Baby Doll Bibs

I attempted to make an advent calendar earlier this week and failed miserably, so to redeem myself, I digitized two baby bibs for the dolls I'm dressing for Toys for Tots.

The photo doesn't really show the quilting that I did with my embroidery machine, but it was fun to play with my digitizing program and the results made me happy.

This is the pattern I pulled off of Pinterest for the shape. You wouldn't need an embroidery machine to make this, but it makes the quilting easier.  At it's widest point, it's 5 5/8 wide and is a good size for a 14" doll.  Feel free to use the pattern and make one.

You'll need two pieces of outer fabric 6.5 x 9, and one piece of flannel or low loft batting 6.5 x 9.

Cut out two patterns from fabric and I used flannel between. Use any type of quilting pattern you like or leave it plain. The outside edge is finished with a satin stitch.  I will use hook and loop tape on the ends since I think it's easier for little hands.

LuLu Roe and the Mother of Invention

My daughter gave me a Lulu Roe dress for Christmas. I'm a fan of the comfort of the fabric, but not how the clothes are designed or how slick the fabric is when you try to hem or sew it.

This week I took a major step in trying to adjust the fit on said same dress. On It's Sew Easy, there was an episode for making summer dresses with elastic or gathering through the back at the waist.  I wanted to eliminate the gathering of fabric and tying it with an elastic band that the dress was originally designed to be used and this method sounded like what I needed.

I ended up using organza tape at the waist, and ran a strip of 1 inch elastic through it. It goes from side seam to side seam.  However, the dress is designed with a major dip in the back to account for the elastic band around a hand-gathered wad of fabric to make the dress a bit more fitted. The result is a "bustle" in the back. Something I definitely don't need.

Hemming this fabric is a problem because it's so slick. I used Floriani Stitch Perfection Tape to hold the fabric along with a few straight pins. The best part, the perfection tape is supposed to wash out so it won't leave the hem stiff.

I put the dress on my sewing mannequin, but I still needed help to get the hem even.  Below is my solution for this problem. (The chalk marker died years ago.)

Hello Crafters!

I have another fish extender to share. Some friends of ours are heading out on a Disney Cruise this Fall. Because the wife is really into BB8 from Star Wars, I created an embroidery design to decorate her pocket.

Check this out!

I love the results of adding mylar to embroidery designs in the bottom section. It works best when the stitches are less dense.  Silver seems to have the best results, but I recently gathered from gold streamers from a Derek and Julianne Hough concert. I fully intend to use those streamers in something very soon.