2 more Fridas

This weekend was spent in the garden mostly.

We built a fence last year that needed oil this year and since we were rained out on Saturday we spent a glorious Sunday outside oiling the fence.
Or rather the husband and my FIL - and the girls.

Saturday night after the in-laws had left after putting some sausages on the grill I started another Frida for Sofia and got it almost finished that night.

On Sunday morning when the guys were outside painting I sneaked off to the studio and finished Sofia's Frida and then started one for Isabel.



Rickard too the girls to his parents in the evening but I opted on staying home due to laundry malfunctioning. As in we hadn't gotten around to do any of it.

Sofia wore her Frida to dinner on Sunday and Isabel's was finished later in the evening.
They wore them to preschool on Monday and they looked adorable (as always ;-) )

Making dresses ...

Last year when I started stashing fabric (to my husband's gentle frustration) I found a lovely fabric from Alexander Henry called Baby Berry.

I ordered a yard (along with a bunch of other yard cuts) with the intention to make something for our kitchen from it. Like a table runner or a tea cosy or something like that.
The fabric was way too thin for that though and at the time I was more into collecting fabric than actually making something from it.

But a year later my fabric stash is growing at an alarming rate and I really need to get started on using it.
Don't get me wrong I love fabric fondling and I could content myself on doing that, but I fear my husband will stop feeling gentle frustration and move onto something else if I don't start using it.

So lately I've been on a sewing binge. I bought a bunch of patterns from different designers' and I've been keeping busy.

I've been off work for a week starting last Monday and I definitely caught the sewing bug.
I traced the pattern for Patty Young's Frida one evening and picked out the Baby Berry and a green/white seersucker fabric I've had lying around (they were gonna be curtains) for a few months.
I took time out during the day to sew up the bodice for the Frida but had to put it aside since we were going to dinner at a friend's house.

We came home again late last night and I was fondling the fabrics and looking at the pattern pieces I had cut out. And then I thought - I can sew the pocket on. So I did. Then I thought sewing the ruffle strip together wouldn't take that long or serging the edges.
Then I might as well sew the gathering seams too.

And before I knew it the dress was done and the time was ... way past my bed time. At least the birds hadn't started singing again ...



I made the dress for Sofia who turned two last month. But since I have a taller-than-average-husband she needed the 4T/5T size ... no point in making a dress for her if she's not gonna be able to use it for at least a few months (which is the reason I prefer to put my time and effort into making dresses for Isabel - then Sofia will be able to inherit them and I'll get more mileage out of them)



I thought the dress would be too long and that I would have to make some pleats in the skirt ... after trying it on her I don't think so anymore.

Now - I have already picked out a fabric combo for a Frida for Isabel. But the pattern doesn't come in a big enough size for her so I will have to grade it myself.
I'm still working on that.

Kyoko for Isabel

Late last night I finished the Kyoko for Isabel.

I have agonized over this dress for over a week, ever since the pattern dropped into my mail box.
I had a fabric combo set up that I was gonna use but I wasn't 100 % convinced it would be perfect.



I had intended to use the green Kokeshi-fabric and the pink dotted fabric for the skirt and the darker green for bias trim, but then I had second thoughts.
The darker green would look nice in a Kyoko for Sofia and I have more than 1 yard of it so it would be a shame to cut it up and make trim of it.
Then I feared I didn't have enough of the green Kokeshi anyway to use for the skirt pieces.

The pattern doesn't say how much fabric the skirt requires - probably because you can configure the skirt as you like. But it threw me for a loop for a bit. I found an orange fabric that I liked with the dolls but I didn't have enough unless I turned the pattern pieces 90 degrees and I didn't like how the fabric stretched on the cross grain.
Then I recalled I had the black Kokeshi fabric and that it would look quite cool to use them together.



So I measured and puzzled the pattern pieces on the green fabric I had and made it all fit. Now all I needed was trim.



I bought a package of three coordinating fabrics at a crafts fair in April and I had intended to make YoYos of it. The orange fabric I had considered for the skirt came in that pack.
It also had a dotted fabric that I liked and when I put it next to the Kokeshi-dolls it just matched. There was a green dot in the fabric that was the *exact green of the background for the dolls. And almost all the other colours in the dotted fabric was repeated somewhere in the dolls' outfits.
Perfect.

Now Patty had said you needed 1 yard of it to make trim for the dress. And I had 30 cm (12 inches). But I figured I could at least use it for trim of the sleeves and the bodice. So I cut it all up and made bias binding of it.
I didn't realise I like to make biniding. It's sort of relaxing. Strange.

The dress came together beautifully even though I had a brain fart and forgot to finish the seam in the sleeves. I may have to amend that.
Last night I gathered the skirt and attached it to the bodice. Perfect timing for today's birthday party.

But I still needed fabric for the obi-sash. I had intended to use a piece of stretchy thin denim I had at home but when I took it out I realized I had used it for a dress for Sofia and I couldn't find a large enough continuous piece to make the obi.

But I had the orange fabric.



So instead of going to bed like I intended I cut out the pieces for the obi and finished it too.

I love how this dress turned out. The pattern was well written and all the pictures made it easy to follow. It was a fun project to make.

I will need to lengthen the obi for Isabel if I make another one. I also need to make the bodice a little longer. She's normally a size 134 for length but she's rather slim so the 122 is ok for girth. Although the obi was on the short side.

I'm making one for Sofia next. As soon as my order from Heather Bailey arrives.

I think I'll measure her before I cut the obi for her. Maybe I need to lengthen it too.

My Creative Space June 4th

I'm joining in with Kootoyoo's My Creative Space again this week.

Working from home yet again - maybe I can make a habit of it.

This week I'm making a Kyoko for my big girl which involved a bit of jigsaw-puzzles to make the pattern pieces fit. I *think* I have it figured out I just need to mark it and see that I'm right.

I'm not sure about the dark green geisha fabric - I was gonna use it for bias trim but I'm not convinced ... I may have to go to the fabric store *oy vey*.

I will need something for the sash - I was planning on denim, but the piece I had at home had been cut into and I couldn't find a continuous piece that would fit.
Plus I need ribbon too so - a trip to the fabric store it is.

After the weekend's birthday celebrations (the little one is turning 2)

I wasn't planning on entering the heart challenge - but when I looked closer there happened to be sort of a heart in the picture (the top of one at least).