I love sewing and most kinds of handwork, needlepoint, knitting, crocheting, embroidery but especially love making things for little girls!  Since I seem to be fresh out of little girls to sew for, I have borrowed a friend of mine's daughter.  She is all of 5 so I have a couple of more years to go before she outgrows wanting to wear fancy little dresses.  As home sewers we have to face the fact that most kids want to wear blue jeans and tee shirts. We have to come up with something that makes them enjoy those special things.  I have found that it can be done with something as simple as a wonderful print fabric with their favorite animal or cartoon character or it can be as special as heirloom sewing.

I have discovered that the simplest clothing is the best for little ones, a pinafore over a simple dress makes it very special.   We, as home sewers also have to remember to make clothing easy for children to dress themselves and for their mom to take care of.  Let's face it, mom isn't going to be dressing their daughters (or sons) in something that has to be hand washed, dry cleaned or needs fussy ironing.  Goodness, I don't want to do that for my own clothing.  Of course, there has to be exceptions for every rule and holiday dresses just HAVE to be fussy!   Also, when you have such a cute little model who can resist?

I also make shirts for my dear husband.  He is 6'5" tall and if I can find shirts that fit him they are very expensive.  Even after buying extra tall sized shirts for him the sleeves end up being too short and the tails don't stay tucked in.  Here are some photos of the type of western style shirts that I make for him.  Even though they have long sleeves, his summer shirts are made with a light-weight cotton so they are cool and protect him from sunburns.