A Lot of Catch Up

There has been a lot of sewing that I haven't gotten around to blogging in the past couple years. I intend to try to blog in detail about some, but wanted to share some of the others briefly.

This was an outfit that I made my daugther for the 4th of July in...2014 (don't judge). I used denim for the shorts and lengthened them about 4 inches. They're super cute, just designed to be a little shorter than I prefer. They're the Lucy shorts from Made from Mermaids and I love how simple, yet cute, they are. The shirt was RTW and I embroidered it with the Star Spangled Cutie design from Planet Applique.

This pretty maxi dress is the Lily Lace dress and romper from Made for Mermaids. I think the back is beautiful, but we don't really do open backs, so this went to a sweet little friend of ours. She's the same size as Danielle so her younger sister usually gets our handmade-me-downs. She was so excited to receive it :)

Here's my goofy girl with my goofy dad :) This is a pajama top I made by using the Miss Mary Mack Tunic pattern from Love Notions. The ice cream fabric was from Hancock Fabrics "spot the bolt" table. It did not feel nice at all before I washed it, but it was so soft and comfortable afterwards. And it was a steal for less than $2/yard! It'll make it's appearance again in summer PJs.

This is the free Izzy top pattern from Climbing the Willow. I didn't want my girl getting pinched on St. Patrick's Day, and she didn't have any green in her dresser, so mommy's fabric stash to the rescue! I lengthened the size 5 for my girl and it ended up way too big :( The white fabric has a subtle stripe in it and was really pretty in person. I don't think anyone else had trouble with the sizing, but I am hesitant to use this again (I normally get good results from following whatever measurements are given).

This top and skirt are so cute together, but D never wore them as an outfit except for pictures. I realized, after taking way too many pictures, that my neckband was wonky. I put the top in my mending pile and there it sits, to this day! She wore the skirt a couple times, but it didn't get worn as much because it was a bit of an orphan (ie, she didn't have any tops to go with it). The top is a soft, buttery yellow knit with white stripes and a woven polka dot collar. The skirt is a quilting cotton with colorful mermaids on it. Both patterns are Made for Mermaids: the Samantha suspender skirt and the Charlotte collar top.

The skirt above did make an appearance when we went to see the mermaids at the aquarium! You can't see it in this picture, but it was too cute not to share. These are my sweet nieces (yes, they're twins) that came to visit. I made a mermaid applique for my nieces shirts using fabric and Heat & Bond. Danielle wore her mermaid skirt from  above, and the girls wore some Katie John skirts from Coles Corner and Creations with mermaid fabric accent (I was pretty low on mermaid fabric and decided last minute to make outfits for the aquarium--there was some seriouspiecing going on and I might have stapled a hem that I forgot to sew...). We had a great visit and the mermaids were really cool to see!

Twin Minnies (Twinnies?)

My sister and her husband's family headed to Disney World recently and she asked me to make some Minnie Mouse themed dresses for her girls with fabric she supplied.

I used the Fair & Square Dress pattern by Tie Dye Diva because I wanted the dresses to fit well and I needed a pattern for two fabrics. The red polka dot was some sort of synthetic blend and kind of yucky to work with, but I thought it looked pretty Minnie-esque. My sister also supplied some heat & bond and some yellow rick rack for embellishements.

I'm not normally a rick rack girl, but I think it definitely suited the look and was very much needed to spruce up the dress a bit. For the applique, I found a silhouette with just the right proportions (and learned about Hidden Mickeys) here.  I printed it out at the size I wanted, fused some Heat 'n' Bond to some plain black fabric, pinned the mouse head to the fabric, cut it out, ironed it to the dress and then zig-zagged around it with my sewing machine. This blog post on Sew Like My Mom does a great job of explaining how to do applique neatly.

I also added a little surprise in the package for the girls:

I ordered these bracelets from Kinsley River Designs (whom I discovered through a mutual friend). The necklace Danielle wore with her birthday dress was made by Alana as well and I've ordered several custom items that will show up on my blog with future outfits. She's super talented and is competitively priced and it is too easy to get addicted to what she makes!

Until my sister sends me pictures of the girls in their dress (hint, hint Shawna!), here's proof that I made two of these dresses (my twin body forms aren't nearly as cute as my nieces...)

