So now I have two gowns. Initially, I thought of selling the extra gown. But now I'm thinking of saving it to give to my middle daughter. She wore the family heirloom gown when she was baptized, and so doesn't have a gown of her own to use for her children. Since there are quite a few cousins who are/ have used that gown, it's doubtful she'll inherit it. 
This was made a few months ago in anticipation of a birthday which I would be too busy to do much for. In fact this was finished so far in advance that I almost forgot about it. It's another cami dress variation. The bodice is much longer than I expected it to be, and so is the entire dress. She calls it her mermaid dress. Honestly, I just guesstimated the whole thing...eyeballed it...didn't measure a thing. So it should come as no surprise, that it looks a little big. I like growing room anyway. I was just trying to use up the rest of this fun fabric and thought would be too short without that eyelet ruffle. lol!
It's just around the corner, First Holy Communion. It's not done yet, but here's what I've been working on this past weekend. I've had this dress pattern for several years, and it looks divine on paper. However, I'm going to have to make some alterations to make this not look like a bolt of fabric on my tall slender girl. I would even say I think it looks lovely on the hanger...but on my daughter, it just looks like some one's wedding dress swallowed her up. I don't like it! 
My absolute nemesis in sewing is zippers. I suck at them! If you look close to the front of the dress you can see where I damaged the fabric when I accidentally sewed over the top of the dress while sewing in the zipper. Please don't ask me to make you a garment that requires a zipper, you'll be sorry! 
When I was a little (roller) skater there were very talented parents who made these gorgeous hair accessories for their skating daughters. And there were crafty moms who also sold their hair accessories at contests too. We all liked to look at all the pretty flowers and hair ribbons. Now, I'm not saying mine are equal to those I remember, but I did try to emulate the flowers from my memory. 
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| The back of the dress |
This is the dress! I've been working on this "classical" polka concept for a while. The music is Tritch Tratch (chit chat) polka by Johann Strauss...and I just love how everything is coming together! My daughter and her coach worked on the first part of the program today...and I'm just tickled pink! I just don't think I could get tired of ever listening to this piece and watching her skate to it. I'm happy with how the dress has turned out thus far. 
I made this practice dress about a week ago. It was mostly so I could see how the new pattern I bought worked for my daughter's body type. Of course, it needed to be tweaked, but it's easier to buy a pattern and then tweak it, then to try and draft my own pattern. So I needed to start with a practice dress. 
Nope, I don't like how this turned out at all. It doesn't appeal to me in the least and I loath how the lines don't connect and how the patterns don't exactly flatter my recipient. 
I really was milking it when I got two seasons out of the last dress I made for my daughter. Alas, she's too big for that dress now (nearly popping the seams), and it's time to craft another one. Thus, the planning has begun! I'm kind of nervous. I hope I can pull this one off. 
I knew this sweater would take a long time...but it's a little frustrating that I'm still working on it. Hopefully, I will get it done for Christmas...I hope! 
It started out as a skein of plain Aryan wool. I poured a dash of vinegar into the bathroom sink, then added orange flavored kool-aid (1 packet unsweetened)
and enough water to cover the whole skein. It resulted in a very pale orange yarn. Then I repeated the process using 1 packet of black cherry flavored kool-aid, and this helped to darken the orange a bit more. After it dried I had a nice variegated peachy orange color. And now we have a new pair of longies for the baby. The longies are knit in the round from the top down. The body of the pants were knit on circular needles, and then the legs were knit on double point needles. 
The sleeves should shrink up a bit after it's washed, but they are a bit longer then I'd intended. Oh well...
I didn't think I'd have enough fabric, but I've got a plan to eek out one more dress from this lot, so that my three girls will have matching dresses. It would have been nice if I'd finished this at the begining of Spring....but before fall will be fantastic too! 
