Emily_sews_stuff

  My youngest daughter announced that she’d decided she wanted to be a pirate with her friends for Halloween and I couldn’t be happier. It also happened to coordinate perfectly with the Peony’s tester call for Character Week (an annual tradition that works well timing-wise since Halloween/trick or treat isn’t such a big thing in Australia from my understanding, but we still get the pattern sales).  We did the pirate thing years ago when my oldest was in preschool. Even my husband, who must be Australian at heart because he doesn’t dress up either, was willing to get in on it (just kidding—he’s 6’10” and doesn’t need costumes to draw extra attention to himself and also, they don’t fit him). Of course this meant I had to make him a custom ruffly shirt. It was totally worth it because we looked amazing of course.  Since that was all before Juliet was born, I was happy to get to create a pirate costume for her. She wanted me to also make costumes for all of her neighborhood f...

 As a Project Run and Play "alum", I had the opportunity to participate in the release of the Collection 10 Lookbook--Project Under the Sea! It was hard to believe summer would ever get here when I signed on back in March, but it's sunny and 90 degrees now.  While I'm landlocked in the midwest, my daughter spends nearly every day in a pool, sprinkler or on a slip 'n' slide, so we never seem to have enough swimsuits. I picked up the Minnow suit from Sofiona when it released last year and never got a chance to put it together, so I knew I had to do that first. One of my first swim patterns, and my first Sofiona pattern was the Sturgeon . Every time I start one of their patterns I think "uh oh, I've gotten in over my head this time" because their designs are so uniquely designed and I can't believe there's any way I can put together anything so complex. But I really should know better by now. Their patterns are wonderfully designed and their...

 I can't believe it's week four and I'm still here! I am extremely grateful for anyone who voted for me the last few weeks. I am a sonographer and NOT a designer; I have never done as much modifying and drafting as I have in the last month, and no matter the outcome, I'm happy. Also, I'm very tired--since I didn't expect it to make it this far, I only cut out my outfits Wednesday and began sewing Thursday.  I kept my theme of song titles for my week four designs, Wildflowers, which also gave me inspiration for my designs. We live in the middle of Illinois prairieland, and wildflowers are starting to pop up (though not enough for a good backdrop for pictures, so use your imagination here).  We tend to be very casual, with few occasions to get very dressed up, especially in the last few years. When I make clothing, I want it to be worn over and over, even if it's just to play in the yard. I'm not sure the correct term to sum up my "signature style...

  Juliet can be...a bit of a handful. She gives us a hard time about most things, to be honest. But one thing we almost  never  have trouble getting her to do is eat her vegetables. One time last summer, she lied and said she was going outside to play with the neighbors, but then snuck out back to the garden and...made a salad??? No exaggeration, the girl had Romaine hidden under her shirt. This week's Project Run and Play theme coincides with our favorite time of year: planting season! The first thing that came to mind when I heard of this week's theme, Lettuce Turnip the Beet, was our vegetable garden. We grow a variety of vegetables every year: tomatoes, peppers, herbs, zucchini, cucumbers, peas, beans, and yes, lettuce and beets (I'm not sure I'd know what to do with a turnip though). Juliet and I have been taking an online vegetable gardening class and starting our plants in our basement in anticipation of warmer weather. This theme let me combine two of my favorit...

Guess I’m a blogger now? Figured I might as well write about the test I squeezed in recently—the Made for Mermaids Poppy . I’ve been busy with but this one was so cute and looked like a quick sew, so I signed up.  Poppy comes with dress, vintage, and peplum options, an optional tier, two flutter sleeve options, sleeveless and three lengths of traditional sleeve options. Whew! For mine, I did the tiered dress option, which is actually a half circle skirt with a short tier, more of a wide ruffle. The top is a faux placket—no buttonholes! And I did the long flutter sleeve.  For my fabric I chose a blush floral rib knit from Threadbear Textiles  (it doesn’t appear to be in stock anymore but lots of other rib knits there). Although it doesn’t call for it in the tutorial, I used knit interfacing along the placket. Even though there’s no need for button holes, I found on some other tops I’ve made with faux plackets, they tend to bunch or curl and gap between buttons, so I’m hopi...

 A couple of weeks ago, we had the most beautiful, sunny, 70-degree spring weather. I just knew I needed to make some sundresses. I fall for this cruel trick every year; Mother Nature turned winter back on.  For Juliet’s dress, I wanted to make a vintage-inspired dress with lots of pintucks, and I knew I wanted to use this Riley Blake poplin I bought from Fabrics , Laces, Trims . I started with the Violette Field Threads Oaklyn bodice and moved the placket to the front, made the back solid, and lowered the neckline just a little. It's hard to photograph, but I used decorative stitches along the button placket, next to the pintucks.  To keep the tucks the center of attention, I did a lightly gathered skirt. I added cross tucks at the bottom, and belt loops and a tie belt—and of course I couldn’t forget the inseam pockets.  The headband is the Charlie knot headband, minus the knot, with some decorative crosstucks there as well.  Juliet felt a little left out since...