A Pink Easter Dress For Ahnalin

A pink dress for Easter.

She told me exactly what she wanted.

She picked out this 

Sandi Henderson Henna Garden

that I had been hoarding in my stash 

for several years.

She simply had to have puffed sleeves!

So, like any "bosom friend" of 

Anne of Green Gable's,

I made her the puffiest of puffy sleeves.

She wanted a full, twirly skirt.

Sadly every time she twirled,

she twirled away from the camera.

So you will just have to trust me that it twirls. 

It had to have a big, long bow.

She REALLY wanted it to be a LONG dress.

But I split the difference with her

and hemmed it at tea length with a growth tuck.

I love growth tucks because

they are such a quick and sturdy

machine hem.

She wanted it smocked,

but ONLY pink. 

I tried to talk her into a little bit of green 

or some darker pink, 

but the answer was no.

When I started smocking this,

I had no real design in mind.

I just "winged it".

At first, I wasn't very inspired

and not terribly thrilled with the simplicity

of the smocking.

But now that the dress is done,

I think it is exactly what it was supposed to be.

She wanted a collar,

but it had to be the same fabric.

I was leaning toward white collar and 

sleeve cuffs.

I managed to talk her into 

a tiny bit of trim.

This teeny rick rack is very vintage.

She was very happy with her dress.

I am think she chose well.

 I asked her for a big smile,

and she decided to flash her gum at me.

She insisted that I show you 

her shoes.

She thinks they have high heels.

She likes to put them on and tap on the tile

because they sound like real heels.

I love this picture.

It shows her standing still,

which is a rarity.

But of course,

we had to have her "Classic Ahnalin" pose.

I ended up using up nearly every 

bit of that fabric. 

 

Tomorrow I will post about India's Easter dress.

I had better get some sleep.

I am busy working on some very exciting 

projects now.

I can't wait to share them with you.

Happy Sewing.

Smocked Easter Chicks for Ahnalin

Happy Easter!

I pray the Lord blessed you, 

and revealed Himself to you today.

My beloved Hot Rockin' Hubby

introduced one of his original 

songs to our church today,

and it made me cry. 

I am so grateful for the gift that

Jesus willingly gave for me and you.

Today was a different kind of Easter for our family.

We celebrated without our India.

She had to work this afternoon,

so she was able to attend a church in Anaheim.

But I miss her so much.

And Ahnalin......

Well....

She requested a yellow Easter dress

with puffy sleeves,

a collar,

a full skirt,

a big bow,

and baby chicks smocked on the front.

I had not made her a smocked yoked dress 

for awhile and she really wanted one badly.

She found one in a Sew Beautiful magazine

and really begged. 

But I always have to do my own thing!

And I wanted to use things from my 

sewing stash, 

rather than head back into those

gardens of temptation, 

known as "fabric stores."

The pattern I used was 

Love and Stitches #151

Toddler Yoke Dresses I

by Debbie Glenn

in a size 5.

The fabric was a bright butter yellow

cotton/poly batiste from my stash.

It is VERY soft and VERY translucent!

The smock plate I used as a base

was Ellen McCarn's "Chicks"

but I made a lot of changes in 

the stitch design and really 

brightened up the color palate.

At 1:30 this morning,

I sewed the growth tuck hem.

Yes, I know that is a super easy, cheesy hem

treatment, but it is my favorite. 

And for wild and crazy girls,

it stays sewn nicely!

When I finally finished the dress,

I realized how see-through it really was.

So I quickly sewed up a simple half

slip and attached some gathered eyelet

from my stash.

Sorry for the blurry shot, but

"It twirls GOOD!" 

As soon as we got home from church

and brunch, she ripped off her socks

because she can't stand them!

And, she is rather vain about

the color of her legs contrasted

with the white shoes, 

regardless of the fact that her legs

and feet are constantly banged up with 

scratches and scars from her wild antics. 

She is SO PROUD of those shoes,

because they have a little heel!

And I didn't notice until just now,

but I got a lovely shot of the 

neighbor's gas meter, 

in the background.

Silly me. 

The dress was completed

at 2:00 AM.

The strawberry stain on the sleeve

appeared just 12 hours later at brunch. 

Oh well. 

She LOVES her dress.

And I LOVED making it for her.

I actually tried to talk her out of 

a smocked dress.

But she won when

she told me 

"Mama, I am 6 years old!

I may not want a smocked dress when I am 7!

Now, I am starting on her

dress for her piano recital!

I pray you all had a wonderful 

blessed Easter.

Even if your Easter was 

"different" this year, 

like ours, I pray you had

a time of reflection and joy.

Happy Sewing!

Yaya's Apron is on it's way to the Testers!!

 Yes! Finally!

The Yaya's Apron pattern is FINALLY sent off to my fabulous testers!

I love the testing process. 

I have been so blessed to have been a tester for a few other pattern designers and now this is my second pattern to be tested by others.

It is fun to be a part of the creative process.

And yet, I find having others read through my work and sew from my patterns is very helpful.
Testers have fresh eyes. 

And I am so excited about the sewists testing this pattern.
I will post pics of their pretties as they come in.
Let me tell you, they are talented and creative ladies!

They have not lived with a pattern for night and day,dreaming about the drafting program conspiring against me,or wondering why the entire pattern has disappeared off my hard drive.Fortunately those were bad dreams and not true!

Well, the drafting program does have control issues, I think. 

 So, you may want to get a little pile of supplies ready to go.
For each basic apron you will need a yard of fabric, and two packs of bias tape. I hope to have the pattern ready for sale next week.

