Emma's Clever Charlotte Any Day Valentine Outfit

Clever Charlotte Chickadee Skirt & Raven Hoodie

Emma is one of my favorite little sewing muses.  This little just-turned seven year old is as charming and beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.  It is always fun to sew for Emma!

Emma in some of the many outfits I have made for her.

This little shirt was purchased on sale and cost less than $6.  I embellished it with a pretty floral that reminds me of Monet's watercolors (only brighter).  The inspiration for the heart design is from this Pin on one of my boards on my Pinterest account.  I chose this particular print to go with a Clever Charlotte 'Raven' Hoodie that I made Emma last October as I wanted her to have more opportunities to wear the hoodie.  It was made using a gray feather-wale corduroy and an orange swirl print for the lining.   (I will post that outfit closer to October 2015 as it is an autumn outfit.)  

I really loved the short sleeved style of the hoodie and the fact that it is completely lined.  My only issue with the pattern is the way the sleeve edges are sewn...and I am working on another way to sew them.  Otherwise, the Raven Hoodie was a dream to sew.    When I made it last October, I paired it with a Clever Charlotte 'Chickadee' skirt.  Another great pattern with a completely finished (lined) interior and a perfect fit with a clever adjustable back waist.  Emma loved them so I made another Chickadee skirt in the orange/red/yellow floral lined in the same orange swirl print as the hoodie.  Emma is tall but very slender.  I made the skirt and hoodie in a size 5 with a length of a 6.

 

I have only the one picture of the new skirt as I deleted the folder the photos were in!  (Goodness!  I can't believe that I did that!) You can see that I used the same vintage button on the skirt (not functional) as I put on the lace top I bought for Emma to wear with the gray outfit last October.  

The very clever top-stitching on the Chickadee skirt completely encloses the last opening left when sewing the lining to the fashion fabric.

Clever Charlotte Rave Hoodie

 Check out the little hand embroidered monogram on the inside of the hood!  Sweet, right?  Well.....this was to cover up where I slipped with the scissors and snipped a tiny hole in the hood!

I hope it is hard to see where I snipped!

I'll be bringing my camera to school this week in hopes that Emma wears it to school.  I would love to be able to show you how well this outfit looks on a live model.

Blessings for a day filled with happiness!

"S" is for Sweet September's Valentine Dress

Dress Front

 This will be a 'quickie' post to share a dress I made two years ago and never posted!  I have a couple of Valentine Posts that I want to share this month so I better 'hop to it'!    I was given the printed fabric by September's grandmother to fashion into a dress that she could wear to a Valentine's Dance.  It was a warm February here in Florida and only a little white sweater would be needed to keep her arms warm when she wasn't inside at the dance so a sun-dress style was chosen.

I used a favorite 'go-to' pattern:  Annie's Sundress and Jumper by Primrose Lane.  It has all sizes, 2-12, and has a shoulder button closure view, too.  I added the sash and the hem border.  I had the perfect color Kona cotton solid to coordinate and the sweet trims in my stash.

Dress Back

Do you make Valentine's Day clothes?  Here they are often worn by children all February long.  I recently made some things with hearts for Valentine's Day that could be worn any day that I will share soon.

"A friend is someone who knows all about you and still... loves you!"

The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 8: The Baby Bonnet & Bibs

 You might think that a baby bonnet and bibs would have no place at a Bridal Shower but... remember the theme of my gift to my niece!

I had determined to make my gift representative of the things typically found in a hope chest of yesteryear (updated, of course). (See the end of this post for the links to the original post and the gifts posted thus far.) This was a "Hope Chest" (basket) filled with things that I made or collected for my wonderful niece.  Along with my hope that Kelly be blessed with a wonderful marriage, I also hold the hope that Kelly and Josh will be blessed with children some day.  In  Rebekah Wilson's book, she discusses the wide variety of things that would be placed in a hope chest of 'yesterday'.  Among the items one would save/make/collect would be family heirlooms like blessing or christening gowns and special baby items.  Young girls would often make things for their future children and place them in their hope chests or the 'bottom drawer' of their dressers if they didn't have a designated hope chest.

