A Greek Mermaid for Project Run & Play Part 2

Chloe is my 'Greek Mermaid' in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

This is Part 2 of my entry in the Project Run and Play sew-along contest for Season 13 "It's All About That Place"  My dream destination is the Greek Islands.  I visited there many, many years ago and I have always wanted to return for a longer stay.  The closest that I can come to that dream right now is beautiful Tarpon Springs, Florida.

You can see Part 1 of A Greek Mermaid HERE where I detail the dress shown below and my inspiration.

The Mermaid Blouse

 I made Chloe a blouse to wear under her Mermaid Dress when it is too chilly to wear as a sundress or when she wears it to school.  (Our dress code states that shoulders are to be covered.)  I wanted it to be a versatile piece in her wardrobe so I used a vintage battenburg lace pillowcase from my stash and then hand embroidered the simple mermaid and sea plants to coordinate with the theme and the fabric chosen for the shorts.  The mermaid is based on a mermaid from a quilt pattern I purchased a while ago from Cinderberry Stitches HERE.

The shorts were made using one of the prints from the 'Calypso' line from Hawthorne Threads (found HERE). I trimmed the bottom of the shorts with the same Venice lace that I used on the blouse sleeves.  I added a little blue ribbon above the lace.

Venice lace added to the sleeves.

At one of the docks downtown.

I hope you enjoyed my little mermaid in my Greek Isle dream.  Please check out all the other wonderful creations at the Project Run & Play sew-along HERE.

A Greek Mermaid for Project Run & Play Part 1

Please click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Once again Project Run & Play has inspired and enticed me to create something special.....and blog again!  I really love this contest of selected 'sewists' and the sew-along contest.  It is wonderful to see all the unique and special garments that everyone sews for their loved ones.

This first theme this season (Season 13) is "It's All About That Place".  I would love to travel to Greece again.  I spent a few days in Athens about 50 years ago and loved it.  I loved the cuisine, the vistas of ocean, the smell off the water and its beautiful colors, the brilliant lighting, and the lovely people.

The closest I can get to Greece now is the beautiful city of Tarpon Springs here in Pinellas County, Florida.  It has one of the largest Greek populations in the United States.

See the Greek Key design over the restaurant?

Thinking of the Greek islands and the wonderful sea vistas made my mind wander to a little girl I know who just loves the water.  My friend Kaye's littlest girl, Chloe, has been entranced with mermaids for a couple of years now.  She even says that she IS a mermaid.  She is the inspiration and recipient of my entries for this contest.  I just love her sweet and spunky spirit, her creativity, and imagination!

The Greek Mermaid Dress

I used the Portabellopixie  'Claire' pattern:  the Petal Knot Dress.

I found this amazing mermaid collection at Hawthorne Threads and knew that it would be perfect for Chloe.  I love the detail in the house made fabrics at Hawthorne Threads.  It is digitally printed on beautiful fabric with a lovely hand and higher thread count.  It does wash beautifully.  (I wash all fabric prior to cutting.) There are five different fabrics from the 'Calypso' line in this dress.

I did make Chloe a blouse to wear under the dress but it was too warm to wear it on the day that we did the photo shoot.  It also caused me to turn it into another outfit for Chloe... so you will need to click HERE for Part 2 of A Greek Mermaid.

Note the gold Greek Key design on the white ribbon!

Dress Back

Tarpon Springs has decorated vintage bikes all over downtown.  Each one is unique and picturesque.

Chloe's mommy made the star fish hair ties with real star fish!

Chloe...being a mermaid.

You can tell that Chloe loved this dress, can't you?  She just makes me smile!

She is beautiful, isn't she?  What a pleasure to sew for, too!

I hope that you enjoyed Part 1 of A Greek Mermaid and that you will check out what the other sew-along contestants have created HERE.

Shabby Chic For Chloe

I have a love affair with vintage linens.  I love all the hand work that went into making them and I know the time and love that the long ago needle artists put into their work.  When I see such work in yard sales, estate sales, resale and antiques shops, I can't help myself.  I have to rescue them and look after them!  I wash them and see if they are still usable in their current condition and then they go in either my linen closet or my sewing stash.  The little pink blouse in this set is from a pair of vintage pima cotton gingham pillowcases that were hemmed with 'chicken scratch' cross stitch embroidery.  They were rescued from the Hospice Resale Shop near me.  If my sweet daughter was not an adult and her room was still aqua and pink, these would have gone on her bed.  Alas, her room is a golden color for a feminine grown-up now and she only occasionally stays overnight. 

See the embroidery work on the hem?  I added two tucks above the hem on the tunic to add more texture to the blouse.

