Inconsistanies with the clothing industry

Excuse me if I have to have a little rant here. This week I was able to go shopping at Target and get some much needed winter clothes for my girls. Most everything I bought for my 17 month old were 18 month sized, but I did have to get a pair of corduroy pants in 24 months as that was the smallest they came in.  These pants have decorative tabs with a button on the waistline.  You usually see these things used for obtaining a better fit for children's clothes.  However, these one were purely decorative.  When I put the pants on Angel Cakes they were constantly falling down and tripping her.

So I took them off and moved the buttons over and inch or so.  Such an easy fix!  But my biggest question is, why didn't they just put extra buttons on the pants in the first place?!  These pants are meant for fast growing toddlers, it would only make sense.

Especially since they have snaps in the hem to cuff the legs up two more inches.  And that is a great idea!  (Sorry I didn't take a picture of that.)

Here's the happy toddler with pants that actually stay up now!

So there you go.  That's my rant.  I might have to start a series on this if it happens again. :-P

Baby shoes for a Boy

 A friend of mine just delivered her first baby not to long ago and I really wanted to make her something for him.  I got Simplicity 2491 recently, and decided that would be the perfect choice.

I'm very happy with these "very boy" shoes!  To make them I used a left over scrap from the Ball Bag project, and the same fleece that I used to make the Lambkin.  I also happened to have a short piece of ribbon that matched the fleece perfectly.  Not only that, but it was the exact length I needed too!  After I cut my two pieces there was only an inch left.  How's that for perfect?

This is the first time I've make something for a little boy, and I'm very happy with them!  I can't wait to make shoes from this pattern again soon for my own little baby girl.

Terry Cloth Kitty

A few years ago I found an adorable free pattern to make a plush kitty out of a towel.  Ever since then I'd been wanting to make it, but either couldn't find a towel I liked, or didn't have time once I realized that it'd make the perfect gift for a little someone.  Since I couldn't get one made for Angel Cakes for Christmas, I decided that her first birthday would not pass by!  And here it is.

She loves it!!

We didn't have her party until the day after her actual birthday, so hubby and I wanted to give it to her early.

Simplicity 1921 for Easter

I had been planning for several months to make my little one a new dress for Easter. A few months ago I got the pattern I had in mind out to get ideas. Then about a month later I was finally able to dig out my fabric box and see if I had enough of the fabric I had in mind. It was at that time that I discovered that the pattern had gone missing! Hubby and I searched everywhere for it, and were unable to locate it. So I finally resigned myself to the fact that I would not be able to make an Easter dress for my baby this year.

But then in a conversation with my mom I happened to mention that I had seem a new pattern online that was exactly what I had in mind for a summer sundress. Well, my mom decided to go out and buy that pattern, then send it to me in time to make a dress after all!

The pattern she sent me was Simplicity 1921.  One thing about the pattern, is that it calls for 2 packages of medium rick rack, but unfortunately, I have rather limited resources right now.  I did find an old package from the box that someone had given me last year.

The pink piece ended up just barely long for the collar.

However, I did not have enough blue rick rack to put on the double hem line.  In fact, I didn't even have enough to go around once!  But since the dress turned out way too long, I had to add an extra tuck to the skirt.  I really like how that two tucks together look, and don't think it looks like it's missing anything without the rick rack.

And now for my scathing review on the construction of the collar.  If you hadn't guessed, I really hate how the pattern tells you to put it together, and here's why.  Constructing the collar band was the easy part, it went together exactly like it was supposed too.  However, when the directions tell you to pin the band to the collar, there is absolutely no mention that you need to scrunch the rick rack way in to get it to fit.  The first time I pinned it on nice and smooth, the band came out 3 inches too long for the band!  It took me taking it off and completely repinning it 6 times before I was able to get it to fit.  Because of all that it was really hard to keep it on the 1/4 inch seam line.  I was able to get it to look decent, but not great.  But get this next part, you are supposed to stitch the rick rack to the band at a 1/4 inch, just catching the tips, then you are to also stitch it to the collar at 1/4 seamline, again, just catching the tips, but when you sew the collar facing to the collar, you're supposed to stitch it at a 3/8 inch seam!!  If I had done that, I would have lost half the rick rack!  Beginning to see why I hate this pattern?  And if that wasn't enough, the directions make to mention of making sure the collar band is out of the way when you sew the collar to the facing.  As soon as I started to pin it on, I could see that the band needed to be folded under to keep it out of the way.  But how many beginners wouldn't think of doing that, and find their band sewn into the collar facing when they went to turn it?

