The Artist Grandmother, Part 1

 Since becoming a grandmother, I was inspired to make baby clothes again. When my own children were babies and my husband was still in college, I had to make do with what we had. I recycled sweaters, coats and usable cottons to make all of their clothes before the concept of "upcycling" was in vogue. I started making quilts in earnest about the same time. The first Christmas we were married, I got my first sewing machine, a $99 Singer. I still have it. It's the machine I use now to stitch paper.

When I was still living at home, I learned to sew on my grandmother's converted treadle machine. Having come very close to getting kicked out of Home Ec. in Junior High for making a bikini instead of an apron, it should have already been clear to anyone who knew me that I was going to follow my own path.

When my first granddaughter was born, I was thrilled. Although I have sewn several things for my darling grandson, I admit that making fancy baby dresses for little girls is a lot more fun than a Thomas the Train pillowcase. I designed and made her this cute party dress just for fun. I now own more baby patterns than I ever had when my own children were small. Of course, I never follow the pattern instructions. I prefer to use them as a suggestion, and proceed as I do when making my artwork: do something, respond, do something else; collage and layers upon layers.



My Lena wearing my Frenchy Girl design



Busy Is As Busy Does

What have you been doing this week? I hope it involved some pleasurable activities, even if it involved working for money. I have been busy working for money, and with deadlines looming, I haven't had much play time lately.

The little outfit pictured here is part of my Little Frenchy line. I post new little dresses, skirts, overalls and jackets as I finish them in my Magic Baby shop on etsy. I am so partial to these patchwork creations, because they are the first designs I created for my Magic Baby line, and because they are FUN to make, like creating little collages. I am looking forward to making a whole batch of new ones for the coming Spring, so stay tuned. Oh, and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Winter and the Holidays

Lena's sweatshirt swing dress, perfect
for winter weather.

Thanksgiving is over already, and December lurks around the corner. On the North Coast winter can't be far away. It's always a busy time of year, as cooking, baking, shopping and making, as in making by hand, come into the forefront.

I am so grateful to be able to make by hand. An idea comes into my mind, and I go into my studio and bring the fleeting thought into reality. There is nothing more fulfilling! I have been busy making...holiday cards, hand stitched journals, stationary, gift tags. I have also created several new Magic Baby Designs for holiday and cold weather wear. Hope you like them! Everything in my shop is on sale through midnight on Cyber Monday, so please stop by. Watch for Small Shop Saturday specials all through December.



Girl's Party Jacket. Yes, it's reversible!



Boy's Christmas Overalls, reversible and adjustable

Baby Sailor Boy Sweater with holiday collar

Hurrah, It's a Party. These reversible overalls in
piped velveteen (on the front side) and matching
shirt were a custom order. I love custom orders!

Magic Baby Snuggle Jackets

When I began designing baby clothes years ago, I found that the process was similar to how I approach making art. In this case, inspired by a new grandbaby, I pulled out flannel scraps left over from making Magic Baby Snuggle Blankies. I have always been frugal in most aspects of my life; needless to say, I was not going to let those exquisite scraps go to waste, especially when baby clothing requires so little fabric. My first step was to cut off any selvedges from the scraps, then rotary cut them into strips and squares, which were stacked together in a box. Piecing the strips together, I could make matching snuggly, cuddly reversible jackets for the Snuggle Blankies. It was easy to add little tags of ribbon into the seams, keeping everything very soft, and snippets of trim to the fold-up cuffs. After turning the jacket right side out, I inserted a scrap of pre-gathered satin pink ruffle into the bottom edge.

Magic Baby Cuddle Jacket Prototype, front

The biggest challenge in this design, as is the case in many of my designs, is coming up with a unique closure that is also functional. For the jacket, I inserted a piece of medium gauge, round elastic into bias tape, gathered it and measured the length before inserting it in between the front and reverse jacket sections. Next, since I don't want to be buying tons of buttons, and because buttons can pop off, I created a "soft" button using ribbon blanket trim satin stitched over a cut-down cosmetic sponge, and stitched in place with an "X" of embroidery floss.

This design was fast, easy, and, in my mind, a complete success. I have the pattern worked out from NB to 4T, and plan to make jackets that also match my reversible dresses. 

