Infant Pinafore Dress and Bloomers

Update: I am offering this outfit for sale, check it out: Broadway Handmade. It is $20 and Priority Shipping anywhere in the U.S. is $6 (free delivery in my hometown of Chico!).

I recently completed this infant pinafore dress and bloomers.

I found a black and white rayon (viscose) skirt at the local thrift store and had to have it. It's Italian and we all know that Italians are kings of both rayon and loud prints.

The trim takes this outfit up a notch, I think. It reduces wearability but dresses up the look from playdate to something where mum and dad are dressed fancily. As a pinafore dress you could team it with a white collared short sleeve onesie or polo and the bloomers, or something with sleeves and black tights when it is cooler. Pinafore dresses, or jumpers, are designed to be worn over a top, but being in such a great rayon I would also use it as a sundress (with just the bloomers).
This is a size newborn, so I think the reduced mobility you get from a dress is partially mitigated by the fact infants 1-3 months are barely mobile, especially in a dressed up setting (guessing?). But, being a "pretty" dress it gets brownie points for being machine washable. I doubt I will make any infant dresses longer or fuller than this one due to the decreased mobility
Overall I will say that I think this outfit is super cute and the print is amazing.

Ugly Dresses

It's a real shame that the first garments I make for myself are so awful, the pics are awful, and just ugh.

The first dress is a fitting shell B5627. This had ten pages of instructions and took weeks to do. But overall I think it came out really well. I learned some things about working with patterns. I used my reader's digest book in conjunction with it.
One problem I had was the area above the bust was bunching all funny. The bust was sufficiently roomy, the armpit was a little low but not tight at all, the shoulders seemed fine, what could it be? The neck was too tight and ruining the bust area's fit. It wasn't in the guide or the book or anything, I just decided to ignore it and go ahead with other alterations and it solved itself.
There were a lot of alterations I had to make to get proper fit. Of course bust (for "D"), let the waist and the hip out, take the shoulder point in, raise the armhole, widen the neck hole, widen the sleeve (a lot) and fix the armhole for it, and shorten the garment length. But once all that was done, I think it looks really good.
Of course this is still an "ugly dress" for many reasons. One, yellow is not my color. Two, I would never wear a sleeved dress made of (floral!) calico because I am not 10. Three, I can't pull off set in sleeves to save my life.
Also yellow is not my color! The fabric was a dollar from the thrift store. The pattern was a dollar on sale so plus the zip this whole project was about $5.
I may use this dress as pattern blocks for a straight skirt or dress. This dress inspired me to try drafting my own patterns as the bust dart was huge and there were so many adjustments.
Now I did make errors in this dress most notably with hinging the sleeve wider. On the dress the wrist is too wide because I had to make an adjustment on the dress. I fixed it on the pattern after. I also probably should have raised the armhole a little but I like roomy armholes anyway.

The second dress is from B5618. This dress is awful. The shoulders (and neck) were way too wide and I don't think it was roomy enough through the hip, either. Who the hell is shaped this way? If you want a dress like this you could probably just draft it yourself with less drama. I added pockets to this dress so it would at least be useful as a housedress.
I paid a dollar for this pattern and feel ripped off. This fabric was from the thrift store and was a dollar. It is surprisingly soft which is probably why I actually wear this hideous dress.
I also made errors in this dress (ugh, pockets) but there's no point talking about it because we all know the whole project was a waste of time.

various projects

Years ago my dad brought this kimono back from a trip to Japan. To hang this on the wall I used two curtain rod mounts (that don't seem available anymore, from umbra) and a five foot length of steel rod that I spray painted silver. I screwed the rod mounts into my picture rail. I think the cream color of the silk looks great against the fawn brown walls and I love that it's a landscape. The kimono does waft a little in the breeze which is a nice change from a painting for instance. I have more planned for the brown bedroom but so far this is all I've managed.

This pattern is a teaser for a project I recently finished. It is a gift so no pics yet! I liked B5584. The pieces I made went together without much confusion.

This overdone lump of whatever is a plum crumb cake. Verdict on the recipe is "needs work" but it was a decent enough way to get rid of more plums. Good for breakfast.

Plum Crisp

A friend gave us plums from his tree. This recipe used 3 pounds of plums and a double batch of apple crumble topping. This crumble/crisp topping uses almonds rather than oats but I threw some oats in as well. Shown with homemade french vanilla ice cream. This plum crisp didn't taste pruney at all; the plums have a mild almost apple-like flavor. Both plums and almonds are grown locally.