Chez Ami meets euro sweetness and something for a train lover

Did a bit of sewing for O and M. The first was a special request from M.. He's my fabric lover and never complains about the many hours spent at JoAnn's. He has a keen eye and knows what he likes. He picked up this red Thomas the tank engine cotton from Hancocks and I just happened to find a coordinating blue fabric in the same line at Walmart (for about half the price, I might add...I'm going to miss Walmart's fabric department when it's gone). He requested a backpack. So, I made him the tot pack from Sewbaby. It's the perfect size to carry his little treasures. I embroidered his name on it for that personal touch. He loves it and was so sweet in thanking me for making it for him.



Now, the little dress I did for O. is a real walk on the wild side for me. I'm more of a black and beige kind of girl and certainly don't usually combine more than 2 colors together at a time. Well...I had this chez ami fabric from the festival line for awhile and knew the little dress from Ottobre 3/06 was the perfect project to cut into it for. I used 4 different fabrics, some rickrack and ribbon. That's a lot for me. It was a bit more involved in the usual Ottobre pattern. I think there was about 10+ pieces to cut out which is a bit more than the average ottobre pattern. I love how it came out. I did a rolled edge on the 2 of the ruffled layers and used rickrack on the middle one. I think the ribbon ties add a sweet touch and dd looks super sweet twirling in it. However, dh took one look at it and said, "Why did you have to use so many different fabrics?" Now, you can see how we ended up together, lol.