Apron Finished (Finally!)

In the same trip that I finished the little dove dress, I has plenty of time to finished a rather prolonged project, my paisley apron. It was very easy; the only part I needed a pattern piece for was the main body. The rest was a breeze, but still showcased my not so gorgeous seams....  And although you can't see it the pocket is actually two; I stitched down the middle of the original.

drawing out ideal pocket...

Pinning the border on

...and the neck

 ironing the pocket border

And some music :)

Doves and Denim: Part 2

Home from church on a abnormally cool summer day in MS(really. Today's high is a mere 80 degrees; usually its well above 95 by the end of July) and time for an update. As prelude to a trip to Memphis, I stopped at my grandparents' house again on Thursday, and finished the dress and my apron. The ribbon was obtained, we found two little white buttons to sit at the top of the neckline, and it was hemmed; my hem was actually very smooth this time--progress! Something my grandmother shared that her mother told her about getting frustrated about having to do something over again "do and redo, it's still working." Even if your doing it for the nth time, you're still improving it and moving forward.

An earlier pic of the very simple pattern

I leave for 30 seconds and they invade...

 The great search for buttons and the gros grains ribbon

 Stitched the ribbon onto the back first

Then stitch to the front with a gap to tie the bow

 Voila! dress

And to think this is what it started as...

Some Elvis!





Memphis was great; I strolled down Beale, visited Graceland, hopped aboard the trolley, enjoyed a very much needed family reunion, and was reminded of how much the little things in life can make you smile. By the way, this place is splendid >

Doves and Denim: Part 1

While visiting my grandmother two weekend ago, I was given a pattern (a rather rough one, no instructions) for a little girls' dress. My grandmother belongs to several homemakers and teachers' clubs and one of those many sends dresses to little girls in more impoverished parts of Africa so that they can  have something to go to school rather than having to be absent because they're stark naked. Anyway this weekend, I went to my other grandparents' house (who are much closer) and worked on this dress with them ( they're also ridiculously crafty-- she's quite a talented *french* painter and he grew up with a father who did some industrial sewing for boats and awnings) We were all like " this will be no problem!" Not. We totally forgot how to properly invert the dress to make the facing right. But, we did figure it out, and to celebrate a  delicious dinner was eaten followed by some homemade peach and (homegrown!) blueberry pie! I'm hungry just thinking about it.

In our frenzy to solve the problem we frayed the shoulder bands a bit and will be sewing some gros grains ribbon at the seams that will be in part 2 of this post later.

 Facing pinned together....admire the fine bone china <3

 Shoulders together

Only with them would I receive my coffee in fine bone :)

Ironed seams

sewing sides

Flower break!

Leaving both shoulders completely separated to invert dress correctly...

Admire the cup one more time.

Part 2 will come soon! (hopefully with a finished product)

A Treat for the Heat

http://asubtlerevelry.com/zipzicles

Go forth and make! These are fantastic. Really. Link at the top ^