There, all done with that soap box. :-P

Already wanting to be helpful, my little Angel Cakes opened the zipper package and even tried to pull the zipper out for me!

So there you have it, I cut the dress out on Wednesday, started sewing on Tuesday, and got it finished Friday night!  Then made the matching bloomers on Saturday.  Not bad for a mama with a very attentive 1 year old!

And here she is on Easter Sunday. ^_^

If you'd like to read my review on Sewing Pattern Review, you can click HERE.  (I wasn't nearly as scathing in that one though) ;-)

Khaki Maternity Skirt

I was finally able to make something for myself again last week. A new maternity skirt! This time I used Simplicity 2366, view C, with only one major change.
The skirt went together very easily, (for the most part) and very quickly. The only problem I had with it was my fault really. I used a khaki twill fabric for it, not one of the recommended types, and it was too thick. Not too thick that I wasn't able to make it work, just too thick to allow the flounce points to lay smoothly. I actually resewed each point and was able to get them to lay better, but not still not ideal.
The major change I made to the skirt was to substitute the yoke and drawstring for a knit maternity band. The knit was a little thinner than I would have liked, so I doubled it to make sure that it would be strong enough to hold up the skirt.
This skirt is very comfortable, and I really like that it's nice enough to wear for church, but also causal enough for everyday use. And I do believe it's going to be getting a lot of use in the next 3 months. :-)

Here's one last picture of me with both my babies. ^_^

Homemade Diaper Covers

Hello long lost sewing blog! I'm so sorry I've neglected you so much, but I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to do any personal sewing for a very long time. But I'm back now and have something fun to share!

I had always had a thought in the back of my mind that we'd probably cloth diaper eventually, but that seemed like it'd be a long way out, and I was content to use disposables. However, fiances got in the way and it was getting increasingly hard to buy diapers for my little Angel Cakes. But because of the money issue we couldn't afford to buy a bunch of cloth diapers either.

Then I heard about a new company getting started called Babyville Boutique. Not only do they sell cloth diaper patterns for those of us who like to sew, but they also sell all of the supplies you could possibly need. My mom was wonderful and kind enough to buy me all the supplies I needed to be able to make my very own diaper covers! All we had to do was buy the pre-folds to go inside them.

Here they are! My first 5 home made diaper covers. The bright pink at the center top was the first one I made, and the cupcakes on the bottom left was the last one I made.
The diaper covers are made out of PUL, (I can't remember what that stands for). Basically it's a waterproof breathable fabric. The edging is FOE, or fold over elastic. That stuff is awesome! With it I was able to finish the edges and gather the legs all in one shot. The first cover I made is the most basic kind, after trying it on for size, I was able to see that it fit just fine without any extra adjustments. However, I thought I could see just a tiny bit of the diaper under the leg opening so I decided to add leg gussets to all of the rest of the covers for extra coverage.
There's my Angel Cakes the very first time she ever wore a cloth diaper! I'm afraid the weather has still been too cold to let her go without pants, so I haven't been able to get pictures of her wearing the rest of the covers.

Now for my review of the pattern itself. Overall it's a wonderful pattern and I'm very pleased with the results. It's very easy to put together, and by the time I got to cover #5 I was able to completely finish it in less than 2 hours, (including cutting out time). We've only had one leak since starting a month ago, and it wasn't the cover's fault, it was completely ours! Last night was her first time to wear cloth all night, and the cover held 2 diapers no problem, plus there were no leaks this morning!

The book comes with patterns sizes starting at newborn and going all the way up to large. I made the medium size, which is 15 to 30lbs. It has directions for just about any style of diaper cover you could imagine, plus all-in-one diapers, and soakers. The diapers can be made with Velcro closers, (like I did) or snaps.

My only complaint about the pattern is, in fact, the Velcro closers! We discovered very quickly that the diaper needs to be placed high in the front of the cover, otherwise the edging would fold over the diaper and expose the rough edge of the Velcro to my baby's delicate tummy. Ouch! It took almost a week for her skin to heal once we got the diapers in correctly each time. Also, the Velcro is very hard on the FOE. Even though I make sure to fold over the laundry tab everytime I take the cover off, little corners still come undone and manage to snag the FOE. And boy does it damage it bad!

So yeah, while the Velcro offers more adjustability than snaps, and is cheaper up front, I think I would prefer the snaps for long term use. When I make covers for our new little one arriving this June, I think I will try the snaps out.

So would I recommend the pattern to others? A big YES!