flippy skirt

IMG_9899, originally uploaded by flanmela.

it's taken her a while, but the middle monster (aka, miss fashion thing) finally is into wearing this skirt. the biggest problem with it, to her mind, is that it has "ties! NOT TIES!" my strategy is to keep the ties out of sight when putting it on her.

anyway, the skirt is made from echino double gauze and from a pattern in one of my favorite japanese sewing book -- nani iro. i think it's adorable.

this morning's work

liberty twill skirt, originally uploaded by flanmela.

so, i was bored this morning and haven't been in a sewing mood lately. i have, on the other hand, been in a cutting mood. i think that i have 10 or 12 projects cut and ready to be sewn.

this was one of them. it's from this book.

i really love it -- it's a true wrap skirt, with pockets and pleats in the front and it's intended to have pleats in the back -- but as those looked too boxy, i switched it to elastic.

so, that's what i did this morning.

prairie girls in montana!

Prairie Girls, originally uploaded by flanmela.

we had such a lovely trip to montana with our family and friends -- the fitzpatricks, the flannigans and the morrison/bergers! the girls enjoyed wearing their matching prairie dresses (though madison had to berate me to finish hers while we were there!).

they were adorable!

finding reasons to get *really* excited about our montana trip

trying hard not to get her pic taken!, originally uploaded by flanmela.

reason #1 -- we'll be seeing my brother and his family, including two adorable cousins that my kids haven't really met yet!

reason #2 -- lots of swimming time at the hotel and knitting time in the car!

and reason #3 -- perfect opportunity to make LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE DRESSES! i've just finished this one -- the dress is with pintucks, a peter pan collar and is made in a nice, muted Liberty lawn fabric. I've made the pinafore with some nice natural muslin. The pattern is an 80's McCall's pattern, and the only thing i don't like about it is that it's one size only -- size 5.

but i'm guessing she won't want to wear little house on the prairie dresses when she's 13.

i'm making another one for our 5yo cousin.

and maybe another for my bug...

big boy shirt

big boy shirt, originally uploaded by flanmela.

finished this a while ago -- around father's day. it's a shirt that was cut from my husband's well-worn favorite business shirt. in fact, it was the shirt he wore to our rehearsal dinner 8 years ago, so -- very sentimental!

the pattern is from a japanese sewing book and i love it! the neck is a bit too big -- when i was cutting the front, i maintained the buttons and buttonholes but didn't properly adjust the sizing. oh well. it's still pretty fab!

happy 100th birthday, elizabeth!

charity child's BSJ, originally uploaded by flanmela.

just finished a cardigan for charity. it's one of elizabeth zimmerman's classic patterns -- the baby surprise jacket. i made a child's size (6 to 8 yo) with my noro and morehouse scraps and have to admit, i like how it turned out. very EZ, if i do say so myself.

a lovely woman on ravelry has organized a charitable giving of many, many BSJs to children in need in elizabeth zimmerman's home state of wisconsin. all in EZ's name. i'm very excited to be a part of it!

evie, elise and (soon to be) camille's pjs

evie, elise and (soon to be) camille's pjs, originally uploaded by flanmela.

the girls' birthdays are all coming up and genevieve picked out the fabric for elise's and her own pjs. we're going to a sleep-over event for one of the girls' birthdays, so it will be cute to see them all together!

meanwhile, genevieve is sporting hers prior to her 4th b-day, but i guess that's the perks of being the daughter of the maker...