Project: Design Challenge finished! Yeti dreams of soup.

If you were a yeti, what would dream about? Soup!

I'm so happy with the way this dress for the Design Challenge turned out. And Zadie loves it to. When I finished it I held it over my legs so it would be at her eye level and she screamed, "Yeti dress!!!!" and gave it (and me) a huge hug. Success.

For my embellishments, I did a reverse applique using one of my yeti t-shirts. I'm happy with the way it turned out and it was totally worth the challenge. If you like doing this technique, try it with a design element. Just trace your image onto thin paper (or photocopy it) to use as a template for placing the fabric underneath your garment. Use a lot of pins to get it right. I stitched around the edges before I cut then went around it again after. Basically I felt that the machine stitching wasn't standing out next to the embroidery so I wanted it to pop a bit more. It wasn't necessary to the construction because I used Wonder Under around the edges of the yeti.

I did the embroidery starting with the bowl of soup. I mapped out where I wanted everything with pins and then just did it freehand. I wanted it to look dreamy so I didn't want to draw on the dress and "trace" with the needle and thread. Finally, I surrounded it with the thought bubble.

Doing this project really reminded me of my love for embroidery. I'll be doing more of this type of work to Zadie's future outfits. If anyone wants a tutorial on my reverse applique, leave a comment. If there is enough demand, I'll write one up.

For more on Project: Project, read this post.

Project: Design Challenge in Progress

Lil Blue Boo sent me the pattern for the Design Challenge via email right away and after work, I got started. The whole Lemon clan looked through the Goodwill bin and Mr. Lemon donated some of his shirts to the cause while I pulled a couple of shirts Zadie had grown out of from the pile.

I ended up choosing the stripes for the bottom because that had been a favorite shirt of mine but it shrunk up too short. The sleeves are from a shirt I got for a dollar. I put Zadie in it all the time but she recently grew out of it. The red and grey are from pre-baby shirts I'll never ever wear again.

Mr. Lemon had gotten dinner together during an unusually long nap so I cut all the pieces out before we ate. After Zadie's bedtime, I stitched the whole thing up in less than an hour. It is a very clear and simple pattern. (I used existing hems for both the bottom of the dress and the sleeves for a more polished look).

I've already started my embellishments (because that's what the challenge is all about). This morning I asked Zadie what the _____ who is now living at the bottom of the shirt will do. She said, "Soup!" so soup it is. Mr. Lemon's trip was cancelled so I'll be able to spend more time on this today than I thought so I'm hoping for greatness. More on Monday!

For more on Project: Project, read this post.

Project: Pinafore

Apparently my post about the market bag did absolutely nothing to bring on Spring. In fact, we got even more snow. So here's round two of hoping for better weather. But seriously, it can't get much worse.

I bought the pattern from Aliyah's Hope Chest on Etsy. She emailed the instructions but sent the pattern in the mail. She also sells pinafore kits in her shop. The pinafore was incredibly easy to make thanks to all the detail. There was one tricky part but she had a little video up on YouTube that showed how to do it. After seeing how it was constructed, I didn't have any problems. I actually made 4 more of these to give as Christmas gifts but my friends must not have cameras because I haven't seen any photos.

For the pinafore Zadie is wearing, I used awesome Tina Givens fabric (Chandelier Medallion) in chartreuse for the front and a vintage red fine wale corduroy for the inside. I wish I had fussy cut the print because it's so amazing but that's definitely part of the learning process.

It's perfectly reversible -- no weird seams or anything like that. Zadie is wearing the red side here. Unfortunately, my kid is also obsessed with fleece and demanded to wear that ugly hoodie. I will definitely be making many more of these. How cute they will be with little bloomers in the summer.

For more about Project: Project, read this post.

Project: Another challenge

Always a sucker for a sewing challenge, I am throwing myself into the Lil Blue Boo & Dharma Trading Design Challenge ring. The deal is you have to buy one of the Lil Blue Boo patterns (all pattern proceeds are being donated to Three Angels Haiti). Then you have to sew up the garment and embellish it.

