My Little Princess

As much as I love sewing machines, I really love to sew on them. This week I've been working on finishing up little girl dresses and think I have three new winners:

Hot pink top with skirt

 This two piece outfit was fun to make with the fancy lace inset and sleeve caps. Hard to see in this photo (I'm so not a photographer!) but there is a tiered skirt under there with pink fabric at the waist and hem with the print in-between. Casual attire but just a little special.

Navy dotted swiss with lace and rickrack trim

I tried this dress with a different bodice and now I finally have it right. The rickrack trim is what I used to make the flower that is all sewn on with a button in the center: no losing it or having it come apart! I love the fresh summer look of this one.

And now, for the grand finale:

Princess all in satin

I bought this princess fabric and then got to worrying that I couldn't sell anything made out of it because it stated on the salvage that this-is-Disney-and-for-home-use-only. A little sleuthing and I find out that is mostly a scare tactic and I only need to include a statement about this not being official Disney apparel. Of course it's not Disney wear but something made out of fabric that they intend for you to make up into garments, for sale or not.  But this dress is going to my granddaughter for her 4th birthday at the end of the month. It got her mom's approval and I know she will like how shiny and smooth it is with a full lining inside so it feels really nice. The fabric for the bodice is really special: It started to melt when I got an iron too hot! I had to re-cut the bodice pieces but glad I found this out before I got too far. Lesson learned!

I made all of these on my Kenmore 158-1813 in its beautiful refinished desk but I'm not so happy with it at the moment. It seems to be slow to start and the stitches are just a bit less precise than I'm used to.Could it be that I really like the Vikings and Berninas more than a Kenmore Best? But I love a top-of-the-line Kenmore! I would still love to get my hands on a 158-1914 just to see if it's all they say it is (I bet it is!) but in the meantime I'm going to take a bit of heat via a hairblower and some TriFlow oil to see if I can get her humming again:

Kenmore 158-1813

All in all, I've got quite a few of my projects cleared out because I'm getting ready to go to Belleview, Missouri to take Ray White's Beginners Sewing Machine Class! I'm so excited I think it will be hard to sleep the next few days. I have nine sewing machines lined up but don't think I'll be able to take all of them but still...we might get them all in at the last. Guess I should prioritize, huh?