Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue (Vida)!

As promised, here is the second of the UFO finishes.  I started this dress over a year ago as well.  I was looking for something to do with the leftovers from the Manhattan Special Occasion Dress which I made for my niece's birthday a couple of years ago.  The Farbenmix "Vida" pattern seemed a good fit as it doesn't use a lot of yardage and it is easy to combine several fabrics for a fun look.

All of the Farbenmix patterns come with a little Farbenmix label that can be sewn onto your finished garments.  I don't usually use them, but this one matched so well that I just couldn't resist!

This dress is also available for sale.  It is once again, a European pattern. It does run just a little bigger than American sizing.  This dress is also a 4-5.  Price is $50 shipped within the US.  If you are outside of the US and are interested, please contact me for more information on shipping prices and options. Post your contact information in a comment or let me know if you are interested. 

I'm always interested in what others are working on... What are you up to?

The Strawberry Feliz

Hello Everyone!

I believe that Spring finally may have arrived here in my little corner of Minnesota.  A week a ago we were dealing with a prediction of 7-10 inches of snow, but only two days later it was 65 and sunny.  Gotta love the upper midwest. :)

I was finally able to get out and get some pictures of some of my UFO's that I have finally been able to finish!  These little dresses have been in the works for well over a year.  They were the projects that I never finished before being distracted by something "shiny". LOL

First up is this little dress.

This is a modified version of the Farbenmix "Feliz" dress pattern that was popular a few years ago.  Unfortunately, the individual pattern is no longer in print.  It can only be found in the book "Sewing Clothes Kids Love."  I have to say that this is my all time favorite little girl's dress pattern.  I have made about 15 or 16 of them now and I have it down to about 12-15 hours worth of sewing time depending on if there is any appliqué included or not.  My first "Feliz" took A LOT longer. :)  I have only made one of them which did not include the ruffles in the back.  I think the ruffles are what I love most about it!

For this one I decided to change it up a bit.  I only did a single layer instead of making an underdress and an overdress.  I omitted the overdress.  The original pattern calls for elastic across the back and also has ties that tie in the back.  I changed it up a little by putting the elastic on the sides as well as the ties.

I was able to use trim that I already had in my stash, so that was a bonus, too.  This beaded eyelet was a perfect fit for across the front, and I had just enough eyelet trim for the skirt as well.

I just LOVE how it turned out.  This sweet strawberry fabric makes me think of summertime and picnics!  Both of which I am well ready for this year after such a loooonnnngggg winter!

If you are interested, I do have this little dress available for purchase.  It is a size 4-5.  Being a European pattern, the sizing is generous, so it does run just a little bigger than US sizing.   Leave a comment with your contact information if you are interested.  It is 100% cotton (exclusive of trim).The price is $80 including shipping within the US.  If you are outside the US please contact me for shipping rates and options.  

I am so happy to finally have this little dress finished and to be able to share it with you!  Technically, I didn't finish this this week, but I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday anyway.  I think Amanda would cheer for me for having finished an old project. :) 

What have you been working on?  I'd love to know! 

Pattern Workshop

I mentioned a couple of posts ago about Lauren Dahl's amazing course called Pattern Workshop. It is truly a remarkable experience!  You can read more about it on Lauren's Blog.

Last week in the course of just a few hours, I went from nothing but an idea in my head to this...

And from that to this....

This course has taught me so much about drafting a pattern on my computer from nothing but measurements.  This is something that I have wanted to learn how to do for a very long time, but information was scarce.  Like a well kept industry secret or something.  Now, I literally feel like I could just throw out all of the paper patterns from McCalls, and Butterick, and Simplicity that are just taking up space in my studio because I don't need them... I can do it myself and have exactly what I want!  No more tracing and cutting and spreading and dealing with huge pieces of paper and trying to keep my two cats from parking themselves in the middle of all of it. LOL.  

I highly recommend the course for anyone who is interested in pattern design!  

End of the First Quarter - 2014 Goals - Where am I?

The first quarter of this year flew by for me as far as my crafting and blogging activities.  I can hardly believe that we are almost halfway into April already! 

With the end of the first quarter, it's time for me to recheck my goals for 2014 and see where I am.... 

For The Merry Church Mouse:
1. Create a multi sized PDF pattern and make it available here on the blog.   -in progress
2. Explore my creativity by creating 6 completely different flips all from the same pattern.  -has been revamped to 5.  1 dress done, 4 more to go. 
3. Finish specific UFOs - dresses already cut out, strawberry feliz, and red, white and blue vida. - Finished strawberry feliz, red, white and blue vida and one of the other dresses that was already cut out.  Still a few more to go.  I'll post more about these if we ever have a nice day that isn't super windy so that I can get some pictures. LOL


For my quilting:
1. Finish at least 6 unfinished quilts. -LOL, enough said
2. Have at least 50 completed hexi flowers for my hexi quilt finished. -Ditto above
3. Begin work on a quilt for my niece, Lexi. -about half the fabric is cut into squares
4. Continue to use up scraps. -using scraps and stash fabrics for block of the month quilt a long


Blogging:
1. Blog at least 4 times per month. -check! :)
2. Finish a post which I have already started writing with a pattern that I would like to share. -have not even touched this. 



So, I would say I'm not doing too bad.  I still need to get on the ball with these quilts and get them done.  I have at least 4 that don't have a whole lot more that needs to be done.  It's just making myself do it.  I'm not a fan of the sandwiching stage, which is where I am right now with several of them.  

Did you set goals for this year?  How are you doing with yours? 

Pattern workshop

Hello all!  I feel like I have been away forever.  I finished the sew along posts a couple of weeks ago and scheduled them to post on the right day, so I haven't written a post in probably  2 weeks!

In the meantime I have been having a ton of fun with a new course I have been taking.

Have you heard of Lauren Dahl's Pattern Workshop?  It is fantastic!! I have learned so much already and I am only a little over halfway through the course!  It is all about how to use Adobe Illustrator to draft patterns right on your computer.  How to do all the illustrations, and diagrams and how to digitize hand drawn patterns.  It really is wonderful, and Lauren is awesome about taking the time to answer questions as needed.  I highly recommend you check it out if pattern drafting is something that you are interested in.  You won't be disappointed!

Making a PDF pattern was one of my goals for this year and I am moving right along with it!

Here is a sneak peek!  I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm getting there.

I have a lot more to share, but that will have to wait for a later post.

What are you working on?