Twirling Team Shirts

A couple of years ago (maybe longer) I bought a Silhouette Cameo when it was on sale for a good price.  I was hoping to be able to use it to cut out some of the shapes I need when I applique with my embroidery machine, but I couldn't get the software between the two machines to work well together.  So, the Cameo sat in the closet, still with the factory seal tabs.  I finally pulled it out, figured out the basic software it is designed for, and made a collection of shirts for all the members of Dorothy's twirling team to wear at Nationals.

The theme of their routine is Disney Villains, so I came up with designs using the different villains whose songs are used in the routine.  I couldn't choose one design that summed up all the different songs, so each shirt is different; even if the same character appears more than once.  

 I made up the circular design, and left the center blank, as a template.  Then, I filled in the center section with all the various designs I came up with.  Here, from top to bottom/left to right, we have: Gaston, Ursula, Scar, Ursula again, Cruella De Vil, the Evil Queen from Snow White, and Mickey as the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Here's the other half of the team, with: Jafar, Scar, Jafar again, Cruella De Vil, The Queen of Hearts, Dr. Facilier, and The Queen of Hearts again.  Some of the details in the designs don't show up well in the photos.  The designs are very sparkly, which also doesn't come across in photos.

I put all the girls'names on the back since I had room on the transfer sheets I was using.

I had to email a couple of the moms to double check name spellings.  I really hope I got them all right.

Here are a few slightly closer photos of the shirts.  Some of the details, like highlights on Jafar's face, don't show up well here, but I think they turned out really great in person.

 It's a bit hard to tell here, but the Queen of Hearts on the left, is swinging her flamingo croquet mallet.

 I hope each girl likes the character they get.  Not every girl does ever song, so I tried to match them up with characters where they are performing in that song.

These might be three of my favorites.  The Mickey one is Dorothy's, and was my first as a test run to see if this would work at all.  I didn't have this Cruella at first, but I was able to modify a pumpkin carving pattern, and it looks better than I thought it would when I started working with it.

The girls will get their shirts next week at their party before heading out to a week long competition.  They will wear them on the day that their corps competes, while practicing.  Hopefully, they all fit, and everyone likes them.  I think they turned out very cute and look great all together.  Fingers crossed they survive being washed so that they can wear them for other practices, later in the year.

Gnome Dress

I finally made a dress for Dorothy out of some gnome themed fabric I bought a few years ago.  I fell in love the the adorable Gnomeville fabric by Micheal Miller and had to have it.  However, I didn't realize just how tall the border was until it arrived.  I wanted to wait until she was tall enough that the entire dress wouldn't be just the gnome border, because I love the red with white polka dots (I love polka dots and have to be careful that she has other patterns in her wardrobe).  I used the same pattern as a dress I made her a couple of years ago for our trip to Disney, but this dress ended up a little too big and I had to take it in a bit.  I don't know how much longer she will willingly wear cutesy clothing, but she could easily wear this for a couple of years.

It's been too cool to wear it, but I had her put it on for the last day of school.  I made her take off her cardigan for the photos.

Even though it's a bit big, she can still play just fine in it.

I found these gnome buttons, and they are just perfect on the front of the dress.

The bottom border is a scene of gnome life in mushroom houses.  So cute and whimsical, and the top edge is scalloped.

The back of the dress.  I just love her in dresses that show her back and ruffle sleeves.  I hope she doesn't get too old for them too soon.

Overall, I like how this dress turned out.  She still likes it when I make her things, and loves the "fancy" dresses.  No one else at her school dresses like that though, so I'm not sure how much longer she will want to wear them.  I'll keep doing it while I can.

Valentine's Day Dress

I made Dorothy another quick dress from a t-shirt for Valentine's Day.  Since she would only get to wear it a couple of times, I purposely made it a bit big, so she can wear it again next year too.

 I found the shirt at Target, and the fabric at JoAnn's.  Nothing fancy, but the reds match, and I like the simplicity of the heart fabric design.