I bought the super cute Sienna t-shirt dress because I'm crazy and love to torture myself. I hate knit and my sewing machine feels the same way but, oh well, here goes. As soon as I saw the pattern I had a bunch of ideas. Unfortunately the deadline is Monday (Monday!) so I gotta get busy. Also, Mr. Lemon is heading out of town for the weekend so I'm flying solo on wild toddler duty. Wish me luck. You'll be seeing some yetis in the future. You know it.

Project: Market Bag

We are so over Winter! After yet another pile of snow (18"!), we are expecting a bunch more over the next few days. I feel like this will never end. I had been saving this post for warmer times but maybe this will help me get to Spring sooner.

My friend has a daughter the same age as mine. Both of our families go to the Farmers' Market every weekend. I feel like it's this little ritual we both do even though we live hours apart. When she made an adorable market bag for her daughter, I had to do the same. Last summer, Zadie was barely walking but every Saturday, she would somehow get to the kitchen and point up at our canvas bags and gesture very excitedly. She knew it was market day.

After compulsively buying a bunch of the Lizzie House fabric from the Red Letter Day collection (seen in this post), I decided to actually use it. I spent a few minutes searching around on the internet to find a pattern or a tutorial and after reading a few, just pulled something together. It was surprisingly easy and I finished during a nap (one of the very rare 3-hour naps). The handle is a wide grosgrain ribbon that had come tied around a pre-packaged gift of some sort. I also added that little pocket on the front.

"Not much longer now, my little Smurflings, not much longer now." That quote from a childhood favorite is something I say to myself (and unfortunately out loud a good bit) when there's a lot of waiting left to do but you need to be reminded that time will pass quickly. Spring will be here before we know it and we will be able to put vegetables in this little bag instead of random toys.


For more on Project: Project, read this post.

Project: Giveaway!

Contest is over. Click here for the winner.

In celebration of the fabulous new look to the blog (see awesome banner above), I decided to do a giveaway. But first, more about the banner. Kimberly of FireDancer Designs had some of the best graphics I found while searching on Etsy. She has a nice, clean sense of design without a lot of fluff. She was super easy to work with (and I know I am not!). Don't you love it? I really don't know html but I am trying to teach myself some stuff. I was able to change the standard template colors from Blogger to the ones I had chosen for my Google Friend Connect gadget (see left sidebar) and Kimberly used those same colors for the banner. Somehow I also figured out how to remove the border that was around the compulsory header.

This blog isn't going to be about a lot of giveaways but a new look calls for some cheer. I stitched up this dress from a pattern I got on Etsy. It is a roomy size 2. The fabric is Alexander Henry's "Smiles Around the World" and is getting pretty hard to find. The dress has a cute little pleat up top and wide bell sleeves.

So if you want a chance to win this, leave a comment on this post. For extra chances, post it to your Twitter with @LemonCadet somewhere in your tweet. I'll randomly pick a winner Feb. 22.

For more about Project: Project, read this post.

Project: Pattern Challenge

Yesterday on Facebook, Sew, Mama, Sew posted about the new pattern challenge project over at Come and See the Seitz. When I was developing my ideas for Project: Project, honestly, the thought to make stuff for myself never crossed my mind. Faced with the temptation of a new challenge, I decided to jump right in.

So the deal is that participants have to set some goals, put them in writing, and join a flickr! group. Done, done, and done! (And that last part was easy -- you know me and flickr!). Since this is a pattern challenge, I have to use someone else's patterns and challenge myself. Sarah's hopes for the project are that by the end, we'll have a huge archive of pattern reviews that will be useful to other people attempting to make those same designs.

I haven't made a garment for myself since I took Flat Pattern Design in college (1997 to date myself). I am starting to realize that I've never actually made anything for myself from someone else's pattern. I think this challenge is off to a great and challenging start. We're in the middle of some bizarre freezing rain, snow, and ice so I can't exactly drive to the fabric store (45 minutes in either direction). My meagre stash of sewing books will have to do for now. My first two challenges come from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing: the Go-Everywhere Shirt Dress and the Kimono Dress with an Obi Sash. When I have time, I'll find a vintage pattern to sew from and something from the fabric store.

My personal goals are to sew one item for myself each month for at least 4 months. If the Pattern Challenge is still in swing after that, I may just keep going.

For more on Project: Project, read this post.