Kids in Camo

After Dan joined the Guards last year, I knew it was time to break out some camo!

Ev's still fits (barely!) but James' has had to be retired...

It looked cute while it lasted though!

Pattern: Recess Raglan by See Kate Sew

A perfect match to our fall mums!

Pattern: Violet by Peekaboo Pattern Shop

Fabric: Camo from a local store (Fabric Warehouse), black ribbing from JoAnns, and olive and pink cotton-lycra jersey from Raspberry Creek.

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2016 Family Pictures

We took our 2017 pictures a few weeks ago, but we haven't received them yet. Here's a look at last year's pictures!

Every year MOPS puts on a photo fundraiser - you get a 15minutes with a photographer and a CD with 5 edited pictures on it... all for $50. Half of that goes to our MOPS group, while the photographer ears the other half. We are so thankful for the photographers that partner with us! 

I took these pictures after the session last year - they are still smiling! She's wearing a Hey June Hatteras sweatshirt while he's in a Peekaboo Pattern Shop's Happy Feet Pajamas raglan sweatshirt. Other than a thrifted pillowcase for her front fabric, the rest of the fabric is a combo of cotton-lycra jersey and french terry from Raspberry Creek Fabrics.

Then, when we take the annual family picture with Dan's side, we usually take another family picture  of just us as well. (My top is a Love Notions La Bella Donna Top - french terry from Raspberry Creek Fabrics. I made it two years ago, and it was the first top I made for myself since Montana.)

We always get a little more creative with these since we already have the family pictures taken that will go on our Christmas cards!

Siblings...

Sweet Girl.

Sweet Boy.

And one more to make you smile - he wanted to hold a flower, too... just like big sister!

Handmade in the Wild: Celebrations

Just a celebrations where handmade outfits have been found!

Dan's birthday... He has always preferred pie over cake (and even then, he'd rather have extra steak than dessert!).

Happy Fourth of July! We spend the 4th at my parents' lake cabin, and we had just come back from outdoor church (so technically, this was on July 5th!)

The local college's homecoming parade (it has nothing on my alma mater's Hobo Day parade!). We enjoyed the parade with some of our friends. Always fun to spend a Saturday morning chasing candy with friends!

Birthday: Ev wore a Magrath from Sew Much Ado. (post here)

4th of July: Ev wore a Felicity by Peekaboo Pattern Shop (post here) and James was in a Schoolboy Vest by Sew Much Ado. (Looks like I need to write a post about the vests I've made!)

Parade: I'm in a Hey June Lane Raglan made from cotton-lycra... the grey is an Art Gallery print and the blue is a navy dots from the Club line by Raspberry Creek Fabrics.

Handmade in the Wild: Hometown Pride

We've now lived here in Mitchell, SD for almost three years, and we have just been loving it! 

One day last summer, they were serving free ice cream downtown... we definitely took advantage of that! Ev loves driving past the Corn Palace every chance we get ;) 

We host a rodeo in town every summer, and there is a free meal served the night before the action truly starts. I'm hoping that we finally attend one of the real sessions this coming summer! We loved going to rodeos when we lived out in Great Falls, so now it's time to introduce the kiddos to it!

Of course, there is the Corn Palace Festival - complete with carnival rides!! Ev loves rides, and James will be right there beside her next year! So much to look forward to!!!

Peekaboo's 4-in-1 Sunhat with stash fabrics (blog post)
A modified Riley Tank from Made for Mermaids using a ruffle fabric from either Hancock or JoAnns.
A simple tank dress that I was testing for Simple Simon and Co, but it never was released - fabric is from Art Gallery and Walmart.

Repurposing T-Shirts

I guess saving all those shirts throughout the years has payed off ;) 

For a cousin's new baby... to remind them of the connection back to Sinai, SD!

There's only a few people that I can sew using shirts that has my maiden name on the back!

Patterns: Peekaboo Pattern Shop's Lullaby Bodysuit and Patterns for Pirates' Playground pants.

A fun reminder of the hours playing T-ball and softball under the summer sun!

Pattern: Peekaboo Pattern Shop's Lullaby Bodysuit

It was a hard year for my high school graduation class - this fall, one classmate lost her husband to a hard-fought battle with brain cancer. Two months later, we lost a classmate in a tragic hunting accident where he and his younger brother both lost their lives. I graduated with about 40 other students after spending the previous 13 years together in the same building... so we're a tight-knit class, and these losses were very hard to deal with.

