Halloween!!

Good Afternoon!!  I cannot believe how fast time is moving this year!  I'm finally getting around to sharing the Halloween costume that I made for my daughter.  She love love loves the movie Coraline and wanted to be her for Halloween.  I tried letting her know that its not the newest movie and most of her classmates probably won't know who she is, but my sweet little girl didn't care one bit and just HAD to be Coraline.  She especially wanted to wear the outfit with the stars that the Other Mother gives to Coraline.  Silly me I agreed thinking it would be so easy to find a sparkly blue sweater and just pop some stars on there.  Boy was I wrong lol.  I searched high and low and came up with nothing suitable.  Not wanting to disappoint my daughter I found this pattern on Ravelry.  I ordered up some yarn and began knitting.

After I got the sweater knitted we found some velour at Joann that I sprayed with a silver glitter fabric spray.  The stars I have to admit were the worst part and I honestly didn't think I would get them sewn on in time.  I tried doing them the way the pattern instructs with interfacing and a teeny turn under for the appliqué but it was just not working.  After spending all that time knitting I did not want to just glue some felt on or anything that would look cheap.  What I ended up doing was scrapping the interfacing all together and turning under more like 1/4" when I did the appliqué.  This worked fairly well (still took forever to stitch all those stars on though).

For her boots I used an old black pair she wore last year as witch boots (I should share that costume sometime lol) and used a teal fabric paint to change the color.  The boots soaked it up so it took a few coats.  The dragonfly pin I made from some gold polymer clay and crystals we picked up at the craft store.

For her hair we went with a blue spray.  We did try a wig but my daughter said that it was too itchy.  Last but not least the doll we found on amazon its an actual replica of the prop from the movie:)  I also made my husband a Captain America costume but I'll share that another time.  

Have a great day!!

Hello, Ollie Blog Tour

Good morning!!  I am thrilled to be included in Bonnie Christine's Hello, Ollie blog tour!  I was so honored to be included among so many talented people to sew a few things for Bonnie's quilt market booth.  Her latest collection was inspired by her sweet daughter Ollie.  Additionally, Hello, Ollie is Art Gallery's first organic line of fabrics.  The fabrics are all printed on GOTS certified organic cotton with eco friendly GOTS approved inks.  The quality and feel is exactly what we've come to expect from Art Gallery.

Explore the collection deeper: the collection | the lookbook | on instagram | more info

Ok, on to the projects!!

The first item I made was the Alice Dress using Sweetly Sings in the glimmer colorway.  This dress is a fairly fast and easy sew.  I will say that I feel it runs pretty large so if you make one take that into consideration.  Its a great easy style to wear.

The second item I made was the Dottie Angel Frock.  I used Swanlings Bevy in peach for the main fabric, the bottom is Feathered Fellow in lush, and the pockets are Winno Frock in charmed with Nested in roots for the bias.

I think the pockets are my favorite part of the dress!

Last but definitely not least, is the cargo duffel.  I have to admit this bag is probably one of the favorite things I have ever made.  I used Dabbling Swan in sage for the main part, Sweetly Sings in the glimmer for the bottom and handle accent, and Garden Grounds in dollop for the pockets and handle.

For the interior I used Swanlings bevy in nightfall and Meadow Dreams in lace for the binding.  I love those sweet little eyes peeking at you when you look into the bag :)

You can purchase Hello, Ollie here.  And be sure to check out yesterdays post by Vanessa of LBG Studio and tomorrows post by Sarah of Sariditty Handmade.  You can check out the full line up here.

Lil Luxe Shorties

This sweet little shorties were made from some scraps from a dress I sewed for a friend's daughter this summer.  I used the Papillon Shorties pattern by Lil Luxe collection. My daughter LOVES them!! They're so sweet and have pockets, pleats, and piping!

Baby Boy Gifts

Recently one of my husbands childhood friends contacted me to make a few things for his new baby nephew.  He pretty much gave me free reign which was fun! Since I have a girl and don't get a chance to make things for boys this was especially fun :)

I decided to make 2 pieces.  One for just everyday wear and one more of an special heirloom piece.  For the 'heirloom' piece I went with a sweet little grandpa cardigan.  I used the free baby sophisticate pattern.

