Kathy Dykstra 2-pc in Sew Beautiful Magazine

Spiritual -   We cannot content ourselves, as the Pharisees did, with simply not doing harm to our neighbor; we must practice toward him a positive, fraternal charity.

Sewing -

 Sew Beautiful Magazine, issue 149,  front cover.  This precious little outfit was designed by Kathy Dykstra  and is fast and easy to put together.  I made is as a "ready to smock" as soon as I saw it.  That was the Aug/Sept 2013 issue!  Well, I finally got around to do the smocking.  Making a size 4T,  I used skip dent and imperial pink batiste rather than the handkerchief linen that Kathy used.  Skip dent is wrinkle resistant 65/35 cotton/polyester, more suitable to my daughter's laundry habits.

Sweatshirt Conversions & Flirty Skirts

Spiritual - When she consented to become the Mother of the Son of god, Mary bound herself by very close bonds not only to the person of Jesus, but also to His work.  She knew that the Savior was coming into the world to redeem the human race; hence, when she agreed to become His Mother, she also agreed to become the closest collaborator of His mission.  In fact, by giving us Jesus, the source of all grace, Mary collaborated most effectively and even directly in the diffusion of grace in our souls.  "If Jesus is the Father of our souls," St. Alphonsus says, "Mary is their Mother, for, in giving us Jesus, she gave us true life; and later, by offering on Calvary the life of her Son for our salvation, she brought us forth to the life of divine grace."  Divine Intimacy

Sewing -

Since watching Mary Malari teaching us all about sweatshirt conversions on "Nancy's Sewing", I've wanted to try it.  I started working on the above jacket in December, but had to put it aside for the holidays.  I had purchased a book by Fran Morgan, "So Precious Sweatshirts" which gave me the pattern for this version and was the inspiration for the one below.  The little fish is a machine applique design.

I made the skirts first, then used the leftovers + whatever else I needed to make the jackets.  Both skirts were made using Bonnie Blue's " Merri Ann" pattern.  The pattern has several variations and the directions are clear.  Bonnie Blue is one of my favorite independent designers for children's clothes.