Tea Party

H is going to a tea party next month at a local museum with my mother.  The tea party is an American Girl doll theme so the girls are supposed to bring their dolls with them and to dress like their favorite American Girl.
Confession time: H does not own a real American Girl doll, only knock offs.  Those things are $100 + each and the girl is only 6 years old, I dont trust her with that kind of investment.  So, instead of dressing her to match a doll she already has, I decided to start from scratch and make matching dresses for both of them.  I took H to the fabric store and let her choose the pattern and she told me what colors she wanted the dress to be and helped ick out the fabric.  The dress is almost done.  There is a flower detail that is supposed to be sewn on at the waist but I'm going to attach it to a pin so that the flower can be removed for easier laundering.  I also still need to sew the hook and eye closure to the top of the zipper in the back.  I don't usually sew clothing, I tend to stick to bags and quilts so this was a bit of a challenge for me. It's not perfect, I mean I'm not winning the next season of Project Runway or anything, but I am quite pleased with the results.  I made this dress from McCall's pattern 7074.

Birthday Time

I have two children and that means we get invited to a lot of birthday parties. I have problem with parties. I don't mind buying a gift for the celebrant. My problem comes with the wrapping of the gift. I have a touch of perfectionism in me so l want the wrapped gift to look great. But l'm missing the talent. Usually I either get over it or I put the gift in a bag. But bags are a problem too.Have you purchased a gift bag lately? Those things are pricey. I have A mental block against spending that kind of money on something that will likely just be thrown away. So I came up with this solution. most of the gifts we purchase fit comfortably into a standard canvas tote bag. So, I purchase an inexpensive tote bag and embroider the recipient's name on it.This way the wrapped gift looks great and the gift bag is now part of the gift and reusable for multiple purposes in everyday life.
For this bag, I got the bag itself from Walmart , I think I paid .97 for it, and the embroidery font is called Payphone and its from Designs by JuJu.  l probably paid the same if not less for this bag than I wouldhave for a preprinted paper gift bag and its personalized and much  less likely to just get thrown away after the party!