a special request birthday shirt

My sister-in-law asked me to help with a birthday shirt for my niece's Jessie-themed birthday party.  How could I resist?  While her only request was to have a big number two, I couldn't help but try to create a Jessie-style t-shirt.

I used the Sienna Dress Pattern by Lil Blue Boo, shortened to t-shirt length.  The yellow top of the shirt is appliqued by machine, I added some blue hand embroidery to the border (you can just barely see it on Jessie's shirt, but the stitching is there), and the red swirls and number are flocked Silhouette heat transfer material.

Very Jessie, don't you think?  I looked everywhere to find that swirly pattern for my shirt, but came up with nothing.  In the end, I just sketched it out myself.  After getting the shape right on graph paper, I traced it using a thick black sharpie and scanned the image into my computer.  Then I imported the graphic into my Silhouette software and traced the outline to get the perfect cut.

You have no idea how this t-shirt has the wheels in my head turning for Halloween.  Thanks to a hilarious suggestion from my husband, Ruby is going to be rocking an awesome costume this year (fingers crossed).

Former Fed Officials Opine

Federal Nondefense Spending (% of GDP)

Click on graphic in enlarge.  Source.

viva la fiesta outfit

This weekend, the good people of Santa Barbara are enjoying Old Spanish Days, a.k.a. Fiesta - a celebration of the city's Spanish heritage.  Jared asked me to make Ruby a little outfit for his work party, and this is what I came up with:

It is not the traditional Fiesta dress he was hoping for, but I thought something casual would get more frequent wear.  Besides, it does include all the three most important elements of a great Fiesta outfit:

1.  LOTS of ruffles - the more the better
2.  vibrant color, especially red
3.  pretty flowers

check, check and ... check.  Mission accomplished!

• The bloomers were made using Ruffle Fabric in Candy Cane and Dana's Perfect Diaper Cover pattern.  Before I sewed any seams, I serged all the cut edges of my Ruffle Fabric.  It really helped those wily ruffles stay in place and I didn't have to pin nearly as much.
• I made the top from part of a men's t-shirt, using guidelines from Dana's Summer Vacation Dress pattern (notice a trend here?  I may have a favorite blogger).
• The flower on the top and hair clip are made from the same t-shirt.  I cut long strips of connected scallops, and hand stitched them together in circular layers.

I'm off to eat copious amounts of churros.  Have a great weekend!

Rogoff on the Great Contraction

Ken says it is time for the Fed to spend some of its credibility.

shirred bloomers (a.k.a. not a very exciting post)

I have a new favorite way of making bloomers/diaper covers:  elastic thread!

Do you hate making elastic casings, or is that just me?  Instead, I've been making bloomers out of jersey fabric and shirring the waist and leg openings with elastic thread. 

I use Dana's Perfect Diaper Cover pattern to cut the fabric (old t-shirts work great for this).  Before sewing the front and back pieces together, I sew two lines of elastic thread on the leg and three rows to the waist.  Then sew together at the sides and crotch and they are done, lickety-split.  You don't even have to fold over the seams on the openings, because jersey won't fray.  They take literally 10 minutes to make.  As a bonus, they are super stretchy, so I think they'll fit a long time.  Hurray for that.

That's all for today.  Hope you're having a great week!

An Externality

I am spending a few days at the Jersey shore, where my mother lives. Sitting on the beach with my younger son this afternoon, I watched a small prop plane fly by parallel to the coastline. As is common around here, it was dragging a sign behind it. Usually, these aerial signs are advertisements for restaurants and other local attractions. This one, however, read as follows:

Lacy, Will you marry me? Kyle.

My first thought: How charming!

My second thought: I hope there is not another couple named Lacy and Kyle sitting on the beach this afternoon.