I am still working on prototypes for my "story clothes", finishing up my new holiday designs (the boy's overalls are finished, and ready to ship!),  and completing three custom orders from the show last weekend.

I am an artist, so why am I spending so much time designing baby clothes? There are several answers to this question: a) I need to earn a regular income, and baby clothes sell faster than artwork b) I am a grandmother, and like making things for babies c) It's fun and challenging. Granted, I have had to put my current book project on hold, and don't have as much time in the studio to make artwork. I do, however, make time for art. Can't live without it!

My new granddaughter wearing her MagicBaby Cuddle Jacket.

First of all, let me say that I am happy to be posting again. There have been some problems with blogger, and I couldn't post or leave comments. Hurrrah, Magic Baby Designs blog is back in action!

I am thrilled to be participating in my first boutique with Magic Baby Designs this coming Sunday. I hope to see some of you there! By the way, order your holiday custom order outfits now. I have several choices in my etsy shop, will have some new designs on Sunday, and more to come. Happy Fall!

Magic Baby at Retail Show

When: Friday, September 9, 6 - 8 p.m.
Where: Valley Art Center, Bell Street, Chagrin Falls, OH
One night only, at the opening of the wearable art exhibition, Art Strikes a Pose
This is Magic Baby's first retail show. Hope to see you there!

If you can't make it to the retail show, please visit Magic Baby on etsy

The Artist Grandmother

Becoming a grandmother was the inspiration for creating Magic Baby Designs. When my own children were babies and my husband was still in college, I had to make do with what we had. I recycled sweaters, coats and usable cottons to make all of their clothes. I started making quilts in earnest about the same time. The first Christmas we were married, I got my first sewing machine, a $99 Singer. I still have it. It's the machine I use to stitch paper.

When I was still living at home, I sewed on my grandmother's converted treadle machine. Having come very close to getting kicked out of Home Ec. in Junior High for making a bikini instead of an apron, it should have already been clear to anyone who knew me that I was going to follow my own path.

When my first granddaughter was born a few years ago, I was thrilled. Although I have sewn several things for my grandson, I admit that making fancy baby dresses for little girls is a lot more fun than a Thomas the Train pillowcase. I made her this dotted dress outfit for her first Valentine's Day. I now own more baby patterns than I ever had when my own children were small. Of course, I never follow the pattern instructions. I prefer to use them as a suggestion, and proceed as I do when making my artwork: do something, respond, do something else; collage and layers upon layers.



Happy first Valentine's Day, Miss E!

My own grandmother was very artistic. Even though I was still little when she died, I remember how she always encouraged my artistic efforts. And when she was able to finally have the time, she started making art and craft pieces for the sheer enjoyment of it. She was the only grandparent I knew, and I absolutely adored her, even though I only saw her a few times a year.

As a grandmother of three, the youngest born two years ago already, I cherish taking some time away from work to make special things for my grandchildren. With my Magic Baby line of clothing, the hardest part is not making everything for them. I have told their mothers that the baby girls will be the recipients of my learning curve process; the prototypes go to them, or, as in the case of Baby E's Valentine dress, are designed for them. Some patterns are just too intricate and detailed to make for anything but a custom order.

The Little Frenchy dress, to the left and below, was my very first Magic Baby design. I made this one, the prototype, for my oldest granddaughter. She wore it for years, then passed it on to my youngest granddaughter just this year. It is designed to fit for a very long time, is completely reversible (two dresses in one,)and transitions easily from dress to cute top! These are now available in many color combinations for custom order in my etsy shop, from newborn sizes on up to girl's size 8. I also have designed a Frenchy Girl style, which is has a patchwork skirt. Very cute! 

With fall around the corner and a wearable art exhibition and a fashion show booth coming up, I am busy finishing up new fall designs. I would love to know what clothes YOU loved wearing as a kid. Leave me a note in the comments section!

 

Baby dress to cute top, several years of wearable cuteness!

