$2 Dress Restyle

I bought this dress in the clearance section at Ross for $2. How could I pass THAT deal up? It was a bit too small for me, but I just knew it would make an adorable new dress for Juniper. I shortened the skirt about 4 inches, and scaled the top down using one of her t-shirts. I love how it turned out. 

When I told her I wanted to take pictures, she ran out on the porch, sat on the chair and smiled real big for the camera (a rare event indeed!) Then she stood up and struck a few poses for me. She even turned around so I could get a cute photo of the back! Man she is such a ham sometimes. We had quite a bit of fun taking photos on the porch. I love when she actually wants me to take her picture ♥

I have definitely been getting my creative mojo back lately, and it feels great. I think I'll take a break from clothes for a little while and sew some cute stuffed animals next! I also have a stack of pillow cases on my art room floor that need to be finished up. And who knows, maybe I'll get daring and actually sew something for ME.

Two Little Dresses +

Here is a project I've been wanting to share for quite a while, but I had to wait until the package was delivered so as not to ruin the surprise! I wanted to make matching dresses for our cousin Lindsay's two little girls. So I headed to the Goodwill Clearance Center and picked up this XL flannel shirt.

I was able to make the two dresses, a hair bow for mom and a tie for dad! Since the Goodwill Clearance Center is priced $1 a pound, I think I can safely say I spent less then a dollar on these outfits. (The black fabric was something I already had in my stash.) The tie didn't turn out super great because the flannel was so soft and hard to work with. Oh well, it's still cute. I mean.. manly. And cunning. A man walks down the street in that tie, people know he's not afraid of anything.

Luckily our two kids are about the same age, so I tried them on and made sure they were a little big. Audrey is 9ish months older than Juniper, and Emma is only a few months older than Flynn. I am a mean mommy, I took about a million pictures of Flynn in that dress! Even in a dress, isn't just the handsomest little guy?

Ok,back into something a little more manly. Give us a big tough guy look. Good job little man. ♥♥♥

I'm linking this post up to the Sunday Scoop Link Party over on I ♥ Naptime.

A New Dress for Juniper

The other day I was having one of those non-stop-crazy mama days. You know the type. So when I finally got both kids to fall asleep around 9:00, I decided I needed to ignore the messy house and take some time to sew a little something. I decided to *GASP* follow a pattern! Now, I'm not really a pattern-following type of person, but I managed to pull it off this time around without much drama. I used my Simplicity 3511 pattern, which was nice and easy to follow.

Juniper loves her new dress. As soon as I put it on her she started twirling around on the bed. I love it when she likes the things I make for her ♥

Froggy Siblings

I made these little frogs for a couple of sweet kids as Christmas presents this year. Of course, I didn't actually send them until this past week... I hope they love them though! I only snapped a couple of pictures while we were packing them up. Juniper was sad to see them go.

I'm linking this post to some fun blog parties: I ♥ Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, and Tatertots and Jello. I love linky parties.

Craft Hope Project 13 - Quilts

Craft Hope is probably my favorite thing. It's so nice to be able to do something meaningful with my creative talents. Right now they have two projects going on. They are collecting bracelets for orphans in Russia and blankets for tornado survivors. We have been having a little too much fun around here making bracelets of all sorts to send along. (I'll share photos before we mail them.) And since making a quilt was on my Birthday List, I figured this was the perfect time to go for it!

The first one I made I think I got a little overzealous... I did a zigzag pattern with some fat quarter fabric I've had in my stash for ages. It took me forever to figure out the pattern and get it all sewn together. But it's my first quilt ever! I was so excited as it came together. You can't tell in the photos, but I used colorful thread for the quilting so it gave it some color on the back.

The second quilt went WAY faster. Probably because I kept it extremely simple. I found the robot fabric in the remnants bin at Walmart. I LOVE this quilt. It has so many mistakes in it... but I think some little boy somewhere is really going to like it.

Thanks honey for helping me take photos! I've learned that blankets are HARD to photograph!

Juniper really liked the blankets. I guess next I'll have to make some for her and Flynn!

Hat!

One of my Birthday Goals this year was to learn how to sew hats, and now I can cross that one off! And it only took one failed attempt! I even remembered to draft a pattern as I went so I can make more. (I'm not usually that organized when I'm being creative.) A little tweaking and it'll be perfect.

This hat is so cute on my Flynn, I just can't stand it! Is there anything cuter than little boys in hats?

And guess what? I'm still not quite done with this project. I'll be sharing more pictures soon.

Easter Outifits

I started sewing this dress for Juniper the week before Flynn was born. All I had to do was hem it, but it sat unfinished in my closet for a month. When we were invited to a friend's house this Sunday for an Easter egg hunt, I decided to finally finish it. It's made from a vintage blouse that I found at the Goodwill Clearance Center. (LOVE that place.)

