My New Adventure...

I had owned a sewing machine for many years but not until I had my own daughter and came across a beautiful sewing book by Gail Doane: "Sew Cute Couture", that all of a sudden I had a desire to make beautiful garments for my baby girl. So my adventures in sewing began with the purchase of this book.
I decided to make the Bunnies 'n Buttons dress and jacket. I have done some sewing here and there in the past and I consider myself a novice, but I was feeling adventurous and I'm so glad I did.
I do not own a pleater so I got smocking dots and pleated the dress by hand which did not look very even but after it was all smocked you could not really tell. I had trouble understandidng the how to block the dress since the blocking pattern did not look like the pivtures in the book so I contacted the author and right away she answered my questions.
For the jacket I had a hard time getting the fabric recommended in the book so I got wool gabardine instead. I bought the buttons from Gail's Etsy Shop .
Here are some pictures of the dress and jacket in progress.



Pleating by hand



Blocking

Almost finished!

After a few difficulties with the sleeves. The little cardigan is almost finished. My "tweety" pie looks so beautiful in it. I weaved in the ends and just need to knit the front placket that holds the buttons.

New to Knitting

Never had an interest in knitting but since I had my daughter I decided to give it a try. I got a book named "Teach Yourself Visually Knitting", but still could not figure it out, so then I got a DVD: "The Complete Beginner's Guide to Knitting", and what a difference it makes to actually see the hands knitting. YAY! Now I know how to knit (sort of...), something that still pictures were not able to teach me. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret the purchase of the book since it's a great reference book now that I have seen it done.
As my first project I purchased a kit from knitpicks, and it's in the works. Here are some pictures of my progress so far...













And here is a picture of my sweetheart wearing her unfinished sweater.


So far it's been a lot of fun, but since I'm new to knitting I'm very slow. This kit was a great value (under $14)! The design is so cute and the colors are beautiful. The quality of the yarn (cotton) is great, very soft to the touch. Can't wait to get it finished, so my daughter can wear it this fall.
Next I have to knit something for the boys too...