Cute dresses

I have a friend who is a great crochet-er.  I have never learned so when she asked if we could put our talents together and make some cute dresses, I jumped on it!  She crocheted the tops and let me figure out the skirts.  So far we have four cute ones.

 They are all 6-12 months and would fit a variety of sizes actually.

I'm just trying to figure out how to close the top bodice.  Sew two ribbons on to tie?  Sew a button on to stick through the crocheted top?  What would look the best?  We're saving them for the craft fair after Thanksgiving, but also have them on the etsy shop to share with the world.

Disney prep sewing...

Our Disney trip is fast approaching (okay so there are still over 100 days to countdown) but I know it's going to fly.  So I got started on some projects I've been thinking about to make our trip easier.  I have read the "Unofficial Guide To Disneyland" and made lists, highlighted, made more lists.... of things we need to prepare for.  One of them is carrying our own water.  Sure we can buy water in the park (too expensive), or look for water fountains (too time consuming), so I wanted to bring our own water.  I have a husband who doesn't want to end up carrying the entire families water bottles or hauling a backpack full of water bottles, so I came up with individual water bottle carriers that even the littlest theme park go-ers can carry.

 I wanted a hands free way to carry them and I didn't want to fuss with getting them in and out of a bag or a stroller.  I bought everyone the same size water bottle that has a thick plastic straw coming out of the top (don't have to unscrew lids every time you want a drink), and measured around the bottle, made a bottom, cinched the top with elastic, made a strap (36" for little kids, 45" for middle kids, 52" for teenager kids), sewed it all together and we have handy water bottle carriers!  I think it'll work!

 I made the straps out of different fabric for everyone so they can distinguish which one is theirs easily.

We are driving on this trip and I wanted to not have 8 pillows cluttering up the already cluttered van.  So I decided to make everyone a neck pillow so they can still nap easily if needed.  I made the little boys slightly different sizes but the same fabric as their water bottle carriers.  The back of the neck pillows are minky fabric so they can use that side if they want a more cuddly feel.  I used this tutorial as a starting point but tweeked it a little for us.  I made the youngest one (age 2) a circumfrence of 10", the next child (age 6) circumference of 14", and all others 16". 

Check back again for more Disney projects to come!  I'm hoping to make 1. pillow bottom lap desks/magnetic boards
2.  Magnetic games
3. Car seat back organizers
4. Pin exchanging lanyards
5. Snack boxes

Baby, baby, baby

I have been busy sewing and sewing and more sewing.  Good thing I like sewing!  I've had lots of orders on my etsy shop recently for baby crib sets, puffy quilts, and curtains.  I love to see the different combinations people come up with for fabrics and love to help them find the exact right combination!

 Brown and blue is very popular for crib sets right now.  This is similar to another set I made with elephants in it.  We simply replaced the elephant fabric with some baby blue minky.

 Love this Joel Dewberry fabric.  My teenage daughter loves this fabric too so now I've got to come up with something to make for her with this fabric.

 This crib bumper is the first bumper I've made for an oval crib.  It was fun to figure it out!  I have yet to make a sheet for an oval mattress.  That sounds more tricky.

 I think this is the 5th different color of chevron curtains I've made.  I have yet to make some for myself even though it's my goal because I love chevron fabric so much!

My very own two year old got his own puffy quilt for his big boy bed.  I love this "All Star" fabric by Riley Blake.  Wish I was a little kid sometimes and could get a cool blanket for my bed.

Jungle animals in flannel puffy quilt

Almost this entire quilt size puffy quilt is made of flannel and it's soooooo soft! There is a white furry fabric thrown in and a cotton gingham. It's colors are subtle and it's going to match one little baby's nursery so well! Thanks for letting me make it for you!

Super cute skirt

I love this skirt that I made from a design seen on "Little Birdie Secrets" blog. My sister in law found this and passed it on to me. I made one for my 14 year old daughter and she loves it! I made a few changes to the one on the blog and if I made it again, I'd make a few more changes again. But I love it enough to maybe make one for each of my other girls and myself!

Linked to www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com
Linked to www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com

For me...

I feel like I haven't done a lot of sewing for myself lately so I finally got down to it. Two hours later I had some curtains for my family room. I bought the fabric several months ago and it's been sitting in my closet just waiting. I love this light yellow fabric with green ticking stripes. It's so subtle and not too flashy. It adds to the cottage feel of my house. I still have a long way to go with decor and if we'd stop moving maybe I could get actually get one house decorated fully! I put a large green section at the bottoms to anchor the curtains since they are very tall. Next, I need more fabric to make valances (notice the ugly rods still showing) and some more matching pillows. I want to do something coordinating in the dining room and kitchen that are right next door but not be all "matchy-matchy" about it. Then I want to tackle the master bedroom!





And... I want something else over my couch. Something a little more modern and cottage feeling. Suggestions? I love iron, so maybe something with scrolls and maybe a monogram or something. I think I'll try to recover our glider rocker too since it's a sad dirty beige color because it's dirty and it's beige. So many ideas, so little money and time!

