Quilt for a Babe

Hiya, just a quick post today to show you what I’ve been up to this past week.

I am sending out a baby bedding set to a friend in CA.  I wanted to try my hand at making bumpers, a fitted sheet and a crib size quilt.  It was all quite easy, if not a little time consuming.  I used Nu-foam pre-cut bumper pads which came with instructions for making the covers; essentially you make six pillows with ties.  And I used a tutorial found on Pinterest for making the fitted sheet.  The sheet tutorial used french seams in the corners which I thought was a nice touch.

And the quilt:

 

If the quilt were any bigger, I’d keep it for myself.  I fell in love with all the fabrics and stitches that went into it.

I watched the first several episodes of “Orange is the New Black” while quilting–I’m totally hooked.

 

This size quilt (about 37×48) was really fun to make and much easier to quilt than a full-size one.  If you haven’t quilted before and want to try, I’d recommend starting with a baby quilt.

Floral Flora Maxi Dress

With summer heat comes mosquitoes.  I was brutally attacked by swarms of the little bloodsuckers while watching my husband play softball Monday night.  Even covered head to toe with bug repellant, they were still biting.  With big red welts all over my legs, I knew it was time to sew up a new maxi dress for summer.

Maxi dresses: light and breezy while still covering your legs, which means of course, I can cover up unsightly bug bites and stubble.

This dress uses the Flora (By Hand London) dress pattern for the bodice, and about 80″ of gathered fabric for the skirt.

The floral fabric is rayon challis from Hancock Fabrics, and the bodice is lined with batiste.  The rayon is splendidly drapey and light, and the batiste adds just enough stability and coverage in the bodice.

The neckline was a pain to fit; I intentionally made a couple tucks where the front pieces overlap into the waist seam.  I thought I had it all worked out and was quite pleased until I sat down in my finished dress.  My shoulders dropped forward and I looked down only to see my entire chest hanging out.  I tacked the overlapping pieces together at the center front to make the dress wearable, but it does not lay flat at all.  Unfortunately, this is not a bodice pattern I will use again.  Regardless of the gaping neckline, I intend to wear this dress all the time.

 

My love for rayon has been renewed.  I’ve already got a skirt put together with this same print in another color scheme, and I’ve got two more geometric prints in my stash ready to be made into another skirt and dress.  I am machine washing and hang drying my rayon makes in order to prolong their life.  How do you care for your rayon garments?