Polka Dot Dresses in Progress (Yes, Actual Sewing)

Yes, actual sewing, not imaginary wishful thinking sewing. Yesterday's meeting of the Brooklyn Burdastyle Sewing Club got me so revved up I actually opened my sewing cabinet for the first time in four months, dug up a few of my many unfinished objects, and... sewed! (Z was taking a nap on Masheka's chest at the time, in case you were curious).

Thankfully I still remembered how. By the time Z got up from her nap, I had almost finished two dresses for her, and it felt great. The polka dot one just needs hemming and a back neck closure button, and the medallion-patterned one needs the same, plus the skirt.

The pattern is Simplicity 3765 (full project details here). I actually cut these out in March, the same week I started this blog. I was visiting family in Massachusetts for my baby shower and my cousin's bar mitzvah, so my mom and I took a quick trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics, bought some cheap quilting cotton and a baby pattern. I cut out the fabric pieces, started to sew... and promptly got the flu and never touched them again.

Luckily I decided to make a 12-month size (since we got so many gifts in smaller sizes). Z is already wearing 9 and 12 month sizes in ready to wear, but these dresses are HUGE and probably won't fit her til spring.

A few lessons learned so far:

• I still suck at gathering. Four months off has not given me the magical ability to make it even without the help of way too many pins and measuring. Grrr.
• I won't sew clothes from Jo-Ann's brand quilting cotton again, even baby clothes. The patterns and colors are great, but it has no drape at all and the prints are totally off grain, so I had to give up on matching them in any way. I know quilting cotton is not meant for adult apparel, but I figured it'd be ok for a kid... and I may have figured wrong.

The other unfinished object I may finish in the next month is my chartreuse wrap cardigan (last seen here as a muslin) which is all cut out and 75% sewn. I'm almost pre-preggo size again, but I think it will still look nice belted/wrapped.

The Blue Doodle Digitally Printed Hoodie

Baby Z models my first (and so far, only) foray into clothing sewn from digitally printed fabric. The drawings are my husband Masheka's sketchbook doodles, which I made into a pattern in PhotoShop and had printed via Spoonflower on organic cotton interlock knit fabric. The sewing pattern is the hooded sweatshirt from Kwik Sew's Sewing for Baby book. See my original blog post with full details and a closeup of the fabric pattern...

Here's another, sleepier shot:

I realize that dressing a baby girl all in blue will inevitably lead to strangers exclaiming "he's so cute!" but Baby Z couldn't care less, and neither do I!

Baby girl continues to outgrow her clothes at lightning speed--at not yet 3 months, she is in all 6 month and 9 month RTW baby sizes. And the way-too-big "foolproof baby hat" I knit her? Now a bit tiny:

My little Amazon woman!

If I could sew one dress from my pattern stash...

I think it would Vogue 8280:

Oh... or maybe the Colette Ceylon, since it actually unbuttons in front for nursing:

But... considering my rapidly changing size, I'm probably most likely to make Vogue 1027 (see Elizabeth or Stitchy Witch's lovely versions):

That is, if I ever get a chance to open the sewing machine cabinet in the next few months. Now that I'm back working full time, any minute I'm not at work I want to spend cuddling (+nursing) with Baby Z, so my only sewing time for now will be her weekend naps... I think it would be super awkward to try to sew with her in a sling front carry, and I'm afraid she'd grab for dangerous pins and such anyway.

I need to do a serious closet sort now that it's getting chilly--I couldn't find a jacket that fit me this morning and will have to wear a sweatshirt over my nice work outfit. All my pre-preggo clothes are in random bags or shoved in drawers I can't get to... And I dunno if they'd fit anyway--my high bust is back to 34, but my full bust is ... 42. Yeah, I know. MAJOR FBA WORK AHEAD.

Too bad I don't have time to join my Burdastyle Sewing Club in their trench coat sewalong for McCall's 5525:

There's Nothing Like Handmade

As I'm sure you'll agree, there's nothing like a handmade gift. I've mostly been featuring handmade items made for Baby Z by me or my amazing mom, but our friends and family have been generous with their knitting needles and sewing machines as well!

The above sweater and hat set is a gift to Baby Z from her Great Aunt Becky. There's a story behind the little bears labeled "Maine Doggies"--when I was a toddler, I used to visit my grandparents on their farm in Maine. One day I was walking with my grandmother Melba and saw a bear--I thought it was a big dog and wanted to go over and pet it.

My Aunt Becky also made her this stranded hat and mitten set:

And here's Z a few weeks ago in a diaper soaker knit by our friend Sonia, lying on a gorgeous patchwork baby quilt made by my department head Debbie (note the ballet shoes in the quilting pattern):

Speaking of diaper soakers, Z's already grown out of the smallest one I knit for her, the Green Goblin soaker. Here she is in the soaker her first week home, when she was just over 8 pounds...

