On Sewing Clothing

I'm about to say that I am hooked...again. Or maybe I should say needled.

This time it's on sewing clothing.
I finally dared to try follow a pattern. With all of the sewing I've done in the past (quilting, curtains, plastic bag holders, pillow cases, you know, the easy stuff), I just make it up as I go. And it works for me.
Sewing clothing seemed so intimidating, I mean you have to follow a pattern.
Okay, well now I know why the pattern is named Simplicity.  It really is easy!

Never mind that it looks like an apron with the dark, small print on the bottom, or that I'd switch the bottom and top fabrics, or that I'd make it shorter if I were to do it again...I actually made a dress! :)
Yes, I am quite proud of my accomplishment.

And she loves it.

I'm already modifying this dress in my mind so the next one is more of what I want. Now that I can sew buttons and button holes on my machine, and know how to read a pattern, I don't want to stop sewing. 

And hey, another cool trick I learned and was able to put to practice again - how to thread a longer length of elastic (or string) through a narrow casing.

With a half inch casing for a 1/4 inch piece of elastic, I knew that using a safety pin would take forever. Instead, I used this little doo-hinky from the kitchen.  I think it's for tying up a bird that you are going to roast.

I just tied my elastic to the end of the stick, taped the sharp point so it wouldn't pierce through my fabric, and it was a breeze to thread that elastic.

I'm beginning to think that I will look like permanent resident of Joann's before long.  I've got to use those weekly coupons after all!

And please bear with me as I learn how to coordinate fabrics for clothing. It's a bit different that quilting.