Scrap & Sew Weekend

First of all, THIS amazing house in Deep Creek, Maryland is where I spent the weekend with a fantastic bunch of ladies for our annual Scrap &Sew Weekend. 

Amazing, right? This is the second year we've rented the same house, which comfortably sleeps 12 (although there were only 9 of us this year) simply because it's gorgeous. And there's plenty of comfy couch room and table space to spread out.

It's a weekend away for us ladies to do whatever crafty thing we want. Some of us scrapbook, some quilt, some cross-stitch, some read, some sew, and some just sit around and enjoy the view, the hot tub and the conversation. 

Since I'm rather limited in what I can sew for myself, currently (although I'm working on a few things to remedy that!) I chose to spend my weekend sewing for my girls. And since Easter is quickly approaching, I seized the opportunity. I had this Simplicity pattern - 7113 - in my stash, thanks to a good friend's generosity. When I showed it to Lilly, she immediately gravitated to the pink and white polka dot line drawing. "I want that one!" she told me. I asked her what colors she would like, and she just looked at me like I was crazy and repeated that she wanted that dress. 

So, I headed to our local Joann Fabrics (my only real choice for fabrics on the fly) with my fingers crossed that I could come up with something close enough. To my astonishment, I found a white Swiss dot cotton with pink polka dots for the top and washed the crap out of some pink with white polka dot quilting cotton for the bottom. A little pink ribbon for the sash trim et viola!

I arrived at the cottage on Friday evening at about 8 PM and by Saturday around noon I'd finished the first dress (albeit unhemmed). I finished the second one by that night. It definitely helped that I had cut all my pattern pieces a few days before the trip, to speed up the process.

Pardon my less than perfect photography - I was using my phone's camera. I still have to hem both of them, but after I got home Sunday evening the littlest girl woke up sick, and her big sister followed suit this morning. Both are feeling much better now, and I'm just praying I don't get whatever it was.

No matter what chaos I returned home to, it was a lovely and productive weekend away. I'm already looking forward to next March when I get to do it again. :)