Twin Chevrons

Shortly after I told my sister I wouldn't really be able to sew for her girls anymore (time management is very different now that I'm not staying home with my kids), I noticed she posted a picture on Facebook of a cute peasant dress with a big bow. It was made from a print I happened to recognize and I thought I would surprise her by making something similar.

Little did I know that my sister would start posting LOTS of pictures of boutique clothes. You know, the "share it to win it" photos?  Needless to say, I didn't sew dozens of garments to match the other photos she posted. I also didn't know how difficult it would be to try to line up chevrons, so my "quick and easy" project took longer than anticipated. I thought I matched them pretty good though.

Because the side of the dress is angled, the
chevrons can't all line up along the seam

I even found what I thought was the exact pattern that was used in the inspiration dress. And I paid way too much ($7, on sale) for what I think is the WORST pattern I have ever used. This pattern, from a well-known shop, consisted of a single pattern piece. Not only was it hand-drawn, it was POORLY drawn. I wish I could post a picture of it. The lines were seriously sketch-y looking--the designer didn't even bother to draw a smooth, final line for each size! I ended up using a peasant dress pattern I already owned, and only made the bow from the horrible pattern. The instructions say to safety pin it on the dress. Really? I ended up stitching the bows to a pin back, so that my sister could remove the bows to wash the dresses.

The instructions did make a pretty cute bow

Oh chevrons, you were such a challenge. I had to make the chevrons run in opposite color order on the dresses because the stripes ran along the length of the yardage, not from selvedge to selvedge like I anticipated when I order the fabric. This meant I had much less length to work with and I had to make short sleeves instead of longer, shirred sleeves like the inspiration. It all worked out though, and my sister thought they were really cute. Now she just needs to send a picture of my gorgeous nieces wearing them (hint hint Shawna).

Warning: May be Too Cute for some Viewers

If you read this blog, you may have noticed that I sew/embroider a lot for my sister (both for her to give as gifts, and for her twin daughters).  It is so totally worth it, when I get pictures like this to share:

Twins run amok in my family and in my Brother-In-Law's family, and these two girls have to be one of the cutest sets on either side!  They are my BIL's cousin's babies and I stitched the bibs as part of a gift set.  I was completely surprised to find out they were used in pictures.  It made my day and then some.  Shawna, if you're reading this, I will sew anything you want :)

The twins who are closest to my heart are my nieces, though, who look darling in the dresses I sent them:

Cupcake dresses blogged here

They're getting so big, I hope they will still let me sew for them for a while.  My own kids won't get a choice, haha.

And mom, I know you read my blog faithfully.  You and Uncle Johnny are tied with the girls for my favorite set(s) of twins, so don't feel bad.  Love you!

Boo-tiful Nieces

I've made a few Halloween shirts this year and still have hopes of getting one done for Samuel.  This is the pair I made for my nieces.  My sister was sweet enough to share a picture of the girls wearing them to the pumpkin patch.

The shirts say it all :)

I used the "Bootiful" design from Planet Applique.  It stitched out nicely, as her designs always do, and I really like the fabric and color combinations.  My taste has been evolving and hopefully improving!

 

I embroidered on 5T shirts for the girls, who are 4, in the hopes that they can wear them next year as well.  

I used an old t-shirt (knit fabric) for the eyes

Funny story--I had a picture of these shirts in my head and got very excited to make them, only to discover that I didn't own this design!  Argg! I've got a ton of PA designs and can't believe I didn't have this one.  Obviously I do now :) 

Cupcake Dresses

I've been making a lot of little girl dresses lately. It started with the Ravens dress I made my daughter and recently included these two dresses I made for my twin nieces.

Obviously not modeled by my nieces

This is the Emma's Dress pattern from LilyBird Studios.  It's really girlie, the fit is good and I love that the sash wraps around twice.  It has a lined bodice that buttons up the back and the pleated waistline of the skirt is sewn overlapping the bodice.

Love the waistline on these dresses!

I didn't care for how the buttons were handled--there is not interfacing called for in the pattern, and one side of the back just kind of overlaps the other.  I did make one of these for Danielle first, and thought it was cute enough to make these two as well, despite the fact that I think the pattern could use a little refinement.

It's still cute

This really is a sweet dress for little girls (no pun intended, but I like that it happened!).  Next up is a set of Simplicity 2377 peasant dresses.

More Twins!

The thing about gifts for twins is that you have to make TWO of them. I'm running low on burp cloths and haven't found any I like as much of the ones I've been using, so I talked my sister into doing only one burp cloth per baby. 