Dhoti Pants, Shweshwe, and French Stripes

In my last post, I showed you the dress I finished out of my new stash of South African shweshwe fabric. I wanted to make an outfit, so I finished a pair of dhoti-style pants in a matching knit, completing my vision for a WorldWear design to add to my Magic Baby Designs repertoire. Here are some pictures, including another pair of dhoti pants I made from my own granddaughter.



Here is the dress with matching knit pants. The dhoti pants are adorable, but look so much cuter on a body!



Here is a pair of dhoti pants for my granddaughter. I love how they fit! You can't see here,
but I appliqued some flowers to the side cuffs.

Earlier in the week, I discovered a real fabric find online. I am always on the lookout for blue and yellow striped fabric for my Little Frenchy designs. I use other colors for the reversible dresses, overalls and jackets, but I truly love the traditional colors of French Provence. When I saw one of my favorite sellers on etsy who had yards and yards of these fabrics, I snatched them up. You can be sure you will see these fabrics cropping up in my Magic Baby Designs very soon.

Playing with New Fabrics for Magic Baby WorldWear Designs

A new baby quilt made from shweshwe

When I went to the Quilt National opening a few weeks ago in Athens, Ohio, my friend and hostess Gill introduced me to a new fabric: shweshwe. In all my years of sewing, I had never even of heard of it before. Gill is South African, and shweshwe is a specialty fabric from South Africa. She was replicating a quilt she had made for her son many moons ago, recreating it for her new granddaughter. I helped her baste and tie the quilt, so she could finish the binding and send it along. What a great fabric for a baby quilt.

And what a great fabric for Magic Baby Designs' WorldWear line. Shweshwe is very high quality cotton still produced in the traditional manner, just as it was in the 1800s when it was created in England and shipped to South Africa. Initially worn only by local tribes, Gill says the name shweshwe came from the sound the fabric made when you were wearing it. The fabric was coated with a glaze designed to protect it from moisture during the long journey from England to South Africa, producing a particular feel to the fabric. No wonder the native women named it! The beautiful cotton becomes softer and softer as it is worn and washed. What a great discovery, and how lucky I am that Gill gave me a stash of her fabrics to play with.



WorldWear shweshwe dress in progress



As a thank you, I have sewn a new Magic Baby WorldWear dress for the new little granddaughter using my mix and match approach to designing and my beautiful new stash of shweshwe. Here are a few pictures of the dress in progress along with the finished piece. I absolutely love it, and hope Gill's new little Magic Baby will love it, too.

WorldWear shweshwe dress front. The bodice is pieced
to take advantage of the wonderful design. I used some
vintage indigo Japanese fabrics for the bodice band at the waist
and for the hem ruffle.



This is a detail of the inside. I pieced the front and covered
the seams with binding on the inside. Here you can also
see the logo of one of the companies that produces
this terrific fabric, Three Cats.



WorldWear shweshwe dress, back

Here is a detail of the sleeve. Instead of a
butterfly sleeve, I pleated it into a cuff band.

Frenchy Girl, Finished and Shipped to Italy

Frenchy Girl, size 4

 Just a quick post today to show you the finished Frenchy Girl dress that I shipped off to Italy this week. I am heading to Quilt National this weekend, but wanted to update you before I leave.

I have posted the front and back, finished. In addition, I am showing the buttonhole elastic feature I mentioned in the tutorial of my last blog post. Finally, I have a close up of the adjustable bodice tab and straps. Enjoy, and have a great holiday weekend.

Frenchy Girl back, size 4



Frenchy Girl dress, deatil of adjustable straps and tabs



Frenchy Girl dress, detail showing the hidden and adjustable elastic

Magic Baby Frenchy Girl Dress and Hidden Elastic Tutorial

Frenchy Girl Charlotte

 Today I am finishing up a custom order Frenchy Girl dress from my Magic Baby designs. It will be sent to Italy, my first custom order from that country, and I want it to be perfect! You can order your very own Frenchy Girl dress through my shop. Just tell me the colors and size you desire, and I will do the rest, creating a beautiful, one of a kind design for your Magic Baby : )

When I design anything for babies, toddlers and children, quality is important to me, so everything is stitched with care. I also strive to make sure that the items I make and sell will fit for as long as possible, so I add creative, adjustable closures, roll up cuffs and sleeves, and try to make the final product adjustable in any way it can be. If you like to sew yourself, you might enjoy learning how to add an adjustable element to any dress design with a bodice. If you try out this method, I hope to hear from you.

