My first aprons. Some shirts, too.

Several months ago (I'm embarrassed to say how many, exactly) my sister had a simple request: could you please make myself and my granddaughter matching aprons for my birthday? No problem, I said. Piece of cake. Well, her birthday rolled around at the beginning of July, and still I had not done the aprons. Yikes!

Finally, about a week after said birthday, I decided I needed to get serious about this. I went through my fabric stash, thinking it would be easy to find something in enough quantity to make matching aprons for an adult and a 2 year old. No! I ended up having to go out and BUY fabric. I can't remember the last time I bought fabric for a specific project. I mean, I have a fabric store for heaven's sake - I have fabric coming out of my ears! Of course, you don't make aprons out of bamboo jersey, but still.

Anyway, it took forever to make these because I couldn't understand the Lila Tueller pattern directions to save my life. I must stress that this was NOT the fault of Lila Tueller, but rather my own preconceptions of how the bodice was supposed to go together. I was trying to make the directions fit my (mistaken) vision, and it just was not working. I probably lost two days right there.

Well, I got the apron sewn up and I think it turned out quite nicely after all was said and done. The little girl's apron is from Ottobre.

After finishing the aprons, I was eager to do some embroidery! Between the aprons and my serger being in the shop, my embroidery machine has been much neglected. I decided to try out the Mette pattern that I bought from Dawanda. Very cute pattern and would sew up very quickly if I hadn't done incredibly stupid things like a) made the elastic way too loose - and then way too tight - on the front panel and b) embroidered the back panel of the shirt instead of the front. Romper stomper sewing here, I tell ya! Anyway, I made it work. Sort of. I recut the back panel to make it a front, with the result that the embroidery is now placed way too low, but I am not doing that embroidery and all its 20-something color changes over. Nope.

Embroidery: Tausendschoenes.com and Urban Threads

While I had the green striped fabric out, my little guy came across it and said, "Is this my fabric, mama?" His favorite color is green, always has been, so of course he loved it. I just had to make him a shirt out of it too:

Embroidery: Urban Threads

Pattern: Ottobre

My poor, sick serger

I had just completed two Antonias, which I will show you in a minute. All that was left was to roll the hems. My serger has been acting a little iffy in the rolled hem department lately, so I was a bit worried about what would happen. Well, my worry was entirely well-placed. My machine made a total mess of the hem. And by "mess" I really mean "it tried to eat the fabric, which then became jammed in the machine, which necessitated me using brute strength to remove it, which resulted in the fabric getting torn." That kind of mess.

Well, after spending god only knows how long embroidering these two shirts, I was not about to let my serger eat them. So, into the shop it went for a tune up.

10 days and $100 later, I got my machine back. Oh, happy day! It was so CLEAN! It has not been that clean since I took it out of the box four years ago. I happily took one of the unfinished shirts and set about rolling the hem and....it was a total mess. My serger didn't try to eat the fabric, but it sure couldn't roll a hem to save its life. I threaded and re-threaded, changed needles, etc., etc. I even tried just a regular overlock stitch, and it couldn't manage that well either. Meanwhile, my shirts are getting totally chewed up, and the hems look appalling.

I called the shop and they said to bring it back in. ANOTHER 10 days without my serger? How will I survive? Ugh, I can't even think about it.

Anyway, I'm done with these darn shirts. The hems are ghastly - please don't look at them. But I do like the embroidery.

Pattern: Farbenmix Antonia

Unicorn embroidery: Tausendschoenes.com

Fairy embroidery: Kunterbunt

Double dose of Whitney

There are certain patterns that I am almost embarassed to admit purchasing. Not because they aren't wonderful patterns, but because they are soooo simple. Did I *really* need to purchase the Whitney? No, probably not. I know for a fact I have another racer back pattern, because I remember modifiying it to be a dress. But to be perfectly honest, I like having a ready-made pattern that I don't have to modify, especially if it is one that I am going to use over and over again, like this one. Saves me from having to sort through all my hundreds of patterns to figure out where I put my modification - I can easily locate my Farbenmix patterns, since they take up a rather enormous section of my closet.

Anyway, here are my Whitneys. I did find the pattern to run a bit short, so I added a couple of inches to the hem. Other than that, the fit is great, and this is a terrific summer dress pattern!

Pattern: Farbenmix Whitney

Embroidery: Urban Threads

Crochet Flowers: Annie Design on Etsy