So, I don’t know why, but I’ve always wanted to make kid clothes. I think it comes from looking at Etsy for hours on end, then looking at the prices, and thinking, “hey, I can do that myself.”

My mom has always been crafty, and when my sister and I were younger, she made a number of our clothes and other really cute craft items like hot air balloons and stuffed bunnies. She and Grandma Ohls always encouraged me to learn how to be crafty. Grandma Ohls quilted. Her work was always beautiful. Mom did a bit of everything. I wanted to be outside, and getting crafty was just what we did when we couldn’t be outside. I think I learned enough sewing to get my Girl Scouts badge, and my crocheting is limited to a mean granny square. Both will change, though.

Until last summer, I never owned a sewing machine. I had always planned on getting my Grandma Ohls’, but it’s set in a huge wooden desk, and that’s not very ideal for a military family on the go every few years and not knowing how much space will be at the next house.

Last June, we had a few projects we wanted done after we moved in–a tapestry and a few pillowcase covers. We went to Target and got the Singer Brillance. It had all sorts of fancy stitches to do. It was a good price…$150. I had thought the Singer name meant I was getting a good machine. I was wrong. I made one tapestry, four pillow covers, three seat cushions, and three-fourths of one dress for Emma. Then it died. That was about two weeks ago. We took it to a sewing place to repair it, and it was going to cost more than the original price to repair it. So, now I am the proud owner of my second sewing machine. It’s a Janome. I never heard of the brand, but I love it. It sounds sturdy when sewing, and I’ve had no problems with it. When I outgrow it, I can sell it back to the store I bought it at and upgrade. (And unfortunately, even though I had my receipt, I had owned it for 90 days so I couldn’t get my money back at Target.)

I loved the store where I purchased my Janome–Grome’s Sewing Center. They have classes every Monday night so I bought five lessons. Before I used them though, I wanted to experiment on my own. I spent yesterday trying to make ruffled bloomers for Emma to wear under the jumper my mom helped me make for her.

I bought some patterns and settled on Simplicity E1826 to help me make her ruffled bottom pants. I found three great YouTube videos that gave me tips on sewing and how to gather since I had never done that before. (The videos were these: “How to Sew: Quick Tip About Ruffles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsDesPdj_wA&feature=youtube_gdata_player), “How to Gather Fabric” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C74-Aj2vQOs&feature=youtube_gdata_player), and “How to Sew an Elastic Waistband” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnsR-by7kKk&feature=youtube_gdata_player).

After hours of trying, I finally made three good ruffles and sewed them on. I got my elastic waistband done pretty quickly, and struggled forever on getting that elastic in around the legs. (If anyone has a video or a tip on how to make that easier, let me know. It’s so hard because it’s such a little amount of fabric!) I finished my bloomers, and guess what…they didn’t fit Emma! I realized my pattern was crap. I know everything was cut perfectly (thanks to the mat pad and rotary cutter I bought yesterday. Thank you Pinterest for linking me to a blog about sewing tips. Boy, did that make my life easier.).

After two days of using Simplicity patterns, I know why they are so cheap. They suck.

I know how I will make my own pattern for her bloomers, but I was so frustrated last night that I spent hours on bloomers that look cute but are not proportionate for a baby’s body and that the size for a six month baby does NOT fit a six month baby.

That lesson was learned again today, when I attempted to use Simplicty patter E1982 to make Emma a pillowcase dress. I used the smallest size…for her height and measurements. And I ended up with this:

It’s a really great doll dress, but not a dress for Emma. Plus, I didn’t like the proportions of the two materials. The bottom materials (bees for my Emma B.) was larger than I wanted. Plus, the original batter didn’t have the curves around the arm holes. I had to take one of Emma’s current outfits that fits her well and use it as a pattern. (Again thank God for rotary cutters.)

So, after wasting more hours (but learning some important lessons along the way), I decided to make a dress for her using the largest size. It was supposedly for a size four. I went even bigger, though. And using a SIZE FOUR, I made a dress that fits my Emma B. TODAY.

I did the bottom differently and made it smaller. I’ll make the next dress even larger, and I think I will probably flair it out a bit so it’s lines are really straight. I think straight works well for a little girl who is a walker, but mine is a sitter and walks in a walker. She needs more give in the bottom.

So, what have I learned? My mom has amazing patience to handle my never-ending phone calls and my low intelligence when it comes to sewing. (I do, however, understand more of what she says now, though.) Use cheap materials to make a test dress if it’s a really important outfit. Using an iron between steps makes sewing so easy. Ruffles aren’t so bad. Rotary cutters are a gift from God. So far, Simplicity patterns are crap. And YouTube can be a great teaching tool for novice sewers like me who don’t have a teacher (AKA mom) nearby. 🙂

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