Posted on 61 Comments

bend-the-rules sewing

Oh how I wish I had the brain power right now to properly gush over Amy’s brilliant new book Bend-the-Rules Sewing. It has made me so happy to read glowing book reviews all over blogland and I’ve been dying for a few quiet minutes to add my praises to the mix and all I can come up with is holy crap it’s good! and then I have to get off the computer. How about this… the patterns are so easy to follow that even the parent of a newborn can make a super cute project in one night.

Here’s my Swing Swing Smock. I know it’s for toddlers but I couldn’t resist it so I scanned the pattern and resized it to Phoebe size. The fabric is a thrifted pillowcase and I had no binding on hand so I zig-zag’d under the edges and then added some pink rick rack. It was so easy and turned out so cute!

read all about it: soulemama,
not martha,
craftzine,
purl bee,
adorn mag

the flickr group:
the flickr group

61 thoughts on “bend-the-rules sewing

  1. love the swing swing smock
    looks so cute on her
    oh and that dwell bedding….
    i’m working on the woodland elf hat right now.

  2. Baby and dress are very cute.

  3. So cute! I just ordered the book this morning, must keep myself occupied until it arrives.

  4. i adore that smock + thrifted pillowcases. shortly after my daughter was born (in May) i was back to sewing this time it was 5 minutes here….15 minutes there….i was all over the pillowcases. she’s now got a closet full of simple but beautiful dresses and tunics. and they cost less than $2 each. sweet!
    glad you’re back in the swing of thing (well, at least a little). best of luck with the phoebster.

  5. Oh, Phoebe. You are much too cute.

  6. Oh my god, she’s adorable!!! I love the pastel colors on her. She looks so intelligent and alert, too. What an angel. =)

  7. Phoebe is so beautiful and her little outfit is adorable!

  8. She is so precious!

  9. Phoebe, you are the prettiest baby ever.

  10. Love it! cant wait to get my hands on a copy!

  11. Can you enlarge it on you computer so I can make an adult sized one? Although I don’t think I could be as photographic as little miss phoebe.

  12. aaww! that’s such an adorable dress, she looks so pretty in it.

  13. such beautiful eyes she has

  14. So sweet in her little dress!

  15. Awe! (I am brain dead and cant think of a better way to express it) She is so dang cute!

  16. I just got my book a week ago and I started on some aprons for bday gifts. But I am dying to try the smock. I have a 4 mo. old so I am curious as to what the % scale you used. Thanks!

  17. She is just so darn cute. And I must go out and buy the book this weekend. I have read the gazillions of great things about it! I WANT!!

  18. That is the cutest thing I’ve seen in a very long time. And makes me want that book even more. Sigh…

  19. that’s the cutest thrifted pillowcase project and I’ve seen…really…and that includes the sweet little baby

  20. She is just absolutely adorable.

  21. Adorable!! But what amazes me is that you, um, just had a BABY and you have time to sew?? geez…I suck!

  22. I almost just died from the sweetness of that particular baby in that particular dress. So cute!

  23. That picture makes me want 1) a baby and 2) that book!

  24. Freak’n Stink’n cute! The book’s on my birthday list!

  25. Such a sweet dress and an even sweeter baby!
    I plan to buy this book for my “new at sewing neice”. So nice!

  26. Phoebe and the smock are both gorgeous!

  27. That is so precious! I should have my copy waiting for me when I get home next week. Can’t wait to fill the rest of my summer days (which are rapidly growing short) with projects from that book!

  28. She is adorable ~ what a little doll! Great job on the dress 🙂

  29. WHAT a cutie pie!

  30. that baby is g o r g e o u s.
    you made THAT!!!!

  31. I’m eagerly awaiting my copy of Amy’s book. I ordered it last week to ‘make up’ the costs on an Amazon order. Had the email saying it is winging its way to me, I just can’t wait!
    This is such a cute project and Phoebe looks just so pretty!

  32. Totally adorable.
    Looks like she would start dancing in this dress right away.

  33. Awww.. soo sweet! Pheobe is such a doll.

  34. Your little girl is precious. Great job on the new outfit!
    Niki

  35. Cute idea. Wow, she looks like Oscar!

  36. Perfect!

  37. Little Phoebe is precious. . .oh what a sweetie!

  38. Oh she looks so cute in it! I can’t believe you have a tiny baby and still manage to sew – well done!

  39. Phoebe is so beautiful, I’m amazed you can put her down long enough to dress her in anything other than diapers, not to mention the wonderful dress! Please tell us all, how do you find the time to even think about making a dress for her. I know she’s truly inspiring, but come on, are you sure you’re a human?

  40. Phoebe is a cutie patootie in her sweet little dress! I may have to whip one of those up as a baby gift. My copy of the book just arrived yesterday, and I am loving it.

  41. oh you are rad! but not as rad as your baby!! cutie pie!!
    okay, I have to make one for Lydia now, and maybe some matching bloomers? if I get that far I will send you the pattern-
    thanks for the props, man. really. big hugs.

  42. What a cutie pie! I only have one 2 year old and have a hard time finding time to do things… you amaze me! The little dress is adorable. I hadn’t thought of re-using a pillowcase like that before. Thanks!

  43. I too am wondering how much you scaled down the pattern for the babe.

  44. Aww she looks so sweet in that dress! Don’t you love having a little girl? 🙂

  45. Miss Phoebe is totally stylin in her swing swing smock!
    Hurrays all around for the oh so scrumptious model Miss Phoebe, one helluva mom and human dynamo Hillary and Amy’s marvelous book! 🙂

  46. on the resizing…
    I didn’t do a percent. I measured a length on phoebe that looked about right, scanned the pattern and resized it to that length.

  47. oh wow that is gorgeous!

  48. It’s amazing how much she looks like your doll; Olive, complete with the dark fringe of hair.

  49. I just KNEW I had to get that book. How adorable is that smock? And, of course, the model is just too cute!
    I have to agree with your son, that t-shirt rocks!

  50. Phoebe’s so pretty! :sigh:
    Looks like I’m gonna have to get my hands on that book!!

  51. Oh My goodness, she looks so big already! Maybe it is the hair, cute as can be, and more hair than my 18 month old…

  52. absolutly wonderfull

  53. The baby is gorgeous and she looks so so cute in that dress! I love the rick rack!

  54. How cute! You should sell those on Etsy – you know, in all your free time with a newborn. 😉 But I’d buy one if you did. Your little girl is so precious!

  55. I just ordered my copy yesterday and cannot wait. That has got to be the cutest darned dress ever!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *