“A generation which ignores history has no past, and no future.”~Robert A. Heinlein
Three years of sewing has zipped by, like time seems to do the older you get. As I look back on the projects and progression of the last three years, I can definitely see an improvement in my sewing skills. The more you sew the better you get at it I suppose. Doing all of the different projects has exposed me to LOTS of different techniques. I still think I have a lot to learn!
I always do a poll on Facebook to let followers of my blog vote on their favorite posts of the year. Looking back I did sew lots of aprons. They are a fun gift to give, but also my contribution to a joint craft fair event. I also realized that I look at my sews through a different lens than my blog readers. When I see them I think of what was going on during that particular time in my life when they were being sewn. I also think of any mishaps or difficulties I might have had while sewing them. The favorite sews to me are the ones that challenged me.
So here are a few of my favorites of the year!
This blouse was something new for me. it had tucks in the front and back, and a gathered yolk. The cuffs were also a non traditional shape so there were lots of technical elements to it.
The link to the making of this technique full sew is below.
The jacket that I made for myself was also a challenge. Although I made a different style of jacket way back in the first year of my blog, this one was different. Using a different type of fabric, and making sure all of the details were in place kept me on my toes. I’ll also add that I wore this jacket all winter long to work and it did a great job keeping me warm, and I got a lot of compliments on it!
See how I made it below.
As far as technical and challenging goes, let me remind you about this dress redo! Elizabeth had bought the dress on clearance. Due to its style and her scoliosis, it didn’t fit. I had to take the dress apart, and refashion it to fit her! Whew! I still don’t know how I pulled it off! HA!
Revisit my stress and sewing for the Barbie dress below!
I loved making this jumper for Alice! I used an old house coat and upcycled it, AND added strawberry features to dress it up for this super sweet little girl!
See how I did it below.
This dress was truly a labor or love! Sewing a dress for my cousin Melanie, out of WWII fabric that our Grandpa had was a fun sew and full of love! Melanie wore it to her son Jake’s Army boot camp graduation. I felt blessed to be able to do this special sew for her!
Check me out wrestling with the roll of WWII fabric below!
Speaking of labors of love, here’s the duck quilt that I made for baby Emerson! I had to figure out the pattern on my own, which was very challenging. But for me quilts are always the ultimate piece of sewn love. Quilts get to comfort you for years to come. If you look closely you can see the work that goes into them. If you ever get a quilt, just know that someone must love you a lot. LOTS of work goes into them. With this one, adding the little piece of Grandma Joyce’s shirt made it extra special and full of love!
See the love that went into it below!
My favorite sew of the year was the Star Wars outfit that I made for Mia. She wore it to Star Wars night at Disneyland. It took a pants pattern from the 1980’s, a dress pattern from the 1970’s, and my own creative skills to make it. I made the cape completely on my own without a pattern. I love the way it turned out!
The force is strong with this sew, to revisit it the link is below.
ALL of the sewing and skill building brought me to a very challenging project, that I thought would make a perfect anniversary sew.
I had made my niece Lauren a doll long before the blog. For Christmas one year I made her doll some new dresses. The link to that is below.
But Lauren thought her doll needed some new clothes. She said I was the best at sewing, and could I make some new clothes. Of course I could, but here was the catch. Lauren wanted to design the new outfits for her doll. She sent me this drawing to replicate.
I got to work! The first thing I did was to get out the doll pattern. I used the clothing patterns that it came with as a guide. The doll came with a pantaloon pattern, so I used that for the pants. The only blue fabric in my stash was scraps, so I had to piece them together.
The pants that Lauren drew needed to be longer than pantaloons so I marked a hem line longer than the pattern.
I sewed the pants together, and ran elastic around the waist. I dug through my stash and picked out two yellow buttons to match the picture Lauren drew.
I moved on to the shirt. I used the bodice pieces of the original dress pattern, and lengthened them.
Lauren’s drawing had short, puffy sleeves. I cut sleeves, gathered them, and sewed them into place. I hemmed the sleeves and ran elastic through the hem. I then dug through my buttons again and got lucky!
