Hello Kitty Summer Dress

I mentioned in my last post that I have turned my crafting interest indoors (due to my wood work shop not existing anymore) I have picked up sewing. I recently got a new sewing machine that I am still working on figuring out all the great features it has. I still haven't shown you what I've been working on for the past few years, but here is a quick summer dress I made in 30 minutes for my little girl!

So this week I went to the fabric store to get a few needed things and of course I saw this Hello Kitty fabric and HAD to get it for my little girl! Right now she adores this little kitty. She was so happy when I showed her the fabric and told her what I was going to make for her. She asked if she could wear it right away. I explained that I needed to sew it first and then she could wear it. Instantly, there was nothing more important than for me to get us home and start sewing! I only got 1 picture because that was as long as I could get her to hold still for me. So here it is, the finished project:

This only took me about 30 minutes and I actually made 2! (One for her little sister too)

The fabric itself has several bands of elastic and gathered fabric at the top. I measured each girl's chest and cut the fabric 1 inch longer to allow for the seam. I sewed each dress together using a 1/2 inch seam. I double checked the top part where the elastic and gathered fabric is to ensure that the elastic was sewn into the seam (to make sure it wouldn't unravel with wear).

I then was going to use my pinking shears on the seam, but remembered that my new sewing machine had special stitches to help fabric not fray. (I did not have enough energy or patience to get my surger out for such a simple job, that probably didn't even need it) I used an overcasting stitch to reinforce the edge of the fabric. I have never used this stitch before so I do not know how it will turn out, but that's the fun of it! Learning new things as we experiment along the way! (I don't think the overcasting stitch was required, but I just did it to see how it holds up and performs. So if you don't have a surger or machine that can do overcasting stitches, this project is still doable for you)

Next, I had the girls try their dress on (inside out) so I could measure the length of straps and pin them into place. I made the straps out of basic black ribbon. (I wanted to make this project as simple as I could...maybe that way I could for sure get it done) If you're like me, I have several projects going at one time and sometimes it takes a while to get them done! Anyway, once in place, I carefully took them off my girls and sewed them into place. I then trimmed up the extra threads and was finished. She was so excited to put it on, I could barely get it on her straight!

She loves this simple, comfortable dress. Once something gets on it she asks if I can wash it right away so she can wear it again. Oh, this is what makes a project worthwhile...the excitement and happiness it brings to others! Happy sewing!!

So it's been a LONG while!

Hello everyone....if anyone is still there! I feel so bad that I have not been crafting. No excuses here, but in case you want to know here's why:

We did major construction on our house...we actually moved our house to the back yard so we could dig a basement. In order to have this happen we needed to tear down our garage, AKA my workshop! I was sad, but SUPER excited to double the size of our house! 4 years later, we are loving our basement! It has made it possible for us to stay in our home. We now have baby #5 on the way, which would NOT have been possible without the basement.

I often think about craft nights and how much fun I use to have helping and visiting with my fellow crafters. I have SOOOOO many ideas that have been running in my mind, but I still don't have a workshop :(   My hubby and I are working on how to get things available to use again. I do not know how soon this will happen, but at least we are talking about it. I have begun to do some indoor crafting (non wood working) since I have this new big spacious basement! (I hope to share these items with you soon...until then, enjoy these exciting pictures of our CrAzY house move!)  I have tried to include pictures that are step by step of the move so there are quite a lot of them. This was such a fun, yet stressful event in our lives. I am so glad we did it and would not change a thing!

 I know I have pictures of the demolition of my workshop or at least I did. They were uploaded to another computer since I could not get into my home during the move...I just don't remember which computer or whose! I am not computer savvy so I need to see if my techy husband can figure it out for me. When they are found (hopefully) I will share them with you.
 
 
 
 


 Before & After:

 This picture isn't the best, I know, but it was all I could find. I need to organize my photos! They are chaotic. I am lucky I found this one.