Sew Americana 2019

I’m excited to be linking up with so many talented bloggers this week during the Sew Americana Blog Tour hosted by Wild and Wanderful! Can you believe it’s July?! This is my first summer in upstate NY. I am absolutely loving how lush and green the trees, shrubs and flowers are! We haven’t even had a need to turn on the A/C yet because we’ve mostly had temps around 60-65 degrees in the last month. I’ve really been enjoying harvesting greens and radishes from our new garden.

For my first year participating in this tour, I chose to feature a dress I made for my daughter back in February. When I saw this red chambray in downtown San Francisco, I thought it would make a beautiful shirtdress. I was going to keep it for myself, but when I saw the Eden Dress by SLPCo, I thought the chambray would be the perfect choice.

Can you believe it took me 4 months to install the buttonholes?! Yep – that’s right…I had sewing machine issues all winter and spring. I finally gave in and bought a new Brother sewing machine I had heard good reviews for. It’s a fairly affordable machine and I’m hoping it will stand up to some abuse! Don’t you just love the high-low skirt and the scoop neck! This design is so sweet for a little girl.

The headband is my own design. I couldn’t find a chambray headband with a retro feel, so I drafted my own pattern. It only took 2 iterations until the headband fit my daughter’s head. I love the cute bow I was able to create.

This year, my husband and father-in-law turned 1/4 acre of our land into an enormous fenced-in garden. It was a huge undertaking and I’m so grateful to them for making it happen! One of the plants my husband wanted to grow the most were STRAWBERRIES! They really are one of the most quintessential fruits of summer. My husband was hoping we could harvest them in time for my daughter’s birthday a few weeks ago. That didn’t happen, but we are now finally getting the first fruits of spring!

We have a 50 foot row of strawberries, including three varieties that fruit at different times during the summer. My daughter has really enjoyed picking the ripe strawberries….also the ones that aren’t so ripe.

She has also loved this little picnic basket I saw at Home Goods the other day. I wasn’t sure if I would keep it, but then she called it “my basket” and so it’s staying. I made some little napkins to put in her basket. Napkins are really easy to make. I loved this tutorial for mitered corners. It does take some more time but it’s worth the extra effort.

We love summer and are excited to celebrate the birth of our country next month! I am so grateful to live in a country with so many freedoms.

Check out the blogger line-up for the rest of the tour, it will be running the rest of the week:

Monday, June 24: Wild & Wanderful · The Petite Sewist · That’s-Sew-Kari · Stitched by Jennie · Marvelous Auntie M

Tuesday, June 25: Petite Stitchery · auschick sews · Sew Simple Home · Sewing Novice · Striped Swallow Designs

Wednesday, June 26: (Swimming in a) Sea of Estrogen · The Eli Monster · 5 out of 4 Patterns · bigflynotions · Stitching and Making

Thursday, June 27: Middle River Studio · It’s Liesel · Crafty Curly Couture · Sewing with D · Kitty Makes It

Friday, June 28: Boo + Lu · Sequoialynn Sews · Seams Sew Lo · Made By Jaime · SewSophieLynn