The Fourth of July

Every year on Christmas Eve, I have that moment where I stop and say to myself, "I can't believe it's Christmas Eve." I have that same moment on the Fourth of July. Time sneaks up on us so fast. I can't believe it's almost the Fourth of July and that the year is half over. And you know what that means--Christmas is only six months away . . .

Last year I started a Prairie Schooler sampler called "July." It took me a long time to finish because cross-stitch just takes sooo long, but I finished it last summer. Not in time for July, though. So I rolled it up and stashed it in a drawer until a month ago when I took it to a local shop to have it framed. When I hung it on my wall, it felt like the past year had rushed by way too fast. When I finished this sampler, I thought it be forever until I displayed it. Nope.


I really love Prairie Schooler sampler designs. Maybe I'll stitch some more and have all twelve months done by the time I'm sixty-two.

I also made some flags. I got the idea from Cody's aunt last year--she had such a cute table centerpiece full of these flags. Mine turned out okay--but I'm about as good as arranging flags as I am arranging flowers. I'm somehow not capturing the cute old-timey Stars and Stripes display as well as Cody's aunt did.

But I do love ticking. So much. And that ticking you see is left over from a much better project that involves a mattress and pillow. (Doll-sized of course. I mean, why would I make anything that isn't doll-sized these days, right? Geesh.)

So have a Happy Fourth of July! Eat some ice cream, blow up some fireworks, and think about your favorite Founding Father.

(Mine's Thomas Jefferson.)

Abby Sews Her First Doll Dress

On the last day of school, I set up a little sewing station for Abby. Besides setting up my old White sewing machine (which doesn't really work--oh well), I set out a bin of doll patterns, some project books, and made a sewing kit with scissors, pins, a measuring tape, needles, thread, and a seam ripper. Abby was really excited to start sewing.

She wanted to make a Kit-style 1930s dress for her doll Julie. So she picked out the 1930s Signature Dress Pattern from BunnyBear. We then went shopping for 1930s fabric at a local quilt store. Lucky for us, all the 1930s fabric was on sale that day! Abby was delighted that the bolts of fabric were labeled as "Feed sack" prints--just like the story about Kit's aunt who makes her a dress from a feed sack. She picked out a yellow print for Julie and a pink print for Ivy.

I cut out the pattern and the fabric. I really thought that I would be doing most of the sewing, but Abby surprised me with how steady and straight her seams were--in fact, she kept batting my hands away as she sewed saying "I can do it." And she could. She sewed all of the straight seams and even topstitched the cuffs. The only thing I did was serge the edges and sew the collar onto the bodice. I also sewed the velcro closure in back. The pattern called for snaps, but sewing snaps can be so tedious, you know?


When the dress was finished, Abby was so proud of herself. I was too. It was fun to see her so pleased with something she made.

She immediately had to put the dress on Julie . . .

She said that Julie loves the dress.


Later on we found just the right shoes to match. And for her official blog photo shoot, Julie looks pretty cute--just like a little girl in her first feed sack dress should.



I thought this little project would be enough for awhile, but Abby is already asking if she can make Ivy's dress yet. The fabric is all cut and ready, so Ivy will have a 30s dress in no time at all too.

It all just makes me so happy.

By the way, that pattern was perfect for a beginner sewer. The only problem is that there are so many cute designs to choose from. I'm thinking that Julie and Ivy will also need the matching apron. You know, for preserving fruit and stuff. Depression style.