Adventures in Sewing

In November, my dear husband got me a sewing machine.  It was supposed to be my Christmas present, but he forgot about it and bought me more presents. :)

Anyhow, This little baby quilt was my first project.  I spent hours trying to get my machine to work properly - and consequently ripping out a lot of stitiches.  Then Keith discovered I hadn't lowered the presser foot.

I did not grow up in a sewing household so slowly I'm learning how things work, what works best and what steps you cannot skip. Such as, washing your fabric first.  Sorry baby Aiden.

This was my second undertaking - finishing the quilt I started 6 years ago before I moved to Ottawa.  

There are some great tutorials online for pillowcase dresses.  I tried out three different patterns on the dresses below.

My first attempt. It was too short in length for the width of the bottom.  Not the fault of the pattern, but my eager scissors.








These second attempts and the third below were made simultaneously in a flurry of sewing ambition.  These two print flowerly numbers actually serve as tank tops or tunics as the child grows.  However, these may be shirts by the end of the summer since I still have trouble sewing and cutting a straight line and had to hem them a bit shorter.

This was a fun little dress to make and is a variation on the pillowcase dress.  The tutorial I can't seem to find right now but I'll have another look around.

This large broadturn bag was a project out of Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule. www.soulemama.com.  I really liked it so I halved all of the measurements and made a wee purse for Lucy.




Finally, our nearly-three-year-old will be moving into a toddler bed shortly and so I thought I'd try my  hand at making bottom sheets.  I love the fabric I used for this first one.  The plan is to make a second in flannel for Winter.

Thanks for reading through my adventures in sewing!