The mid-year update

So it’s been a hot minute. (Or several, as we’re in our typical hot and oh-so-humid part of the summer. But I’ve got several things to show, so it’s catch up time. I’ve been putting this off because of the struggle of getting good photos, but let’s face it, I’m not in a life stage where I can prioritize that. Here goes with the very imperfect ones I’ve gotten.

The first, finished back in March, is a return of an old favorite TNT pattern, the Sewaholic Renfrew tee. I used an Art Gallery knit that’s been in my stash for some time, and it doesn’t have quite the recovery that I’d wish for the bands. But it does go well with the colored denim jeans in my wardrobe. It also took a lot less fabric than I thought, so I still have about half a yard of fabric left to use!

My most involved project lately was this dress for my daughter. I used McCall’s 8267, with a few modifications. I made the 4T size, so it’ll fit her for awhile, but it ended up being extremely long on her. So I shortened the sleeves and hand-stitched two tucks into the skirt. The theory is that I can take them out as she gets taller.

The second modification was to add pockets! I put them in the side seams, just free-handing a pattern piece. And I think that just might be her favorite feature, because she calls it “my oonicorn dess wif the pockets.”

The construction wasn’t difficult, just a little time consuming with the appliqué and making sure the mane pieces for the skirt lined up with it. I wasn’t sure at first if it was worth the effort, since she seemed happy to look at it but completely uninterested in wearing it. But once I finally did convince her to try it on, about a week or so after finishing the tucks— and after she discovered the pockets— she really did end up liking it! She frequently grabs it out of her closet when it’s clean, so I’m feeling much better about taking another attempt at kids’ clothes.

After that, I made three different views of the Santa Fe top by Hey June Handmade. The first was using most of the leftover blue fabric, and some of the white, from the unicorn dress.

The second was from a flamingo print and coordinating solid that my mom recently passed on to me. She’s been babysitting my niece full time, and so she’s been getting even less sewing time than me. I wasn’t sure how this one would turn out, since the knit was heavier and less drapey than the other two pieces, but it seems to sit fine. My husband has commented a few times that he particularly likes this one.

It’s all about the bathroom selfies with this pattern, apparently.

The final is a second tie-dye print. I bought this one last year as part of the big 40th birthday haul, intending to sew it up. But then Halloween costumes took longer than I thought and I didn’t get to it. So I’m glad to have it done this year.

Except for the shot with my oldest’s tinkering supplies in the background. This is as good as it gets here.

I’ll do the final project for now as a separate post, because it needs a little more explanation. And this post is already pretty long.