I finished the dress/shirt today while Thaya was sleeping this afternoon. Even though I made 4 straps, I wanted to try it on her after the first two were sewn on to see how it would look. I really like it, so I think I'm going to keep it like this for now. I'll hang onto those extra straps and maybe use them on another top.
So, I know a few of you were interested in the tutorials I had used to make this top. I used a bunch of them! I wasn't thrilled with how many of the tutorials had me do the shirring. I didn't want to shirr the top as a tube, I wanted to shirr it flat and then seam it. Also, I wanted to add the cute white hem at the bottom. Of course the tutorial I found for the shirring, I didn't like the straps, so I had another one for that too! Overall it is so easy though. All you need to do is get some measurements, and load up some elastic thread on your bobbin!
For the ties: House On Hill Road
For the shirring: Kuky Ideas
For the hem: House On Hill Road
I got the fabric at Walmart because I wasn't happy about spending more money than I had to on my first sewing project. So, I got a yard of white and a yard of the blue with white polka dots. I think it came out to about $4.50 for the two yards.
I measured Thaya's chest and got 18", so I doubled that and added a little bit for the seam. I cut the fabric at 40" x 10" and I think it really is the perfect size when the shirring shrinks it up. It is literally going to fit her for 3 years I bet... if the material lasts that long!
So what is next? Well, I finished the first block of the Aran Afghan, so I'll work some more on that. I found the perfect sheet to back the quilt as well. I traced one of Thaya's A-line dresses, and want to make an a-line for her next. I am also "reclaiming" some of the material from Matt and my old shirts. I found a cute tutorial on how to turn a button down shirt into a dress, and think I'll do that with them.
Oh, and our test drive with cloth diapers is going great. I ordered a starter kit, and we've done two days of prefolds and covers. I think I want to get some BumGenius 3.0 (as recommended by many blog friends!) to go along with them - I think they are going to be more comfortable for little miss. The only issue is that it takes a bit of pocket money to get going on them. We can afford them one at a time, but of course it is better to buy a whole bunch in order to get a lower price per unit and save on shipping. Maybe I should start a "help me get my baby into cloth diapers" fund!
Hope you guys are having a great weekend! Ours is going well. I have a lot of homeowrk to do, but the good news is that I've finished one assignment and I'm almost done with an outline for the second. This whole school thing really eats up my sewing, quilting, digi scrapping, knitting time.
