Clown town

During nap time today, I tried out one of the vintage sewing patterns I bought last weekend at Value Village. This shirt is Butterick 5254:

I love the drawings of kids on old patterns. These girls seem to be doing normal kid things, not posing for the paparazzi like a lot of the children on pattern packages seem to be doing today. (I always picture the nut-job moms on the sidelines of those photo shoots making ridiculous stressed-out smiling faces at their kids.) The shirt I sewed is supposed to be the one the girl making monkey faces is wearing:

The fabric is a sweet little blue flannel with multi-colored polka dots from JoAnn's. Paired with the design, though, do the polka dots make it look like a clown shirt? A bit, huh?

Speaking of JoAnn's, the selection there has been horrible lately. Anyone else notice? I usually can find a few things I like, but I walked out of there empty handed last night, which doesn't happen very often. Alas, it's my closest fabric store so it's not like I'm going to boycott it or anything.

Next time I make this shirt I'm going to add some length to the body and make it a dress. It's fine as a shirt, but can't you picture it in a baby corduroy or plaid flannel with tights underneath?

In memory of summer (we turned the corner today. it was an absolute downpour), here are some shots taken yesterday of the garden. Our gorgeous September weather meant the tomatoes finally ripened, some cucumbers grew, and the pumpkins are getting bigger.

As you can see here, my biggest weakness as a gardener is not thinning well enough. I just can't bear to kill healthy little plants, but this is what I get for it:

Sorry. Nothing profound or hilarious tonight. Just a bit of sewing and produce.

Comments

[Klay]

Yes Joann's makes me crazy! Not only do I rarely get good customer service there I hardly ever find what I need. How many different kinds of novelty pattered bolts of fleece does on store need? I send them a letter 2 or 3 times a year because - well, like you said it's the only option. I always get a response that goes something like this - we provide the goods that sell and don't give much thought to people with taste. (I'm paraphrasing of course)

I love the "clown shirt" btw, I love that Value Village has patterns - I usually buy them for collage but now I'll have to look for stuff I might want to make!

[Megan]

Oh, I know, the licensed stuff makes me want to barf. Just this morning, though, my friend Jovanka gave me some fabric she bought there the other night that is pretty dang cute. I'm making slippers for her daughter for Montessori school (slippers are a Montessori thing, I think). I made some for Bo but I keep forgetting to photograph them for the blog because they're in her cubby at school. Anyhow, Jovanka was able to find a darling little needle in the JoAnn's Haystack.