I had two flower buttons that looked like the flowers that Lauren had drawn! The first outfit was completed, and pretty accurate!
The next thing Lauren wanted for her doll was a nightgown. This is the drawing she sent. She also said that the flowers on the collar should be “light red”. Challenge accepted!
I used the bodice front and back pieces of the dress and made them long like the night gown. I then drew out the sleeves.
I used a solid pink fabric, and solid yellow fabric to build the look of the nightgown. I pieced it all together. I cut out the pieces, and embroidered little “light red” flowers onto a collar. I purposely cut the stripes different widths and angles to look the way that Lauren drew them.
Putting the sleeves on.
Since there were yellow ruffles at the wrists of the sleeves, I cut two strips of fabric. I ironed them in half and gathered them.
I sewed the sleeves and hem, and added heart buttons. This doll nightgown was complete! Not too bad if I do say so myself! Lauren will be getting her new doll clothes for her birthday. She doesn’t know that I was able to make them. My mom thinks Lauren and I should go into a doll making business! Lauren’s designs and my work.
But now, what was the voted on fan favorite sew of the year, you might be wondering? It’s the “Monster’s Inc.” dress that I made Alice for her birthday! The pattern in case you forgot.
The finished product! This dress is so cute and fun! Alice looks adorable in it! It was the perfect dress for her monster themed party!
Check out the making of this year’s fan favorite below!
Alice has gotten lots of use out of her monster dress. She recently wore it to the Children’s Discovery Center in Merced, Ca.
And she wore it on an Auntie/Alice date to Disney California Adventure!
So that’s a wrap on year three of my blog! Of course there are other sews, already in the works.
Thanks for following me on this adventure, and not just my readers in the United States! Thank you to my readers world wide too! Since I started this blog I have been visited by 51 countries! If you’re wondering which ones they are; The Untied States (of course) United Kingdom, Ireland, China, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Germany, France, India, South Africa, U.S. Virgin Islands, New Zealand, Spain, Turkey, Netherlands, Philippines, Switzerland, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Brazil, Panama, Finland, Denmark, Pakistan, Malaysia, Italy, Nigeria, Ukraine, Austria, Bangladesh, Argentina, Mongolia, Hong Kong SAR China, Serbia, Slovenia, Bahrain, Morocco, Luxembourg, Indonesia, Ghana, Lebanon, Guatemala, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Japan, Tunisia, Belgium, and Peru! I’ll consider that “going global”!
Let’s not forget why I started it all to begin with, to pay tribute to my Grandma Doris. So to her I would like to say;
Hi Grandma!
Sewing along in your footsteps and beyond has been an amazing journey so far. I’ve learned a lot about sewing, and am sure I have so much more to learn. Even more than sewing, I’ve dived deep into family history and learned about all of the Grandma’s (and Grandpa’s) who made me who I am today. I’ve tried hard to honor them, and you, by my sewing and story telling. I’ve tried to be generous with my sewing. Giving to those I love the way you did, using whatever skill I might have to create things that make people feel special, they way you said you felt when your grandma gave you your own quilt as a little girl.
When I was little and would watch you sew things it was magical to me.
Thank you for passing on your magic to me.
Love, Nicole
As for me, onto the next!
This post is so fun, sweet, and sentimental! All of your sews this past year have been awesome and I love how you made Lauren’s designs come to life! Lauren is right, you are the best at sewing! <3
It was so fun to make!!
Happy Anniversary! Love reading your content and seeing the new projects you have going.
Beautiful you are such a unique individual.I am going to put this on my bucket list , to take the time I never have or find to go through all this, really read and look at all this great stuff/ stories your grandma is I’m sure beaming with joy! I would love to get you to do a project t for me:) I’ll let yo know. Your a gem
I love this. I always look forward to your Friday posts! Thank you, again, for the dress you made me! I love it! ❤️
Oh my! This one is just unbelievable! The cuteness of the drawn doll pictures coming to life before our eyes is truly like magic❣️ My mom would be so proud of what you have created with your blog and all of your sews. I’d like to thank you with all my heart for keeping her alive in you and your sewing ❤️❤️❤️😢