Something old...

I picked up a pair of these vintage pillowcases at my local thrift store. I just loved the yellow print and the tatting on the edge was simply divine. As I was putting them away with the rest of my vintage stash (I keep the vintage fabrics, trims, etc. separate from the modern), I noticed the bag of hand-made doilies that my husband's grandmother had made over the years. We lost Grandma Ollie 10 years ago, but I know she is smiling down on Belle and is so proud of her sweet personality and sassy intelligence. So I didn't think she would mind if I put one of her doilies to use embellishing a skirt for little miss Belle.

Other than the fact that I had to repair a bit of the tatting, the skirt came together in literally 8 minutes. I chopped off the bottom of the pillowcase (where it opens) to the appropriate length for the skirt. A quick press of the elastic casing and two speedy seams and it was finished. Attaching the doilie, on the other hand, was a bit time consuming. My kids don't wear anything that I can't throw in the washing machine and dryer, so I wanted to make sure that the doilie would stand up to the abuse of a now FOUR YEAR OLD. So I stitched and stitched and stitched it to the front of the skirt.

Belle isn't old enough to understand the significance of this particular skirt, but she adores it. And it means a lot to the rest of us who do know the history of the doilie. And the super soft, light weight vintage fabric is perfect for the steamy NC springs/summers.

From Trash to Treasure

A few days ago I had one of those, "absolutely NOTHING is going right," days. Literally everything I touched turned to trash. Thankfully I was smart enough to stick to sewing for my own kids, so I didn't destroy any custom orders!

But, I was more than a little frustrated!

One of the projects I attempted to make was a dress for Bee for this summer. It really should have been easy. It should have taken about 20 minutes total. It should have been a lot of things that it wasn't!

The problem: I cut the arm holes too deep. In my brain I was making a pillowcase dress with a ribbon casing at the top. In real life that wasn't the case. And since arm holes cut to your belly button just aren't cute on anyone, I decided to try to fix the issue.

Another disaster! I cut off the top edge so that the arm holes were more appropriate, but then my dress was way too short. So I added a red hem band...that was way too stiff.

Can you see where this is going?

In the end, Bee has a new blouse. Roomy, breezy and lightweight. And I just love seersucker for the hot and humid NC summers!

It's cute right???

She had better love it! And wear it twice a week all summer long! Good grief!

Welcoming a New Baby

Welcoming a new baby is always fun! Those tiny toes, that sweet smell, the feathery hair....mmmmmm!

And every baby deserves a little something special, made just for them!

And a cute little cupcake on the bum can't hurt either:)

A Disaster...Oh, and a Skirt too!

Ok - Look closely just to the left of the skirt. Do you see the purple pen line on my microfiber sofa? Don't ask how it got there. Let's just say it had something to do with a one and a half year old and a slightly distracted Mommy trying to have a meeting in her house.

But here's what I need to know...HOW DO YOU GET PEN OUT OF MICROFIBER WITHOUT LEAVING A BIGGER MESS THAN YOU STARTED WITH????

I've been afraid to try anything in fear of just making the mess worse. Advice??? PLEASE!

Oh yeah, and that's my new summer skirt. I used the tutorial on Anna Maria Horner's blog and her Pastry Line voile. Here are my tips:

1. You can see through the voile. I am planning to tuck a lining in once I find a fabric that is appropriate. I started to use a lightweight muslin because I had that on hand, but really...why use a gorgeous voile and then put stiff, scratchy muslin underneath it? So I left a bit of a lip on the waist band where I can tuck a lining in later. Not smart, I'm sure, but I was antsy to get the skirt finished and try it on and who knows how long it will be until I make it to a fabric store! I suppose I could always wear a slip...if I even own one!

2. The larger the width of fabric you use, the better your result will be. I had already used this piece of fabric to line an infinity scarf (wait - I don't think I've shown that to you yet! another day, I promise!), so I didn't have a full-width cut to start with. It's still cute as it is, but it just doesn't have the flounce that I was looking for. So plan for width...lots of it.

3. Um - Measure! I didn't measure or mark the elastic channels at the top because I'm a wing-it sort of gal. I ended up a little off and had to add some stitching below the elastic channels. You don't really notice it until I point it out to you, but if you're a perfectionist, go ahead and measure then you won't have to worry about that little imperfection. Me - like I said, I wing it:)

Overall, the skirt came together super fast (even including the time it took me to splice together elastice pieces so I would have enough to finish) and the result is adorable. I will definitely be making more of these...in fact, I've already started picking out fabrics.

Now somebody tell me how to get the pen mark off my couch...PLEASE!

Making Do Monday - Fisher Boy "Shorts"

I seriously love No Big Dill...like major blog crush! So when I saw this tutorial that Katy created, I just had to try it out...that night:)

http://www.maryjanesandgaloshes.com/2010/08/making-your-own-patterns-with-no-big.html

In honor of my goal to "make do" as much as possible, I raided the stash. This Red Letter Day fabric has been hanging around for months. I've used bits and pieces for small projects, but still had some serious yardage left...it's perfect for that summer to fall transition, don't you think???

Now you must know, I sew at night. That means that all fitting is done through estimation and sometimes comparison to other articles of clothing, but NEVER to the actual child who will wear the item. For these, I pulled out my favorite pants pattern...size 1 year. Bee is only a few days away from being 1, so that seemed to make sense. Then I shortened the pattern by about 6 inches to get a capri length (and lose the extra hem allowance, since I didn't need any for these "shorts."

Well you can see that apparently we grow 'em really short around here, but they're still super cute PANTS...and she'll be able to wear them for at least a year:)

OOPS!

And double oops...

I started making Belle an adorable little outfit featuring a tall, skinny house stamp from StudioMo.etsy.com.

I began with the top...a modification of a dress pattern that I have used several times in the past, shortened to be a swingy tunic top and jazzed up with a stamped patch. I used one of Belle's t-shirts to measure the length of the top. I put the top together and then went to try it on Belle to measure the strap length...and then, "Oh my, is that your tummy???" I won't go in to the details, but I measured to top to be put together one way, and then put it together a different way. I'm pretty sure that my 3 year old doesn't need a new belly shirt, so we clearly had a problem. OOPS!

Luckily, Belle came to the rescue...sort of. What I left out above was that during the entire fitting and belly viewing, Belle kept repeating, "Mommy, this isn't a shirt. It's a skirt. This isn't a shirt, it's a skirt...." Well, ok...maybe it is. And I actually like it better as a skirt now that I see it...thanks Belle!

So, now we have a pair of pants on the sewing table, that were intended to match the top that is now a skirt. Easy solution...make another top. This time I decided to make a basic tunic top...minus the belly exposure. A few minutes later we tried on the new top. After less than an hour of wearing the new top, Belle was complaining that it was hurting. She directed me to the site of the pain...under her arms. Apparently I should have measured those straps instead of guessing on the length, because they were way too short. Off goes top #2...I promise I'll fix those straps after the girls are in bed tonight...DOUBLE OOPS!

But this time, Bee to the rescue! We decided to head to the outlet mall for the afternoon, but Bee was way overdressed for the hot NC sun. As we headed upstairs to find something light and breezy, we passed by the abandoned top #2, hmmmm....

PERFECT...Bee has a new dress! Those straps were just the right length for her chubby little arms:) And you know what? I like this one better as a dress too! (Sorry no pic of Bee in her dress...it was outlets then bed for the little one!)

Thanks girls and don't you just love elastic??? How else could two children more than 2 years apart wear the same piece of clothing on the same day?