Monster Aprons

My practice grandkids are turning 5 and 3 this year. 




Phea has a birthday  party next week.  She is turning five years old already! Since they have about eight sets of grandparents and I'm smart, I am sending them the aprons this week so they won't compete with all the presents next week.

I picked up this pattern at Quilt Expo this year. I was not sure about how my great-nieces were going to get into these aprons themselves. I thought about re-drafting the back to cover their back with just velcro at the top. In the end, reality imploded said, don't change up the pattern because you are gone from your house 12 hours a day and you are approaching exhaustion. For once, I sewed this project as drafted and as instructed.

The bias tape forms loops so you can adjust the fit.
Afterall, my great-nieces reside over an hour from me
- it's not like I can fit the apron on them. I'm guessing at the sizing as it is.


The mouth forms a pocket for kitchen stuff.






Pink for Phea.    Rooaarr!!!!

The Orange Dress

 This is my practice grandchild, a.k.a. Sophea, my great-niece. She just received a sister Ella for Christmas and is responding as a typical two-year-old.  I hadn't finished the dress yet  and fortunately a family birthday party provided an opportunity for a fitting, where it was determined to keep the dress on the long side.

 I wanted a huge flower on the dress which involved a frantic e-mail to my friend, Pencil Girl, on where the giant orange rickrack that I bought in Puyallup might be. She was with me when I bought it and NOW I had a need for it. It never did come out of hiding which necessitated a visit here to buy some more. While there, I found this micro-pompom trim to finish the hem with.

 Here is my inspiration photo.   From nearly a year ago! This dress had pintucks running down the bodice and a floaty net underskirt.

 I found this pattern, New Look 6473 at Walmart and it looked close enough. Only it did not have a bodice and no where to sew the tulle to. It also had no instructions which I discovered about a month later when I started cutting out the pattern. I made view A - you can see where I drew my big flower. Thank God for the internet and Tamara Bostwick, who came to my rescue with her own review of the pattern. She wrote a bit about the order of construction and I figured out the rest myself.

I recalled why I sew garments and it is because ready made clothes never have pockets for girls or women. I designed this pocket utilizing that elastic thread on the bobbin. The pocket has a little give-n-take. I added the pleats to the bottom in a nod to the bodice pleats which gives it a little cupcake flair.
I mean, just the other day, Missy Sophea had a pocket-full of tiny gravel that went through the washing machine.     I'm just the aunty.

Here is a back view. Pretty plain except at the neckline.

I love this color.

Second post continues here. 

Third & final post.