Pattern making

I made my second pattern of all time. . . my first one based on an idea with nothing to copy except a picture of something similar! I cannot believe that I pulled it off and it only took 2 tries.
Last night I started trying to come up with a romper that I could put ruffles on the butt and still look adorable! The first attempt . . . well let us just say . . . not good! I tried to use the pattern I had for a 'bubble romper' basically a pillowcase dress made into a romper, Very cute, but didn't make for a cute ruffle romper. After 3 attempts of sewing and ripping apart and re-sewing, I decided to call it a night and go to bed, as soon as I got into bed the proverbial light bulb turned on! I had to get back up to draw a picture of my idea or I probably would have forgotten by the morning! When I woke up this morning I could not WAIT for nap time! As soon as it came I got busy!
I would like to share with you the final result.

pleated neck

cris-cross back and ruffles

My little beauty

Getting closer

Attempt #2 at hat making . . . argh! Today's hat turned out 50x better than the last one but it was still pretty pathetic. Although if you don't look too closely it's not that bad hahaha. I just cannot seem to figure out how to attach the top of the hat! Who knew it would be so difficult.

Gianna wanted in on the action

hamming it up

It's dance-y dance time!

I also finished another pair or bloomers for Ms. Brooklyn, which my lovely assistant was more than happy to model for me. I know I am so mean, but he loves it! Say what you will about what I could be doing to his 'manhood' but real men wear ruffles and zebra print haha!

I have one more pair to make but I cant make up my mind what I want to do! Plus I need to go get some more elastic! Those little packages are SO deceiving they look like they have a ton in there but really it like a yard. Grr. . .not that I am complaining about a trip to the fabric store. Since the last pair will be a surprise I am not going to post pictures until she get the package. I have so many idea for what I want to do it is killing me!

I plan to start on a cart/highchair cover this week for Gianna. I have had the pattern since M was little but I was so intimidated by patterns at the time I never even took it out of the package to read the instructions. I plan on making one side minky and the other flannel or fleece. The pattern looks SUPER easy and fast to make. If it is as easy to make as it looks I will be adding some to my Etsy page for sale!

SUCCESS!

Today was a great day for 2 reasons.

1. I found zebra print fabric! Not only in cotton but SATIN as well!!!
2. I successfully made my first pattern! YES, I, Brandi Gonzalez, Made a workable, wearable, pattern.
For what you might ask? For the CUTEST open back swing top/smock EVER. Do you get the sense that I am REALLY proud of myself? If not, well, I am!

A little back story. I was introduced to this website by a friend, http://www.rufflebutts.com/ , which has the cutest bloomers and swing tops. Which incidentally my mom used to dress me in little swing tops and bloomers almost exactly like the ones on their site. So of course Gianna HAS to have some! After scoping out the site and realizing I just can't afford to pay 30 bucks for a infant top that she is going to grow out of in 3 months, I set out to find a pattern for them. I searched high and low, Google-d until I could Google no more, alas I could not find a pattern that would produce a type of top I was looking for. Then it hit me! Why don't I email them and see if they sell the pattern? NEGATIVE! Back to the drawing board. . . I started thinking about how hard could it possibly be to make this top? What if I order one from the clearance rack and make my own pattern template from it? BINGO! I ordered one for 10 bucks in a size 3T . . . all they had left but no matter I just needed it for tracing. 20 minutes, 6 pieces of paper, and 8 pieces of tape later. . . I had a pattern. I put the kids down for nap and got busy! Now to share with you the final result. Drum roll please. . . . . . . . . . .

My lovely assistant

The ensemble

Bloomers

Back

Front

side ruffles

So So SO SOOOOo cute! I can't wait until next week when we are getting the family pictures done! Gianna is going to have so many cute things to change into.

Now I just need to figure out how to 'size' my pattern and how to get it put on adobe so I can share it will all of you! If any of you know how to work that kind of stuff PLEASE HELP!

Every little girl needs ruffles

Today I took on a new project that I have been wanting to try since. . . well since I had Marcelo. Making baby bloomers/diaper covers. They are so cute and there are so many different ways to personalize them from embroidery, to appliques, to my personal favorite . . . RUFFLES!!! Since I made Gianna a pillowcase dress she needed matching bloomers . . . of course (especially since I am still bitter that the shoes I made and worked SO hard on DIDN'T FIT!).

The cutest little butt you have ever seen!

Her matching dress

For a first run they came out pretty good, I do however, need to perfect my ruffling and placement. the first row of ruffles is to wide and the second and third are too low (the third row is practically under her butt). This project made me wish I had a Serger even more than I already do. A serger would have made the whole project go a little more quickly and smoothly.

All the sewing I have been doing lately I have made a list of tools that I would like to invest in. . .or if anyone want to send them to me free that would be even better!
My wish list:
serger
Rotary cutter and mat
Pinking shears
a walking foot for my machine
a sewing machine that does embroidery (anyone have a spare Bernina laying around?)
yard stick (I didn't say everything was expensive)
marking pen (you know one of the ones you can mark and it disappears)
Magnetic pin cushion
a pretty sewing box
This is all I can think of now but I know there is more. now to convince the husband that I NEED these things haha.