Hidden Elastic Tutorial
When sewing a dress with a separate front and back bodice, you can easily add a length of hidden, adjustable elastic to your creation. Normally, I make my dress designs reversible, but in this example, the dress has front and back bodices along with front and back bodice linings. The front of my Frenchy Girl dress is pleated, so I am only adding adjustable elastic to the back of the dress.

Step one, then, is to add several inches of width to the back skirt of the dress (not the bodice!) when you cut it out. I create my patchwork skirt back, making sure the seams match up with the front patchwork seams. To cut out, I fold my skirt fabric in half, and lay my pattern shape along the fold. Instead of placing the pattern edge directly on the fold, move it away anywhere from one to four inches, depending on how much added fullness you desire. Remember, your fabric is folded, so however much width you add on the fold, it will be doubled when you cut the skirt out.

Step two: Gather the back skirt fabric to match to fit the back bodice by running two sets of gathering stitches along the skirt within the seam allowance. Pull the threads, spread out the gathers, and pin it to your back bodice right sides together. Stitch in place. Now, go directly to your ironing board, and press the seam up toward the bodice. Do not skip this step if you want a professional-looking finished product : ) Normally, I would trim and topstitch the seam after ironing, but I am only going to trim the seam, and topstitch it in place later. Keep reading.

Step three: Cut a piece of bias binding the length of the seam you just created. I am using 1/4" elastic for my dress, but you can use any width you want. Just make sure the bias binding is comfortably wider than the elastic you choose, so that when you stitch it in place, the elastic will glide through. Before pinning in place, iron the raw short edges of the binding under, so that they completely clear the seam allowance on both sides of the back. Stitch each short end of the binding in place, and trim them a bit if they seem too long. This step will prevent the elastic getting stuck when you thread it through the binding casing.


Note the short end of the bias binding casing is stitched under, but not to the dress.

Step four: Pin the bias binding in place, with the bottom edge lined up with your pressed seam on the inside (wrong side) of the dress. With wrong sides up as shown in the picture above, stitch the bottom of the casing in place just above the seam and close to the binding edge. This will apply the bias binding casing and top stitch the back seam in one step. Now stitch the top of the casing seam, but do not stitch across the short ends. Leave these open to receive your elastic later.

The bias casing is sewn in place away from the side seam allowances.

Step five: Because I wanted a decorative sash on the outside of the dress (both front and back), I am adding that next, on the outside of the dress. This is also a good time to add trim, if desired. I cut my sash piece the same depth as the one on the front, shaping it by cutting it to match the shape of my bodice piece. It is wider than the little elastic casing I just added on the inside, and comes slightly below the bodice and skirt seam so that it doesn't interfere with the elastic. In the picture above you can see the stitching lines from the wrong side. Here is what it looks like from the right side:

My decorative sash with lace trim is stitched to the back

You may be wondering why I don't just add the elastic into the decorative sash. Well, I certainly could, and have in other situations. The Magic Baby Sassy Girl dress, shown in the back in the picture below, is reversible, so I added the elastic into the back casing as shown. However, in this case, I wanted to make my elastic piece adjustable, which means using buttonhole elastic, which means I don't want it to show on the outside of the dress anywhere. That design feature calls for a different solution, the one I am showing you today.

For this reversible dress, the elastic was inserted into the sash
along the seam of the skirt and bodice.

Step six: Now the dress is ready to be stitched together at the side seams. Those are pressed, trimmed and top stitched. Now, take your front and back bodice lining pieces, and iron the seam allowance hem into place. Pin them together where they will join at the side seams. Prior to stitching the bodice lining together, though, mark an opening the width of your elastic. The first mark for the bottom of the opening will be at the ironed edge of the seam allowance. Measure up from there the width of your elastic, add a "smidge" and mark. When you sew the bodice lining side seams together, sew from each end of the seam up to your marks, backstitch and stop, leaving an opening in the side seam. Press the seams open at your ironing station. Sew the bodice lining in place, topstitch or understitch as needed, turn to the inside, and press again.

