I've been spending most of my evenings the past week working on this baby dress for a dear church friend that is expecting in April. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out, especially since this was the most complicated project I've done to date.

Here is a view of the dress from the front. It took me about 2 weeks to finish the whole thing, with most of the work done the past few nights. I made the dress using the 6 month size, so that way my friend will have an outfit to look forward to. :-)

Here is a picture of the front. I still can't believe how straight I got the ribbon on there! The sleeves of the dress were my favorite part to sew. I love to do gathers, and it is surprisingly easy.

And here is a picture of the back. The buttons are adorable little rosettes, which go with the roses in the hem. I had to do the buttonholes by hand, as my sewing machine is broken and can only stitch in a straight line. :-(

So anyway, hopefully my posts will be a little more meaningful in the coming week, since I have now finished my project.

This week, Works-for-Me Wednesday is Backwards Week, which means we ask for advice instead of giving it. It's perfect timing this week, since I've got a bit of a dilemma. I'm making a baby dress for a friend expecting a girl this April, but my sewing machine doesn't do buttonholes. I'm wondering how to sew them by hand. Any tips or advice? (Oh, and what's the best method for hand sewing on a button as well?) Thanks!

For more Works-for-Me Wednesday, visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

I might have mentioned this before, but I am a huge vintage clothing fan. I think it all started with my fascination with the 1940s (thanks to a story I co-wrote with Ashley back in 7th grade), then it expanded to include clothing from the 1930s and 1950s as well. I'm not sure why exactly I find the clothes so pretty, but I do.

I recently found a dress pattern at the fabric store while purchasing supplies for another project. I fell in love with it, and since it was on sale for only 2 dollars, I went ahead and bought it. I finished it just in time for my cousin's wedding over New Year's, and here I am wearing it. (That's my sister Lauren in the picture with me. Sorry it's blurry!)

I shortened the skirt to a more modern hem, but otherwise kept it the same. I'm wearing a silver shawl in the picture, but I have enough fabric from the dress left over to make the matching shrug from the pattern as well. The pattern itself was inspired by a dress from the 1930s.

I would love to be able to sew well enough to make my own vintage inspired designs. I had so much fun making this dress, and I learned a lot as well.

I was wondering what my first main "project" could be while celebrating my Year of Abundance, when it was wonderfully thrown in my face. I was invited to a baby shower this past week, and I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to try to make something for the mother-to-be, instead of buying something at the store. I thought I'd try my hand at knitting something (like a hat or booties), but I didn't think I had the needles or skill in order to make something. So far I can knit, but not purl. I've only just learned this over Thanksgiving.

Then I thought about all of that fabric in my closet. I love blue and yellow together, and I found that I had previously purchased tons of fabric in those colors that I had never used. (And since the happy couple don't yet know the gender of their baby, I thought this combination would be perfect.) I found a simple pattern online and began quickly, since I only had 5 days.

Once I cut up all the fabric and began sewing, I realized that I didn't have enough of light blue and yellow floral fabric. Instead of panicking and buying a suitable replacement, as I didn't have another similar fabric, I decided to make the corner blocks with a solid yellow square instead. (It's hard to make out, but you can tell the top right and bottom left squares are different.) So here is the finished result!

The whole thing was done by machine, a first for me. I've only hand quilted before, but because of time constraints and my newfound knowledge of sewing from making skirts, I found machine quilting wasn't that hard after all. Also, the quilt is only 3 feet squared, so that made it easy as well.

I was quite happy with how this came out. And it was all free! In the end, I'm so glad I tried to make something by hand, and I hope it will be more meaningful for my friend than if I had quickly picked something up at the store.

On a different note, I've begun walking to work. I used to take the light rail in to work, since I only had to travel 2 stops north to my job. However, the light rail recently discontinued a five dollar monthly pass, which I used to purchase for my rides. Now, the monthly rate is $31.50, which is very difficult to cram into Hubby's and my monthly budget.

Now, I walk to work, which in itself has become a great blessing. I now have more time to reflect on the Word, and on top of that I get great exercise. The walk is 25 minutes one way, and half of the journey is indoors, so I should be fine when rain comes. (It doesn't really get cold here in Texas.)

Next up, I plan on cleaning out the kitchen: reorganizing, finding cans of food I never knew I had, getting rid of old appliances I never use, etc. Anyone want a almost-never-been-used waffle maker or George Foreman grill?

After reading this post on the Maidens of Worth site, I thought I'd try my hand at sewing my own skirt. (HT: Susan). I've been meaning to at least attempt to sew my own, but every time I read the back of a pattern, I get overwhelmed by all the jargon and I don't even try. I've been sewing quilts for a couple of years, and I enjoy every minute of putting them together. Sewing a skirt can't be any harder, right?

I went to JoAnn's and picked up several skirt patterns (And a few dress and shirt patterns. They were selling the Simplicity patterns for a dollar apiece, how could I refuse?) I also found a beautiful fabric in the clearance bin, and there was plenty for my skirt. The pattern I picked for my first one was very easy--no zipper, or fusible interfacing, or anything like that. I already had thread and tons of white muslin for lining, so I just picked up the elastic I needed and then I was all set.

So here is the finished result!

I love this skirt! I've worn it to work already. I think I might make several more with this pattern with different fabrics. The best part was that it was so easy, and it only took a weekend. I'm used to quilting projects that take several months. Next I want to try a circle skirt pattern that uses a zipper, maybe in black and white (one of my favorite color combinations). It can't be that hard, right? :-)

I'm also working on another quilting project--a quilt for my dad. So far I've only got one block finished, but the others are part of the way done. I plan on having 9 blocks total (The finished size of each block is 15".) I'll set these on point, so the actual finished size of the quilt should be pretty big. (I'm not yet sure how big . . .)

So here is the completed block:

I love these colors and the pattern for this quilt, so I'm excited about completing this one. I hope to make one similar for my own home one day.