I recently made some matching garments for a mother and her 2 children (13 yr. old boy; 1 yr. old baby girl) to be worn to a church event this Sunday.
That's some realy nice material, and I wanted to keep that long dress for myself.
The baby's dress is a miniature version of her mom's and has the little bloomers. While we both thought the idea of the baby head wrap was cute, I'd be interested to know if she (baby) will agree to keeping it on.
Definitely rare around here. For whatever reason I've long been intimidated by the thought of making them, but...*exhale*...here we are.
The ones above were made from a McCall's pattern that I fell in love with (enough for me to decide to even use a commercial pattern. Oftentimes they stress me out). The pants remind me of my beloved revamped jeans from about 5 years ago, except that in addition to the elastic in the hem, the jeans also tied around the leg.
I adored these jeans, but have since outgrown them :-(.
But what's even better about this new found pattern is the loose fit. They're really comfortable and suit my upcoming style of dress for the Spring and Summer, which I know are gonna be hot, hot, hot!. A few pairs might pop up in my etsy shop as well.
We encountered some threading issues a few times on various machines, and it took longer for a couple students to get into a steady rhythm. We're coming along though, and they're starting to actually see their bags (the chosen project) take shape and are thrilled about it. Of course that thrills me! :+)
*Note: I was proud to have made it through the entire class without my glasses...even threaded a needle or 4! I rely on them so much when I'm working yet misplace them just as much. From time to time I'll push myself to keep them off as a test, and I always do just fine.
For the longest I've been wanting to offer a free sewing workshop to the local community but had never done so due to various reasons. Well, a few weeks ago I thought, "Dangit, let me stop making excuses and just do this." Since this is the month that's been designated as Black History Month and there're hardly ever any events going on for folks to partake of for its sake, I figured why not get it kicked off now? (You may recall an endeavor from February 2008 where we set out to fulfill a similar gap of inactivity.)
I went to the parks and recreation administrative office to secure a room in one of the many public centers they have around here, printed up some flyers/registration forms, went on a radio program to promote, spread the word via other means, and waited to see the response. Well, people showed interested, And I ended up with 14 registered individuals. The first class was tonight (Thursday), and seeing as how it was freezing cold, rainy, and seemingly on the verge of snowing, I was prepared if no one showed. (I figured if nothing else my sistafriend Divine and I would have been in there sewing by ourselves, 'cause the rain wasn't going to stop us, ha!.) People came, though, and I ended up with 7 students. Yaaay!
A few photos...
That's my old school Atlas machine being used. I knew I'd be doing more talking and showing than sewing, so I gave it up for the evening.
My youngest student, age 10. :-) She'd never sewn before, but the child is good!
We'd had several machines donated from a local sewing machine shop owner, however, I was surprised and happy to learn that nearly everyone who registered for the class has a sewing machine. Whether they'd bought it with the intention of learning but never did or gotten one handed down to them, people have machines! That was one concern that had me putting this off: the issue of not having enough machines.
But with all that said, only two people among those who actually showed up tonight had their own machines, so I was very thankful for the donated ones.
My "photographer" (*smile*) took some neat close-ups. This is one of my favorites.
Well, this (^) was once this, but I felt it needed some freshening up and expanding, as it was probably an x-small. There was only so much enlarging that could be done give the amount of fabric, but it'd work as a medium now.
(This revamping is an attempt to get back in the groove where clothing design is concerned.)
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It really made me sad to hear the news in December that actress Brittany Murphy had passed away, and I had one of those "shaking my head"/"um-um-um" moments when I read yesterday the actual cause. Senseless dying.
I'll just go ahead and unashamedly admit that Clueless was and still is one of my favorite films. While I can't recall what capacity I saw the film in when I was barely a teen, I do know that it was an instant favorite. (I'm goofy and it appeals to that side of me.) Everytime I'd see Brittany Murphy on the screen after that, my mind would instantly go back to her "Tai" character (my favorite in the movie). I've always been into music and singing, so I was also struck by her singing voice which is portrayed at various points in Clueless. *Cues:"Rollin' with the homies!" while doing hand wave*
I always feel weird writing or thinking about celebrities who've passed on in the context of why I liked them since they have family and friends to whom they meant so much more to than just their status as an actor/actress, singer, or what have you. This was just on my mind, though.
Woke up Friday and....snooooooow.....in Louisiana!!!! :-D And it's coming down really hard.