I used both pillow slips for a size 5 Oliver + S Class Picnic Blouse for Chloe over a year ago, when she was five.  It was a bit big on her then but she liked the ensemble and wore it often.  It is perfect on her now!  It was my first time using this pattern and I thought the sweet simplicity of the lines went well with the pillowcases 'character'.

I used one pillowcase for the body of the blouse and one for the sleeves.

Check out my pattern matching at the seams!  I was pleased with them!
 I added the little blue flower button and the simple embroidered leaves to tie the design to the skirt.

The skirt was made using the Vintage Rose Skirt by Ruby Jean's Closet.  I like the pattern but PDF patterns aren't my favorite thing to put together.  That said, I really like this designer's patterns and purchased several of them!  (See the mitten cape I made using one of her patterns HERE.) It was made using a blue chambray and white pima cotton sateen for the lining.  The skirt pattern doesn't call for lining but I felt the chambray needed the extra support as it was so light.

Cutting the lining for the front and back pieces of the pattern.

Nice flat front and the adorable shabby chic fabric rose applique.
 Large pink mother of pearl buttons.

Gathered back for comfort and fit.

Little Chloe last year as just after she turned 5!  

The outfit was a little big:   it is falling off her shoulder but she loved it.
She chose her shoes and socks to match!!!

Enjoy your day!  May it be filled with pleasure and blessings!

Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by.  Life is like that - one stitch at a time taken patiently and the pattern will come out all right like the embroidery.
  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt For Halloween

It's that time of year again!
We see children sporting Halloween themed clothing throughout the month of October and then even into November!
It is a favorite time of the year for little ones!
 Kindergarten teachers, like myself, get to answer the questions, "Is it Halloween yet?" and "Do you know what I am going to be for Halloween?" every day... multiple times a day.

Last Halloween I made (and never blogged) several little skirts for some of my favorite little people.  I used the free Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt (HERE) with added width and buttons over the belly button to help the girls to keep the skirts on straight.  These skirts were quick and were well loved.

This one was for Chloe and worked with a couple of the blouses I made for the Black/white capsule set.

This one was for Kayla.

I can't remember for whom I made the next two skirts!

This one was for Emma.

Are you sewing any Halloween themed clothing?

An Autumn Tea For One

A little tea and a treat to celebrate this wonderful new season!

An oolong, some flowers from my garden in a tiny Lenox vase, and Frosted Pumpkin Cranberry Bars (recipe at the end of the post).

An English Haddon Arthur Wood teapot found in an estate sale.

A bone china Paragon tea cup found in a Hospice Shop.  The chrysanthemums are perfect for a little Autumn Tea for one.

Frosted Pumpkin Cranberry Bars

Recipe Below

Sweet thick linen tablecloth made by a long ago needlewoman and found at an antiques store.  Such lovely work!

Just click on the recipe to enlarge and copy it to your computer.  Enjoy!

An Oliver + S Croquet Dress For Chloe

Project Run & Play's sew-along challenge this week is for a "signature look".   With the weather here in Florida over the last few days and the fact that my son is in college on the east coast of Florida, I did very little sewing this week.  I will have to share what was intended for the challenge another time.  However, I made this little dress for sweet Chloe (my friend's daughter) last school year and never shared it here.  It embodies some of what I consider part of my sewing "signature":

• Classic Style
• Woven Fabrics
•  'Fussy" Fabric Cutting
• Top Stitching
• Mother of Pearl Buttons

This dress was part of a little 'capsule' of black & white things I made for Chloe that I will continue to share in the coming weeks.  Most of the things I made were to 'mix and match' like the set I made for Chloe recently (HERE) and this was the only dress made for that set.  I started with a lovely toile print of black and white dogs that I bought in a quilt store about ten years ago and some black/white pindot from my stash.  I decided to use an Oliver + S pattern I had never used before:  the Croquet Dress (you can find it HERE.)  What a great pattern!  Beautiful finishing details and great instructions.

Love the bow!

The back is closed with a single button and a loop and there is elastic in the waistline casing.

I was very careful to 'fussy cut' the shoulder and bodice pieces to feature and center the cute print.

Nicole of Five and Counting has wonderfully detailed tutorials on many of the Oliver + S patterns.  I found the one on the Croquet Dress HERE and utilized many of her tips.  If you look closely at the next photo, you can see that I top stitched the facing down in the back a la Nicole.  Love that tip!

Although I haven't seen the dress on Chloe very often at school, I know that she wears it to church and out with her family.  (Something about it being white.....  What was I thinking?)  In fact, it is getting a bit short on her and I just might need to make another one!

I hope that you will check out the other entries in this week's sew-along challenge HERE.  So much inspiration!  

May you see that your day is filled with blessings!