Halifax for Me!

This was definitely my favorite top to wear last fall and this winter. It's so cozy and is a step up from a typical sweatshirt that I would normally wear :) I hope to make a few more for next year!

Pattern: Hey June Halifax

Fabric: Solid French Terry (Charcoal) and Robert Kaufman Mammoth Flannel, both purchased from Raspberry Creek Fabrics on Etsy.

I Made Socks!

Back when I rekindled my sewing hobby after college, I never thought in a million years that I would make... socks. Socks! Really! Weird.

But, that's what I did. Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop released a sock pattern (Cozy Critter Socks), and I couldn't stop myself, ha! I dug through my scrap bag and found these cotton-lycra bits left over from multiple projects. 

They were a quick and easy project that the kids enjoyed immensely! James was just starting to recognize favorite characters, so he loooooved wearing these. 

Now that both of these pairs have had to be retired due to feet growing and holes worn in the bottoms, I look forward to being able to squeeze a few more in sometime during a break in my to-sew list :) I love using up scraps and the kids will love the new socks!

Emery's Baby Bag

I had a particularly happy phone call from a friend back in November. She and her family were moving to our town! Woohoo! 

She has a son about 9 months older than James and had a little girl in August. I usually give myself 6 months to a year to finish these special baby gifts, but since she was moving to town, I wanted to hurry and finish it for when she first visited our house - so, a baby bag finished by the time little Emery was 4 months old! (Gotta love a great reason to have a deadline!)

A big thanks to my Mom for sewing the name (as always), and for sharing her machine - hers sews through the thickness of the denim, corduroy and interfacing much better than mine. Most of the fabric came from fat quarters won from giveaways, but some of it was purchased. I loved using the more feminine decorated demin on the back which was a remnant from JoAnns, I believe. 

So, welcome back to SoDak friend!!! I'm so excited to see our kids become friends :) 

Magrath Dress {Testing}

Here is the first dress I made while testing Sew Much Ado's Magrath Dress and Tunic.

This floral was a purchase late last summer from an online fabric store that was getting out of the business. I knew it would become something for E, but I didn't have a timeline of when I'd use it nor did I have a specific pattern in mind.

Then, I was chosen as a tester for Sew Much Ado's newest pattern (woohoo! Thanks again, Abby!), and I started rummaging through my stash. And there I found it... the Jennifer Paganelli Emma Vintage Blue from the Lucky Girl line for Free Spirit Fabrics... it paired beautifully with the solid yellow remnant I also had in the stash. All I had to do was purchase the zipper!

I love how the fabric showcases the sweet, classic lines of this pattern. This is View C in dress length with short sleeves. Prior to testing, I was planning out E's Easter dress with other fabric and other patterns. Now, they are not needed! E's Easter dress has been made, and I couldn't be happier with it! Abby's pattern is perfect for sweet spring and summer dresses! (Of course, it is also perfect for fall, winter and Christmas dresses, as you can see from some of Abby's samples plus other tester's creations!)

I had Dan pick up flowers on his way home from church (we were stuck at home as the baby boy had a fever... ugh!). I told him they would be considered my early Valentine's flowers :)

Toddler photoshoots are always a nerve-wracking event... especially when you need to take them inside and the lighting from the window just isn't playing nice. Again, these aren't my favorite pictures, but thankfully you can still see how wonderful a pattern Abby put together. I was also thankful that E was enjoying this shoot, and she loved that Daddy bought her flowers ;) 

Again, here's what is all included in the pattern, along with the normal fabric requirements, cutting layouts, and great instructions:

3 View Options, 2 skirt lengths and 3 Sleeve lengths

Plus, sizes are easy to mash! E ended up needing a 18-24 month width with 1-1/2" added to the bodice and a skirt length cut with a size 3 length.

The pattern is on sale for $7 in celebration of it's release until February 20th. 

Go check it out!

Plus, a link to the tunic I made during testing week.

Magrath Tunic {Testing}

Sew Much Ado just released her latest pattern... 

The Magrath Dress and Tunic

This was the second version I made during testing week. I'll post the other one next week sometime!

(Link to my dress post!)

View-A Tunic with 3/4 Sleeves

18-24 month width with 1-1/2" added to the length of the bodice and size 3 length of skirt 

The yellow was a remnant in my stash (probably JoAnns), and I had just recently purchased a yard of the border print from my local quilt shop - they send out coupons during your birthday month (ahem, January). It is a batik by Alison Glass. Abby decided to add the tunic length early on during testing week, and I was so thankful... I don't think I could have squeezed out a full dress out of the border print, but I really wanted to use it! Tunic length to the rescue :)

The pink exposed zipper brings out the pink flowers for a fantastic pop in the back! Abby's instructions are wonderful - there is no reason to be scared of this zipper! Really, this will probably be the easiest zipper you ever put into a lined bodice of a dress :)

I added the buttons because the solid yellow bodice looked just a little too plain. E had fun playing with my button jars; I don't take them out as often anymore with a little 9 month old crawling around! To be honest, I keep envisioning making this dress using eyelets in the bodice to make it look like a corset... wouldn't that be so sweet?

