Sewing and Knitting projects

Christmas is long past but I did want to post some photos of the gifts I created. I really struggled to get my knitting projects done in time for unwrapping! I decided a few months prior to Christmas that I should knit dresses for each of the granddaughters and a vest for Saben. I finished Charlotte's dress 2 days before Christmas! That was a close call. Unfortunately, even though I followed the instructions for size 12-18 months and Charlotte is 15 months, her dress was way too big. She will grow! I had wanted to get a portrait of all the grandkids in their new clothes, but so far that hasn't happened. Perhaps these will have to suffice for any type of formal picture.  :(   Sure wish I had one photo of them together in their clothes. I also goofed on Saben's shirt size, so the size 7 dress shirt is huge on him and won't work out for use with his vest. Drat!

Annika's dress is made from Plymouth Select 100% worsted merino superwash wool in color 21

Close up of detail work on bodice

This is the only decent photo of Miss Annika (age 3) in her dress

This was the first project completed of the 4. LOVE how it turned out. I used Madelinetosh Vintage worsted weight superwash merino wool yarn in the color Cove.

Kari trying to roll up a sleeve on this much too large shirt

Saben was mesmerized with his new Star Wars game

Hailey's 2 piece outfit. Dress and bolero made from Cascade Yarns 40% Superwash Merino Wool/60% Acrylic in color #1 for the body and #12 for the trim

It was quite time consuming to put all these hand embroidered designs on both the front and back of the dress, especially since they began untying on the inside! Repairs needed.

This is the front of Charlotte's dress made from Stacy charles brand 100% Mercerized Cotton, color #3814

And here is the back with a button closure

I guess this is as formal as it gets as far as photos go

Here was another fun project for the older girls. Paper dolls made out of fabric. I found this paper doll fabric online and backed the whole cloth with white flannel using Steam-a-Seam to hold the layers together. Then I painstakingly cut out all the dolls and clothes, cutting off the tabs that were part of the dolls and clothes. I bought 2 artist canvases and using staples I covered them with pieces of white heavy weight felt. Now it is a flannel board! I hope they are having fun with their dollies.

OK, parents....when can we get all 4 grandkids together for a formal protrait?? Someday when they are 30 or so and I'm long dead and gone, I want them to have a visual reminder of how much their grandma loved them! And Annika looking down, Hailey with her jeans on, both Hailey & Charlotte looking sad and Saben glued to the TV screen just doesn't cut it!!