Ahh, my princess came through...

I was having trouble getting pictures to upload and she finally made it. I can't believe how big my Tee is getting. This year she wanted to be a princess. I can totally do princesses. Especially this one. It was really fun to put together and then to see her all dressed up. I let her pick out some fancy jewelry to wear with it and a fancy headband. She LOVED it.

For halloween our ward has a carnival that the youth put on. This always happens the wednesday before Halloween. So I got her costume finished up for her and she tried it on. You have got to love this little girl. She turned to me and said, "When we go trick-or-treating I am going to get cold. Can you make me a cloak to go with it?" How can you say no to a sweet question like that? Well, if the fabric hadn't been on sale it wouldn't have happened. I got right on her cloak and had it ready for her to wear at the school parade. I think she was pretty in love with her costume this year!

In preparations for the church carnival, Tee was actually at a friend's house and was able to get ready there. This friend's mother took the time to curl her hair (which I can never get to hold a curl) and made Tee feel like the most special princess around. I am so greatful to her. Except now Tee wants me to curl her hair often and I can't get it to hold. I am going to need lessons.

Halloween is over...

...so why am I posting about it? Well, because I have been very busy around here and not so good at keeping up with it. So here is my Halloween post. I know you have all been waiting for it.

This year was a pretty easy year for me. Partly my own doing (I was thinking a little this year). In talking with the kids about what they want to be for Halloween, Jay decided he wanted to be a pumpkin. Great idea!!! I already had one made from three years ago. I told him to get it out of the box and see if it still fit. Score! It did. I don't think it will do for next year though.

Ace wanted to be a musketeer. That is great too. I have one of those in the box too. Sadly, that one didn't fit anymore and a new version has to be made. Good thing I know how to shop sales. He picked red and blue and loved having the cape. He "flew" around my house. I know that isn't part of a musketeer, but he sure had fun. And his friend even got to play as well. The old cape fit him great!

Tee's costume will have to wait. I am having problems loading pictures.

A fun package

This week I recieved a fun package in the mail. A week or so ago I actually won an online blog giveaway. I couldn't believe it! I have never won something like that before. So I anxiously awaited the arrival of my package, all the way from Canada. Well, Canadian Thanksgiving and The United States Columbus Day made my package come awfully slow. The fun part of recieving this package was that I knew only of the pattern and DVD coming. All the rest were fun treats. Thank you Madame Samm! What a treat! This pattern will soon be used. I am so excited!

I've been busy...

This lovely stack of fabric has hit the rotary cutter. It doesn't look quite the same anymore. More to come soon.

New Quilt for Jay

This post has been a long time in waiting. Mostly because the quilt has taken me at least a year to complete. Closer to two if you want to be honest. It all started with a piece of fabric that a friend passed on to me with these African animals on it. I really wasn't sure where to start. I mean it had squares with animals printed on it. Then it came to me. Highlight those animals in a quilt block. So I started cutting and sewing and pulled together the blocks. They hung on the wall for quite a while before I decided what to do next.

In the meantime, I had talked to Jay about these animals being his new blanket, in hopes that he would give up his baby blanket that had been washed and chewed to shreds. When I finally decided what to do next, I gave the stack of blocks to Jay and sent him to the living room floor and said to lay them out how he would want them to be for his quilt. The only rule I gave him was that no two animals that were alike could be next to each other.

He had a great time doing this and took his time. He actually put some thought into it. I mean, come on, he is only 7. So I took his layout and added sashing and made the blocks into a top. He was so excited that it was a finished quilt top and he wanted to sleep with it that night. I said no.

Some time passed and I took it to my quilt group to baste it. And then it sat in the sewing room some more. Then I machine quilted some of it. And then it sat in the sewing room again. Poor quilt just wanted to be loved. I finally got up the excitement to finish quilting it about a week ago. Jay was so excited that again he wanted to take it to bed with him. But the binding wasn't on it yet. Sorry buddy. So that night I got right on the binding and he got to have it the next day. The best part...he traded me, my quilt for his baby blanket. Hard to believe he actually gave up the baby blanket. I am just glad to have it finished. It feels so great to finish a project like that!

