Wednesday, December 4, 2013

For Elise...



Bert has a little best friend, Miss Elise.

They've had a playdate together every Wednesday afternoon since they were born.

Sewing for a little boy is all well and fine, but I have to admit when Elise's first birthday rolled around I was totally jazzed to make something girly.

I've been wanting to make the Baby In The Hood Jacket from Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings book ever since the pre-baby days, so that is just what I did for Elise.


Little by little, stitch by stitch, stolen moment by stolen moment, I finally finished her jacket.

I used an out of print Denyse Schmidt canvas weight for the jacket's exterior, an organic Cloud 9 flannel for the lining, and I fussy cut an Anna Maria Horner print from her "Good Folks" line for the detail-y bits (along the button placket and down the middle of the hood).


As you can see, Elise has the most gorgeous hair, skin and eyes, so a lot of thought went into colors that would be just right for her, but with the added challenge of using what I had in my stash.

I also wanted to satisfy my craving to sew something girly but didn't want to make the jacket too "pink."  I never thought buying clothes for a boy would be easier than buying clothes for a girl, but if you aren't into pink it can be VERY hard to find something for a little girl to wear.

I love how it turned out, and it was a pleasure (I repeat: a PLEASURE!) to stitch up this jacket.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the Handmade Beginnings book is just phenomenal.

I've yet to encounter a single mistake or poorly written direction, and I return to this book over and over and over again for all my baby sewing needs.



 I have some Christmas/birthday sewing I'd like to do for Bert, not the least of which is his very own Baby In The Hood Jacket.

Don't you think he needs one, too?

XO,

Rhea

PS

I've received some insider information that it may be getting hard/impossible to find a copy of Handmade Beginnings at your local quilt shop.  Once I got wind of the story behind the story (from Miss Anna Maria herself), I stockpiled copies for the shop.  If you're one of the few people who still doesn't have a copy and would like one, let me know and I'll set one aside for you before they are gone for good!



1 comment:

Happy Valentine's Day said...

Me playing "Für Elise" on my piano sorry my pedal is broken, I will repair it soon, enjoy.