"Andrea" font from 8Claws

Her husband's cousin had twin girls, and decorated the nursery with elephants.  There are sooo many cute elephant designs, so I decided to applique a pair of bibs to continue with the elephant theme.

Applique Elephant from LynniePinnie

I have to say, I still love embroidering on bibs.  (You can see some of the reasons at the bottom of this post).

It's good to be blogging again.  I have more projects to share (I've been sewing lots of little girl dresses) and have some new models to help with the pictures.  Here's Danielle hanging out with one of them:

Birthday Princesses

My nieces are turning four soon and I wanted to make them shirts for their birthday.  Their mama has planned a fun princess party, where the kids get to play dress up (she's even having capes for the boys to take home as party favors, how fun!).  She wanted something that said "Birthday Princess" and I just so happened to find a very appropriate design at StitchOnTime.

4th Birthday Princess design from StitchOnTime

I like the extras in this design that make it seem complete--there are multiple appliques and cute looking cut-out details in the crown and sparkles and stars scattered about.  I have to say the font stitched out beautifully--it was very well digitized with minimal jumps (I probably could have gotten away with not trimming most of them) and just so nice.

I did split the "th" and the other words in Embird so
that I could make them separate colors

 

The only other design I've stitched from this site is the reindeer I put on a scarf for my mom, but I think I will be frequenting the site more, even if the currency difference tricks me into thinking it won't cost so much (curse you pounds, in all contexts!)

Hop To Bed Shirts

I finally made shirts for my twin nieces to match some flannel pants I made them for Christmas.  Oops.  The good news is that the shirts are long enough that they should be able to wear them in the fall, and I can always let down the hem of the pants if I need to.

Here's a picture of one of the shirts with the only bit of fabric I have left over, so you can imagine what it looks like with the pants.

This is the same design I used for Danielle's pillowcase (my test stitch out), and you can see the original designs I merged and modified in this post.  I'm happy with the end result and hope my nieces like them.

Owl Purses

I've been in the midst of half-finished projects for the past week, so I am pretty happy to finally have something to show for my efforts.  My somewhat newfound addiction to Pinterest hasn't helped matters.  Except that it led me to this cute tutorial on Mama G's Big Crafty Blog.

My version of her little owl purse

I know, I know, I said I was done with owls after I made my twin nieces these hats, but my sister (who is also on the Pinterest bandwagon now and even has a to-do board for me) has a whole board of owls pinned, and they are just so cute.  I'm not even into owls and I want to make them!   It sounded like a quick project so I decided to make the girls some to match their hats.

I added 2 extra rounds to the bodies--these are
still fairly small, but just the right size for a toddler

There was no occasion that called for gifts, which I think is the best time to give :)

I was almost out of pink & purple, so I
made the backs a solid black

I think they're really cute and am so grateful for the free pattern--isn't it amazing how many generous people there are online?  I should also mention that I tried a few of the photo tips from this post by Disney at ~Ruffles and Stuff~ .  I think I still like my wood floor background, and it's a lot easier to squeeze a photoshoot in when I can do it at night, inside my house, no matter what the weather & with the kids asleep.  But it was fun to try to something new.

This is with a 3T shirt, to give you an idea of scale
(remember, I added 2 extra rounds, which is about
2 inches of width with the yarn/hook I used)

I have to admit, taking photos is not my strength and it was what held me back from starting a blog for so long.  So I've been just focusing on taking clear photos without background junk & trying to make them look somewhat interesting composition-wise considering I have NO eye for that sort of thing.  Since I no longer have aspirations of becoming a world-famous blogger, I think I will mostly stick to what makes me comfortable and gives me more time with my family.  I hope you still enjoy spending time here :)

In the Works...

I don't have anything new to share, but that's because I've been busy doing the legwork for a lot of projects.  What are they, you ask? (actually, you didn't, but I'm going to pretend you did...)

I owe my sister some pajama tops for her daughters, to go with the frog print pants I finished in time for Christmas.  I did a little Embird manipulation on these two designs from the "Leapin' Lilypads" set from Designs by Juju.

The design set didn't have a frog on a lilypad, which would
match the fabric, so I put two designs together to make my own

And this is the end result:

Font used is "Puppy Love" from 8 Claws

I removed the flower, then rotated the frog to fill in the gap in satin stitch that was left.  I added the phrase "Hop to Bed" because, well, it's for pajamas.  I really like the result and just need to stitch it out (twice) now.