My brand new Etsy shop

I am so excited to announce...I am starting my very own Etsy shop. If you haven't heard of Etsy before it really is a great place and you should check it out.

You can find my first listing here.

There will be more to come. I decided that I had to start somewhere.

Just for fun I made this sweet dress for a nieces birthday. I hope she likes it. Tee was quite funny. She wanted to package it up but I told her she couldn't till I took some pictures of it. She took the pictures for me. I think there were 20 of just this dress. I had to laugh.

WIP...no longer

Today was a pretty good day in the sense that I got a lot done. Despite my headcold I spent time in the sewing room. My Work in Progress pile shrunk! I love that feeling.

Today I:

Ironed the ironing pile (and it was a pile)

Hemmed a pair of shorts

Fixed a shirt that needed repairing

Finished machine quilting a quilt

Now it doesn't look like I did that much but it sure feels good to have my table almost all cleaned off.

What did you do today?

The stack is no longer a stack

My small stack of fabric has turned into many little dresses. It was awfully fun too! I have such a great time sewing little dresses and only one girl to sew for. So when I knew that I could get things to some nieces without having to pay shipping, I jumped on it.

This peasant style dress is very cute and comes together very easy. I made one for my sweet Tee and had to make some more.

Tee got a matching one with a cousin. Except that I had to add a strip at the hem of Tee's because she is so darn tall. I am having to do that a lot lately. She doesn't get the match with anyone very often and she really loved it. I am so greatful to get the share other little girls in my life.This one was for a friend's birthday gift. Her little sister loves to play "dress up" and I just happened to be there when she tried on this dress. A few sizes too big for Emmy but just right for her sister.

Emmy also had to try on Tee's new skirt that I made her for school. Again a little too big but so cute and I can't get Tee to model this cute for me anyway.

These peasant dresses have an elastic neckline and sleeves with a ribbon bow at the the neck as well. The sizes are very forgiving if you get it a little too big. It ties in the back and the neck stretches. Can't get much better than that. They are great for using up the remnant pieces of fabric that I buy. You don't need very much of each color. I have now made 5 of these little dresses and I think that this color combination is my favorite. Although they are all VERY cute on each little one.

Let's do some catching up.

First off, I really haven't been in the sewing room a whole lot in the last couple of weeks. This is the time of year for canning and I have done my share to make sure we have our food storage for the year. It has been time well spent. So...here we are catching up on a few projects that I just haven't gotten around to sharing.

I had two new nieces born this summer and both needed blessing dresses. Sweet Abby's was requested to be a daisy dress just like the one I shared before. The other one was a little harder. Little Audra was intended to have a different dress but my plans changed...

Her dress began to form in my head. Then as I was trying to recreate it into fabric, it just wasn't coming together. Sometimes that happens to me. I hope I am not the only one. So two days before I needed to get it in the mail or it wouldn't be there, I scrapped the dress and started over. Call me crazy! I know I was thinking it. But this one came together and went in the mail.

A while ago I came across this white linen skirt at Goodwill. I fell in love with the sheer, embroidered hemline. Even though it was a size 4 (sorry...no longer fit into that size) I bought it anyway. This was the time to refashion it.

So here we have our before picture. (I don't do many "refashion" projects)

Since it was linen I decided to keep it simple. This fabric really didn't need much to make it pretty. I had a simple, short sleeve and added a daisy trim to the neckline.

The gathered skirt was already hemmed for me with the adorable embroidered hem. Gotta love that!

And here we have our after shot. A simple, white, linen dress.

My small stack

Oh what would you do with a stack like this?

Summer is pretty much over because the kids are now in school and I get to tackle a stack of fabric like this most anytime of the day now. Strange feeling it is! Stay tuned. Some of it got done before school started.

I haven't been sewing much...

But I have been doing plenty of other things.

A little of this...

and a little park time.

Let's throw in a nap or two.

And don't forget the family reunion. Gotta have one of those.

Last but not least...the most time consuming of all...these wonderful little spots. They start with one kid and move on to the next, ect. It also involves lots of laundry, cleaning and cream.

I am seeing a lot of white lately...

If you don't know this already I love playing with my doll, Addy. Strange I know. I am a grown up and love any excuse to make something for a doll. This time is for a dear friend's daughter.