A great resource book about Hope Chests and what goes in them.

Like the bread cloth I shared in my last post (see HERE), this gift was made using a family vintage tablecloth, this time from my mother.  When our mother died, my sister and I discovered this cloth on a shelf in her linen closet.  We remembered it from the Easter dinners my mother would host for all of us when our children were little.  It was badly stained and my efforts in getting the stains out resulted in the fabric fibers disintegrating where I worked too hard.  The rest of the tablecloth was in excellent shape so I saved it to re-purpose into something new that would have sentimental value for my sister and myself (and hopefully  our children).  Baby clothes for our children's children fit the bill perfectly!

Kelly loved this little set and was touched that it was made with something that belonged to another of her grandmothers.  

So pretty but in really bad shape.

I used a commercial pattern (Simplicity 1794) to design the bonnet and two bibs.  I love that the bonnet can be worn three ways, as it is completely reversible.  I lined the bonnet in a tiny blue and white pima cotton check.  (Another set has been cut out to make for my own daughter's hope chest.)

The bonnet can be worn with the embroidered/appliqued side showing and the brim down for shading a baby's little face.

Gingham side out.

My favorite way to have the bonnet worn:  gingham side out with the fancy side folded to the outside.

Bib #1:  The Feeding Bib

Bib #2:  The Drool Bib

I have one more post of gifts made for Kelly's Hope Chest Inspired Shower Gift and hope to have it posted after Valentine's Day.  ( I have some Valentines Day sewing to share first!)

If you wish to see the initial post about the Tea Party Shower or some of the other gifts I made, please see the links below: 

• The "Hope Chest" Inspired Shower, Part 1:  The Party 
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 2:  The Nightgown
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 3:  The Spring Kitchen Set
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 4: Bowl Covers!
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 5:  The Embroidered Hankie
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 6:  The Shoe Bag and Round Travel Tote
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 7:  The Bread Cloth

Have a wonderful day!  

The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 7: The Bread Cloth

"Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread"

While perusing my collection of Sew Beautiful magazines last summer, I came across an article about a beautiful hand embroidered bread cloth and I instantly knew that I wanted to make it for one of my niece, Kelly's, shower gifts.  I knew I had the perfect soft damask cloth tucked away to re-purpose into something special:  a lovely, very old, tablecloth that had been my wonderful stepmother's and had been her mother's before her!  One area of the vintage material had worn through but the rest was in excellent condition and was such a pleasure to work with!

If you wish to see the initial post about the Tea Party or some of the other gifts I made, please see the links below: 

• The "Hope Chest" Inspired Shower, Part 1:  The Party 
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 2:  The Nightgown
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 3:  The Spring Kitchen Set
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 4: Bowl Covers!
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 5:  The Embroidered Hankie
• The Hope Chest Inspired Shower, Part 6:  The Shoe Bag and Round Travel Tote

Please click on the photos to enlarge them.

The original design in the magazine had the wheat sprays in all four corners of the cloth.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to complete this project and the others that I still wanted to do if I did the entire design, so I chose to do the sprays in just two of the corners.

I used a tiny back stitch to stitch the line from the Lord's Prayer and shadow work, stem stitch, and bullion knots for the wheat sprays.

I found a beautiful standing master butter knife in an antique store to add to this gift.

I really tried to make my handwork neat because I knew that it would be seen as soon as you uncover the bread!

I also found a triangular bread basket in another antique store that would be perfect for using with the cloth.

As I had hoped, Kelly loved the cloth and was touched that it had been made from a tablecloth that had graced her grandmother's and great grandmother's tables.  I know that when she read the tag I had prepared explaining what I had done, I felt like these special women were present with us in spirit.  I have to say that of all the things that I made for Kelly, this was the most meaningful for me.  

I hope that you enjoyed this post.  Perhaps it will inspire you to make something new out of something old!  Please join me again later in the week for another gift for Kelly made from one of my mother's tablecloths!  

Blessings for a wonderful day!