And here she is in that same soaker a month ago, at 5 weeks old:

Now at 2 1/2 months old and 13 pounds, she's outgrown many of her 3 month clothes and is mostly in 6 month sizes. And her feet barely fit in the booties I knit for her that I thought were so huge:

Knitting and sewing aren't the only crafts in town, of course. My mother-in-law Gail makes beautiful handmade soaps and jewelry that she sells at conventions and fairs, and she put together these gift bags for Z's baby shower in March. She made the soaps and magnets, and Masheka's cousin Laurie made the lollipops (I've whited Z's name out in PhotoShop for her privacy.) You'll note the soap features a mold of a pregnant woman.

Orange Dress Plans (+ Actual Fabric Acquisition)

Considering I haven't so much as opened my sewing machine cabinet since Baby Z's birth, I really have no business adding to my overflowing fabric stash. However, I recently brought Z along to my first post-baby Brooklyn Burdastyle Sewing Club meetup (wearing an outfit I made for her, naturally)... and afterwards we took a little stroll over to the fabulous Brooklyn General yarn and fabric store.

When I saw the above fabric, I thought it'd be perfect for one of the Oliver + S patterns from my stash, either the Tea Party Sundress:

...or the Playdate dress:

I also got some solid brown cotton for the yoke or bodice:

Of course I already have three UFO baby dresses I started for Baby Z back in March that would really require only a few hours or less to finish... but considering the state of the apartment after several months of taking care of a newborn, and my return to work next week, it might be a while.

Still, a girl can dream!

Happy 3rd Wedding Anniversary to Me!

Masheka and Mikhaela exchanging rings..., originally uploaded by M1khaela.

That's fellow cartoonist Ted Rall officiating with his Hello Kitty binder in the background--he's currently on a reporting trip in Afghanistan. The Secret Service looking guy on the left is Masheka's best friend Wil.

We're standing in front of one of the old textile mills in my hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts. We nearly had our ceremony at the American Textile History Museum but I'm glad we had it outdoors (even though I did get sunburned).

I didn't end up making my dress (I bought it on eBay for $100), but my mother did make the sash and the hairpiece (and the wedding cake and the topper and all the decorations and...). Don't you just love a sweetheart neckline? It's actually a cocktail dress, as I really wanted something knee length.

We kissed so enthusiastically after we exchanged rings that his boutonniere got stuck to me:

More cavorting in front of old mill buildings:

Last year we took a trip to a fun motel in the Catskills for our anniversary, and the year before it was a B&B in Provincetown, but now that we have a 2-month-old (who is unfortunately allergic to all dairy and soy, which puts a real kink in what her mommy can eat) we are just going out to a nice allergy-friendly BBQ restaurant. I may wear high heels for the first time in months! And a polka dot dress, of course...

Top photo by my brother Max, other photos by Erin Leigh.

Polka Dot Pinafore

Another baby ensemble sewn during my pregnancy finally gets a model--the Ottobre magazine January 2010 pinafore and pants combo I refashioned from an old shirt of my mother's (see my original blog post and Pattern Review review for full pattern details). Here's the flat photo...

More shots, including one with her Zadie (aka grandfather, aka my dad):

I made the 62 cm size, and it's still a bit big, hence the Hammer pants effect Masheka pointed out to me. But still--super cute, right?

Sewing at a Moving Target, Pt. 1: Stretchy Skirts

BurdaStyle "Melissa" knit skirt at 25 weeks pregnant...

...30 weeks pregnant...

... and 6 weeks post-partum. (No, I so do NOT have time to be ironing these days!)

So what's a sewist to do when her measurements change from day to day? And I don't mean by a smidge. Over the course of my pregnancy I gained 42 pounds, added 2 inches in the high bust, 4 inches in the full bust and 3 in the hips, and totally lost sight of my waist under an ever-growing baby belly.

So as much as I love fitted, lined skirts (mmm, wool tweed!) with lovely details (pleats! vents! trim!), they just weren't practical during my pregnancy. It was all about the stretchy skirts, whether they be knit, rib-waisted, or shirred.

And they don't make a lot of sense now (alas, my vintage Du Barry dress dreams will have to wait!). My measurements have continued to change, just in other directions. My high bust is approaching 34" again, my full bust is going to be even more of an adjustment nightmare (I wore a 32E bra pre-pregnancy, and now I'm in an H/I cup), my waist is back in some form, and my hips are shrinking as well. All apparently thanks to the clever strategy known as "sitting on my butt nursing my sweet baby girl all day."

All of my maternity tops (including the ones I made, alas!) are way too big and baggy now, but most of my pre-pregnancy clothes--tops and bottoms--are WAY too small. So I've been living in the few knit tops I have that are not skin-tight, some nursing nightgowns and tanks I bought--and all of the skirts I made while pregnant!

