Last week, I finally opened and prepped the pattern for a very EASY sundress for Miss E. I've had this adorable cartoon cat fabric for a couple of months, found the purrfect trim fabric, and sat on it while I did dolls instead. I was pumped. I got it all cut out in no time but the minute I started trying to follow the "very simple" instructions (yeah, right), I realized the problem with a $3 or $4 pattern. The illustrations are awful, showing only a little of the overall piece you're working on, and the written instructions are bleak. There's one partial sentence that covers about eight steps, and it's up to you to figure it out. That's not a challenge I enjoyed, so I slugged it out for about four days until The.Damn.Dress was finished. I about screamed when Miss E stated she did NOT like it and would not wear it ... but that faded away and the next day, she was elated to show it to my sister and refused to take it off on Tuesday.
I admit, it's adorable. You should see it on her, but I neglected to get a photo the whole day she wore it ... She had on red knit pants under it and a puffy-sleeved, short-sleeve brown t-shirt. She smiled ear-to-ear. :) Anyhow, the armholes are not right, but I never could figure out what I was supposed to do from the instructions, so I had to kind of wing it. Fortunately, it manages to lay well enough that you don't really notice, and it's not so bunged that she whines about lumpiness. The pockets are cool; I did learn to do a tuck on a pocket, and I can see using that for an apron sometime. And the ties on the top are a funky teardrop shape on the end, and that may come in handy.
I'm not sure if I'll ever try *this* pattern again, but I am happy with the final result. It just killed my creative mojo for a full week ...
Before the dress, I whipped out an adorable baby bib in just an hour, and that got me all fired up. Now I know I can make these for all of our friends' new babies -- yippee! (I also had to fix the tension on my sewing machine the week prior, so seeing these pretty little stitches made me so very happy. That was quite a lesson in patience.)
I'm lousy at coming up with boy ideas, but I think I'm finally getting better. Let's just say it's a good thing I have two girls, or they would probably be sick of robots, monsters and aliens! That said, robots, monsters and aliens ARE cute, and yes, I've made two more. These were special thank you gifts for the two midwives who delivered little miss e (not to be confused with Big Miss E!), and since today was my final six-week checkup, we delivered the fun stuff to Anabel and Lauren for their little boys.
Anabel has an 18-month-old son, and he received a wacky robot, this one with some crazy ribbon hair. Lauren has a 6-month-old son, and he received a fun and crazy-haired alien. The idea for the alien came from one of the funniest books that Miss E has been given as a gift (thanks to my sister) ... "Aliens Love Underpants". We were reading the book a week or two ago and decided that the little blue alien on a particular page was too cute, and that he should be made into a plushie. Hopefully both boys will like the gifts as well as their mamas did!
A month or so ago, while still pregnant and waiting, I also finished the baby stuff for my sister, who is due at the end of this month with ... a baby boy. She selected the fabric, and it is truly cute. It's a brand-new David Walker print from the line Oh Boy!, with lots of little dinosaurs all over. I bought four fat quarters (stripes and pattern included) and squeezed out a bib, two burp cloths, and a small baby quilt. I have just enough left for a special surprise gift, but she won't get that until the little dude is born.