Well, that classmate who died in the hunting accident died about a week or so before his birthday. On that birthday, his little girl was born. I wasn't quite ready to cut up my senior shirt, but thankfully a classmate mailed me his, so I could make this bunny for the new baby. May she always know the love of her father and the support from his classmates.

Patterns: Bunny Lovey by UnlikelyNest

I also made this outfit for her - the top uses a shirt that my mom decided was too small for her (she still teaches at our school). 

Patterns: Peekaboo Pattern Shop Violet Tunic and Go-To Pattern's free baby legging pattern

These were made for a benefit for that same family. I was thankful that I could do something to help!

Pattern: Peekaboo Pattern Shop Violet Tunic 

Handmade in the Wild: She likes to match...

The little girlie likes to match! It is inevitable that when I make something for myself, that she will ask several times if she gets to have something that matches! Truth be told, I'm not huge on matching... I feel a bit silly and too-cutesy-cutesy for my taste... but she won't want to match forever, plus it gives me a way to use up some scraps, so I'll continue to make a few more matching outfits every now and then :)

Top picture: Peekaboo Pattern Shop Violet Tunic and Hey June's Lane Raglan using an Art Gallery Print and grey solid... both from Raspberry Creek Fabrics on Etsy.

Bottom picture: See here :)

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!

Handmade in the Wild: Pajamas!

I just love homemade pajamas!

Painting and anything artsy is a favorite for both kids. Here's E one summer morning... still in her pajamas... but happily creating!

Remember these cousin pajamas?! They still fit! It's so fun for me to see them still loving to match :)

Pony Pajamas: Blog Post

Cousin Pajamas: Blog Post

Handmade in the Wild: En Route to Wisconsin

We took a family vacation to Wisconsin this past summer. It was a family reunion of sorts with my mother-in-law's family. I hope to share more details about this fun get-away to Door County... but it may not happen until next summer ;) 

We had a few fun handmade sightings while there!

It was a 10 hour drive just to get there, so of course we had to stop at a few parks on the way to stretch our legs! I can't believe E's skirt still fits, and it appears that it will continue to do so for awhile... yay yoga-style waistbands!! She still loves how twirly it is and she still loves Minnie Mouse!

We stayed a cute resort with nice rooms and fun balconies (great distractions for the littles!) We recently had to retire the pajamas that E is wearing here, but they still fit last summer. We were thankful to have older cousins there to help distract the kiddos, too :)

The kids' first time bowling! The entire family ate out at a nearby restaurant, and the kids received free games of bowling with their kids meals. It was so fun to see the kids learning and to have their grandpa and great-grandpa showing them a thing or two. We look forward to more bowling fun soon! I think this dress was her favorite one that I made all summer. I'll have to remember the fabric combo for future creations :) 

Posts about the different outfits: Minnie Mouse Skirt; Pajamas; Pink, Black and White Dress

Three More Creations

Another Olympic binge-watching blog post :)

A few more creations from this summer: 

**The striped top was needed for my MOPS Mom-Prom with a sailing theme last Map. I color-blocked Sew Much Ado's Seafarer Top using fabric from Raspberry Creek Fabrics. I've worn it several times since and look forward to wearing it more once the heat of summer passes. The cotton-lycra gets a little warm during this July and August afternoons!

**I found the diamond remnant at Hobby Lobby last spring and kept it out knowing that it would make a fun Bonny Leggings/Shorties Skirt (Made for Mermaids). Thinking about sewing that circle skirt hem held me back, though! Finally, I remembered the fun bias binding trim in my trim box and I fought it into submission to make a fun hem ;) The waistband is white knit and the shorts underneath are pink. Ev loves the twirl factor!

**Finally, the bucket hat was a necessary creation because Ev kept asking for one (Brother James has 2 rummage sale bucket hats and Ev was feeling left out)! Well, with as much fabric as I have, I knew I didn't want to buy one... so I purchased the pattern with some rewards points I had from Peekaboo Patterns and I finished it just in time for our Black Hills trip in May. It's not perfect, but Ev wears it and that all that matters (well that, and it saved me a few bucks)! I'm sure it helps that I let her pick the fabric :)

Summer PJs

As I sit here watching the Olympics, I figured I can also be productive by trying to crank out some blog posts that are long overdue :)

This Spring, I cut out 6 pairs of Alex and Anna Pajamas from Peekaboo Pattern Shop. After cutting, they sat there in the corner of our downstairs sitting area for much too long. Then, I would sew a little bit here and there, until FINALLY, all 6 pairs were finished! 

