New Begining

This is a little experiment...see if I can mix it up a bit and use a different technique. It should look the same when it's done, wait and see.

What is it? Try and Guess.

Vacation Notice

I'll be out of the shop for a couple weeks. I won't be taking on any custom orders for the next month or so. Dresses are still on sale in my Etsy Shop, but I will not be shipping until July.

I'm off on vacation now. See you when I get back!

Paisley Halter Dress

Just finished this cute little number for a repeat customer. There will be one more dress with this fabric, but I haven't decided what kind just yet.

Blue Circle Dress

For the big girls, I've got a new dress in my shop. It's a halter top in blue on a lovely sateen cotton skirt, with a fun print. This dress is too big for my 5 year old, as you can see, so it's obviously a size 6X to 8 girls/ youth size. So for all those looking for something for your big girl, this dress is for you!

I've done a couple other dresses with this fabric before. The first was long sleeve (which isn't the best use of this fabric, it's really better for spring and summer). And then I did a short sleeve. I have more of this fabric, but I don't have all that much yarn to offer a full range of top options. So if you like this dress contact me to see if I have enough yarn to make the dress you want.

The Little Devil Dog Cami Dress

For the little marines out there, I've created these two dresses. I have more of this fabric. However, it seems like the print is darker than most of the Marine uniforms I've seen around here. So if anyone happens to be a subject matter expert on Marine uniforms, please let me know if this looks right.

And does anyone know what a Devil Dog is? Initially, my husband said, "oh it's a little Jar head dress." Then he quickly added, that wouldn't be a good name to go with, and he suggested Devil Dog...a term I've never heard before. Certainly, this is uncharted territory for me.

Black Lace Back Cami Dress

This is the dress I made instead of the pink Halter top I'd planned. I decided that since I was adding a large ruffle to the skirt the top needed a bit more support to hold it all up in place. The lace back Cami is perfect for this sort of construction.

Pink Halter Top

Originally I planned to match this 4T Halter top up with a dress. Then I decided it wanted to be a baby doll shirt instead. Oh, it goes so well with these pink pants!

Fun side Project Update

I've been working...no, that's not accurate....I've been doing other things and not working on my daughter's snow white costume. Today I put the practice costume together real quick before we headed out to town for her Skate lesson. This is just the practice dress, to help inspire her during practice. The fancy one will have shimmer fabric and puff sleeves.

Coming Soon!

A Marine Camouflage print Dress. The fabric arrived today, and the yarn that best matches is brown. I have several skeins already on hand and I'm planning on making up one of these dresses as soon as possible.

I also received some Air Force Print fabric, but it is not suitable for dresses because it's a nylon laminate. I knew that it was suppose to be 100% nylon, but I didn't not realize it would have a laminate side. This fabric would be more suitable for making bibs, diaper covers, aprons, and anything else that requires a water proof side to it. So the Air Force Dress will have to wait till I can find another source of fabric.

It's kind of difficult to tell with this picture, but it looks like (in real life) either the light tan or pale teal green yarn would go with the Tiger Stripe Air Force fabric.

These fabrics are not easy to get a hold of.

Halter Top Shirt

This is the first Halter top that I've completed. I could stand to work on this concept a bit more, but for now you can find this top listed in my shop. I had planned to have my youngest model this for me. But she didn't want to today, so I had to get my eldest...

This is suppose to be a 2T, but as you can see, it fits a 5 year old too! She's just really skinny. I'm trying to fatten her up, I promise I am!

A fabric sample of my stash

I've got a new match...now I wasn't really thinking this was the right season for this fabric...and it's a rare mama who finds this sort of print appealing, here it is Jen.

Lemon-lime-ade out of lemons and well

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or in Angoraknitter dress speak, when left over fabric isn't enough to make a dress, make a....Shirt!

So from the first top I made for the dress below, I made a cami top.

The best part is even though it's not as stretchy as my usual cami tops, it still fits a wide range. It fits my 2 yr old,

And it fits my (about to turn 5yrs next week) 4year old. What a range, ey?

I've not decided what to do with this. Should I list it on Etsy? Should I keep it? I don't know yet. But whatever I do, the ratty old jean shorts will not be included in the listing. They're really bad, cause these shorts used to be my son's shorts, and they've been very much abused.

The trade Dress

Another Etsy artist asked if we could trade. Now, I've done this before on AmityMama, and perhaps once on Diaperswappers, and I'm usually hesitant because, frankly, I'm usually left feeling like I got the lesser end of the deal. There I said it, I am a knitting snob. I think it takes far more time and effort to do what I do then most other crafts.



This time, I think it will be a much more even deal. I'm even a little bit excited to be honest. It's much more fun when the trade feels fair.


But this dress had a rough start, and I had to start the top over...well because I've not added a decorative stripe to a cami in a while. In the past I just added it and because I usually do some shaping to the back of the cami, the stripe would come out looking just a tad off in the back. When I finished the first cami for this dress I decided to do without my usual shaping. It looked great...except, the bodice wasn't as stretchy as it normally is. It seems the shaping is very important and should not be forgone.


So I sat on the project for a day fuming and thinking. Then I came up with a new knitting innovation for the cami stripe...a new approach that allowed for both the stripe and the shaping. And now, this dress, and this lesson is complete.

Stripes will no longer look odd, it will look perfect!

A word about Line drying

I highly recommend drying my dresses on a line. Indoors is best, really it is, because the sun can be just as harsh as the dryer. However, if you need to get out a stain, there's nothing more powerful then the desert sun.

If I've run out of room on my little indoor rack, I use my outdoor line too. Usually, I'll fold the dress over so the top is away from the sun or hanging down at the bottom. Today I had a lot of laundry to do so I just put them up as quick as I could and just tried to make them all fit on the line. They were all completely dry within two hours. My girls are very spoiled.

ACU Cami

This dress I finished last night...

Blueberry Lace Back Cami

Sorry, this is for my youngest daughter. I've had this fabric, and had been showing it to folks for the last two years now. No one ever wanted a dress with this fabric. So I decided to use up all the fabric on this, and I don't have anymore of this print, sorry.

Cami ACU Dress

These are a surprise gift for someone who has been such an enormous help to me this year. I couldn't have made it through some of my biggest obstacles without her friendship and mentoring. I'm pretty sure she doesn't read this blog...so the secret is safe with us.

A line Lace Band

Another experiment here. I added a band of Ol Shel lace to the bodice. The lace has to be hand stitched in place after the dress is complete. I need to work on the gauge a bit more so that I can get the correct length on the first casting, as it did not turn out the same length when I based my casting count on the bodice stitch count. It's not quite double, more like 1 and 3/4th. So, theoretically, if I multiply the bodice stitch count by 1.75 to calculate my lace band casting figure. There, problem solved. Next time I'll know better.

Another Circle dress

This one is for my youngest, but it's a little lesson in math and forethought. The skirt is fine, but in my trial and error method, I'm not as pleased with the balance this skirt. The bottom ruffle is way too small a band, and the top, is probably too big... c'est la vive. So when someone wants me to make a 3T with a circle skirt I'll know better to balance the layers more proportionately. And that is why we keep trying, learning, and, pressing forward.

However, the lace pattern I used for this back was exquisite! I'm sold, and it's a lot easier to work then the one I used for the last two.

Hawaii dress

Sorry the dress below is already sold. So today I listed the Hawaii dress. I was a little hesitant because I did have one yarn break, and I had to repair it. But since the other dress sold so quickly, I decided to list this one too.

I still have more of this fabric, and could make a new one just like this if anyone is interested. This dress never sparked as much interest as I thought it would.