 The back, with the ribbon bow.

 This wouldn't be my first choice as a shirt, but it was the only one they had and I didn't want to drive around looking for something different.  There's nothing wrong with it, just not what I typically am drawn to.

 Instead of the straight, gathered, skirts I have put on the last few dresses, I did this one as a circle skirt for extra twirl factor.  Here's the wind up...

 ...and the spin.

The skirt flows outward very nicely.  She has practically made herself dizzy spinning in it

I don't know how much longer she will be willing to wear stuff like this, so I'm enjoying it while I can.  Hopefully, she will wear it next year too.

First Grade Class Quilt

Last week, I spent the morning in Dorothy's first grade classroom, doing a quilt project.  It's something I have done every year with my kids classes, but it was the first time for her at her new school.

First, I read The Quilmaker's Gift to the class, which is just a lovely story.  It's about a quiltmaker who gives away her quilts to those in need and a greedy king who tries to force her to make a quilt for him.  Through her kindness and generosity, she thwarts the king's attempts to coerce her into making him a quilt, and she changes his life; turning him into a joyous and generous person.  The teacher told me that the story was a great lead in to a new section they were starting the next day on kindness.  I like that it is a sweet story, with amazing illustrations, and it works as a wonderful way to explain that we will be just like the quilmaker in the story and that we will be donating the quilt that we make together as a class.

After the story, the real fun begins!  Every student gets a grid of fusible interfacing and a baggie of pre-cut fabric squares.  This year, everyone got five each of yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, and a print fabric.  A while back, I bought a remnant lot at a deep discount, but it was sight unseen.  Some of the fabrics I really liked, but there were a couple that weren't really ones I would ever pick.  This was one of those.  I used it as my "inspiration piece" and based the entire quilt off this pretty, but odd, fabric.

I loved the colors, but the bold stripes of the pattern were going to make it difficult to make much with it.  I cut it up into 2" squares and each child got five squares that had a similar pattern on them.  We ended up with floral, stripes, or blue and gold swirls.  In the end, it added some depth and dimension to the quilt, and everything coordinated beautifully, without being 100% matching.  It was a nice change.  Bonus:  it used up almost the entire remnant piece I had.

 They got right to work, placing their fabric squares onto their grids.  I love how it gets really quiet all of a sudden when they all start concentrating.

 So much focus!  There was also a lot of rearranging of their squares in this class.  Some years, the kids go with whatever idea they have first.  Several students in this class started over 2, 3, even 4 times, until they got it "just right."  I purposefully leave the instructions pretty vague, and just say to arrange their squares however they like, and to make sure that every square on their grid is filled; no holes.  Once they are happy with their layout, they use their glue stick to tack all 25 squares down to the grid.  That's a lot of work for a group of 6 and 7 year olds!

 The little boy in blue was in Dorothy's class last year, at her old school, so he had done a version of this project before.

 I loved how serious this little guy was.  He worked so hard to come up with an incredible pattern, and was so incredibly focused.


Once they were done, I collected their quilt blocks to take them home.  At home, I ironed the squares to the interfacing (and straightened them out a bit), sewed the blocks, pieced the top, quilted the top to the backing, and bound the edges.  I try to get it done in about a week, so that not too much time has passed between them making the blocks and seeing the finished product.  I told them I would be back to show them the finished quilt, but warned them that it would not be the very next day, and some of the kids were very disappointed.

 The finished quilt and my fuzzy helper.  He just sat there when I was trying to take a picture of the quilt.  I could not have posed him like that if I tried.

I'll be taking the quilt in to school tomorrow morning, then hanging it in the hall with a bulletin board display so the entire school can view it for a bit.  When I showed it to Dorothy, she gasped, so I'm expecting a good reaction from the kids tomorrow.  That's always my favorite part.  I don't think they can visualize how the work that they do will combine with everyone else's, and how it looks when they are all put together.