Our weather was horrible during testing week... cold, windy a little snowy but still there was ugly brown grass everywhere. Sigh. I love our Midwestern winters, I do, but they are just not conducive to photo shoots of spring and summer outfits! So, it was time to put up our wooden backdrop in the sitting area next to our large window. I'm still not super pleased with the pictures, but hopefully you can see that it really is such a sweet pattern!

Again, Abby has put together a wonderfully versatile pattern. It was released today! Go check it out!!! (Link)

A Minnie Costume.

There was no question as to what E would be for Halloween this year. She is enthralled by Mickey Mouse and is duly devoted to both Mickey and Minnie. 

Therefore, I decided to make her a Minnie outfit.

Dress Pattern: Made for Mermaids Minnie Top and Tunic

Bloomers Pattern: Made for Mermaids Olivia Bloomers and Pantaloons

Ears Pattern: Ribbon Retreat Tulle Puff Mouse Ears

Dress Fabric and Ears Tulle: JoAnns

Bloomers Fabric: Eyelet from my stash

Both clothing patterns are perfect for quick and simple sewing. They may not have the most professional finishes, but I don't mind when it comes to play clothes and costumes! For example, both the sleeve cuffs and the bloomers leg elastic and hems are done flat, prior to sewing the sleeves and legs. This leads to slightly messier and visible inside seams, but E doesn't know any better and I'm not sewing for 4-H judges anymore! The bloomers were bought, cut and sewn up all in one day. Nothing better than that! 

Her personality is certainly getting bigger and bigger. I can no longer ask her to do the "itsy-bitsy" in order to get her to smile. Instead of smiling, she now starts singing! She loves getting her pictures taken though, so I can't complain :)

The hair bows were fun, too. Walmart wants $8 for Minnie Mouse ears... so I made these instead. 

She makes me smile.

I cannot wait for trick-or-treating! Yay for "Halloween-time!"

Prairie Style Skirt

This was another impulse sewing project. 

One weekend I was chatting with my sister-in-law about the family pictures we'll be taking in October. A few days later, I was searching Pinterest for some clothing ideas for those upcoming pictures, and found this link...

Then, I started researching gathered layered skirts for E, and found several tutorials. I mashed them all together with some stash fabric and came up with this...

It's very "Little House on the Prairie" but I still love how it came out! I have purchased a long sleeve shirt, white denim vest and some tights for her to wear with the skirt in October. For this photo shoot, she chose her accessories ;)

I especially like the raw edge of the denim, and I look forward to it fraying more and more as I continue to wash and dry it. I added a little decorative stitch as well. I love how the pink thread pops on the denim! 

A Frozen-Inspired Jumper

I'm a little late to the party, but since E can't even tell this is Frozen-inspired, I don't feel too bad :)

I'm just lucky that she is in a photo-loving phase! She is great about sitting or standing where I ask her to, and I'm learning what can help bring out that true smile of hers (and not her forced-smile-grimmace-thing!).  This is an "itsy-bitsy-spider" smile :)

Of course, she recently learned about the fun of viewing the pictures of the camera, so she came running to see how the pictures were turning out every few photos that I took. I'll take it though, as long as she keeps cooperating!

I used the Joleen A-Line Dress pattern by Viola Lee that I found on Etsy by searching for toddler jumper patterns. There are other patterns that I could have used to get the jumper-feel that I love about Elsa and Anna's toddler dresses, but this one worked (for the most part) with the yardage that I had on hand. I would have loved to do a color-block modification to the pattern, but I settled with just using the second color as the facing. 

The fabric and ribbon is from Pink Chalk Fabrics (they no longer sell fabric). I purchased the goods this fall after I won a gift certificate to their site. The fabric is Andover Chambray (Turquoise and Raspberry) and the ribbon is Sue Spargo Folkloric in Lilac Grey.  

Ok, so she mostly cooperates. I asked her to put down the snowmen (I wanted a picture of the front of the jumper), but she obviously didn't want to do that!

Don't worry, I just asked her how big she was and... here you go, the front! Ha! It's a little big and I wish I would have raised the button holes - the pattern said to place them an inch below the top of the strap, but I think they should be just a little higher. At least she has room to grow in this outfit!

Here's a better picture of the buttons/button holes. I still need to work on my button holes. I use the attachment that came with my machine, but it seems like every time I go to sue my seem ripper to open up the hole, I break a few threads on the side so I have to resort to using some liquid stitch to keep the button hole from unraveling! Frustrating! But, since the jumper is so big, I don't have to unbutton the bad side, and I hope that that helps keep the button hold in tact for awhile. 

(The buttons were from my stash. E and I had a lot of fun playing with the buttons until I found ones that would work).

