my first time hanging rods like this from the ceiling - I really like the effect that these floor to ceiling drapes have in this room.  The ceilings are 9' in this room and the drapes make them seem even higher than they are.  I think that for privacy's sake I may need to hang a sheer inside the window frames on a tension rod.  I'm not sure yet, we're going to live with the window treatments as is for a while and make a decision later. 

I have plans for a nice upholstered chair that will go near the front windows.  I have several additional print fabrics that I'll also bring into the room.  There will be pillows people!  I also have plans for little chochkies and such to fill the walls and flat surfaces.  And I have my eye on a great circular mirror with a vintage feel that will hopefully live above my fireplace someday soon, reflecting the big front windows. 

And I have to create some type of screen for this:

This fire place is original to the house (1910) but it hasn't been in use in the last 50 years or so.  I would love to have some sort of gas insert put in (since the last home owners refurbished the chimneys) but the reality is that won't happen for years.  So for now I need to hide this insulation some how.  I'm thinking an upholstered board of some sort that would sit inside the grate.  Maybe? 

It's not done yet but I'm very happy with the way this room is turning out.  I can't wait to curl up in there with my Kindle and a glass of wine!

Yo-Yo Tree Garland in Parisville Fabrics

Let the Christmas Chores oops, I mean Cheer, begin!

I'll give you fair warning that usually Christmas is not my favorite holiday.  I've been told that I have certain tendencies reminiscent of you know who:

I find Christmas to be a stressful time of year.  There is the shopping, the decorating, the cooking and baking.  I always feel like I have a Christmas-related to-do list that is 1 mile long and I never can get it all done. 

However, this year I'm kind of excited to decorate the house and start the Christmas countdown.  I'm not sure what brought about this change.  Maybe it's because my kids are old enough to really know what's going on at Christmas time and get frantically excited.  Maybe I have a little more energy this year because I'm not pregnant, or nursing, or pregnant and nursing as I have been for the last several years. 

As evidence of my Christmas-y spirit I give you this tree! 

This Christmas tree is at the end of my counter top in the kitchen.  I made the yo-yo garland over my Thanksgiving break using tiny pieces of Parisville fabric that I had in my stash (plus a solid in pink) and one of those Clover yo-yo maker thingies.

In addition to the yo-yo garland I tied some of the branches here and there with little strips of fabric.  The ornaments are all Wizard of Oz characters that I've had for years.  I'd say roughly 50% of my Christmas tree ornaments are Wizard of Oz themed.  I love the Wizard of Oz.  Alot.   
I'm really just down to scraps of the Parisville line at this point.  I'm consoling myself by stocking up on some Prince Charming while I wait for Tula's new line due in April 2012:  Nightshade!!!  Exactly what the doctor ordered for this Halloween-lover stuck in Christmasville.