A Sister Set

Though the onesie dress might already be reserved for a fellow UWIB member - I am very pleased with this sister set. It isn't finished yet. I plan to take a pair of jeans and turn them into ruffled capris to match the pinafore and need to make a pair of bows to match. The onesie dress and matching headband (a new style!) will have a pair of burp cloths and a clutch ball made to match. And I think that will use up all of this fabric that I have! I might have enough left to make one more pinafore (small one though and possibly not reversible) and I might be able to pull together some bloomers - but we will see.

I love this fabric and think its just perfect for spring. I also tried the pinafore on a 17 month old (who is small for her age) at my Moms Group this morning and while it was a smidgen big in the shoulders, it fit great everywhere else! I think it would have fit a 2 year old just fine and it fits my 4 year old beautifully, so it truly is a top that will last several seasons!

Onesie dress and the first side of the pinafore

Onesie dress and the reverse side of the pinafore

Close-up of the onesie dress and the headband

Back side of the pinafore on Little H

Its not easy taking a picture of a 17 month old!

Come back tomorrow for my Friday Favorites - this time its something for us ladies! :-)

Tuesday Treats

Somedays you just need to snuggle under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and a bowl of popcorn. Today happens to be one of those days. It will be May in like 3 days, and today its snowing. Of course, its snowing! Why wouldn't it snow - its only April 28th. Only crazy people expect to have springtime weather before July! And yet, I bet there are people are planting gardens and watching their flowers bloom. The two plants I was brave (stupid?!) enough to stick in my garden have wilted beyond recognition because its too darn cold. The flowers that were dumb (brave?!)enough to stick their heads out of the warm dirt have also fizzled into oblivion.

Before I shrivel up too, I might need to spend the afternoon under a warm blanket with a cup of hot chocolate (maybe with a drop of Peppermint Schnapps, hmmmmmm) and some pop corn. Snuggle with my girls and watch a movie.

Sewing can wait, laundry can wait, vacuuming can wait, yard work has not choice but to wait, and grocery shopping will happen tomorrow. Unless its snowing then too.

For the Hot Mom (or Aunt)

So my sister has been bugging me for several weeks to make her a cute top - the little girls can't have all the fun. After much thought and mulling it over, I ended up desigingd a top specifically for her that I based on a top that Padma Lakshmi wore on season 5 of Top Chef.

Super cute top that I thought would be incredibly flattering to my sister's figure. While I was making that one, she sent me pictures of tops that she thought would be cute so I made another one based on those pictures and somewhat from a Vogue pattern I found. I finished them up this past week and my sister came to visit this weekend so I got to take pictures of her in her new "Hot Aunt" tops. I think they turned out pretty good!

Top #1 - based on the above picture of Padma.

And the back of the top

Top #2 - based on an assortment of photos and patterns

And the back of Top #2

And you can't be a Hot Aunt (or Hot Mom) without a cute kid to hold!

I used some fabulous interlock cotton for both tops - found it on clearance at JoAnns last summer - bought out everything they had and I haven't seen this exact fabric anywhere since then. Its super soft and super stretchy in one direction. Its been a very versatile fabric to have!

Friday Favorites

I think on Fridays I will be exhibiting some of the items from my Favorites list on my Etsy shop.

I felt it would be appropriate to start with girls dresses - since I have 2 little girls and am always looking for cute ways to dress them, this is what I look through the most. The 4 dress I am showing are my current favorites.

First is the Ice Cream Dot Party dress from Lil Miss Muffin. I love the colors -so summery and cute! It looks very twirly - my daughters would love this dress. And so many bow options come to my mind when I see it! Her entire shop is full of adorable dresses, so girly and adorable. And her prices are incredibly reasonable. For the beauty of the styles, they are more than worth the price!

The second is the Golden Girl twirl tunic dress from CourtneyCourtney. I have admired her work for a while now - its so simple in the the design but they must be so much work! All the items in her shop are "up-cycled" or recycled clothing. She pulls apart several pieces to create a whole new piece. And each dress is just too cute for words!

Third is the Apples and Pears Pinafore from Aliyah's Hope Chest. This fabric has been a favorite of mine for a long time. And this particular pinafore is just adorable. The ruffled jeans just add that extra touch of cuteness. There are so many cute items in this shop I hardly know where to start. The fabrics chosen and the patterns used are just fun!

Last, but certainly not least, is the Sweetheart Garden Girls Dress by Onlyu. And she is right when she says the print is just begging to be a swirly, twirly dress! I love the fabric and the sweetness of the pattern. Its something every girl should have for a tea party. This shop is also full of adorable styles just perfect for young girls.

More styles to come - I have some adult tops that I finished this week just waiting for a model to be photographed in them. Hopefully this weekend if the weather complies!

Belle and a Ball!

Kevin and I got the girls these gorgeous Disney Princess gowns for Christmas this year - they got the Fab 4, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. They were made by Jodi at Tinkerella Creations - she is amazing! Today I finally got around to making a "Belle-ish" hair bow to match the Belle dress. Allison has a cold so she wasn't up much for picture taking - hence the presence of Lambie. I am not terribly happy how it turned out - my first attempt at fabric roses. I might fiddle with it some more and see if I can make it better.

When I finished the Belle Bow, I had some of the fabric left over (I actually have a lot of this fabric now - its so pretty!) and decided to make another fabric flower bow. I used the yellow fabric and some pink with white dots fabric and made a Pink Lemonade Fabric Flower. Maddy was gracious enough to model for me. This set matches the Gymboree Happy Rainbow line - Maddy's outfit is from this line. It also works with the Lemoney Fresh line and the Sunflower Fields line - for those of you who love Gymboree.

And lastly the project I finished a while ago but finally got around to take some pictures is a new baby toy. A clutch ball! I found a tutorial online that was really fun. I have altered the pattern a bit from what was written and I plan to alter it a little more for the next one I make. I have some great fabrics to use with this pattern and I plan on making this a part of the infant gift sets from now on! I have found it hard to make stuff for baby boys and this is definitely something a baby boy would love.

A few pictures of my most recent projects

Posies and Pinstripes Reversible Pinafore with matching fabric flower bows

Daisies and Dots Peasant Dress with matching Fabric Flower bows

Close-up of the Fabric Flower Bows

Jitterbug Swing top with matching Boutique Toddler Bows



Dressing-Up Jeans and T-shirts boutique bows

A New Blog!

I am starting a blog mainly to showcase my creative outlets. And to also highlight some items on Etsy that I particularly like.

I am new to Blogger so it might take me some time to figure out the ins and outs. But hopefully soon these pages will be chock full of pictures!