Sometimes You Need to Cheat

I've had a few conversations with some friends where we were talking about gathering fabric and making ruffles. And they were complaining about how it takes so long to gather and it's just a pain. I felt so sad for them! They hadn't learned how to cheat yet!

About two years ago there were all sorts of tutorials on how to do a gather stitch by increasing your stitch length and increasing your tension to the highest setting. But now I can't seem to find them! I did end up finding one from MADE though.

May you never suffer through hand gathering again! :)

When I Like Something, I REALLY Like It

I was going through the girls' clothes for the fall and winter and I found something interesting:

Three shirts that virtually have the same design. And they all have the tags still on them meaning that I was the one that bought them. And somehow I forgot about the others! Oh well, I still like them all!

New Fall Clothes

I got all the girls' clothes out of the attic last week, and as I went through them I discovered something shocking. Charissa has way too many clothes for the fall and winter .... if she'll wear pants or a skirt. And Verity has hardly any clothes. How does this happen? Verity should be the receiver of tons of hand-me-downs from Charissa, yet for this fall/winter season she is seriously lacking. Of course this could be because the girls only wear dresses and thus their measurements are so close that I might have put them all in Charissa's pile. So there might be some rearranging once I really get them sorted and hung up in their closet. The other issue is that Charissa has a TON of shirts and sweaters - and all of them are ADORABLE! I mean, they are just so cute. The problem is that Charissa wears dresses exclusively. Every day. I am going to try to work with her a bit this year to wear pants, just so that she's a bit more flexible with her wardrobe. But I honestly don't mind that she just wears dresses because it's so much her personality. Anyway - I think I'm going to make her a few skirts in solid colors so that she can wear them with all her tops. I'm pretty sure she'll be fine with that.

I know the girls both need more dresses. This year I'm really going to try to make most of their clothes. Why, you ask? A few reasons:

1. Because I can.
   
2. My fabric stash is getting ridiculous and this is a good way to cut into it.
3. It's free! Well, sort of. I do already have so much fabric and trim that there won't be too much I will have to buy to do their clothes (if anything).
4. It's good practice. I want to keep trying new patterns so that I have a really good understanding of how clothing works so that I can start working without patterns more.
   

So you should see some new fall clothes soon!