They have been great this summer! Both kids also have a few rummage sale find pajamas, so we definitely have plenty to choose from at bedtime ;)

Fabrics: Art Gallery Bucks and Springs Creative Licensed prints... from Peekaboo Pattern Shop, Raspberry Creek Fabrics on Etsy, and another random Etsy shop that still had the My Little Pony fabric... because we all know that Ev needed it! :)

Peekaboo Patterns Felicity Testing ~ Simple Summer

Happy 4th of July!

This was the third and final Felicity dress that I made during testing for Peekaboo Pattern Shop.

Fabrics: Red Gingham from my stash and a lightweight chambray from Raspberry Creek Fabrics on Etsy (Denim Swiss Dot Chambray by Robert Kaufman)

I added the red piping that was also in my stash - the pattern does not come with instructions for the piping, but it is such an easy addition! This was the updated bodice (and final version for this size), and I think I could have sized down to her true size. You don't want to size-up too much with this dress because then the bodice is too wide as you see in the pictures. 

I've wanted to sew something with gingham and chambray for so long, and this dress was the perfect reason to finally do it! Plus, it's so lightweight - perfect for summer (see, I'm just a broken record over here, ha!) and the 4th of July! She wore it to a hometown parade a few weeks ago... it was so hot out, but this dress kept her cool (well, as cool as you can be while running after candy and just loving life at a parade!)

We took pictures at a local park and hiking trail - I took pictures of the batik dress first, so by the time we were ready for this dress, so was a little less excited for the photo shoot. 

But, I still hope the pictures convey a fun and comfy addition to any summer wardrobe. Seriously - I plan on making her one of these every year from now on ;)

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Peekaboo Patterns Felicity Testing ~ Blue Border Batik

This was the second version of the Felicity Dress that I made during testing for Peekaboo Pattern Shop.

Fabric: Alison Glass Handcrafted Batik for Andover from a random online fabric store that had a sale last winter... I purchased it after making this dress out of fabric from the same line :)

I went up a size from my first version plus added length, but I cut out the pattern pieces before Amy had updated the bodice. I did do the collar according to the updated instructions.

I love how this one fits! Again, it is such a great summer dress - I will keep sounding like a broken record, but really, I love this pattern :)

I'm pleased with how the stripes matched up - they aren't perfect, but they are close enough! And the white collar pops and the snaps blend it with the polka-dots. Sigh... Love this fabric! (And this is surprising coming from a girl who had vowed not to sew with batiks anymore! But, this batik is a little higher quality that JoAnns, plus a microtex needle really does go a long way to sewing batiks nicely!)

She is now ready for church, 4th of July, a wedding (I'm sad we don't have one this summer... this dress would be perfect to wear to one!)... really, she could wear this any day, and I'd be happy ;)

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Peekaboo Patterns Felicity Testing ~ Proud Purple

This purple version was the first Felicity dress I made during testing for Peekaboo Pattern Shop. 

Fabric: JoAnns - they were red tag fabrics last winter and it was during a 50% off red tag fabric sale

It's a lightweight poly-cotton from the Tutti-Fruitti collection.

My daughter was right at the maximum chest measurement for the size I made, so this dress sadly came out a little too tight. It fit enough for good pictures, but the fact that is was a little tight plus the fact that I ended up making 2 more dresses during the testing process led me to giving this dress to a local friend. Her daughter is only a few weeks younger that Ev, but she's smaller, so this dress fit her perfectly!

Ev had a hard time giving this dress away, and I kind of did, too! It was such a great summer dress! She keeps asking me to make her one just like it again, and I would have enough fabric if I switched the two fabrics, but again... does she really need 3 dresses in the same pattern? I'll just hold on to it for next summer ;)

After this version, there were changes made to the bodice and the collar, plus I added length to the future dresses I made. 

All-in-all... I love this dress :) but I'm happy that I could give it to a friend who can happily use it for a longer period that we could have!

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