More Sewing, of Various Kinds

I have been sewing and sewing, both for my girls and for a friend of mine who also has two girls.  She has ordered quite a few things from me and I'm trying to fill those orders so she can get these fun clothes on her girls soon.
Here's a couple of things I sewed for my own two girls.
This is Farbenmix Amelie in a knit from Banberry Place.
I don't know how many hooded knit tunics are ok to have in a girl's closet, but this is just about the cutest and easiest pattern I've made lately.

I made this one for my daughter as kind-of a muslin or test run before I made it for my friend's daughter.  I'll be making her one in this stripe... and another for my other daughter as well, because I love this stripe!

 Here's another trial run for a tunic my friend ordered.  This top is from McCalls 6497.  I have now made both the ruffle pants and the top.  The pants are pretty true to size I'd say, but the top definitely runs generous.
You may notice some more of my Riley Blake crochet trim from Fabric.com here.  I am loving having this at my disposal.  I'm using it up more quickly than I would like, but it's about time I started using some embellishments!  I used a little flowered ribbon for trim at the bottom of the skirt too.

And now for my sewing masterpiece.  My girls got to pick their Fall Festival costume this year (because we don't like the scary stuff of Halloween, we just do a church thing with games and puppet shows and such). Eden said she wanted to be Alice in Wonderland, but then decided she would rather wear the sailor girl costume already in her closet (a cheap thing I got for 70% off at Target last year in the after-Halloween sales).
I wanted to sew something for somebody.  Since Arielle kinda got the short end of the stick last year as a pirate, I wanted to make something special for her.  Last year, all I did was a simple elastic-waist skirt in black and white striped fabric and threw that on her with a white button down and tied some red knit around her head.  This year, I have convinced her, not that she needed much convincing, to be Mini Martha Washington.

Behold.

We chose McCalls 6139.  The smallest size was a 3-4, which I was very certain would be too big.  I used the lengthen/shorten lines in all the pattern pieces and made all the bodice pieces shorter by 2-3" and the skirt, after shortening the pattern and lopping it off before hemming was shorter by a good 8-9".

I also shortened the sleeves by 2". 

I took in the front bodice seams by about 1" each after sewing it up and trying it on her, then I also cut off about 2" on either side in the back where the zipper opening is.  I wanted a nice snug fit because I didn't use the interfacing in the bodice the pattern calls for and I new it would look saggy and cheap if it was ill-fitted.

We went to Hancock Fabrics and chose this baby blue fabric with cranberry colored roses on it.  

Blue is her favorite color. 

I let her choose between champagne and cranberry ribbon.  I think she made a good choice.

This dress called for a whopping 4 yards of fabric.  I probably could have gotten away with three had I known how much shorter to make the skirt.  It was, in fact, the skirt that demanded the yardage.  There are 5 skirt pieces!

Certainly makes for a lovely effect, but my goodness, I'm glad clothing typically doesn't call for that much yardage these days!

A Smattering of This and That

Seriously, this post is going to be all over the place.  

First up, my Amy Butler Style Stitches book is for sale. 

It's only $14 shipped.

Some of the bag patterns have been cut, but all pieces are still there.

Comment with your pp addy if you'd like it. :)

Next, a recent pattern purchase.  The Emory Dress from Sew Sweet Patterns.  There was a pattern sale, and I can hardly resist a pattern sale.
I love the outcome!  I made a 3T for my skinny 4-year-old and it fits just the way I'd like.  It was easy to put together, although I can't speak to the quality of the instructions because I didn't use them.
I want to be nice to other pattern designers, as I'm in the midst of trying my hand at it, but just compared to other pdf patterns I've used, I have to warn you that this one would be difficult for a beginner to put together.  Do you see all the page overlap and wonkyness?!  I was really surprised that the page edges didn't line up.  If I didn't know from experience approximately how the pattern pieces were supposed to look, I would have been very confused.

As I said, once the pieces were cut out, they were no problem to put together and I love the result.  This is a dress for our family Christmas picture, so you'll see it again after those are taken. :)
Some of my friends have said this looks somewhat Japanese, which is a great compliment.  Love that.

Ready for more randomness?  I started making jewelry.  Well, on a veeeeeery limited basis.  I just got inspired and couldn't help myself.  You can buy this Gift of the Magi themed necklace here.  I loved that story as a child!

It's fall!  in case you weren't aware...  It's our last fall in Jackson, MS and our last trip to the pumpkin patch here was this past Saturday.  I had to make special outfits, of course.  I used my go to pattern for knit ruffles, Izzy and Ivy's Polly's Playclothes and used the Lily Giggle Zinnia pattern for the floral top on my 4-year-old.
Both are in Chez Ami knits.

Last but not least, I am steadily working with my awesome graphic designer towards a November release of some Molly Blossom patterns.

I have an oversized fold-over clutch, the Wendy zip (already in finished form in my shop), some appliqué designs and...

This is my newest design, being made into a pdf pattern as you read! 

I will surely let you know as soon as my patterns are released in my shop.

phew!  There's been a lot going on, and really there's even more than that, but I'll share the rest later.

Two More Renfrews

Here are two more Sewaholic Renfrews.   This makes four total for me and justifies the cost of the pattern.

I got one yard of this sage green bird fabric for about $10 and eeked out a cowl neck 3/4 sleeved version.  I used every      last      bit.  And I had to piece the cowl together.  

For this one, I cut out all my pieces in pink knit and in stretchy lace.  I did the collar just in the lace and the sleeve bands just in the pink knit.

I'm so happy with the way this neckline lays.  I've had some trouble with puckering in the past, but, magically, not this time.

mmmm... peppermint.  I'm trying something new on my lips today.

And I like it.

 It's Revlon Just Bitten Kissable balm stain in the color Sweetheart.

I almost never stray from a neutral lip (I prefer the "my lips but better" look), but I'm trying to branch out and get more comfortable with more color.  I got this fun pink and the color Rendevous which is a coral/orange.  They are a great alternative to the pricier Cinique Chubby Sticks or Tarte LipSurgence lip tints.  I got two of these and a Revlon polish in Grey Suede (on my ring finger) for about $10 with a coupon and the current sales at ULTA!