Here's the spiral skirt at 27 weeks pregnant:

And at one week post-partum, when I still looked sorta pregnant:

Once again, I have no pants--not even the one pair of jeans I made it through my last two trimesters with.

It's not like I've had any time to sew for myself anyway these past weeks--but I'm afraid to even buy clothes (except maybe thrift clothes) until I figure out where my body is going to settle. I'll try to put it off until September when I go back to work and need to look presentable, and I'll probably try to buy as little as possible even then just in case.

Of course, however fast my measurements have changed, that's nothing compared to how my little Baby Z is growing! Here she is at 6 weeks-ish!

The Boxing Basquiat Onesie Gets a Model

It's still a little big on her, but it's the first time she's worn something sewn by her mom... the boxing Basquiat onesie I blogged about previously, made with Kwik Sew 2433 out of one of Masheka's old T-shirts.

Z is a Punk Rocker...

Punk Rock Baby Z, originally uploaded by M1khaela.

She even wears flame-patterned diapers, sewn by her Grandmommy Beryl:

Also, how cool is her natural curly faux-hawk? (Fro-hawk?) It just grows like that--big and curly down the middle and thin on the sides.

More posts coming soon--at six weeks post-partum, I'm even starting to think about maybe possibly someday breaking out my sewing machine again for a quick project here or there (though I'm still basically nursing her every hour when she's awake). Baby girl is growing so fast I should even be able to photograph her in the 6-month stuff I made for her in a week or two (the above onesie was purchased, not me-made).

Make Your Own Baby Sling!

Baby Z snoozing contentedly in a ring sling made by her Grandmommy Beryl

I mentioned a while back that in addition to sewing up dozens of cloth diapers, my mother also made us a whole host of baby carriers for wearing little Z. And Masheka and I took an excellent free Babywearing 101 workshop at Metro Minis in Manhattan to learn about five major types of baby carriers (pouches, slings, mei tais, soft structured carriers and wraps) and how to use them safely. The safest position for small infants is an inward-facing front carry, tummy-to-tummy with baby up high enough on the sternum that you can kiss the top of her head. Baby's head is to the side, with plenty of clearance so she isn't chin-to-chest.

The above is one of the ring slings my mother made, my current favorite for around-the-house babywearing. She just used a piece of reversible upholstery fabric she got at Jo-Ann's with some baby-wearing-quality ring slings purchased from SlingRings.com. Slingrings.com also has links to a bunch of sling-making sewing patterns. I'm not sure which one she used, but it has a pleated shoulder and a handy pocket on the tail and she tells me it was a super-easy and quick project (not to mention much less expensive than commercial ring slings).

Except when we're sleeping, either Masheka and I hold and cuddle Baby Z nearly every minute she's awake (and much of the time she's asleep). She's not fussy or colicky, but it's pretty clear she far prefers lying on our chests to lying in her cosleeper or crib. So without a way to carry her hands-free, I'd be hard-pressed to even make myself a sandwich or make a phone call, and I'd be even farther behind on my email than I already am (which reminds me--apologies if you've emailed me and haven't heard back!).

Oh, and here's Masheka carrying Baby Z in the neutral gray mei-tai-style baby carrier my mom made in deference to his tastes. This photo was taken barely a week after she was born, so I still look a bit preggo:

Anyway, if you want more information, I recommend the forums and articles at TheBabyWearer.com. And I swear that someday there will be a sewing-related post here that isn't about baby stuff... really!

Striped Lace Baby Sock

Striped Lacy Baby Sock Number One, originally uploaded by M1khaela.

As you may imagine, not a whole lot of sewing or knitting going on in these first few weeks at home with Baby Z. So far all I've managed to do is finish a single baby sock--a sock I started during my ridiculously long (five days!) labor. I have started knitting the second one but I'm so sleep-deprived I've messed up the picot edging and will have to start over when I get a chance. (When that will be is unclear!)

This is the chevron lace variation of Ann Budd's free "Better Than Booties" Baby Socks pattern--full details here on Ravelry.

As you may recall, I had already knit the ruffle-top variation:



But even though I used size 0 needles and drastically reduced the number of stitches around (from 44 to 36) neither pair will be fitting Baby Z's petite feet for quite a while.

Baby Z Shows Off Her Dimple

The Baby Z Adventures, Episode 2!, originally uploaded by M1khaela.

She's not even two weeks old, so I'm told these aren't real smiles, but... my goodness how she's grown already! By seven days old, she was already 9 pounds... which is 10 ounces over her birth weight!



No sewing going on at the moment (still trying to learn to live the sleep-deprived life) but I have been knitting some striped lacy baby socks, photos to be forthcoming. And those nursing/maternity sleep bras I sewed myself a while back have been super-handy.

P.S. Thanks so much for all the congratulations, I was overwhelmed and so happy to get so much love for Baby Z!