Two and a half out of three

The verdict is in and two outfits fit just fine, while the other one has a big shirt.

But that's OK, we have time and fabric so can remake the shirt. In all fairness to us, it's really hard to sew long distance with no opportunity to fit the clothes as you go. So I'm absolutely thrilled with how these outfits turned out. And what's even better is the kids like them too. Even the little guy's shirt will be OK in the end because he will keep growing.

Here they are:

Granddaughter -- making her a little flower
pin from fabric to go on the bolero

Grandson #1 -- that face just cracks me up

Grandson #2 -- boy is he pleased with himself!

Cranking out the sewing

Yesterday, Kent and I made real progress on the Easter clothes for the grandkids. I got both the boys’ pants done, and he’s nearly finished with their shirts. We had a very subtle plaid on hand that we’re using for the boys’ shirts and for our granddaughter’s dress. You can see it in this picture on the left where the shirts are hanging on the back of a chair. All day, Kent kept saying “teeny tiny sleeves!” or “teeny, tiny collar!” I’m sure he’ll say something similar when they’re done (“teeny, tiny shirts!”).


This picture shows you the pants plus the first pair of shorts I’d made for the middle grandchild. The elastic was a bit tight in the waist so our daughter-in-law sent them back so I could fix that problem. I left the pencil in this picture so you can get an idea of scale.

And this final picture shows Kent's thought process in taking the boys' measurements and lining them up with the measurements given on our pattern. He ended up having to do some drafting to make both shirts longer and our middle grandchild's shirt bigger around. That's part of the problem when you're using out of print patterns, you can't just go buy another one. 

I'll get our granddaughter's dress cut out tomorrow, and with luck also get a lot of the sewing done. Easter is around the corner and I want to have enough time to fix any fit issues they might have with these clothes. 

Works in progress

My silk top is cut out.

I cut it out in single layers, what a pain.

All done.

Kent is making good progress on shirts for our two grandsons.

He calls his machine "pretty peacock"
because it's got art on the front

Two tiny collars!

I’m on tap to make their pants and our granddaughter’s dress and little jacket. These will be for Easter so we have a little time. Since they live in Virginia though, I’d like to get the clothes done and there in plenty of time so that if there are any fitting issues, we can get them fixed.

Finally, Eddie has been supervising us in his typical laid back way.

He's in a box of fabric. Of course.

A quick December sewing update

Kent sewed some really cute stuffed animals for the grandkids this year. At first he was only going to sew one for the youngest, and then he realized that the middle child (also a boy) might like one. Finally he reached the conclusion that he couldn’t sew for two of the grandkids and have the third – the oldest and a girl – without a stuffed animal.

So away he went. I helped in that I actually stuffed the dogs and also did the hand sewing (he loathes hand sewing and I don’t mind it, well not much anyway). Here’s how they turned out:

She named hers Pinky Pie

Both boys got a Tiger Dog

I also did a Secret Santa exchange with some friends. We had a deadline and of course spending limits so I was pleased to be able to make a bag for Magpie from some absolutely lovely black wool and then line it with a sort of toile (it’s actually a stretch denim of sorts but I personally would never wear jeans made out of that material). I forgot to take pictures before I got the bag made, wrapped and mailed so she very kindly took some for me.

Inside

Outside