Friday Finish - Geranium Dress

Himself, DT, and I are planning to head to our favourite downtown hotel for Sunday Brunch this week-end. It's quite swanky. ☺ Of course, GT needed a dress for the occasion!

I used the Geranium Dress pattern from Made by Rae. She's the genius behind the Big Butt Baby Pants I made for DT a while back. Honestly, Rae is a gifted pattern maker. There are pages and pages of detailed instructions and clear, precise pictures. And I got it as a digital download. In mere minutes, you too can be making something lovely. No searching your LQS or the interwebs for a printed pattern.

I said it about the Big Butt Baby Pants, but it's worth saying again. These patterns are well worth the cost. For 10$, I got multisized patterns from 0-3 months to 5T. There are 2 skirt styles, 3 sleeve styles, and 3 neckline options. In one short cutting and sewing session, I had made the lined bodice (yup, that's Kona Bahama Blue peaking out) and patch pocket.
The only troubles I had were purely user interface issues. Like believing I can make .62 m of fabric stretch for a pattern that calls for a yard. Silly me. I opted not to cut the skirt piece and used my trusty cutting mat & rotary cutter to prepare the pattern pieces.

Since I HAD to pop over to my LQS to get more fabric (It's a Bird's Life by Heather Rosas), I went a little wild and bought the Dritz Babyville Boutique Snap Pliers. I thought these would be hard to install. Nope!

 SO much easier than buttons and pesky buttonholes. I may have a new addiction!

Someone said to me this week "Why don't you just buy her a dress?" 

Silly people. Don't they know that there's extra love sewn into this one?

I'd be linking up with Finish Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts only she's taking some time away from the 'ole social media. So, I'm popping over to TGIFF @ Quokka Quilts.  Now let's hope GT doesn't spit up on it before we even get to the hotel. ☺

J

P.S. This is not a sponsored post... I didn't have to be paid to say nice things about this pattern. I really feel that way!

4x7 Challenge - Week 4

Ever hear that song lyric about sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug? Well, in Week 4 of the 4x7 Challenge, I was a bug! Big plans to sew = nope!

 

I won't be offering up a day by day list of stuff I got done since, most days, there wasn't anything! I did manage some time in my studio whilst grandparents adored DT and I made to it to Saturday's MMQG Sew In. At Sew In, I quilted (yet another) Kona strip baby quilt. Just for fun, I timed myself... with a stopwatch... 28 minutes, 54 seconds. Organic lines à la Adrienne. Done.

 

 And I sewed together those tiny (1 inch... ugh) HSTs from the QPPP.

Even though Week 4 was a bit of a bust, it's worth it to share it with you, dear reader. Sometimes things look at little too rosy in blogland... lovely finishes, piles of fabric cut and waiting to be sewn, etc. It's not always realistic. There are weeks when sewing/quilting can't be a priority... and that's okay. I resolved to focus on joy this year, not problems. It was a joy to sew in what time I had for it last week.

I'm linking up today with Barn Berry Designs. Thank you so much to Sarah for organizing this challenge. It was a great exercise and I look forward to taking it on again next year!

J