Well, the previous catagory "Girls' Easter Jacket" has now become "Girl's Easter Jacket & Skirt". This afternoon, I put the finishing touches on another "That's So Raven" pattern, Simplicty 4260. This was a pretty easy & fast sew as I started this project yesterday!

The pattern itself is pretty straightforward - you can't tell from the photo, but this skirt has cute, wide pleats. I'm sure Taylor will love it! Since this coordinates with the jacket, I used the rest of the boucle for this skirt. I have to say, I'm already tired of working with boucle - and now I have to vacuum again to pick up all those threads & strings that the fabric shed!

I managed to finish up Taylor's Easter jacket this afternoon. Let's hope she likes it. Overall, it turned out pretty well, except I managed to trim off part of the ruffle on the top part of the jacket. I don't think that it's noticeable, but I know it's there. UGH.

I also didn't realize that this pattern was for a lined jacket. I believe that this is the first lined kids jacket that I've ever made. Sadly, I didn't purchase lining for this project, but fortunately I found some in my stash. It's not what I would have picked out - I think that it's some sort of acetate and isn't great to work with (it snags, frays, and doesn't sew well), but it worked.

The organdy trim also gave me fits. I thought that by gathering it with my serger it would go so much faster, but this pattern uses a 'lose' ruffle and not a tight one, so I spent a better part of an afternoon, taking apart most of my ruffles.

Overall, it's not a bad pattern. I just got frustrated with my fabrics. I think that if I put it away for awhile (like say, until Easter) that I'll like it better. Now on to find a skirt pattern that I can use the rest of the boucle with.

UPDATE Alright, Taylor came home and tried on the jacket. BAH, it's tight in the shoulders and doesn't completely come together when she wears it. The finished measurements should be around 30 inches - which is plenty big enough according to her measurements. Either she's grown a lot since I last measured her or something went wonky with the jacket pattern!?!

My family decided to take advantage of today's nice weather and go fishing. While they were gone, I managed to wash up the denim for Simplicty 4260 - if all goes well, I'll cut out the pattern tonight. I also started on Taylor's Easter jacket (I'll be making a skirt next).

All the pieces are cut out, interfaced and ready to sew. I also made the organdy ruffle - ugh, such a slippery booger to cut. I even used a rottery cutter and mat! I used my serger to gather the ruffles - so much faster than doing this by machine and pulling the basting threads. Oh, and speaking of interfacing - I ran out and had to go to the store to buy more. Which leads me to my next fabric purchase.....red twill for my Anthropologie jacket knockoff. I did manage to resist buying some denim for the cropped jacket pattern that I picked up - after figuring out the cost (which would have come to $12.00 give or take) I decided I would be better off picking up a Fabric Mart Ralph Lauren denim bundle (which costs $15.00) - I just can't resist those bundles!

Potential new project to start. Taylor has given the fabric the o.k. (although she's undecided about the organdy contrast rufle), now I just need the motivation to sew this one up!