Itty Bitty Fundraising Project

I asked our local quilt shop owner if I could conduct an all day sewing marathon making the Itty Bitty Baby Dresses and donating them to our local hospital Gift Shop. She thought it was a grand idea.

Then I asked Rae, the designer if I could have a workshop (donating my time, of course) and then donate the fruits of our labour. She gave me her blessing to go ahead.

Since I've been pre-occupied lately by deck re-construction and gardening, I haven't been focusing on sewing and the quilt store needs a few samples to advertise the project.

So last night I cut out and started sewing together 2 Itty Bitty Dresses.

Early, early, this morning I was awakened by military helicopters flying dignitaries to the G8 Summit being held nearby, and since I was awake, I got up and finished the dresses.

Not a good photo, I know. It's raining out so this will have to do!

So thanks heads of 8 major nations for waking me up to finish these dresses; thanks Rae for letting us use your pattern; and thanks in advance to the ladies that will make up these adorable little dresses to donate to the hospital Gift Shop!

Dresses that fit.

The Oliver +S Bubble dress I made Caitlin months ago fits perfectly. I made 12 month size and she is 13 months. My daughter loves the dress style and has asked me to make more.
Okay!!

The 12 month size smocked dress I made for her 1st birthday is still a little large. Thankfully it has back ties that can pull in the bulk so it looks like it fits.

Warm up.

I haven't stitched a single thing for almost a month and it shows! I cut out some cute pink coordinating seersucker fabric to make this McCalls 5610 sun suit for grandbaby.

According to her measurements and the sizes on the envelop, she needed a size medium. So I cut the fabric and stitched merrily away.

As good luck would have it, my daughter, her husband and Caitlin, the aforementioned grandbaby, came up to my cabin in the woods to visit for a whole week. I was blessed.

But as bad luck would have it, I tried on the size medium sun suit and it wouldn't even go over her head. The problem was the back opening. It just wasn't deep enough despite following the pattern. Had I been sewing on a more constant basis, I might have clued in that the opening was too shallow. Maybe not. Being in a fog seems to be de rigueur lately!

So I salvaged what I could and shirred the remaining fabric for a sundress. While I much prefer smocking, daughter #1 likes the shirred effect.

Oh, and that started a new battle with my sewing machine. In particular, with the bobbin. Having recently switched from Berninas to Husqvarnas, I haven't quite got the hang of putting a thicker thread into the bobbin-holding-area or whatever it's called, with the right tension.

Mostly, I had trouble hand winding the elastic thread onto the bobbin, again, using the right amount of tension. But with many, many attempts plus a whole lot of swearing (I live in the woods therefore no one can hear me) I got all the tension issues sorted out.

I made up the hat too but it is far too large. It will fit my daughters head! Sheesh.

Warm up. I'm treating this sewing fiasco as merely a warm up. Tomorrow, to quote Scarlett, is another day.