I realize that I still have plenty of friends and family who don't really know what I am up to over here all day.  It's not that I am hiding anything but it just doesn't come up in conversation since we usually have other things talk about.  I love sewing and creating patterns though and when I do talk myself up ti opens lots of doors that otherwise would not have been there!  One of the coolest things about sharing your love of sewing is that friends give you stacks of fabrics like this…

My friend Rose gave this fabric to me.  We became friends since she is actually the mother of another friend and when I asked her if she used these fabrics to sew for her children, she said they were actually HER mother's fabrics that she couldn't bear to get rid of before but now she knows someone will use them.  I feel really honored she shared them with me and I wanted to make something special.  I made my first project with the stack yesterday.

 This is a pattern from 1971 that was given to me by my mother in law.  She gave me a whole stack of late sixties/ early seventies patterns that I will share here sometime soon (I only wish I were 5'2" and a size 4 and I could have a whole new wardrobe of bohemian seventies dresses!)  I felt like this was a fitting pattern to try on my new to me fabric stack.

It really was super easy.  It is fully lined which is so nice for a newborn.  Remember how I discussed sewing for friend's babies in this post?  I know this one will be appreciated!  I had lots of fun pounding on the 8 snap sets on this little dress.  My 3 year old son was amazed that I knew what to do in the basement workshop with the hammer.  Obviously I need to start setting an example that women can use tools too!

Both the gingham and the floral were really soft and a nice weight for sewing clothes.  I usually choose really bright colors when I sew this time of year but I like these soft muted tones for this dress.  Sometimes I feel like really bright colors on a newborn can overwhelm the baby and look garish (that's right, GARISH).

The elastic casing is so great on this dress- totally enclosed in the lining!   Anybody else sewing up vintage baby clothes?  I have 2 sets of layette patterns from the early sixties that I am dying to use.  I need to find more friends having babies since I am pretty sure I won't be sewing this stuff for myself ever again!