You would think that after such a nice vacation I would be well rested and ready to tackle this list.  Well, I did make a little headway, but not much since I added new things to the list.

First off, I made this purse the Thursday night before our trip, since I needed a bigger “hold-it-all” purse.  I really like how it turned out, and it has gotten much use since I made it.  It is quite the well traveled purse now at a mere few weeks old.  I put a magnetic clasp in the top, which is the first time I tried that.  It was actually pretty easy to do, and not as daunting as it initially appeared.  This decorator fabric has a nice sheen to it and is a very nice quality.  The cream is silk, and the handle is moleskin (suede-like fabric).  This bad boy was my carry on to the plane and it was stuffed FULL with a large hardcover book, my camera, a bag with all my plethora of cords, my wallet and the various sundries that ladies carry in their purse.  I couldn’t actually close it, of course, but it held it all.

purse

Next, this was try #2 for making a dress for my friend’s daughter.  I still made it too short.  Back to the drawing board – it’s about an inch too short.  Talk about frustrating.  I’ll probably put it up in my Etsy shop.  It is pretty similar to this one, just a different fabric and I made a tie for the waist that can be used or just taken off.   Sooo…I’ll be making yet ANOTHER one of these soon.

dress

This outfit was quite the compromise for me.  Just because I love my daughter and it was her birthday did I stoop to making something with Dora.  I am not a big fan of commercialized clothing, but my kids love these characters.  She was so excited when she saw this fabric, so it was worth seeing how much joy it gave her.  I’m a sucker for a happy face.  She even took the fabric over to her daddy to see Boots and Dora and the horsie. 

dora dress

dora dress 

I really don’t like the quality of the fabric, though, since it isn’t very soft.  I tried to offset the incredible pink-ness of this fabric by using a neutral cream for the top piece.  This was the first time I tried pintucking (those many, many rows of stitching) and I was pretty happy with how it turned out.  It just took some measuring and ironing and time and patience to get them to come out evenly.

Hopefully I will have time to do more sewing this week, but most likely I will be PLANTING.  We have lots to do outside, which is nice to get out and get some fresh air. 🙂