I really wanted to make Flynn a little hat and a matching vest from some corduroy scraps I have, but I didn't have time. (I'm still planning on making them though) I made his bow tie in the car on the way to our friend's house! I am absolutely in love with bow ties on little boys. So stinking cute!! I will most definitely be making some more.

I tried to get a picture of Flynn and Juniper in their matching outfits, but this was the best I could do. Juniper LOVES her little brother and gives him lots of sweet big sister hugs and kisses, but she refuses to let me get any photographic evidence! I'm going to have to start getting sneaky...

And Flynn got to see his best buddy, baby Makayla! She was born last week and is SO tiny. Just look at all that hair! She's precious. Flynn totally has a crush, can you tell?

Crib Recovery

It seemed simple enough. Just adding a little bit of fabric, right? Well, as my husband will agree, this project nearly destroyed me. Almost every night I would throw this little crib up against a wall and declare that I was giving up. And every day when Shaun came home from work, there was I was working feverishly on it yet again. I just couldn't accept failure. (I have a big issue with failure.)

I am so glad I stuck with it though, because I love the finished product! And as meaningless as my sweet husband thought this was, my little guy deserves a little bed that's all his.

A week before Flynn was born I FINALLY started getting my creative mojo back so I was able to finish this on time. (I finished a few other little projects as well that I'll share soon.) And now that everything is settling down, I'm really hoping to keep those creative juices flowing! I'm finally feeling like myself again, life is good.

The Ruffler

I should never have started looking at sewing machine accessories tonight... OH MAN! There are so many awesome presser feet out there!! I now have a gathering foot, a rolled hem foot, and a binding foot coming my way and I can NOT wait for them to get here!!!

And just for fun, check out this crazy thing!



Also, on a side note. I've found a project to get me out of my creative slump. I'm going to be making myself a wallet! I bought two patterns last night from NapKitten on Etsy. Now I just need to decide on which one to do.

After all, a girl can never have too many clothes!

I've had this shirt forever, and it's been so hard for me to figure out the perfect use for it. But I had a moment of inspiration the other night and finally just started sewing. I just made it up as I went along, and I love how it turned out! Of course, now I know a lot more about how this type of dress goes together, and next time I'll do a few things different. But Juniper likes her new dress so whose to argue?

Perfect for running around in circles on the bed with mommy's toothbrush.. 

Until you get tired and decide to lay down...

♥ LOVE ♥

Sweater Frogs

This past week I've gone back to working "full time" to help out with a big data import project... Imagine hundreds and hundreds of lines of excel spreadsheet data and LOTS of copying and pasting... Not exactly my idea of a good time. BUT it's Friday! And I intend to make the most of my weekend ♥

I added a new sweater frog to my growing froggy family! (The one on the left) These guys all came from the same green sweater, and I've got enough fabric left over for one or two more. The middle one is Juniper's, and the new one is destined for the shop. I haven't made up my mind on the little guy yet.

In other news, I've got a new tutorial in the works! Just need to photograph the finished product on an ever-so-uncooperative 19 month old.

Recycled Sweater Dolls - Misty

My Recycled Sweater Doll (more like recycled blouse doll actually) Misty, is now available in my new Etsy shop! I decided not to do one big shop update, instead I'll be listing new items all week.  Save myself a little sanity that way :)



I'll be linking this post to the I Made It! blog party over on Everything Etsy.  Go check it out, there's lots of fun posts!

Bobbin Case Cozy

My little Juniper absolutely loves my bobbin case. And even when she's not trying to grab it and play with all the fun goodies inside, that stupid plastic case is always popping open and making it's own messes. So I decided to make a case for it. Ok... I know what you're thinking. I could have used a rubber band... But this is much cuter!

Wedding Crazyness

My past week has been filled with all sorts of wedding preparations. I altered a wedding dress (turned it into a corset back), made a pretty veil, took in a bride's maid dress, made a flower girl dress for my little cutie, sewed matching shoes and made necklaces for the two flower girls, AND baked a pretty awesome wedding cake! *PHEW!* The wedding was this past Saturday. Congratulations Steve and Iris!! 

I Shirred!

I've been wanting to try elastic shirring FOREVER, but I'd been too intimidated by it since I'm new to sewing. Plus, I had a hard time finding elastic thread. I finally decided to give it a try last night, and I'm addicted! This top turned out so cute! I'll definitely be experimenting more with it when I get some free time.

I used the skirt portion of a 5T dress that I had been trying to modify to be Juniper's size. (It didn't work out...) And I of course had to add a fabric flower to the front!

Juniper wasn't being very cooperative for the camera. But she sure looked darling in her new top!