my babies in the bluebonnets

These also count as the twins' 3 year old pictures - happy birthday to them! xo They are in their Easter dresses, which I made for them.

playing catch-up

This week I decided to try to play some catch up on my projects. I have a few dozen sewing projects that have been put off during past few months with all the house selling/showing going on. Now that our house is under contract (yay!) I've decided to try to knock some of them out so that I don't get too backlogged when once we're moved. Hopefully I'll be somewhat caught up by the end of this weekend so that I can start packing next week.

This is Ellen and her "monkey dress." The sock monkey fabric was a remnant that Scott's mom gave us. Ellie has a monkey fetish and snapped it up the second she saw it. It was the first project I took care of b/c she would walk around the house, day after day, with her monkey fabric, pleading for me to make her a "monkey dress." Needless to say, she loves it, and I love that it cost me $0 to make!

Since {E} got a monkey dress, Phoebe got a cupcake dress. It turned out a little big, but she doesn't seem to mind.

When we were in Nebraska last, Sarah and I got to check out a cool
fabric store. I let her pick out whatever fabric she wanted, and she
picked this cute mermaid fabric. I am supposed to make her a purse
out of it too, but that will have to wait. She's very good about
reminding me though. Every day.

This dress is for the daughter of an e-friend. I sorta made up the pattern on my own and love it! Once things settle down, I am hoping to make these to sell in my etsy shop. I've also made tops in the same style.

I've also been making tons of camera strap covers, which are on SALE
for $6 in my etsy shop! You can find them HERE and I'll be adding more!

If you are interested in girl's clothing, what would you like to see in my
shop? Are there styles that you love? What kind of sizes would you be
looking for?

The joys of living with a fashionista...

Back in November I did a lot of sewing to use up old scrap fabrics. I got the idea for these cute ruffled pants for Sarah, using fabric I bought about more than 10 years ago to use as a bedskirt! I improvised on the pattern and thought they turned out so cute, but Sarah refused to wear them because they were too "cute" and not pretty/cool/grown-up enough.

Well, after admiring the gorgeous (expensive!) outfits from GenMarie and Matilda Jane, I decided that I should make her a dress to go with the pants, similar to what they specialize in. Sarah promised me that if I made her a matching dress, she'd wear the pants, so I got to work!



I made up the pattern using one of her tops as a guide. The straps knot in the front, which was a super easy way to do it, and very popular right now. I used up the rest of the scraps and the skirt is some clearance fabric I got for less than $2. She can layer the dress with the pants and a shirt in winter, and can wear it alone in the spring. I'll have to do some for the twins too!


Speaking of twins, as soon as they saw sissy up on the coffee table, getting her picture taken, they decided they had to join in. LOL


Oh, boy, I can't wait for spring so we can take these kinds of pictures outside!!

pillowcases: not just for pillows anymore!

One of the easiest dresses to sew for girls is a "pillowcase dress." Originally, the idea was to use a real pillowcase (vintage embroidered ones would be awesome!) but they are great for those whimsical novelty fabrics you wouldn't use for more formal attire. They are fast, cheap and easy! Here's how:

Determine the length and width of your fabric. For Sarah, a 4T/5T, I use the entire width of fabric (45") & for the twins, 18mo/2T, I used about 36 inches. Folded in half, that's 18 inches. Hold your fabric up to your kid to determine the length you want - remember to give yourself an inch or two of wiggle room for the hem and casing. For the larger size, I use about about a 32" length. You will also need double fold seam binding tape and 1-1 1/2 yards of ribbon.

I was working on several dresses at once, so don't get confused by the different fabrics in the pictures! You can click on them to see them better if you need to.

Fold your width of fabric in half, right sides together (wrong sides are together in the picture) and stitch along the unfolded side. Press the seam open. Basically what you've created is a tube similar to a pillowcase that's open at both ends.


After pressing the seam open, you will cut armholes. (You can have the seam stay on the side of the dress, or you can center it in the back as I have here.) I don't use a pattern for the armholes - I just think of it as a "J" shape. This style dress is very forgiving, so it doesn't have to be perfect. After cutting one arm hole, I use the cutout as my pattern for the other side so that they are the same. Your armholes will be about 6" long into your garment and 4" wide.


Finishing the armholes is the trickiest part, but after you grasp the concept, it's really simple! You will take your double fold seam binding and open it up, pinning the right side of it to the right side of your garment along the armhole. I then stitch in the fold nearest to the edge of the fabric. Remove the pins, fold the seam binding over so that it is on the wrong side of your garment, with the other fold of the seam tape folded back under (so it looks like it did when you took it out of the package - all edges tucked under.) Press and then top stitch on the wrong side of your garment along the edge of the seam binding. If you have trouble getting the seam binding to lie flat before stitching, make small cuts along the curve of the armhole (between the edge of your fabric and your stitching) to help give the fabric some ease. For the top stitching, I use a zig-zag stitch so that my crooked stitching isn't as noticeable. The seam binding gives you a nice clean finish to your armhole.


After you've finished your armholes, press the top of the dress down, front and back, about 1/4 inch and then fold and press it over another 1-1 1/2 inches (towards the wrong side of your fabric.) Use your ribbon as a guide for how much to fold over. Top stitch along the edge to create the ribbon casing.


Use the same steps to create a hem at the bottom of the dress. Cut your ribbon in half and attach a safety pin to the end to help guide it through the casing at the top of the dress, front and back. Tie the ribbon at the shoulders and trim off any extra length.

You can add embelishments to your dress to make it special. Appliques are great or you can add ribbon or a contrasting fabric to the bottom.

It's sew easy!

Holiday Pictures

These are some of the pictures I took while in TX over Thanksgiving to use for our Christmas cards. I made the twins' dresses and had to get these shots while we were there b/c it's too cold here to do outdoor pictures! Some of them are processed with a vintage look and some have a color pop. (If you are family and would like prints of any of these, email me and I'll send you the file or have them printed for you!)

This is Phoebe shaking her finger at me b/c I was telling her what to do. lol

Ellen crying, just like always.

Our Christmas Card pic - 2008

Here it is! I just ordered all the prints for the preschool, so I rushed to get this thrown together so I could sneak it into the order to save on shipping. We have some photo frame style cards that they will go in that are ivory. I have lots more pictures from this "session" to edit, so stay tuned for more!

So far, so good.

I've got a good start on the twins' holiday dresses. I couldn't find a pattern, so I am having to significantly alter one I used for their dresses last year. I have somehow misplaced the instructions for the pattern, only the pages I need of course, so aside from having a few pattern pieces that I am using, I'm basically winging it.

I've got the linings put in and the collars on. Next are the sleeves, zippers, and hems. I am not good at zippers at all and I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to attach the tulle to the lining, but so far everything has gone really well! They are looking the way I hoped they would!

Next step is to find accessories for them. The dresses are so simple, that I was thinking pretty hair accessories would be nice. Something beaded and fancy! I found these silk flowers on clearance today, so I got them thinking maybe I could do some barrettes or a headband with them and add beaded centers. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome! I'll find some blue ones to go with the other dress.