Ray has made the choice to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am so proud of her and wanted to celebrate with her, even though she is so far away. She loves her doll just as I love mine and thought this might be something fun. Not spiritul or testimony building, but fun.

Her dress is made from my favorite white satin. I make everything out of it. I do stray very far from it. It is just a simple dress with a cap sleeve, gathered skirt and a netting overlay. I added a 1" satin ribbon to the hem of the netting. I really love that touch.

At the waist I also added the same 1" satin ribbon.

And of course, it has a velcro back. After all, what good is a little girls doll dress that she can't do up the back?

A Daisy Dress...

As I said, there are many dresses and outfits lately. Somehow, the babies seem to come in spurts. My second new niece was born on the 7th. From what I hear she is doing great. I better get on her dress.
So this dress was a special request from a cousin. She is a great friend of mine and I wish that we could live closer and spend more time together. But I guess the once in a while will have to do for now. It is a special dress that my husband's grandmother used to make for all of the granddaughters. She would sit and make each daisy individually and crochet each little daisy together. It really can be quite the project. We all know that as time passes, grandmother's get older and their dexterity may not be what is used to be. So Slyn called me and asked me to make it because Grandma just wasn't up to it. I promptly agreed. Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day.

Now, some details. It is made with yarn, obviously. I started with a yarn that I already had and thought that I had enough. I won't ever do that again. I ran out of it in the middle and when to find more...it is discontinued. So I took what I had left and found something that was almost the exact same. I sure lucked out on that one! As I said before, each daisy is made individually on a small wheel. I think that I counted approximately 130 or a few more to make this small of a dress. I am not even sure how well it fit. Slyn...you better let me know so that I can adjust for the future.
Each daisy is then crocheted together to form the body of the dress. The sleeves are made seperately and sewn on. The neckline is a simple chain stitch. When we lived in Idaho, close by my husband's grandmother, he requested that I learn how to make these special dresses. We hadn't been married long and he knew that I liked to be creative. I also know that as grandmother's age, sometimes these types of things can get lost. He also asked me to learn his favorite candy that Grandma makes...another post...
It dawned on me as I was making this sweet dress that these things are already starting to go by the wayside. And part of it is my fault. Yes, I am one of the only ones that has learned to make them and my own daughter didn't even know that I made one for her a a small baby. It is currently tucked away in a special box and hasn't been out since she was a baby. We have moved too many times and it just hasn't come out. I better work on that one.
This type of dress definately needs a slip. So I quickly made one to go under it. I wasn't super pleased with it. It just didn't come together like I wanted. Hopefully it was okay. I do love the lace that edged the hem. Thanks again for sharing in your special day. It was a really fun project. It was fun to relive the time that I spent with dear hubby's grandmother at her side.

Another baby outfit...this time a boy.

You would think that I have a baby in my house with all I have been working on for babies lately. I just had a new niece born early this morning. Her dress is coming soon.

This little tuxedo was made for my nephew that lives in Las Vegas. Dear Hubby and I got to visit him at about a month old. It was really fun! We left the kids home with Grandma and some friends and spent four days just the hubby and myself...and the new baby. The tuxedo is made from my favorite satin. It is from the Casa Collection at at JoAnns. What I love about it is that it is easy to work with...not too much sliding around (that happens with satin you know). I also love that it is 100% washable. Perfect for my sweet babies. Because you know that they are either going to spit up on it or something else and will require washing.

I used a different satin for the stripe down the leg and the vest. I just love how these little outfits turn out. Although this one was a bit large for the little man. It is just so hard to estimate their size when you get started long before they are born.

And you can't have a tuxedo without a bow tie.

This time I made a long tailed jacket to go with it. I have only done this once before. Before another gets made my pattern is going to get a little tweeking. It turned out fine but just not what I was thinking.

Las Vegas Baby Girl

Not too long ago I had a "need" to make a blessing dress. I had to go in search of a baby girl to make this special dress for. And that little girl got her dress. Now, just a few months later, I have three baby girls to make dresses for. I am loving every minute of it and every one is just a bit different from others I have made.

