Another sling, boy style

My sewing group suggested that we sew baby slings as our current project, which I thought was a great idea!  I love my slings, and they are a super simple project.  Tuesday we got started...

and finished!!  In our two hour class period all six of us made a sling, start to finish!  That includes the time it took me to explain the process, although these ladies were sharp. They didn't need much help from me.

Since most of my slings were made with Myra in mind, they run on the girlie side, and I wanted something a little more gender neutral for my wee man.  Mitch suggested camo, but I have to wear it too and camo does not mesh well with my wardrobe.  I went with chocolate brown, bound in forest green.  It's a nod to camo.

If you'd like more info on slingmaking, I wrote about it here.  Both Duncan and I are very happy with this one!

Simplicity 5695 again...

Have I mentioned that I LOVE this pattern??

It is Simplicity 5695.  I think this is the sixth time I've used it, making everything from knit tee shirts to a flower girl dress.  If you sew for a little girl, you should have this pattern.  Simplicity also just expanded the size range to include bigger girls from size 3 to 8.  The larger size pattern is number 2377 and includes some cute sleeve variations as well.  Myra is sporting a size 2 here, and I think it gives her a little room to grow, which is good, since she's been busily growing out of all her dresses!

I was planning to sew this dress with my sewing group, but the fabric was sitting on my table just calling to me, so I had to sew it.  I think it will be easier to teach pattern layout without the added complexity of multiple fabrics anyway, so I'm telling myself that it's better this way.  And I have an excuse to sew it again!  I love this pattern.

Sewing Group preview...

My sewing group* is meeting tonight and I am planning to give a little mini lesson on gathering.  I was planning to highlight 3 methods - traditional, elastic thread, and clear elastic.  I wanted to have  little project to show the methods with, but not anything too complicated or large.  It hit me on Sunday - Barbie clothes!!  They're small, and hey - Barbie likes her ruffles, right?  I decided to make two items, a "sundress" with a hemline ruffle (traditional gathering) and a shirred bodice (elastic thread) and a full skirt with the waistline gathered with clear elastic.

Here is my first trial run.  I didn't get too fancy with the edge finishes - they're just overcast.  Funnily enough, we don't actually have any Barbies around here, so I had to look up her measurements online.  Have you ever googled "Barbie measurements"?  Pretty funny stuff...

*For those who might be wondering, my sewing group is a bunch of ladies from my church who are interested in and/or like to sew.  We all get together every other week and work on projects.  We usually have a brief lesson that I teach and then we work on whatever we want, and are all there to help out when we get stuck.  I love it!!

Butterick 4461

On Tuesday at sewing group I finished my skirt. I chose this pattern because it was simple and quick, which I knew I would need since my main focus at sewing group is to teach rather than to sew. Since I used it to demonstrate pattern lay out, I needed something with an on fold as well as an on grain pattern piece. This one fit the bill nicely. It is a basic A-line skirt with a faced waist and zipper, paired darts on front and back. The pattern also has several trim options, but I thought my fabric was busy enough to speak for itself. I will admit that since I was looking for this to be a quickie, I didn't put any extra effort into finishing it beautifully, so you won't be getting an inside glimpse on this one...
The zip is a simple centered zipper at CB, which I used to teach my group how to install a centered zipper. It did go in nicely.

The only trouble that I had with this skirt was my own fault. I don't really like front darts, since I think they just accentuate the roundness of my tummy (and who needs that!), so I had planned to ease the front into the facing, but ended up with a big tuck, right at CF, which I naturally didn't notice until I had understitched and trimmed the facing. Grr!! I had to rip it all out, put in the darts and resew the waistline. In the end it turned out OK. I moved the darts over to the side and lengthened them in the hopes of minimizing the tummy roundness.

My next sewing group project will be a sweater to match, so I'll model the ensemble for you when it's all done.

Our first meeting!

We had our first meeting for my new church sewing group last night and it went great! Here we all are. I was so excited at the awesome turnout. There were 11 sewing machines, all going full steam the whole time.
We all dug in and helped each other. Here Emily and Wendy help Rhonda get her pillow cover cut out.
Randi looks a little frustrated here, but her pillow turned out great in the end.
Our own little sweatshop! You can see Beth and her oldest daughter, Bryn grinning in the back! Elisabeth and Starla are hard at work and Emily is toting Sara's youngest.
Look at all the awesome pillows!! Everyone did a great job. I was so proud! I think it went well, and we are getting ready for round 2 in 3 weeks. We'll be starting some simple skirts.

So, what is your favorite, go-to skirt pattern?