I debated about not using black for the sashing, but I'm so glad that I did.  I was afraid it would be too dark, but I think the effect is like stained glass.  It helps that three of the colors are very light/bright, and really stand out against the dark sashing.

I thought I would like the binding more than I do.  It's not bad, but it doesn't stand out like I was hoping.  I had some of the print fabric left, but not quite enough to do all the binding, so I combined it with a few short pieces left over of the black sashing fabric.  I wish I had enough of either one of the fabrics, instead of alternating them.  Oh well, the kids won't care.

I forgot to take a photo of the back, but I used a piece of aqua minky dot, that is very soft and pet-able.  I happened to have the piece minky and it was exactly the size I needed for the backing.  I love that I was able to do this quilt 100% with fabrics I already had.  The squares, other than the print, were all left from other projects, and the yellow is now all gone.  Perfect! 

After the quilt hangs in the school hallway, I'll bring it home, wash it, then donate it to the local chapter of Project Linus.  

 Just because he never poses so nicely when I'm trying to take his picture.  Right after this, he ran at me and tried to put his nose on the camera lens, which is what typically happens during picture time.

I had a great time with the first graders.  I'm currently talking with my son's forth grade teacher about doing a much larger version of this project, involving the entire forth grade.  I have started prepping, but have a lot more squares to cut.  I need a minimum of 2,180, for things to come out exactly even.  I'll probably do an extra 100 or so as a buffer.  Guess I had better get busy.

Spaceman Pajama Pants

I have been very bad about remembering to take pictures of the things I have been making lately.  I'll say that I'll try to be better about it, but I probably won't actually change anything.  Anyway...

I did remember to take a couple of quick pictures of Malcolm in his new glow-in-the-dark spaceman pajama pants that I finally finished for him.  I love how excited he gets when I make him something.  I don't make nearly as much for him because a lot of the boy clothing is either more difficult, or it's just much less expensive (and quicker) to just buy him the shirt or pants he needs.  "Luckily," there is a lack of cute, affordable big boy's pajamas for sale, so I can still make him a little something once in a while.

 Yes, we still have our tree up.  We were late to set it up, and are late to take it down.

He's much more excited than he looks here.  The pants are the tiniest bit too big, but I'm hoping he can wear them next winter too.  Since they are flannel, they are a winter only pj, and I'd hate for him to only be able to wear them for a short time.  He's growing so fast; straight up.

 I didn't realize the photo was so blurry, but here's a close up of the fabric.  The white on the astronaut's suit, the white stars, and the white on the moon, all glow in the dark.  Extra fun!  I don't know how much longer he will find glow-in-the-dark pajamas exciting, so I might as well  do it while I can.

I used an old pattern, and the length was perfect for right now, but I was afraid they would be too short by next winter.  I added a green cuff to the hem, and I really like how it looks.  They are a tiny bit long right now, but not so much that he trips on them.

So cozy, and ready for bed!  I found the shirt on clearance at Target last year, and it matched the fabric perfectly.  It's hard to see in the photos, but the orange and grey in the shirt are also the colors of some of the stars in the pants.  It was much faster to just buy the shirt, and it cost much less than I could ever make one.

I have some other flannel fabric set aside to make more pajamas pants for him, but I think I'm going to wait until next year because he has enough for right now.  I hope he's still into cute pajamas when he's 10.  I have a different glow-in-the-dark space fabric, some comic book character flannel, and a black and white cat print (he's cat crazy).

Happy Halloween!

This year's Halloween costumes were a joint effort between Kevin (and Malcolm) and myself. 

Malcolm wanted to be a Roman soldier, so he and Kevin made his breastplate armor and helmet.  Malcolm learned the joys of using the hot glue gun, and the pain of velcro not holding his costume together.  In the end, we used duct tape to hold it together and only had to repair it once while out trick-or-treating.