Its a nice pattern that comes together quickly and who doesn't love a baby in a little grandpa cardigan :)

The second piece I made was the Brindle and Twig harem coverall.  I used some knit fabric I had in my stash (Hello Bear by Bonnie Christine). This sewed up extremely fast and is completely adorable.  

Thanks for stopping by :) Have a great day!!

Simplicity 8229

Good morning!!  I'm back after a little hiatus.  I took a little intentional break from social media and such.  I'm sure we can all agree it gets to be overwhelming at times.  We took a lovely family vacation to Hawaii at the end of September.  It was really just so nice to get away.

Anyway, since we've been back I've kind of gotten into sewing bras.  I bought both of the Simplicity patterns that recently came out by the lovely Maddie.  There are a lot of supplies to source for bra making so I purchased a kit (makes things so much easier!!).  I purchased my kits from Tailor Made Shop.



The pattern comes together extremely fast.  The fit for me was pretty good right off the bat.  I did however measure at a 32C but I found I do not like my bands quite that tight (I remembered this from a Watson bra I made ages ago).  I ended up making the 34B and checking the size as I went and it ended up fitting almost perfectly.  Going forward I think I'm going to shave just a little off of the top of the cup.  I will say though these bras fit me better than anything I've ever purchased even without the tweaking.

This black and white lace didn't have the pretty lace edge that the pattern calls for so I used picot elastic in the same manner that you do the sides and band.  Easy peasy :)  I hope you're all having a great start to autumn!!  I have to put my bra making on hold here and work on making costumes!!

Oh, summer

Just popping in quick to say hi!!  I hope everyone is having a good summer.  We've been busy with family visits, gardening, searching out fairies in the yard and just plain old slowing down. 

I've also been busy working on a workshop I'm taking on Skillshare.  It's just finishing up today but I thought I'd share a little illustration done for it.  It was taught by the lovely Bonnie Christine of Going Home to Roost.  

Happy summer!!

 

Forest Floor Blog Tour

 

Hi everyone!! Welcome to my stop on the  Forest Floor Blog Tour!  I am so excited to be included.  I am a huge fan of Bonnie Christine's work and the Forest Floor collection is no exception.  All of the prints are beautiful, wild, and ethereal. 

The first project that I wanted to make was the carry-all pincushion from the Handmade Style book by Anna Graham. 

 

This is such a handy pincushion with all of the fun pockets to store notions and such in.  I used four of some of my favorite prints from the collection.

All in all, the pincushion is a great useful piece that looks fantastic sitting on my sewing table.

Right after I had found out I'd be in this blog tour, a fellow mom from my daughter's dance class asked if I could make a maxi dress for her sweet girl who only likes to wear long dresses.  Well, it just so happened they chose the Wild Posy print in Flora.

This is the Emmaline dress pattern by Violette Field Threads.  

My poor daughter was so disappointed that this dress wasn't for her.  We do have some more of the print on order though to make her an identical one :)

After the 'heartbreak' of having to give away the dress of her dreams, I promised to make my daughter a long dress of something I had on hand.  I had 'almost' enough of this Clover Grove print in Whisper to make a maxi dress for her.  I made the Swallow Tail Dress pattern for her by Lil Luxe Collection. This is almost the maxi length (just about an inch or two shorter since we didn't have quite enough fabric).

One of the most fun features of the dress is the open back.  Its so perfect for the 100* heat we've been seeing here.

Lastly, I whipped up a pair of quick pajamas for my little girl.  It seems like all of the sudden she doesn't have any warmer weather PJs that fit.  I used the Bonne Nuit pattern from Sewing in no Man's Land.  I had a yard of the Flourish Aglow knit already so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to sew it up.

These have an adorable gusset panel in the seat.  The pattern also has a winter version as well.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!!  You can purchase Forest Floor fabrics here.  Take a peek at  the gorgeous bag Maureen Cracknell shared yesterday and next Monday's post by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth.  Make sure to check out Going Home to Roost for the full lineup and schedule.  