Step seven: The detail picture below shows the bodice lining stitched, turned, pressed, and topstitched in place. The lining itself is still loose, however, along the bottom edge front and back. Pin the bodice lining in place along your pressed lines, so that it will cover the raw seam edge. Make sure to match the side seams. Before stitching the lining edge in place, however, slip your elastic in place. At a minimum, cut your elastic half the width of your desired chest size. I cut mine a bit long, knowing that I am going to add a length of buttonhole elastic onto either end of the elastic piece, and I prefer to have it longer to begin with, so I can adjust the amount of gathering by eye.


Thread your elastic through the opening in the lining side seam

 Step eight: Pin a safety pin to one end of your elastic, which has been cut to your desired size. Insert it through the opening in one of the bodice lining side seams, then slip it into your bias binding casing. Thread elastic through the casing to the other side, and pull it through, making sure to hold the other end of the elastic in place, so it won't be pulled all the way through! From the casing, thread the safety pin through the other bodice lining side seam opening, and pin in place. Adjust the gathers as desired. 

Step nine: My next step, which I need to do today, is to add a short piece of buttonhole elastic to each end of my regular elastic. With the addition of buttonhole elastic, my design dream is realized: it allows the dress to be adjustable in width, adding months, maybe years, of wearability. Since I haven't completed this dress yet, I will show you an example from another dress. You get the idea!

This is buttonhole elastic

Once you are happy with your elastic on the back bodice, stitch it in place, or sew two tiny buttons on the side seams, and button it in place. Sew your bodice lining down to cover the skirt seams, and you are finished!

Buttonhole elastic buttons to the side seams, and get be made tighter or looser, depending on the size required. What a great invention!

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial, and please, let me know how it works for you.

Finally, a few pictures of my Frenchy Girl custom order, not yet hemmed or finished. I'll post pix when it's done, and before I ship it to Italy. The final pictures show you another one I made last year for a different client. Thanks for stopping by. 


Unfinished Frenchy Girl in pink, front

Unfinished Frenchy Girl in pink, back
with elastic inserted

Frenchy Girl custom order, size 8T, finished last year

Spring is for Sewing

Robot Double Flannel Blankie

I love this time of year, don't you? With the days slowly growing longer, I feel more energetic. More energy means more fun, creative time in my world. I have been busy so far this week, trying to keep up with the piles on my sewing table. I sew during the day, but at night I like to hang out with my husband, so that is often when I size out my patterns, or cut out new pieces to be sewn.  This week, I have tried to move things along, sewing a bit on this one, a bit on that one. I was really pleased with the little robot flannel reversible jacket I am finishing up. It matches the Robot Snuggle flannel blankie already finished. I'll show you pix soon. By the way, my snuggle blankies are adorable, and I have several listed in my etsy shop. They make great shower gifts, as well. They are designed to be perfect for both infants and toddlers, with two sides, rounded corners, embroidered edges, and a tag for dragging : )

Last night I received my first custom order from Italy. The client ordered my always popular Little Frenchy dress in pink and lime green. This one is single-sided, but I also love making the reversible ones. I am partial to the design first, because I think it is so cute and, secondly, because it is the first design I made for my Magic Baby Designs. Love it! Single sided or reversible, Little Frenchy dresses are available from newborn babies to girl's size 8. Here are a few examples. Hope you love them as much as I do : )

This one is in traditional French Provence colors. It's completely reversible and height adjustable.

Look at these sweeties, two Little Frenchies! Oh yes, the design is available as a reversible overall, too.

 

A Little Frenchy baby dress

Today is the Day

One of my WorldWear Designs

Yes, indeed…today is the day. Thanks to my daughter’s help, I now have a blog for Magic Baby Designs, and a website in the works. Woohoo! Although I utilize my etsy shop to sell my wares, I have been wanting a place to show you everything I am making, and to interact with my clients. I am very excited.

In the studio, I have been very busy creating fun, new designs, such as my new WorldWear line, seen here. Inspired by world travels and ethnic fabrics, these designs, available for both Magic Baby boys and girls, celebrate children as citizens of the world.