The only parts I "made" were the tunic, cape, belt, and arm gauntlets.  The cape and tunic were two mens' size t-shirts.  I took in the shirt on the sides so the tunic wouldn't be quite so huge.  The cape is just the back of a shirt, with a piece that had been cut off, sewn to each shoulder to create a neck hole.  The gauntlets are cut from flannel backed vinyl I found in the remnant bin of the fabric store.  I also cut strips from the vinyl for a belt, and leg straps.  He wore the leg straps to school, but we left them off when it was time to hit the streets, in favor of pants.  Poor kid was cold at school.

 After changing her mind over and over again, Dorothy finally settled on being Belle for Halloween.  I looked at tons of patterns and examples of costumes people had made, and decided to use a basic "fancy dress" pattern and just change the neckline slightly to make it look more like Belle.  I decided to just do the small pick-ups on the skirt instead of the full shearing to get the draping effect of the dress in the movie.  The pick-ups kept the skirt light enough to still be light and flow-y, which I thought was important.

 A friend loaned us a fake hair piece, and it really helped finish the look.  Dorothy's hair is just in a tight bun, then I stuck the hairpiece in front of the bun, pulled it around, and secured it with a rubber band and sparkly yellow ribbon.It held really well, and she looked so grown up with her hair done up this way.  It was fast and easy too.

Dorothy was adamant that she wanted gloves to wear with her costume, and she felt so fancy with them.  She wanted me to add sparkles to her costume, but I argued that Belle doesn't actually have a sparkly dress.  That, and I was out of time to do more to her costume.  I did have a rhinestone button, left from a different project, that was perfect to cover the center gather on her shoulder piece.

 The weather at Halloween can vary quite a lot, and we were afraid she would be cold in just the yellow Belle dress, so I suggested that I could make her the cloak that Belle wears in the snow, earlier in the movie.  The cloak turned out beautifully, and what little girl wouldn't want a red velvet cloak trimmed in white fur.  Side note, I will never sew with fur again!

It was fairly warm, but she wore the cloak for trick-or-treating.  I figure she can wear it again at our town's Dickens in Dundee Christmas festival, and if we walk in holiday parade.

Liberty Dress

This dress has been a long time coming.  I put it off as long as possible while Kevin and the kids were camping, but I finally buckled down, finished it, and I love this dress!  I want to make more of them, with slight variations.  Maybe for next summer. 

 The fabric on the bodice and the lower skirt is from Liberty of London.  I bought it, and 4 other fabrics, when Kevin and I visited London a couple of years ago.  It is easily the most money I have ever spent of fabric, and I was nervous to cut into it.  It has just been sitting, waiting for the "right" project.  I finally had to push myself to just use it already.  Even then, I procrastinated out of fear of wasting my precious purchase.

The center, coral panel was a fabric I had on hand, and it was a perfect match for the Liberty fabric.  It doesn't show in the photo, but the coral has tiny little swirls in a tone-on-tone scheme.  It's really delicate, and has some texture to it.  I went back and forth trying to decide if I wanted the center section different or not.  I think it would have looked fine either way, but I'm happy with how this one looks.

 I used Simplicity pattern 2377 as my guideline, but made a couple of minor changes to the original pattern.  I wanted a little more fullness in the tiered layers, so the coral is a little longer than originally called for, and the Liberty fabric at the bottom is about two-thirds longer than the pattern is set for.  Honestly, both could be even more full, but I cheated a bit and just used the full width of the fabric.  A single width for the coral and double that for the Liberty.

I don't know how much longer she will enjoy having me make dresses for her, so I might as well do a few more while I still can.

It's hard to see in the other photos, but the Liberty fabric is sort of a funky damask style.  It looks very traditional from a distance, but there are octopi all over it, and little hidden anchors.  I centered one octopus on the front bodice, and there are two rows of them on the lower skirt.  I like that this dress looks pretty traditional, but has a little surprise in the details.

Now, what will I make with the rest of my fancy Liberty of London fabric?