I also found some graphics to use as inspiration for a bird on a branch silhouette I plan to make for my downstairs bathroom.

I like the bird on the left

I really like the shape of these branches and leaves, so I pared
it down to just have a single, branching limb

The little birdie on the right is going to make an appearance (sort of) as well

A little photo editing and sketching and I was able to put the different elements I liked together to come up with a pattern piece to cut out.  Now I just need to cut it out. And sew it.  And bind it.  And I think that should about do it :)


Finally, I did a little more Embird magic for the other wall-hanging I have planned.  I fell in love with several spring designs that Planet Applique released last year and bought them with the idea of making a quilt.  Long story short, only one design fits the vision I have, and that's the topiary.  Since I need designs for two panels, I modified the single ball topiary to make a double ball one.  Make sense?  Didn't think so.  Here are some pictures:

Here is the original design (with some color changes)

And here's what I derived for a second panel

I got two balls by shrinking the ball from the 5x7 design and pairing it with the ball from the 4x4 design.  I split the flowers out and put the 3 smaller ones up top and the 3 bigger on the bottoms.  I cropped the stem into two pieces, and moved the bow (which I shrank a little as well).  I am pleased with how the two-ball topiary turned out and think the designs will look perfect together.  Now I just need to do all the cutting, embroidery, sewing and quilting!

Beyond all that, I have fabric coming in for a shopping cart cover for Samuel because I was short on the fabrics I chose.  I also have some vinyl coming to make some decorative bins out of wipes boxes (thanks Pinterest, for coming up with more projects for my to-do list!). Whew!  I'm tired just thinking about all the sewing I need to do!  What about you?  Do you have big plans in the works?

A Prickle of Hedgehogs

Did you catch the "rafter" of turkeys in my last post?  I've enjoyed looking up what a group of my embroidered animals is called.  Today I present an array of hedgehogs, though I prefer the alternative--"prickle".

For my nieces.  No, really, I do sew for
people other than them...

Seriously, I'm wrapping up the sewing for my sister.  I don't know how she ended up with more projects on my to-do list than I did (especially since I keep my to-do list never ending).  Anyways, she wanted these hedgehogs from LynniePinnie on shirts for her girls.

Detail shot of the green one

She picked out a bunch of fabrics from The Little Fabric Shop, and asked me to use them.  I think she was tired, as they were not really all in the same color scheme.  My mom was visiting and came up with the order of the fabrics, along with the idea to have the colors reversed between the two.

Here's the pink one

I thought that was a great idea.  I must say I prefer this hedgehog from Planet Applique, but I made Danielle a shirt with this one after a slight sizing snafu (I couldn't have one twin's hedgehog be 90% the size of the other!)

One of these things is not like the others

These shirts were a little outside my comfort zone, but I like that.

Bandana Burps

I made another set of burps for my sister to give as gifts--two sets actually.  Seems there's something in the water in her neighborhood, as every few houses has a set of twins!

I love how the "P" and "R" are so similar

This set sewed up so sweetly and I am a bit sad that I won't be making these to sell :(  The font I used on these is "Sweet Tarts" from 8 Claws and it's one of my favorites.

My traditional burp shot :)

The next post will be a bit of a switch--I'll be sharing a crochet project I've been working on!

Halloween Preview

So I have two weeks to get the kids' Halloween costumes ready (less if they are to go to other events and playdates wearing them).  I need to get busy!

This year they are going to be pirates (though Samuel will just have an appliqued onesie and bib to go with some striped pants).  Danielle had a choice between Tinkerbell and pirate and I was very happy with her pick because I have all the fabric I need in my stash!  Plus, it will complete my quad-fecta (I know that's not a word) of this pattern:

Best dollar I ever spent!

I made the cowgirl outfit last year for Danielle's Halloween costume and then made two sets of scrubs and chef outfits for my nieces' Christmas gifts (for them to use to play dress-up).  The chef hat is particularly awesome, as it has velcro and is adjustable.  The shirts all fasten up the back with Velcro--no buttons to mess with.  I think the details of these patterns are great and it's worth the money, even if you don't catch it on sale for a dollar.

Trifecta

I hope this year's costumes go over as well as last year's.

Yee-haw!