Summer dress

Lately my pirate-obsessed, karate loving, tree-climbing daughter has had a dress fetish. She decided to design a dress she liked based on this one hour sundress pattern. She helped select the fabric, the length of the dress, and where she wanted the ruffles.

I was surprised she wanted a dress so long but it's quite cute on her. She wore it today to play at the park with some capri leggings underneath and it held up without hindering her on the swings, slide or climbing wall. I will have to take in the shoulder straps though by about an inch on either side.

I guess the flowers on her dress aren't enough so she had to wear her flower lei as well. From an igloo also has this dress pattern that I hope to make for her sometime this year but without the buttons going down the back. I love the versatility of jumpers. I might make this jumper in corduroy so it can be a fall or winter dress with a turtle neck.

Hammock pillow

I recently purchased and installed a hammock. Really, what took me so long? This is a simple but important addition to our outdoor landscape and we'll enjoy many hours relaxing together in the hammock this spring and summer. I thought our hammock was missing something though, so I decided to make a pillow for it. The least expensive found online was about $40 but I could purchase a yard of all weather fabric for $13. When sewing for outdoor furniture, it's really important to choose one of the weather resistant fabrics. The fabric I chose is from Waverly's outdoor collection and many users before me had rated it very highly, saying that the fabric had withstood 1-2 years of being left outdoors without fading or mildewing. This was important to me because I'm not the type of person to run outdoors because it's about to rain to grab the hammock pillow...

The pillow is 16 x 32 and filled with polyester fiberfill, which I had lots of help stuffing into the pillow from the two rascals above! I made a small velcro strap for the back of the pillow to keep it on the hammock when there's wind.

My quality control department (see above) approved the pillow before it was put into use. With the small amount of leftover fabric, I made a lined bag that velcros onto the side of the hammock. We quickly discovered this can be useful to hold the contents of your pocket, sunglasses, a pacifier, or your empty popsicle stick...

Kai Sweater for William

My neighbor gave me a copy of Louisa Harding's book Natural Knits for Babies and Moms and I fell in love with this sweet cabled baby sweater. I didn't have time to make it during the winter for my little guy so I'm knitting him a spring/summer weight sweater instead in Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran yarn. I chose this color because it is an exact match to his sweet baby blue eyes.

The sweater turned out well, even if it did take me more than a month to seam the pieces together!
 But don't take my word for it, the little guy is in love with his new sweater too. The second I finished it he crawled over and snatched it up and wouldn't let go for pictures.

He wore his sweater this morning until the sun came out and made the day too warm for a sweater.

See how it perfectly matches his eyes? How sweet. I'm glad I knit it a little looser because the neck fits over his head very easily.

This will be my last knitted project for a while. It's time for me to get back to my sewing machine, which must be feeling left out at this point! Unless of course, I make Savannah a summer bolero to wear over her dresses and tank tops...