a swap

Recently (close to a month ago now...?) I did a trade with Marika through Instagram for a pair of these adorable baby booties she makes and sells here for a grey polka dot flannel scarf that I made.

Sam has worn these almost nonstop since they arrived, and I LOVE that they stay on.  Seriously.  They are pretty darn good.  Our kids always seem to have extra long or extra slippery feet and usually can't keep socks or any kind of footwear on until they're walking so these are a welcome relief for that problem.

I'm going to try making my own soon but doubt they'll be as cute as these!

Felt Bows

I caught this through Pinterest, but you can find the tutorial here from Oliver and S so you know it'll be good. 

I had some leftover wool felt from making the stuffed lambs (almost done with those) and decided this would be the perfect way to use it.

Aren't they sweet? 

Luckily I have two little ladies with luscious heads of hair but even they don't need this many bows. 

I put the rest into my Etsy shop so you can go take a look.  I'll definitely be making more of these in more colors very soon!

I also wanted to mention, the pattern template printed regularly gets you the large bows. My husband figured out how to get it to print on half a page and that's how I got the smaller size. Either way they turn out amazing!

In 2014 I want to...

...focus

...be intentional

...organize, get rid of clutter and be mindful of what we add to our home and schedule

...explore and create with my kids (a little bit of homeschooling and good old family time)

...finish (books, quilts, cross stitch projects...the laundry...everything)

...use what I have first

...savor things (2013 seemed rushed and while it was a great year, I felt like we were always hurrying towards something.  I want to soak up every bit of 2014)

...read more.  At least 1 book per month. (I already have a nice pile to keep me busy - will share soon)

...keep track...of everything that deserves or requires recording

...DO more and make fewer lists about what I plan to do

...write (here, in my journal, with my kids, snail mail, start the novel I've been too chicken to start)

...be a better example of service

...take care of my body (eat whole foods, exercise regularly, get more sleep, drink more water - pretty much an always goal for me) 

...be more selective about the things I begin (do I really like it/want to do it? Or do I feel obligated?)

...less screen time (phone, computer, tv, the list goes on.  I love the progress and convenience technology brings.  I want to be more mindful that I don't waste too much time on these devices that I'm missing out on other things.)

There are some lofty goals here but I have big ideas, and big hopes for 2014.  

I love a blank year.  So full of potential! 

xoxo - Marian 

The Sunshine Dress

I wanted to make Christmas clothes for the Sunday before Christmas but never got around to it until Sunday morning.  I also wanted them to be a little matchy, but not in a barftastic way...

I have had The Sunshine Dress pattern for a while, and this was the first time I've used it. 

I omitted the drawstring on the bottom and just used the main fabric for the band at the bottom of the skirt instead of a contrasting fabric. 

You know what's super great?  This pattern has pockets, which always makes me and my kids happy.  I made polka dot pockets and you cant tell they're there unless Abby's hands are in them.

I love the box pleat detail in the front.  Yellow ric-rac wouldn't be my first choice to go with this, but we were in a use what you have situation, and I think it works.

From start to finish this dress took 2 hours to make.  I finished with 5 minutes to spare before church (even though it was safety pinned closed in the back). 

She wore a cardigan over it because winter sucks here and is really cold, and because I haven't messed with adding sleeves to things yet unless they're included already in the pattern options. 

I also made Matthew a bow-tie and but didn't get any good pictures of them together.  It's pretty cute though. 

I just finished the buttons before writing this, (I'm avoiding the inevitable chore of going to the post office today but alas, I will have to do that next...) and while there is none of this teal/aqua color anywhere else, I like it. 

Abby loved it, and approved it's excellent spin and poof factor.  This dress is an unexpected Christmas dress and (in my opinion) wound up looking pretty cool. 

Just like my little lady face.

Hustle

I'm right at that spot where if I don't get off the couch and get started I won't have enough time. I'm sure you know that spot too. Particularly at this time of the year. 

It's also when I feel like abandoning my entire list of things to make, wrap, mail, and do and just go back to sleep until January. 

So what did I do last night? Not my to-do list, noooooo....

I stayed up past 1am and basted this lovely thing just because I wanted to. And I'm very glad I did. 

But now I really need to hustle! 

Side note: I'll be listing some scarves on Instagram @shopladyface later today so if you have last minute shopping to do come take a look! 