This first dress was made for a friend of my sister-in-law. I have made a dress like this before and she fell in love with the mental picture that my sister-in-law gave her. So another dress was born. It has a simple bodice with a cap sleeve and no collar. It buttons up the back and made from my favorite satin. This satin happens to be my favorite because I can always find it on sale and it is totally washable. You know, just in case that sweet baby spits up on it or has a diaper accident.

I was pretty much finished and the dress just needed something more so I added a satin ribbon at the waist with a bow and a touch of pink.

The skirt has two layers of tulle layered over it with silk rose petals enclosed. They are free moving and add just that nice look for a complete dress. Love it! Thanks for the baby girl to sew for.

Two more dresses will be coming soon. I have two more nieces on the way.

Baby Gift

Okay, I know, I know...I forgot to turn the pictures before I posted them and now that they are uploaded I don't want to start over. So here goes anyway, just turn your head a little. :)

I really have been busy as of late but not much in the sewing room. I am a little sad about it. But my dear hubby and I got to take a much needed getaway to Las Vegas. It was so much fun and the time together was needed and wonderful. We forget and get caught up in the day to day and kids that we are important too.

So a couple weeks ago was a baby shower for one of my husband's cousins. I decided to make her a hooded towel. I received one for my first baby and LOVED it. True it is a little large for a newborn but she will love it just the same and use it for years and years.

My dear sweet Ace was such a good sport to model a purple towel for me. He really did a great job and I don't plan on using these pictures for blackmail in the future. Although it could happen.

The towel is made from a purchased bath towel and hand towel. I used my daughter's towel as an example and cut the hand towel in half, shaped the hood and sewed it on. Love a quick gift! Pair it with some baby soap and lotion, great gift (at least I would love something like that)!

Oh it may just work...

I am hoping that this will work. I am now on my regular computer and planning that this will work just like it always does. I try to do something every year for teacher appriciation week. Our teachers put so much time into our children and are underpaid and overworked. So this year I was contemplating our gift to them and it just started to esclate and became a large gift. Not exactly as I had planned but really wonderful in the end. So I had planned to make a loaf of fresh bread for each of them. But you can't just hand them a loaf of bread so I put a jar of jam with it. But once you put the jam with it you have to put it in something to keep it all together. Do you see how is escalated? So I remembered this bread basket set that I had made a while ago...there was two of them. How lucky was that? I finished them up, gave each season's cloth a quick ironing and put it all together.

Thank you to our wonderful teachers!!!

This quick and fun skirt was put together in an evening for a sweet 5 year old's birthday party. She is such a girly girl that it was just perfect for her.

Another birthday gift perfect for the birthday boy. And totally by accident. I had gone into the sewing room looking for something cute for a pillowcase (and something that I had enough of). This one jumped out at me and it turned out perfect. We got to the party and his cake was a volcano with dinosaurs surrounding it. Great job, Taylor!

A quick recap of some small (but really fun) projects...

Maybe I am the only one that feels this way...but I love a quick project. One that you can cut out and finish in a couple hours or even a few minutes. I have been really working on some big things lately and needed a few quick ones to rekindle the love. Strange? Maybe!

One thing that I love about having a fabric stash and the ability to sew is that often my children have unique and free gifts to take to birthday parties. These recent birthdays were no exception. Often my kiddos get invited to parties on a Sunday afternoon. Sadly they don't get to attend because we generally don't do parties on Sundays. These ones...we were able to attend. Love It!

This skirt actually has a sister. I was cutting it out and had enough fabric for two, so here they come. One went to a birthday girl and the other went to my lovely niece that developed a very sweet love for Aunt Jen this weekend. Both are girly girls and love dresses and skirts. Can't get much better than that!

So the eye candy will have to wait. I don't know how to blog on the new laptop of mine. I did get this one picture and hopefully it will stay. All the others disappeared, twice. Let's try.

I am not going to try to move it. A sweet dress for another 18 inch doll such as American Girl dolls and Madame Alexander dolls. Google them if you want. They are great! I love to sew for these sweet dolls they are just like my little girls that live on my shelf and watch me sew. Again...strange? Yes! Just wait. The etsy shop is coming. I just haven't set it up yet.