Too Hot for Anything

Except sewing and drinking iced coffee.

I only allow myself 2 coffees a day, but I've been sewing more than usual this week.

I finally finished the sew-along sunsuit.

I don't know how much it will get worn in WA.  It may not hit that narrow window of summer at exactly the right size!

I did learn a lot though.  I made some mistakes, but I did some things I didn't know how to do before, so it was good experience.  

The green apple top turned out nice too, and Emily actually likes the fabric.  I'll send it on for sizing and plan to make more of these.

Once I determine the fit, I'll do a dress with piping all the way down the front.  This has been good for my self-confidence on the piping because it's been one of my hit-and-miss things.

This time I used my zipper foot and a skewer to push the fabric against the cording and went VERY slowly.  Having something work out so nicely is a thrill.

And I did a whole dress in 2 days - except for the buttons and that only because I didn't have any the right shade of orange.

I used Children's Corner William and Winnie.  

I've had it for some time and never used it, but I will use it a lot more - in fact maybe this afternoon for a gingham one with a monogram or some embroidery.

It's lined and piped, and I was pretty pleased with the results.  Just one place where I maybe should have gone back over - but not enough to do it!

The only thing that slowed me down was the ruffle I decided to add.  Again on second thought, I would have made it narrower or left it off completely.

It took me as long to figure out the ruffler foot and get the measurments right as it did for the whole rest of the dress.

It's a pretty ominous-looking thing, but I've got it figured out, and it won't scare me any more.  

I did more of a pleated look than a ruffle, but its a lot of fun to do and took me only about 10 minutes to do all this - and only because I was scared to go too fast.

So this is the almost finished product.  

I'll go try to match some buttons this afternoon or tomorrow.  One of the fabric shops has notions 60% off tomorrow, so it might be worth the wait.  I'm not sure buttons are notions, but I need needles and lots of other things I'm sure I can't live without.

No, Hancock has buttons 50% off and my embroidery thread 40% off, so it looks like a trip today for that and tomorrow for the 60% notions.

I had a little leftover piping, so I tried it out with some brown fine wale corduroy that I've been saving.  I think a pumpkin will look good on it - or maybe a squirrel or a fox for the fall.