Cloud pillows

I love a good cloud, stormy, cartoon, or otherwise, so I decided to make a cloud pillow.

Out of sherpa. 

On both sides. 

And I did. It worked. It's fantastic. 

They are soft, warm, squishy, and the perfect size for snuggling, using in imaginative play, to rest your head on, or use in a photo. 

I love them, and so do my kids. Even my husband thinks they're pretty amazing. 

And you know what I'm super excited about? You can't see the closure stitches!!!!! 

I'm telling you, these are the best. Listed here in my etsy shop, LadyFaceMakes

They'd make a perfect gift, just throwing that out there.  I also made some smaller hearts out of sherpa and stuffing. 

They're about 5" square and equally awesome.  You can find those here.

xoxo - m

Halloween Costumes!

Now that it's almost Christmas, I thought it was about time I show you what we did for Halloween!!  Settle in, this is a long one!

Sam was a pumpkin.  The most adorable one I've even seen.

Kids Clothing Week was more like Kids Costume Week here.  I still have grand intentions of finishing up some kids clothing sewing before the year is out but seriously....there are only a few weeks left in the year so we'll see.

This year, after much deliberation on Matthew's part, the kids settled on a Tiger and a "Purple Sparkley Princess with a Magic Wand" as what they wanted to be for Halloween.

Easy enough.  Matthew won't wear elaborate costumes so I knew we had to adapt regular clothes as best we could.  We found an orange long sleeve shirt and painted black stripes onto it with fabric paint.  He did the sleeves before he lost interest.

The pants took a little more time.  I couldn't find ready made orange pants anywhere, so I bought some plain twill fabric, dyed it orange, and then used this pattern to turn them into pants and painted them.

For Abby it was clear she knew exactly what she wanted and I was excited for the challenge of meeting her expectations.  I found this pattern on Etsy and knew it'd make the perfect princess dress that I could customize.  It was a great pattern, and I wanted something that could double as a dress up costume once Halloween was over.  I used the 4T size and it's a little tight.  Abby is a sturdy 3 1/2 year old but I was hoping for a little more wiggle room as she needs help getting into this one.  Oh well.  It's adorable and I'll happily help her get into it.  Just a note for next time.

I scoured the remnant bins at JoAnn's for a while before to get most of the fabrics I used and then put it together relatively easily, although sewing with costume satin is like trying to sew jello together.  Not fun no matter what pattern and how many pins you're using.

I overlayed the netting stuff early on and sewed it down so I could treat that and the satin as "one piece" and it was a little easier to sew.  The netting seemed to stabilize the satin a little, which was a happy outcome I wasn't anticipating.  I used ribbon and bias tape along the edges to hide my mistakes and the fact that I really didn't want to hem that satin stuff (that has resulted in some nasty fraying, but nothing super destructive or world ending).

I chose to close the dress with these hook and eye things, mainly because that's what I had and I wasn't smart enough to think of using velcro so she could put it on herself.  Isn't that smart for a dress up/costume outfit?  My mother-in-law had that insight and I'm definitely going to use it on the next princess dress we make!

We made a tiger mask and crown out of felt that I glued together (lesson: use glue that is NOT water soluble so when you spill water on it at the church Halloween party the pieces will stay on) and sewed elastic to the sides to keep it on.

Abby also required a "Magic Wand" so we cut a wooden dowel in half, she painted it yellow, and then directed the placement of the flowers and ribbons that I applied with a glue gun.

Sash, wand holster, it's all the same.

My first and favorite memories of sewing are listening to my mom cut patterns on the living room floor for our Halloween costumes, the hum of the machine while she sewed them up in the dining room after we went to bed, being "forced" to come try things on and hand her pins, but I loved it.  Having awesome costumes was one of the best things about being a kid.  So when people ask why I make their costumes instead of getting an $8 costume at Costco (by the way, there's NOTHING wrong with buying costumes at all!!), it's definitely not easier or cheaper, but I do it because I like the memories that I hope they will have, and also really like the challenge of fulfilling the fashion desires of a 3 year old. 

They have both worn and used elements of their costumes since Halloween and had the BEST time trick-or-treating so even though it took all of kids clothes week I'm calling it a total win! And if you made it this far, you deserve a Christmas cookie since I hope you don't have any Halloween candy left!!