Orange and owl baby's room

So I had a big order before Thanksgiving that took a lot of time to sew and create but it ended up great! I love that I got to see the completed room after the mom added my stuff to her already amazing design. What a fun, modern, colorful, yet sophisticated baby's room! I contributed the puffy quilt, crib skirt, 3 crib sheets, diaper stacker, changing pad cover, pillow, and crib bumper. It's fun to work with people to find just the right combination of fabrics and colors that they envision for their project and then see it come to life!











I was excited to read her review also. She said, "We are really excited with how everything came together. We absolutley love it. Thank you for your beautiful craftmanship. The quality is outstanding."

What a lucky little baby to live in this room!

Ipad carrying cases

So our school district was lucky enough to have a donor donate enough money to buy every middle school and high school student their own Ipad to use for "educational" reasons. Initially a lot of parents didn't want them because that is one more thing to monitor for your kids, to lose, to break, to accessorize, to argue about. (if you have pre-teens and teenagers you know what I'm talking about!) Anyway, I have 3 kids in that age group so we have 3 Ipad that are leased to us from the school and we have to monitor, try to not break or lose, accessorize and argue about. They are not supposed to download their own apps (school rule) so we don't have to worry about that. It's mostly the touch screen fascination that we have to monitor and the mindless time wasting that goes on. But, my kids are good and we haven't had too many problems.

Which brings me to the point of this post- to post pictures of all the ipad carrying cases I have been making! Teachers need them, students need them so why not whip up 10 or 20 to sell and to give as gifts? They are easy to make and fun to play with different trims and ribbons to make them all cute. I've mostly made girl ones because the little handles make them look kinda like a purse. I did make one boy one out of camo material without the handles for my son and he says he likes it. I didn't put any cardboard or hard siding inside which is why I call them carrying cases rather than cases, because they should still be in a hard case first and then slipped inside this padded carrying case. They have made great gifts for my kids teachers and friends for Christmas! They have a coordinating lining fabric inside and close with a long piece of velcro that is sewed into the lining. I think I forgot to take pictures of 5 or 6 others I made.

So contact me if you want some made and I'll find some cute fabric for you!


I can't figure out why these ones are sideways, I've tried everything so you're just going to have to turn your head to see them right...

Privilege

Sometimes we are lucky enough to use our talents to bless and help other people. I was honored to help a good friend and her family with my sewing talents last week. They had a preemie baby who lived a short 10 days then passed away. She was only 1 pound 1 ounce and born at 27 weeks. One thing my friend did not want to do was shop for a dress for the baby for the funeral. A doll dress would be too big anyway, a Barbie dress would probably be closer to the size, but not wide enough. So I offered to make one. It was a pleasure and a privilege to help them during this trying time.

I took a few doll dress patterns that I have a figured out how it would best fit on a such a little baby with the least amount of disturbance. I decided to not do sleeves and to make it a wrap dress that would fit around her how ever small she was. I put an adjustable velcro closure on the side so when you wrapped it, it could be wrapped tighter if needed. I made it long and with two skirts, two different colors of lace, and several ribbon bows. I think a girl needs a pretty dress no matter how small or for how short of an amount of time! It did not take long to make and I loved how it turned out. I do wish I had made it probably 1/2 the size after I saw the little baby at the funeral because I think it was way too big.

There aren't many options for parents with micro-preemies. After searching online there are several things you can buy for more than 50$ and they will ship the next day. I think it's a great option for a friend to make something because it'll mean more and be one less thing that a grieving parent has to worry about! Thank you friends for giving me the opportunity to give you a gift in your time of need.

Craft fair craziness...

So this is the first time I'm going to do a craft fair and all I can say is, "What was I thinking???" Actually I'm really excited but super stressed about getting everything done in time. Also if we'll have enough to fill up our table. These are some super cute apron and baker's hat sets that I've been working on. My girls all want one and if there are any left over, they'll get one for Christmas! I love these fun, bright fabrics. On my etsy shop as well.

Hugest puffy quilt so far

So "hugest" probably isn't a word, but this blanket I made was sure HUGE! A client ordered a full size puffy quilt for her little girls new big girl bed. It was pretty much like making 4 crib size quilts and then attaching them together. I have to say that it looks amazing and so comfy! I also know why I don't want to make many more of them that big. They are so heavy and hard to finish off because the end product pulls so much on my machine. But, I propped it up on some chairs and the table next to me and pushed through the heavy part. It's beautiful and I hope the lucky little girl in North Carolina likes it as much as I did!

Here's a picture of my little guy breaking it in for me. He loves to lay down on them but I shoo him away quick so no grubbies get on the new quilt!
They also ordered a valance and curtain panels to match. The valance is so cute in the horse and boot fabric from Riley Blake. The panels are bright pink with a large brown band at the bottom and they are lined to block out almost all light. I used a really heavy duty lining that is a virtual light and heat barrier.
The bed skirt seemed like miles and miles of fabric all gathered up to create a really full skirt. The brown band at the bottom is a miniature of the brown band on the curtain panels. It turned out so cute!