Happy New Year!

Monday, January 2, 2017

in
Soooooo.....it's 2017.  Here we are.

Since the last time I did a meanful blog post, my family has moved across the country, changed jobs, changed schools....quite an eventful 2016!

We are now living in Michigan and I must admit I'm having a bit of a tough time getting used to it.  I left a job I loved, all my friends, and my two adult sons in California.  It is nice with a ridiculously low cost of living here, and seasons!  I haven't lived in seasons since I moved away from Toronto in 1995.   We really enjoyed the fall, and are enjoying winter - for the most part!

We are continuing our fabric business, and will be traveling to Quiltcon in Savannah, GA in February, so that will be quite an adventure!  I'll be making up some sample garments, bags, and maybe even a quilt of some sort to take with us, and hopefully I will share them here.

I started 2017 out by actually completing a project!

This is the Franklin Dress from Brooklyn Pattern Company.  I had made the Bedford Dress previously, and the child loves and and gets compliments every time she wears it.  So I was confident in putting the Franklin Dress into rotation.

I made this from corduroy that has long been in my stash - it really could be about 15 years old!  I was indecisive as to the silhouette of this dress for a 7 year old - I was worried she may think it was too juvenile, so I added a belt that I slammed together....

I'm not convinced with the belt.  It needed to be smaller, and I need to actually add belt loops.  The kid's waist still measures 20", so I was worried making it too small and gathering all that corduroy!  I may re-visit the belt....

Either way, I quite like the dress, and Julia does too.  The construction is kind of odd in some spots, but generally, when I first make a pattern, I make it exactly as the designer indicates to ensure I don't screw up.  This dress is a size 6 with 8 length.

The bodice is Nani Iro double gauze from my shop - I went back and forth making the dress from the double gauze with the corduroy for the bodice - in the end, I decided to keep the extra double gauze and make a Bedford top for the summer - a win, win!


So, here it is - the first make of 2017....hopefully way more to come!