All in all... I'm happy for a finish! One less project on my list :)

Sneaky Peak and October Goal {ALYOF}

I missed out on September's goal setting. At the beginning of September, I wasn't sure if I'd get anything done, so I was pleasantly surprised when I actually did get some work done.

So, here I am getting back on the goal-posting-track. My October goal is to have this Halloween project finished for the Black Cat Crossing Blog Hop. Come back on October 30th to see the finish!

(The hop starts on the 20th... don't miss any of the fantastic projects!)

This 'n' That

The daughter's room has been painted, her furniture has been painted, and her walls are being decorated. My husband's office desk will be painted soon, along with some reclaimed wood shelves. 

Pictures to come... eventually!

But in sewing news, I have a few projects on my to-do list! I can't chat too much about this one, since it's for the upcoming Halloween blog hop...

I have two baby quits basted and ready to be quilted, plus two others than still need to be basted first. Let's not even talk about the baby gifts for friends and dresses for Ev that I'm excited to sew!

I'll end this random posting with some stormy pictures. I was able to practice using my camera's remote and shutter speed settings to try and capture lightning bolts, since we had quite the show last week... the storm did eventually get to us, and left us with more than 2" of rain. 

Boring Goal Completed Post {ALYOF}

My August Goal (link #72 in the link party) was simple... Sew borders onto two baby quilts.

I finished them about halfway through the month!

Time to get them basted and quilted :) along with umpteen hundred other sewing and diy projects! 

August Goals {ALYOF}

Alright, here's the deal... we recently moved into a new house, my 16 month old is busy, busy, busy, and I have a non-sewing project to-do list a mile long. Simply, I've had a lot of time for sewing during the last 7 months and not a lot of time/space/need for non-sewing projects (like painting shelves, weeding and organizing closets). I'm loving that list, too, but I look forward to taking some time this month to sew... even if it's just a little bit!

My goal is to add a border to two baby quilts.

I can't wait to sew!

Quilted Beach Bag

I recently won a giveaway from Amy at Diary of a Quilter. The giveaway was a saturated rainbow fat quarter bundle sponsored from Canton Village Quilt Works (the giveaway post is here if you want more details about the fabric in the bundle). The colors are definitely not something I work with on a regular basis, but it was fun to get out of my comfort zone! 

A Big THANK YOU to Amy and Jackie from CV Quilt Works for the bundle!!

I decided that we needed a new lake bag to carry swimsuits and towels this summer! I used the tutorial found here and only changed the pattern a little - I decided not to gather the strip in the middle of the bag. Since I was using fat quarters, I would have had to connect a few strips in order to have it long enough the gather. I also had to improvise with where I put the batting and the interfacing based on what I had on hand.

I do love how it came out! Mom was pretty jealous when I showed her. I may have to make another one ;) I have plenty of charms to make it, but I may have to supplement from my stash in order to have bigger pieces for the lining, straps and accent fabrics on the bottom of the bag.

Oh, look, there's Farmer Dan feeding the fat cattle during my photo shoot :) 

It is nice to have sunlight still after I put Evelyn down for the night!

Cutting it Close {April Goals Reached}

I made it! I was getting nervous, but I finished them a the last moment :) 

My goal was to finish two of these "Monikered Baby Bags," but I actually finished three of them! 

No tutorial yet, but maybe once my list of need-to-sew quiets down, I'll take the time to take pictures along the way. Don't worry, I have plenty of friends having babies in the near future, so you know I'll have plenty of chances to finally write down the guidelines for this fun, personalized bag!

Linking up to ALYOF

April Goal Setting Post

(Link 4 in the goals linky party)

This bag actually isn't for a baby. The recipient was recently upgraded to big brother (his sister's bag is below), and I didn't make him a bag when he was born... it was time that he received one! It should be a great church activity bag for the almost-3-year-old. I hope he enjoys this bag that is all his own!

 Most of this fabric was from a Fabricworm giveaway win a few years ago (I can't remember the name, but I believe they recently reprinted it). I was happy to have a good use for it finally! The rest of the fat quarters have been finally cut up into charms. They have been great additions to my I-spy quilts :)

 

This little man was born earlier this year (remember his quilt that I made and blogged about here?). His mom was a teammate of mine in college, so I chose to use good ol' blue and yellow (go Jackrabbits!).

 

These fabrics were all from my mom's baby bag fabric stash. 

I'll finally get to meet the little fellow at the end of May, so I'll give this gift to him then.

 

 Here is the first girl's bag that I've made by myself and blogged about. The only change from a boy's bag is that the band around the name panel is a ruffle instead of just a simple fold. Some of this fabric is from an older Lizzy House fabric line. I chose brown accent fabrics from my stash that were probably from the JoAnn remnant bin :)

 I'll get hers and her brother's bags in the mail soon. 

She was born in March, so it's about time I get a gift to them!

 

In non-sewing news... the boys started planting! They were able to plant all last week, and they're almost done with corn. 

I'll be excited with the green plants start popping up. The brown fields just aren't very pretty ;)