Handmade in the Wild: Red Chevron

One of the first items I made for E actually turned out to be a great to for JT, too.

I loved it under overalls this summer! Our town is known for the "World Famous Corn Palace" and this was the first summer that a local 5th grade classroom (with help of several organizations and businesses) set up a learning area in the upstairs auxiliary gym in the Corn Palace. We went often with friends :) It was a great way to entertain the kids during the hot summer months (and made the Corn Palace more exciting to visit for tourists!). 

Up, up, up!

Down, down, down!

(E still loves frilly-ness and JT learned how to go up and down slides!)

Post about the Skipper Top

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! :)

Modeled Pictures of the Sally Dress

Remember in April when I made 2 Sally Dresses for E and her cousin? Well, here are a few pictures of E in her dress :)

It fits better than I expected it to. I was worried that the straps were going to be too wide and would fall of her shoulders, but they have been fine. It's still a little tight to put on and take off, but that is to be expected in a non-closure woven dress.

I created the flower crown with a twine ribbon and fake daisies from Walmart and a shear ribbon leftover from my wedding 5 years ago. E has enjoyed playing with her crown now and again :)

Especially with all the hot days that we've had this summer, I'm so thankful that I made this dress with lightweight fabrics. It is perfect for a Midwestern summer!! 

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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Peekaboo Patterns Felicity Dress Release

I recently helped test another pattern! This time it is the Felicity Dress by Peekaboo Patterns and it released today (and is discounted for one day only... go check it out here!)

I sewed 3 different dresses throughout the testing process and I have blog posts coming that looks at each one more closely. Until then, here are the specifics of the pattern:

• Felicity is a collared dress with several options.
• It comes with Maxi or Knee length skirt.
• The back can be shirred or full coverage (I only tested the full coverage option).
• The placket in the front can either be half or full (you need to do a full length placket if you do a full back in order for ease of dressing).

I love how this dress conjures up memories of sweet childhood summers. It's the perfect summer dress for Fourth of July picnics, blowing bubbles at family weddings, or just picking flowers with the neighbor kids. 

This was my first collar in a long time - a first that isn't a 4-H project with my mom helping me step-by-step. Amy from PAB does a great job with using clear pictures and great instructions. The collar connects the front and back bodices and is finished with bias tape. The skirt is attached to the bodice with an exposed seam on the inside of the dress, but with the 1/2" seam allowance, a french seam would be a simple modification. 

According to the size chart, my daughter chest measurement is a 2T but her waist is a 3T. These two dresses are straight 3T, and they will fit for the rest of the summer and into the fall. 

**Blue Border Batik: Alison Glass Handcrafted Batik for Andover from a random online fabric store that had a sale last fall :)

**White on White Polka Dots: Stash! (Mini Confetti Dots by Dear Stella from a fat quarter bundle that I won in a giveaway from the Inside Quilters Newsletter Blog)

**Lightweight chambray: Denim Swiss Dot Chambray by Robert Kaufman from Raspberry Creek Fabrics

**Red Gingham: Stash!

(I added the red piping to the blue and red dress - these instructions are not included in the pattern but it is an easy addition!!)

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! 

Easy Sundress Complete {June Goal Done!}

Finished! 

A quick and simple project, but every finish is a happy accomplishment for me right now :)

My goal was to make a sundress for my 2 year old daughter, who we hope to potty train soon - the sundress could be a helpful tool once I feel ready to let her go diaper-free to start the process!

E has one Little Mermaid pajama top that she has grown fond of, and she has a small mermaid figurine somewhere in this house that she always wants to play with when she wears the pajama pant. So far, she hasn't asked to wear this, but whenever I point out that the dress has Ariel on it, she smiles and runs to find her mermaid toy :)

I think I made the straps just a little long, but otherwise, I'm quite happy with this. 

Goal Post Here

Number 32 in the linky party.

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WIP (works in progress) List

• 1 easy sundress for E (current post - finished!)
• 1 tiered skirt for E ... preparing for family pictures this fall (fabric chosen and ready to be cut)
• 1 Manhattan tops for E (I cut out the pieces before JT arrived)
• 4 Monikered Baby Bags (fabric chosen and all but one of the names embroidered... need to cut and sew the actual bags now) - this used to be 5 bags, but I finished one recently because they were coming to visit! I'll post about the bag soon.
• A tote bag needing straps

UFO (unfinished objects) List...

• Twin size quilt top needing a border then quilting and binding
• A quilt top from my grandma needing quilting and binding
• 1 lap quilt needing quilting then binding 
• 6 baby quilt tops needing quilting and binding
• A pile of Christmas half-square triangles that need to be trimmed and then organized into a table runner/table topper/pillow/etc
  
  

More February Finishes for Ev

A few more February finishes... it's been a good month for finishing up a few small projects that have been in my pile for awhile.

This was my first time sewing the Lulu Dress and Top from Cino. Here's a link to the pattern. I've had the pattern pieces and fabric cut out for a few months now and I was getting nervous about sewing the elastic casing with the knit fabric. Thankfully, I was worked up over nothing! This pattern was a quick sew... especially since I didn't hem the skirt :) I love making play clothes out of knits - they are a lot faster to sew than cotton clothes without all the hemming and seam finishing that you need to do with cotton!

This is the dress and cap-sleeve version... grey interlock from JoAnns and a blue, sparkly knit from Hancock. It's big on her now, but should be great by the time summer rolls around... 

Both knits from Hancock - the blue is very thin. I used the sleeveless top version of the pattern. This should be perfect for playing my parents' lake cabin! The top fabric is not as stretchy as the interlock, so it may not fit as long, but it should still work for most of the summer.

You've already seen this dress - it was E's Birthday dress for my ALYOF February goal. I finally took the time to try it on her and take some pictures. It fits and it should be perfect for her birthday in a few months. She loves the shoes I recently found for the summer. They have "bows" on them, haha ... aka flowers...

And finally, here is the purse I made with some of the skirt scraps and leftovers from the solid fat quarters. I had the ribbon and the pom-pom trim in my stash. Those pom-poms were not fun to sew, so I was happy to use them up! 

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This isn't a WIP post, but I just wanted to see how the old list and the updated list compare. I love feeling productive!

• 1 baby quilt needing binding (done!)
• 2 baby quilts needing quilting then binding (progress: quilting done with one half way done with binding and one needing the entire binding)
• 1 lap quilt needing quilting then binding (on the back burner)
• 9 baby quilt tops needing backs (done! Now, 3 of them need to be basted before quilting and binding... the other 6 will go on the back burner)
• 2 cotton Easter/Spring for E that are part-way done and one matching "purse" (done!)
• 2 knit dresses for E that have been cut but need some sewing done (done!)
• 1 pillow top ready for quilting and then needing a back (back burner until those 3 baby quilts are done... can you guess what my March goal will be?!)

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On a final note, we recently took the crib out of E's room! Her big girl bed was already in her room, but we took out the box spring, so the mattress is just sitting on the floor between the bed frame. She has slept great at night so far with her naps being decent.  We are so glad we started this transition when we did... once we started thinking about it, we're glad we don't have to fight the summer sun at night. Her room is pitch black at bedtime, which I'm sure helps her fall asleep without being lured to play in her room. So far so good!