WIP Wednesday

This post may look like I've accomplished more than I have, but it's for the last two weeks so it's not so much.  Maybe it doesn't even look like much though ;-)

A long ways back I ordered a bundle of Birch fabric basics from Fabric worm and decided to give a plus sign layout quilt a try.  I only had two grey fabrics so I ended up with similar prints together, but all in all I like it.  It's going to be a baby quilt and I'll keep it on hand for friends who may have baby boys in the future.  Just need to sew it together!

I have it on a picnic table cloth, and just roll it up to keep it laid out and out of the way.  Works great!

Below is my next Harry Potter block.  It could be a little crazy.



This mess is a *gasp, eek* bathing suit pattern and fabric.  The suit is called the bombshell swimsuit and came with the perfect pattern parcel # 3.  I am scared, but excited as I never seem to fit 1-piece suits because they're too short. Hopefully I don't screw it up! The fabric is from Girl Charlee.



This bag is also from the pattern parcel.  I bought some discount outdoor fabric from Fabricland to make it, intending to make two for wedding gifts (the other would be the same colours but reversed), and to be honest I probably won't make the second one.  It was kind of a pain to make, I found the instructions confusing, and the fabric wasn't the easiest to work with.  Also, I don't have enough interfacing left. Very colourful and fun though!



It's meant to carry water bottles or the like. After I got going, I thought it would have been neat to do the outer pocket in the same fabric as the liner.  Oh well.



In exciting news, I won a mini pack of the Allison Glass aurifil essentials thread.  So awesome!!



Look who is 10 months old!!  Hard to get her to sit still for a picture these days since she's been walking for a few weeks already!!



And lastly, I said in my last post that I would include a picture of myself wearing the Staple Dress that I made, so here is my lovely assistant helping me model it.



Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

WIP Wednesday

Well, it's been a mildly productive week and some.

Jess came over and we continued our way through the Vintage Quilt Revival book.  I really like this block, the Red Cross I think it's called.  I used some softer colours.  Jess switched up her layout a bit.  I think they both turned out great!

I also continued working on my Harry Potter quilt.  I messed up a bit with the potion bottle so had to add onto the piece after I had pieced the block (I will not unpick a block at a certain point).  So...it's floating.



Just a random picture, but I thought I would share the view from my sewing room--I don't know what the tree is but it has beautiful flowers, and then after they've gone the leaves turn a pinky colour for the remainder of summer.



I continued on with my clothing sewing ways.  I made another Nessie Top (Pattern by Craftiness is not Optional)


Here are some action shots with the pants I had made a while back.  They were really hard to match with anything, and I had enough left to make the colour block top, so now it's good to go!





A delightful low volume bundle of fabrics from Stash fabrics.  I ordered the cat print and the diagonal stripe separately, but they go along quite nicely!  Can't wait to do something with these!



Last but not least, I am trying to make something for myself!  I bought the Perfect Pattern Parcel #3 because there are a couple patterns I wanted to try and the proceeds go to a good cause, and this is my first make from it.  It's The Staple Dress by April Rhodes.  I got the fabric on sale at Fabricland to give it a go--I think it was some sort of cotton/poly blend for garments.  I guess this is what you can call a 'wearable muslin'.

All in all it went really well until it came to the shirring (done with elastic thread).  Often the problem is that people can't get good shirring and it doesn't gather.  Well, I didn't have that issue.  At all!  It was so tight I couldn't get it over my shoulders and ripped every row. So I tried a couple tricks and "fixed" it where it had ripped and added more. I can just get it over my shoulders and have to pull the ladies through one at a time (tmi, I know).  Anyone know anything about shirring?  What would you recommend?  When it's not late and I'm not tired I'm going to try again with some test fabric to see what I can come up with.

Otherwise, I really like the dress, the high low hem is great and it fits quite well!  I'll definitely try this one again, if I can fix my shirring issues.  Whenever I wear it I'll get a picture wearing it and post that.

Wordless WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday