Samantha's blessing dress

Samantha is now 3 months old and was blessed at our church on Sunday two weeks ago (I'm a Mormon and you can find out more about my faith here).

We had a bunch of family come to town for the weekend and the blessing on Sunday and it was such a great time.  I always get really nervous when we have "events" or people coming around just to see us.  What if I'm not that exciting or they have a horrible time?  This time I didn't worry about that stuff at all once everyone was here!  It was excellent.  So excellent I didn't take many pictures because I was having too much fun and leaving my phone elsewhere...oops!

But anyway, I had to make her a dress!!

I always go through the remnant bins at JoAnn's and had found this lovely fabric there a while ago.  It's like eyelet, but there are no holes...I'm not sure what it's technically called.  Anyone know?

Anyway, I used the Geranium Dress pattern in size 3-6 months to make this and lined it with the lining from a linen skirt that I don't fit into anymore.  That's slippery stuff, lining.  But it worked out.

Traditionally blessing outfits are white to symbolize purity, I wanted a tiny pop of color here and there, and these were the perfect touch.

We put a onesie under the dress, and a white cardigan over, and some adorable little shoes that were a gift, on her feet.

And a tiny pink felt bow from this Etsy shop in her luscious hair.

It turned out just as I wanted.  Simple and adorable.

Aren't those cheeks the best?!  

Maggie Mae Dress

I bought the Maggie Mae dress pattern from Shwin Designs after my friend Holli made an amazing creation from one of their patterns (you should see all the wonderful things she makes anyway, she's seriously talented!).

I found this lovely mustard linen and floral linen both at JoAnn's and initially bought them to make scarves with, but after I stared at them for a while they were begging to turn into a dress.

I wanted to make it in time for Samantha's baby blessing and finished it that morning (just this past Sunday), a couple hours before church started.

The pattern is fantastic, but I got a little ahead of myself in some places and didn't bother to look at the directions after I cut out the pieces.  So I sewed some things closed before I was supposed to and had a "learning experience" that was totally my fault.  ALWAYS follow the directions.  Lesson learned. 

I scored this adorable felt bow at an online sale recently but you can find them here.

It all turned out well, and Abby loved the dress and didn't want to take it off!  That alone is a success! I sewed up the 4T size and the neck is a smidge big because she's still only 3 1/2 but I wanted her to be able to wear it for more than a month!  We added a cardigan for warmth that never came off so nobody could tell anyway.

The most adorable goof in town.  I'm so glad some of these pictures are usable!

The pictures in the pattern show 4 buttons to close, but I only used 3 and had no trouble. 

I love this pattern and the result so much that I've already cut out a 6-9 month sized dress in the same fabrics, and have listed it as a custom made dress in my etsy shop here if you're interested.  The colors are perfect for fall and winter, and all year really.  I've decided mustard is a wonderful color. 

Stitch Fix

Have you heard of Stitch Fix?

I recently signed up and received my first box yesterday.  Like a personal stylist in a box.

There's a $20 stylist fee that goes towards any purchases you make. 

They send you a box of 5 items they think you'll like.  You can keep all of them, none of them, or as many or few as you'd like and you have 3 business days to return anything you don't want.

After you get your box and figure out what you're keeping and not keeping, you go online and fill out a little survey about each piece included so the next box can be even more to your tastes.  This is also where you purchase what you want by indicating which pieces you're keeping. 

If you do decide to keep the entire box you get 25% off the total so it's a good deal.

In my box I received four tops and one red maxi skirt.  I should also mention that each piece comes with a little card that shows two ways to style it, right down to the earrings and shoes. 

Two of the tops weren't doing much for me so I eliminated them pretty fast, and as nice as the maxi skirt was it wasn't that exciting for me. 

I ended up keeping two things (pardon the bathroom pictures and creepy pumpkin...we only have one mirror).

First was this striped and yellow blocked shirt.  It has a button detail (hidden by my hair - sorry) and 3/4 length sleeves.  It's super soft and I love the fit. 

The second piece I kept is this chambray button down.  I have always drooled over these types of shirts, and the dotted print  makes it feel like I picked it myself!  This chambray stuff is so soft.  It feels like such a grown up shirt.  I love it.

I already mailed back the other 3 items (they enclose a prepaid bag to make it easy).  I'm definitely going to do this again.  It's not a heavy commitment, so it doesn't stress me out. 

Some box of the month clubs require a 3 or 6 or even 12 month commitment (they do have that option though).  This one you can pause for as long as you want, schedule when you want a delivery (I just scheduled my next one for the week after my birthday next month!) and it's totally flexible. 

If you want to try it out, here is my referral link.  So if you sign up through my link, my account gets a bonus.  I'm not sure what the bonus is exactly (or how much $ credited to my account) but hey, every little bit helps right?!

I'd love to know if you try this out, I'm really happy with my experience and, even better, I didn't have to go to the mall to find these pieces myself!!

Kid Shorts

So this past weekend I set out to get some things finished that are cluttering up my space, and my head.

I turned some pants into shorts that were too short, or too hole-y for Matthew to wear as pants anymore.  That was easy.  

Then, I tried to alter some of my t-shirts that either didn't fit right or got messed with in the wash into nightgowns Abby....It didn't go so well...but I did end up with one "nightgown" that she thinks is cool, and since she won't wear it in public I think that's cool too.

To redeem myself from that disastrous attempt at whatever it was....I cut out a bunch of sizes of the new Kid Shorts pattern from Dana which you can get here.

I made one pair, and then cut out four more. No joke.

It's really the best, most satisfying pattern I've made in a long time.  And the kids think it's good enough to wear, which is half the battle, so there's that.

If you sew clothes for your kids, then you should get this pattern.  And nobody but me is telling you to do it.  It's not expensive at all, and they're super quick to make.  Cutting and tracing the pattern takes longer than making these shorts. 

Once you look over the tutorials for the different cuts and modifications you can do, you'll have the process down.  And the result is fantastic.

*The only place I get myself into trouble is making the casing for the elastic.  I'm not super precise (or patient...), so I don't usually measure that part, and occasionally I get myself a little stuck and have to work extra hard to get the elastic where it needs to be, but that's it.  And it's a totally self-inflicted problem...  

And now my kids have more shorts!!  Everybody wins.

*And somehow I didn't get a picture of the ones I made for Matthew...his are from brown corduroy I had in my fabric mess.   They turned out awesome too!

A dress for Abby

Reading blogs the other day I came across this post and was instantly smitten with the adorableness of the Baby Slip Dress.

Fortunately for me (and you) it is available as a free pattern, so I printed it out and started cutting over the weekend.

Abby wanted a dress that matched this one I made (newborn sized geranium dress) for the baby and I had enough fabric leftover that I thought this would be a great use for it.

 I made the 4T size, and it's perfect, even though Abby's only 3.  I like longer stuff on her and have found most 3T sizes don't hit her quite right.  Plus, she's growing pretty fast so I know she'll be able to wear it for more than 3 months before growing out of it! 

It was quick to make, and the instructions and pictures are super helpful and easy to follow.  Even the bias tape isn't that scary.  I used store bought bias tape just so you know.  I'm not too good at making bias anything so I don't.  

I'm sharing this totally on my own, just because it turned out so darn cute!  Go make one! And she absolutely wore it for church this past Sunday, but wouldn't be still enough for a picture...of course....

clothes sewing

This weekend I did a bit of clothes sewing to break up the bee blocks I've been working on (don't worry, they'll all go out this week!) and it was really fun!

I sewed with jersey knit for the first time and made The Staple Dress Sunday morning and wore it to church! It is super comfy and I was impressed at how easily the pattern comes together, even though sewing with jersey will take some getting used to.  Shirring was also easier than I expected.  I only did one row of shirring and like how it gives the dress shape but doesn't feel awkward either. 

This pattern is totally worth the $12 and I'm absolutely going to be making more of these.  I love that purple.  Got the fabric at JoAnn's during their 25% off every purchase weekend.

Sadly I only took this super classy and awkward picture in the church bathroom before Matthew went to primary.

I added about 5 1/2 inches to the bottom of the dress so that it'd be long enough for my 5' 10" self and it was.  I didn't bother hemming the bottom or doing the facing on the sleeves (since I wore a cardigan and I'm lazy).  It was pretty tricky to get the facing on the collar but it's there. 

The little guy has been requesting "fancy bow-ties" to wear recently so I made this one for him Sunday after I finished my dress.  I used this tutorial and it was super easy to follow.  I hot glued the center to keep it in place.

I've got a stack of fabric he picked out ready to make more "fancy bow-ties" this week. 

The Geranium Dress pattern is cut and fabric is ready to make the little lady an Easter dress...

...and the Wiksten Tank pattern and fabric ready to make myself a tank and if that turns out well I'm going to use my bird knit to make a maxi dress for summer. 

AND THEN! I saw that the lovely people from Pink Castle Fabrics have a sale code today for 20% off in honor of spring...

so I got a few options to make some more tanks, and another dress for the little girl.  I'm pretty excited because I got all brave and chose a VOILE (the Anna Maria Horner print)!!

It's spring break over here but the Mr. is spending the week working so it's kindof like other weeks, minus the homework part for him.  I'm excited about my growing wardrobe!!  I've always been kindof a chicken when it comes to prints and clothes and have NEVER been excited about sewing my own (or anyone's) clothes, so this is pretty darn exciting.  I'll be back to share how things turn out soon!