Inari Tee Dress

So, I recently purchased a remote for our camera and this is my first attempt at taking my own pictures.  I apologize in advance for the super awkward arm placement. Anyway, this is my version of the Inari tee dress by Named.

The dress is a lovely slight cocoon shape, side vents, and a high low hem.  The dress is super simple and comes together in a snap.  I used some Cotton + Steel rayon for this and I couldn't be happier.  I love the drape and simplicity of this dress.

A cropped version is also included in the pattern that I'm thinking of trying out soon.  I've seen some really cute versions of it floating around on Instagram. 

This was my 'helper' and I getting the camera set up hahaha! Also, a little sneak peek of a post I'm working on for Friday :)

Going Away Open Wide Pouch

Happy Weekend everyone! Hope its a good one.  We are in a bit of a heat wave here in the desert.  We have a high of 108* today!  Anyway, on to the sewn goods :)  We recently found out one of our friends here was going to be deployed for six months.  It all happened rather quickly and his going away party was yesterday.  I decided to whip up an open-wide pouch by Noodlehead.

I made the largest size using some Cotton + Steel for the exterior and some Bonnie and Camille for the interior.   If you haven't made this pattern I highly recommend it.  It comes together pretty quickly and really does make a wonderful gift.  Hopefully this will be useful to our friend in his upcoming travels.

Kids Clothes Week

Hi there!  I have been meaning to write this post up for a couple of weeks now so here we finally go.  This wasn't my first time participating in Kids Clothes Week but it has been a few seasons since I had.  If  you aren't familiar with KCW it's where you sign up to devote at least 1 hour per day during the challenge week to sew for your kiddos.  There is always a theme and you may or may not choose to follow it.  I usually don't and try to use that week to sew up a new seasonal wardrobe for my daughter.  This challenge I wanted to be a little more relaxed about things (not let my house get too awful messy lol).

The first thing that I made up was Simplicity 8101 .  Its the kids version of the Dottie Angel Frock.  This is view C.  I used all Cotton + Steel from the cat lady line.  The only changes I made were to not bind all of my inside seams with bias tape (I just thought that'd be too bulky).  I will note that the frock does run large.  This is a size 3 made for an almost 5 year old.  I would suggest if you make it to look more at the finished garment measurements than the size chart measurements (really I do this with any pattern and especially any from the 'big 4').  I made this for a friend's little girl for their family pictures.

This next one is the Rosemary Pinafore and slip by Violette Field Threads.  I used some long hoarded Heather Ross (Far Far away II) for the pinafore and a Robert Kaufman cotton lawn for the slip.  This is seriously cute on, the pictures don't do it justice.  My daughter absolutely loves it.  She even loves just wearing the slip by itself.

The last dress I made was the Persimmon Dress by Mousehouse Creations.  I used some even longer hoarded Heather Ross, Far Far Away double gauze.  I bought this before I was even pregnant with my daughter (she's 4.5 now).  For the middle I used a scrap of shot cotton I had and pre-made bias for the ties.  This dress came together so fast and is so cute!!  I will be making more for her for the summer!

Thanks!! Hope you have a great day!!

Maker's Tote

Hi there!! In case you haven't noticed I am a huge fan of Noodlehead patterns (by Anna Graham).  This one is the Maker's Tote in the large size.  This size is huge!  It has so many great details!!  The inside pockets are divided on both sides and the tote is self is nice and deep.  Oh, and it opens up nice and wide to see all of you goodies!!  

I knew I was going to keep my hand stitching and appliqué projects in here so I thought it would be a little funny to use this sloth fabric by Sarah Watts for Cotton + Steel.  You know, for my slow stitching!  Sorry bad joke there. 

Anyway, I am super happy with how this came out.  The pattern is pretty involved and a few parts are time consuming (hand stitching the binding) but in the end it is so worth it!!  

I hope you all have a great weekend! I know I'm looking forward to following all of the quilt market feeds on Instagram!!!