Now, I am off to my parents house with Ahnalin for a few days in Nevada.
India is on a mission trip in the wilds of central California.
And Don has lots of music to work on here at home.  Here are a few pics of my girls this weekend.
So, um...yeah. I DID NOT GET THE SMOCKED DRESS FINISHED!
I was totally crazy working on the pattern.
And it was snowing.
So, I decided that neither Ahnalin, nor I, would die if I did not get the beautiful, very light batiste dress finished.
She wore her St. Patrick's Day dress. I only made it 2 weeks ago. Really, I am fine. Well, I had to convince myself it was ok, but Ahnalin was happy. 

Here is India and her friend Jordan.Jordan was baptized on Easter Sunday!
Jordy Pops, we are so proud of you!
Ahnalin got to meet a baby alpaca at the High Hand Nursery.
We ate Easter brunch there. YUMMY!
The alpaca thought Ahnalin was YUMMY! And bright and early yesterday morning, India, her boyfriend Kevin, the church high school youth group and a bunch of crazy adult leaders left for a mission trip in Fresno.
It was soooooo cold, but at least it was not snowing right then.
However, it still snowed here yesterday.

Here is my Ahnalin with me at the church's Easter Egg hunt on Saturday.

It was FREEZING!!!

I am sorry that I can't get many pictures on here right now. 

I think even my computer is wanting a break!

I pray you all have a beautiful week.

Next post will hopefully have pictures of Yaya' s Aprons

sewn by my testers!!!!

Thank you for your enthusiasm and excitement! 

Sivje

Christos Anesti!!!!!

Christ is Risen!!

He is Risen INDEED!!!!!!

My husband is from a Greek family.

Every year on Easter Sunday, 

 we greet each other with a kiss and the exclamation of

CHRISTOS ANESTI!!!!!

And the proper and joyful response is

ALITHOS ANESTI!

Indeed HE is Risen!!!

I love this. 

I love that Christ died for MY sins and that He did it because He loves me.

He did it because He knew that the only way for me be with Him in Heaven, 

was to give himself in my place.

He did it for all of us. 

Isaiah 53:5 says this:

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

I am so grateful that Jesus did this for me. 

I pray you have a beautiful and blessed Easter. 

And please, please, remember how much you are loved.

Sivje

Plan C or the Totally Cheater Easter Outfit

Well, last year, I smocked Ahnalin a beautiful pink pique dress with chocolate bunnies for Easter. It won a blue ribbon at the fair last year. Good for me. So, I started to smock her dress for this Easter, several weeks ago. Then we had one disaster after another, some merely minor and annoying, and some a bit more challenging. So, suffice it to say, THE Easter Dress (Plan A) did not get done. So, because my pride can not fall too far, I cut out another dress that should have gone together easily, (Plan B), however I was not satisfied with any trim choices I had and could not find any that would work in the few places I found to look on my miniscule budget. Then on Thursday, I had my wonderful, exciting, and much-longed-for oral surgery. True, I did try to smock while under general anesthesia (not kidding here!) but I finally conceded defeat.

So, here it is........Plan C. I had purchased a few cheapo t-shirts from a cheapo place and pulled one out to embellish with some of the neato trims I have and a cute embroidery design I fell in love with. The design is from the Martha Pullen Internet Embroidery Club 2009. I love how these stitch up.

The skirt is a free pattern from Oliver & S called the "Lazy Days Skirt" . You can download the pattern from the blog. It goes together super quick and uses very little fabric. I used only 15" length of fabric and used wide ribbon for the waist casing.

I had planned on embellishing some socks and her hat, but Don told me I could not sew after the services tonight. I am supposed to be asleep right now, but, heehee, I am bloggin'!

Ok, I didn't make the shoes, but they are so stinkin' cute that I had to show them.

Ok, I am going to bed now. It is before midnight, early for me. But, we have to be up at 5:00AM to get ready for church.

Tomorrow is Easter!!!!! I LOVE EASTER!!!!!

Ok, I admit it, Easter is NOT about the outfit. I know it. It is really about how Jesus chose to give His own life so that I do not have to die as a result of my own sins, failures, and bad choices. And I get to celebrate Easter openly, with other believers in Jesus, and our family.

Thank you Jesus.

Praise God for General Anesthesia and Dr. Leighty!!

Yes my friends! The offending tooth is gone! I am still under the loopy influence of general anesthesia, but I am not in any pain. WOOHOO!!!! The tooth is gone, and I am back on antibiotics and pain meds. Hopefully the swelling will not be too bad. I am going to sleep this off now and hopefully be in good form to sing at dress rehearsal tonight. I do not want to miss rehearsal. I LOVE to sing and so it is very hard for me to concede illness or defeat. Therfore, I will be a good girl and go rest. Hopefully, Ahnalin will chill out and take a nice long nap with me. When she worries about me, her anxiety kicks in badly and she gets mean and demanding. I know it is out of fear, but it sure is hard on me. So please pray that she is calm and gives me a break.

And yes, I may not have the time and energy to complete a new dress for Ahnalin for Easter. I can hardly believe I am even thinking this, but my child may have to wear a dress that she has worn before!!!! Of course, she will still be wearing a dress I have made, my pride can only cave so much. Ok, it is not like she NEEDS another new dress. But I love to make them so much, and she is so proud that her mama makes her pretties. But I just may have to get more rest for a few days if I am going to have the stamina to sing. Yeah, it is a pride thing with me. sad....


Anyway, I am going to take me, my vicodin, and my 4 year old to take a nap. Thank you all for your prayers.