Even More Dresses

I almost didn't have any finished dresses to show you this week. You see, I had to sew against my arch-enemy..... knit. I hate sewing knit fabrics. I'm sure that if I had more practice, all the right tools, and more knowledge it wouldn't be quite so bad. But as I am now, it's not a pleasant task. I always seem to end up with a stretched-out, wavy hem, or a gaping neck. I've successfully sewn a few knit items in my time; but all of them have caused me great distress. But, I keep going back because, well, I like wearing knit. And so does my daughter. She was outgrowing the last successful knit dress I made for her and was begging me to make her a new one. So, a while back (Feb 2007!), I bought some knit to make her a dress. It's taken me this long to finally work up the nerve to tackle the project! It's a good thing I did too, if I had waited any longer I wouldn't have had enough fabric; she's growing so fast. So, I cut out all the pieces and began sewing. All was going well for about 10 minutes..... and then the bodice ended up in the garbage. Grrrrr. I walked away from it to cool down and work up some new courage to get back in there. 5 days later I went in with a different approach. And this time it worked! WooHoo! Oh, it's not perfect, but it's good enough. And it's much better than paying $20 for the same thing at Lands End!....

I also got a start on another dress for myself. This one will be a jumper; which I'm thinking will make it more versatile for changing seasons. I can wear short sleeves in the summer/spring, and long sleeves in the winter/fall. Plus, the fabric is a solid red, and I thought it would be way too much for a dress. Having a different colored shirt underneath should help to break up the color. Since it is a solid color, and a plain dress design, it was the perfect backdrop for some more embroidery. I'm not too crazy about my choice of colors; they looked better in my head. But, I think it can work; especially with the right shirt underneath.... (click to enlarge)
I did a chain stitch around the inside edge, a scallop stitch after that, and then split stitches to form the (whatever that design is called) around the outside. They're just freehand squiggles, but I like them. Of course, I'll show you the completed jumper when I'm finished!

I also want to say thank you to all of you that have prayed for my son. He has not had any more problems with his hip. Praise the LORD! We will still take him in for the follow-up appointment, but we are not expecting them to find anything wrong.