The Perfect Summer Shoes

When I was little I LOVED my jellies so when I saw these I had to get them for baby girl. Not that babies need shoes but they were too cute to pass up...

9 Years

B and I have been married for 9 years! Can you believe it? It has been quite the journey together and we are lucky to have eachother. Looking forward to the next 9.

In other news Chase passed his karate test and now has a yellow belt!!!

Gotta Love A Cave

Rock Hunting

We had a fabulous day of rock hunting. It really is beautiful in the mountains. The dogs got to frolic off leash and play in the river, Chase got to smash rocks with his rock hammer, and B and I enjoyed a day out in nature. Chase found a fossil, coal, animal bones, red rocks, marble, shells, and a bunch of other random rocks (3 bags full).

It was an exhausting but delightful day.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy mother's day to all of the fabulous moms out there! Especially to my mom who is an amazing woman in every way! I am lucky to have her.

I had an amazing perfect day! So much fun - I feel so spoiled.

Here are some pictures...

Hats!!!

I bought an adult and matching kids hat pattern from Etsy from ButterflyTree. The pattern is really fast and easy and the final product is cute and reversible!

The only thing I haven't quite figured out is what kind of interfacing to use to make the brim as stiff a I want. I used 3 layers of extra thick interfacing and it still wasn't quite what I wanted.

The other tip I have is that these are definitely sized on the large size - if you are in between size down a size.

I really need to make a bow or fray flower for mine because it is a little plain without anything. I am excited to make Chase and baby hats too!!!!

Vest Take 2

I ended up making up the construction order as I went and this round went a little better (the zipper is perfect) but I am sure it could be further refined.

I need a model for all these cute baby things because photos without a model just don't do them justice!

Dragon Vest Pattern

I bought the Dragon Vest Pattern by Puperita on Etsy and I would say this pattern was an epic fail and I would not recommend it. The construction is complicated and not slick at all and involves hand sewing ick. The zipper installation seems like the worst possible technique ever - I will never do a zipper like that again - it looks terrible. It also has a lot of opportunity for human error (for example my zipper doesn't line up quite right so my seam in the front is a little crooked and the zipper doesn't end at quite the same height). The final product does have potential though so I think I am going to try to use a construction technique from another pattern I have and see if it turns out any better.

The only good thing about this vest is that Chase is super sweet and said "It's okay mommy no one will notice - I still love it and will still wear it!"

Thank goodness for loving 5 yr olds right?!

PS. Chase's serious model face is hilarious.

Reversible Infant Bubble Skirt Tutorial

I haven't done a tutorial in awhile and as you can see I've been on a sewing kick lately so here is a quick and easy little project.

I have been oogling adorable baby bubble skirts online lately so I thought I would give it a go.  The skirt is intended to fit about a 3 month old but I don't have a tester yet (I made the skirt based on measurements I found online - if someone out there will test the tutorial and leave a comment so I know the sizing is right I would appreciate it!).

The best part is that it is reversible!

Note:  Use a 3/8 inch seam unless otherwise noted.

Step 1:  Cut your fabric

- 13 to 14 inches of 3/8th wide elastic (this can easily be adjusted up or down to accommodate different ages / waist sizes - some things online said as small as 10 inches for a new born and up to 15 or 16 inches for a 6 month old)

- Cut a lining piece of fabric 24 inches wide by 7 inches tall (in the above picture the lining is the solid purple / pink fabric)

- Cut the skirt piece of fabric 41 inches wide (basically the entire width of a standard piece of cotton fabric with the edges cut off) by 9 inches tall (adjusting the 9 inches will make the skirt longer or shorter)

Step 2:  Prepare your lining

- Sew the short side of the lining right sides together to create a tube and press the seam open

- Iron one of raw edges down 1/2 inch

- Fold the same edge down again another 3/4 inch (this will create a casing that will hold the elastic later)

- Turn the tube right side out when you are done

Step 3:  Prepare the "bubble" or skirt fabric

- Sew the short side of the skirt fabric together to create a tube and press the seam open

- Gather the top and bottom of the tube using either a basting stitch or a zig zag stitch gathering method (make sure the stitching is close to the edge so that the gather stitches will be hidden later)

- Pull the gathers on both the top and bottom edges so that the tube is 11.5 inches across at each opening which is the same size as the lining tube (tie the gathering threads to hold the gathers in place at the desired width)

Step 4:  Attach the lining to the skirt

- Tuck the lining inside the skirt (right sides facing each other) and line up the raw edges (make sure the back seams line up)

- Pin (making sure the gathers are evenly distributed) and stitch around the entire tube

- Turn the tube right side out and top stitch around the edge on the lining fabric where the two fabrics meet

 

 Step 5:  Create the elastic casing

- Turn the skirt inside out and fold skirt in half (wrong sides are now together) so that the raw edge meets the iron fold of the lining piece (place the raw edge of the skirt tube right against the iron fold and fold the casing down over the raw edge) - you are basically tucking the raw edge under the elastic casing edge

- Make sure the line up the back seams

 

- Pin in place and repeat around the entire top of the skirt making sure the gathers are evenly distributed

 

 - This is what it will look like when the waist band (elastic casting) is pinned down over the raw gathered edge of the skirt fabric.

- Top stitch near the bottom edge of the waist band around the entire skirt (make sure to leave a 1 inch gap to thread the elastic through)

Step 6:  Thread the elastic

- Use a safety pin to thread the elastic through the waist band casing

- Zig Zag stitch the end of the elastic together to create a loop and pull all the elastic into the casing

- Top stitch closed the 1 inch gap

That's it!  You are now the proud owner of an infant bubble skirt!  Enjoy!

Feel free to leave comments if you have any questions!

Ruffled Diaper Cover

It is May 1st and snowy and wet and cold. What is a girl to do with a day off on an icky day like today? Well - sew adorable summery ruffle and bow butt bloomers of course! This is another pattern from LittleLizardKing Etsy shop.

I added the bow and ended up doing the ruffles like the romper pattern instead of this diaper cover pattern.

The one trick I love about these patterns is that she has you sew in the elastic as you sew the casing rather then using a safety pin to thread it after the fact.

I suspect that baby girl may spend much of the summer in white onesies and diaper covers!

BTW there is apparently no good way to take pictures of bloomers without a model.

Reversible Ruffle Jacket

I bought a sewing pattern off Etsy from PeekabooPatternShop for a reversible ruffle jacket. Let's just say that mistakes were made on this project and it definitely isn't my best work but the final product is still cute.

Here is what I would do differently next time:
- First I decided I wanted a warmer coat so I used a layer of flannel inside the sleeves and skirt and fusible fleece inside the bodice. This was a huge mistake - it made the project very bulky and made the button holes look like crap because it was so thick. My recommendation would be to settle for a light weight coat. It will make the project so much easier.
- Another thing that was slightly annoying is that the sleeves are so tiny they are really hard to attach to the ruffle and the bodice...it can be done but be prepared to spend some time on it. Also at the end you have to hand stitch the sleeves closed. Blegh I hate hand stitching!
- The coat skirt isn't that full - it is barely wider then the bodice so if you want a more poofy look add some width to those pieces.
- The pattern called for 4 buttons but I like the 2 button look much better - besides who wants to take the time to button baby into 4 buttons?
- Lastly the pattern came with a matching hat pattern but since I'm not in love wih how bulky this winter warm coat is I opted to skip the hat until I make a lighter weight version.

I do love me a reversible anything though so that is a major perk of this pattern! I wonder if making a larger size would be easier...