Train Ride

Believe it or not, I don't just sew and make bows and tutus. On Sunday, which was a beautiful day, we took the kids to the park. At the park, is a mini train, and G loves to ride the train. Too bad it isn't free. So, the first thing we did when we got there was ride the train. After the train ride, we walked up to the paddle boat area and decided to let the kids ride the paddle boat. We let the older three go alone, while S and I took one out with G. She hadn't had a nap all day, and she was doing great at first. She loved the water and the geese, but once we caught up to her brother and sisters, she had a major meltdown! She wanted in the paddle boat with them. So, there S and I are trying to calm her down, keep her in the paddleboat and paddle back to the dock. Whew! It was a workout for me. The older kids had a blast with minimal arguing. Over all, it was a nice afternoon at the park. At least we survived G's meltdown!

On the train (before the meltdown)

Tutu Night

I have a little booth in a childrens' store where I sell bows, tutus, and wipe cases. I went in to check and see if I needed to do some stocking, and I had a special request for a pink and white tutu. So, I made it tonight, and thought I would share it. I love tutus. I just wish G would put them on for me every now and then, but it is WWIII if we try to slip one on her.

Anyway, here is my special request tutu. (Sorry. The picture quality kind of stinks. It is late, and the lighting is too dark.)

T-shirt to Infant Gown

I ran across this tutorial with a pattern on turning t-shirts into infant gowns. Of course, it could be used on material, too. However, upcycling your t-shirts is so frugal and cool at the same time. The directions were very easy to follow, and the gown took me about half an hour start to finish. I think it turned out pretty good. Although, I think I would prefer the neckline to be serged instead of zig zagged. I can't wait to do more!

Here is a link to the pattern and tutorial:
http://thismamamakesstuff.com/2008/08/tutorial-t-shirt-to-newborn-gown/

And here is my first t-shirt turned gown. *Note - I used a women's large shirt, and there wasn't enough material for the sleeves. I had to cut into another shirt for the sleeves. So, I think to make it with all of the material the same, you definitely need to use a Men's large.*

Stacked Easter Bow

My quick project for today was making an Easter bow to go with G's easter shirt. It is a middle spike 5 inch stacked bow. I am not posting a complete tutorial on it, but I will post a picture of each individual bow, and how they are layered. These are my favorite bows!

Ok, here is the shirt that NEEDED a matching bow! ;)


I started with my base (bottom and top) bows. I made two twisted boutique bows in 7/8 in. ribbon


Then, I made the surrounding loops.


After the surrounding loops, I made the spikes


When, the layers were all done, I sprayed them with starch and baked them at 225 degrees for 15 minutes. Starching and baking helps them keep their shape for a really long time.


While they were baking, I whipped a quick little bow for another shirt that NEEDED a bow, too! I had to utilize the 15 minutes anyway!


Ok, so back to the original bow. After it was done baking, I attached each layer to the other starting with the pink twisted bow as the bottom base, then, the spikes. After the spikes, I attached the surrounding loops. On top, I attached the yellow twisted boutique bow.



Then, I lined a single prong alligator clip, glue gunned the bow to the clip, and attached the center ( a cute little orange easter egg)


All Done!!!!!


and a closer view

My start

So, for Christmas quite a few years ago, my mom bought me a sewing machine. I had no idea how to use one, but I really wanted to learn. I read the manual, thread the bobbin wrong about a thousand times, finally got it right, then, I made my girls pajama pants. The first pair came out toddler size (my girls were around 5 at the time or a little older). I sewed the legs together on the second pair! Finally, I got two decent pairs to come out. Funny thing, the girls still wear them today ( at 11 and 10), although, they look more like Bermuda shorts now!

I sewed off and on, but always got discouraged. Fastforward to the last year or so, I have been sewing more and more. I read blogs, watch you tube videos, follow tutorials, etc. and just throw myself into it. I don't have a lot that comes out without some mistake or two, but I am getting better! I would love to take a class or two....someday????

So, this morning, I grabbed an old faded pillow case, and attempted to make a pillow case dress. It turned out pretty good. So, then, I took the measurements from my first pillowcase dress and cut out some fabric. The second dress out of fabric came out even better! Yay for improvement! I didn't follow a particular pattern. I looked at a few places online, and then, just did my own thing. I will post a picture or two later.

For now, here are the places I got inspiration from.
http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/basic-pillowcase-dress/

http://www.youcanmakethis.com/info/new-sewing-and-applique/Caroline-Dress-with-Matching-Doll-Pattern-Sizes-0-8.htm

https://www.fabshophop.com/downloads/pillowcaseDress_chop1.pdf

http://www.jenleheny.com/pillowcase-dress-instructions


Check back later for pics!!!!

I have aspirations to do my very own tute, too! Hopefully, I will get to that this week!

Ok, here is my 13 (almost 14 year old) with his 22 month old sister, modeling my first pillowcase dress from fabric! Please forgive the leftover strings I forgot to pull off the dress. LOL


And to show how versatie it is, here it is on my 10 year old daughter (she was even sweet enough to model it with spilled soup all over the front from G).l