Nap Time and Too Many Children on Parade

cot sheet for Vivian Rose, made of heavy pink twill with a border of Children on Parade by Michael Miller

Valentine NEWSFLASH!!! Sarah Jane, the fabric designer for Children on Parade and many other adorable prints, has posted on her blog a downloadable PDF for an absolutely adorable, printable (4 to a sheet) kids’ Valentine card. With Olympic hearts and a gold chocolate coin taped to the back, it will delight all your children’s friends. Check it out here.  Thanks, Mary Sue, for the link!~~~~~~~

Our 13 month old granddaughter, Vivian Rose, is now enrolled at a Montessori school two days a week.   After the first day, I called her mother, my Rebecca, to see how it went.  When she said it hurt to hear Baby Girl wailing as she did, I sympathized and said it must have been hard to leave her.

“NO!” Rebecca said. “She cried and cried when I picked her up! She didn’t want to leave!  When I dropped her off she gave me not a single backward glance and toddled off to the play area.  That hurt a little.”  Vivian Rose is one independent little girl.

The font is JuJu’s Sugar and Spice. Isn’t it so cute?  The set comes with numerals, upper case and lower case in 3″, 5″ and 6″ sizes.  The letters had to be staggered in order to fit in my largest (8″ x 12″) Brother Quattro hoop.

But like all of the “Ones” in her baby class, she has a scheduled nap time.   For that, Rebecca asked for a personalized cot sheet, much like those I had made for Big Brother Alastair and his friend Carson.

My Oh My, so sew much drama ensued.

But first, I have to ask if you have seen this most adorable dress made by Cheryle Cole-Bennett whose facebook page is  SeeSeeMe Custom Designs.

The fabric is Michael Miller’s Children on Parade.

Just look at the back of this sweet, fun little dress.  And notice the whimsical, childish print.  Are you seeing the connection to the cot sheet?

Cheryle also has an etsy shop here, with just a few of her designs.  Cheryle is a frequent contributor at SewForum.com (sign up if you haven’t already) and everyone rushes to see her posts with photos of her latest projects.  Her designs and projects are without exception, exceptional.

A few months ago, one of her projects was featured on this blog, Spectacularly Made by Cheryle-Cole Bennett.  And she is a nice as she is talented and creative.    But back to Vivian Rose’s cot sheet.  This is going to take a while.

When I saw this dress, it was love at first sight for me.   AND I have the out-of-print Children’s Corner Jenni Leigh pattern!

I rushed to Fabric.com to buy the fabric–3 yds. seemed like a good prime number for this prime Michael Miller print.  (That was fabric order #1.)

Children on Parade close up

Next, I rushed to my go-to-on-line source, Farmhouse Fabrics to order the covered gingham buttons and matching piping.  Because I knew I would have extra fabric, I bought 20 buttons along with 10 yds. of matching piping.  (That was notions order #1).  Then I would have more options for the leftover fabric.  Tasks completed, I concentrated on pampering my dear husband who is recovering from knee replacement surgery.

WHOA!!!  Back at the computer on a break from pampering, I read a post by another reader, also smitten with Cheryle’s Children on Parade dress.    She had ordered  Children on Parade   from Fabric.com in the same rush, but, alas, her’s arrived with a distinctly ivory background.  YIKES!  I went back to Fabric.com and sure enough, the description reads “ivory background.”  Normally, I like an ivory background, but the piping and buttons I had just ordered have a white background.  And Cheryle’s fabric background looks white.

Even though the first order was on its way, I was driven, a woman on a mission.  I wanted Vivian Rose to have a dress just like Cheryle’s, one with a white background.   I MUST make her a dress just like Cheryle’s with the white background.

So I went to another site for Children on Parade.  The background color was not listed, but surely it must be white.  Three yards please.  But as I scurried away from the computer to get my guy’s ice pack and iced tea, the site had disappeared.  The fabric order (#2) did not seem to go through.  RATS!!!

Off I went to a lovely site which I had never before visited, Hawthorne Threads.  YES!!!  They have the fabric!  3 yards please (fabric order #3).  Now, surely I had all my ducks in a row, all the required goods headed to Janice’s Pretty Good Sewing Room (Remember Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery Store from Garrison Keeler’s Tales from Lake Wobegone?).

The same day the Fabric.com order (order #1) arrived, so did the buttons and piping from Farmhouse.    Uh…newsflash.  The Children on Parade background seemed to be quite white and the dark aqua buttons and piping I ordered were too dark.  The light aqua is what was needed.

Now, if you have suffered with me through this never ending saga you can guess that I ordered another 20 buttons and 10 yds. of piping from Farmhouse.  But you might not know that fabric order #2 did go through and both it and #3 arrived promptly.  All with white background.

Now, I am the proud owner of 40 aqua gingham buttons, 20 yards of aqua piping and 9 yds. of this charming fabric, which, by the way, is a double border.  That translates to 18 yds. of  this cute print and so many children I can’t even count them.  All this to make a size 18 months dress requiring 1.25 yds., 6 buttons and maybe a yard of piping.

So what was I to do?  And here is the connection.  Remember that Rebecca wanted a cot sheet for Vivian Rose?  Aha!  Suddenly, Children on Parade seemed perfect for this project.  This nursery school bedding used just 24 of my 648″ of border.  But it’s a start. (Note to self: quit wondering why our 3 car garage is filled with fabric.)

So in my future, I see a lot of Children on Parade Little Dresses for Africa.  Also, at least one dress per year for Vivian Rose (but only until she goes to high school), perhaps  pillowcases, baby gifts, whatever.  But I do have what I need to make a dress just like Cheryle’s and it made a cute little cot sheet.  Still,  that’s a lot of drama and a lot of fabric for one tiny frock.

Please go see Cheryle at  https://www.facebook.com/SeeSeeMe, at https://www.etsy.com/shop/SeeSeeMe  and atSewForum under the user name ccb.  You will love what you see.

P.S.  Now, after my three fabric orders have arrived, Fabric.com has this print ON SALE.  groannnnn…  I’m thinking about ordering the on sale coordinating balloon fabric.