Sewing Fun: Girls dress and tunic

 

Sewing Fun: Girls dress and tunic

Funny story...

In an attempt to knock something off of my Bucket List, I started teaching myself to sew at the first of the year.  I made a few skirts and bedroom decorations for the kids, all with great success.  

I was feeling pretty confident.  

So when Megan asked me to make her an Asian dress for her birthday this month, 

I was up for the challenge.

With the help of a friendly Wal-Mart employee, I purchased all of the necessary supplies for the dress.

 I read the pattern instructions.  

Three times by myself, 
twice with my husband, and 
once over the phone with my mom.  

I thought, "This can't be as hard as it looks.  I just need to dive in and it'll all start to make sense once I'm doing it."

After two weeks of trying to make heads or tails of the confusing sewing language and terrible illustrations,

I gave up.

This is as finished as it's going to get!

When I bought my supplies, the employee said, 

"Wow, I can't believe that you're taking this project on, having just learned how to sew."

She seemed impressed and I guess didn't realize that I was delusional.

I decided that I needed to work on something a little easier.

I used the Kwik & Easy 3768 pattern to create this tunic shirt for Megan as well as a longer dress version.  I'll be making the same things in Jordan's size later this week.

I made this in a size XL, which is too big for Megan.  I had a hard time deciding what to do with the straps since I don't have a little person that size to try it on.

The pattern calls for leaving it as a bow (shown above), but I don't much care for that idea.  As soon as Megan grows into the shirt, I'll adjust the straps and sew them to fit.

I did fix the straps with the dress that I made her today, this time in a size L.  

Clearly I haven't been devoting much time to my photography studies.  

I've been so busy with writing curriculum, reading books for review, sewing, school, cooking, cleaning, errands, making bead necklaces every half-hour for my daughters, giving Jackson piggy-back rides, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the various sounds that Jeff's mixer can make and trying to figure out where that smell is coming from!

Located offensive smell in the garage.  Funnily enough, before I found it Megan asked me what "noxious" meant.  She wasn't sure, but knew that it fit somehow in that situation.  An old and wet dish towel had been sitting by the door for who knows how long, getting smellier and smellier every day.  

I blame the kids.  Couldn't have been me.  No.

Maybe it was me.