The Princess Peach Dress

Well guys, I'm out. :( But o-well. This was my entry:

I loved this week's challenge!  Let's be honest; I totally need a challenge like this every week.  Maybe then I'd actually get through my slightly ridiculous stash of fabric.  Maybe.  Please tell me that some of you buy fabric just because it's pretty too?  Quite a bit of what I buy fabric wise is because it's pretty and not necessarily because I have a plan for it... YET.  The "yet" part is important; I always come up with something eventually!!

For this week's "Spring Cleaning" challenge I give you:

Can you tell a six year old named the dress?  Haha!  Super Mario is well loved by the kid's in my life.  Isn't my niece so cute?!  At one point I told her to say "I'm Princess Peach."  Instead she said, "I'm Princess Mario!"  Then cracked up.  She's so funny. :) 

I've had both of these fabrics for a while.  The pink one I got for like two bucks at Savers!!  Thrift stores can be awesome for getting really nice/pretty fabrics for cheap!!  The bridal lace/chiffon I got with a 50% off coupon from Joann's... mostly because I had a 50% off coupon. ;)  And the bunny button's were just some cute buttons I had picked up a while ago.  Together I think they make a pretty cute Easter dress!  (How perfect are the bunny buttons for an Easter dress?!)

All in all, I LOVE the end result of this little dress (that I designed)!  (I think my niece likes it too.) ;)

Hooray for Spring!! Green Ruffle Skirt and Flower Shirt

Well guys, I made it to round three (and to Seattle!)  I'm off to my sister's to get next week's project finished.  (I started it at home, but wasn't quite able to get it done before I needed to leave.  So, I will be finishing it tonight.)  Wish me luck!  The competition is getting harder and harder!!

With this week's "green" theme, I wanted to focus on something that could be worn all through the spring and summer season, instead of something just for St. Patty's Day.

I planned and half designed three separate outfits before I decided on the direction I wanted to go in this week.  The end result is super fun!!  So girly, but not so dressy that you can't have a good time on the playground.



The shirt is purchased, then embellished with flowers made from jersey and little green (and the occasional yellow) beads.  The skirt, however is made (and designed by me) from scratch.  It originally was planned to be just layers of the green jersey, but as I was making it, it needed a little something "more".  That "more" came in the form of a layer of chiffon and two layers of a pretty damask cotton.  Plus a rolled rosette as an accent.

Would you like to see some close ups of the details?  Ok!  Here ya go!!

Isn't my little model so cute? :)  I asked her if she was doing the "Pledge of Allegiance" in the picture just above.  She said, "Yes."  I love little kids!! :)

Tangents aside, I have to say that I love how this week's project turned out!  I want to make a big(ger) on for me!

HOORAY for SPRING!!!

Trashed Toddler Play Table to Beautiful Toddler Bed and Learning Center

Did ya guess this was mine?!  I love it so much!  I can hardly wait till Eme is old enough to use it as a bed. :)  But, it's already a great play table for him... he doesn't get that that the chalk is for drawing, not eating though!  We're working on that! haha!

This first week's challenge was so much fun!  I went straight to the DI and was SUPER lucky to find a majorly trashed toddler play table!  It sparked a very fun (and soon to be needed) project!  So, without further ado; I give you: The (Trashed) Toddler Play Table to Beautiful Toddler Bed By Night and Learning Center By Day!

To begin this make over, I spray painted the table and little stool a pretty light blue.  I also removed the (very ugly) rope drawer pulls and plugged the holes with wood filler.  After it had dried, I (ok my hubby) attached the pretty new drawer handles I had picked out.  (Thanks babe!)

To make this work as a bed, I had to make a mattress.  I did this by stuffing two body pillows into a mattress form that I made using thrifted sheets.  Velcro makes for easy removal and cleaning of the mattress form.  I also used thrifted sheets to make the bedding set and a thrifted pillow to make the "E" accent pillow. The star is corduroy that I had in my stash.

To make the learning center, I painted one side of the table top with chalkboard paint and glued a map of The United States on the other.  (I plan to homeschool, so I figure this will be a fun, easy way to get started with geography early.  Plus it makes for a nice "train" background, don't you think??) :) 

I love this new little bed/playtable!!  And I love that it saves a TON of space!!  The fact that the mattress can also be a soft base for playing isn't a bad thing either!  No cracked heads = a very good thing! The possibilities for play on this table are endless!  Legos? check.  Trains? Check.  Painting? why not?  Really, it's just the perfect space and size for my little monkey!

Well guys, I'm kind of back in sewing business...

This is the machine I'm using:

And yes.  It's as old as it looks.  I don't know the exact year it was made, but I think I can safely say it's at least 50 years old.

Wish me luck.  I'm fairly certain I'll be needing it.

Little Lyric's Gift Set

So, I know I promised to post this earlier, but, I forgot that we had a "Souper" Bowl party to attend, for which I had to make soup.   Which took a good portion of my afternoon, then there was the party, and now it's 1am and I'm FINALLY writing this.  lol.  O-well, better late then never right?  For those interested I made Itailian Wedding Soup and it was awesome. :)

Anyway, you guys wanted to hear about the gift set right?!

Here it is!  I'm calling it the Little Lyric Set.  I had such a wonderful time designing this set!  (Like the booties?!  I'll be sharing my pattern (for which I used the bottoms of these booties) on this week's Tute {Yourself} Tuesday, so don't forget to stop by, get the pattern and link up!)

The blanket is what I call a "car seat blanket" because it is perfectly sized for a carseat!  No more blankets hanging out and ending up on the ground!!  Woohoo!!!!!  (I seriously HATE when Eme's blankets end up half on the ground because they are too big.  So, this is the perfect solution.)

Then I made a little pink monkey hat to match the blanket so that Lyric can hit the town in style!

I think the flower is a fun little detail. :)

The jewled center of the flower is really a button that matches the one on the chin strap.



Gotta love a little bling on a baby! :)

Next up is the dress that I totally teased you all with last night.  I la-la-LOVE it!!!!

I was seriously dying when I finished it!!  Remember the little white dress that I showed you a few weeks ago?  That was the first draft of this dress.

I shortened the sleeves up, elasticized the neck line and gathered the sleeve and hem lines to make them poofy.  Poofy anything is super fabulous on baby girls, don't you think?! :)

To round the gift out, I made her these sweet little booties.  (Which I realize I showed you just a few days ago...)

Based on your sweet, sweet comments, I decided to keep the polka dots instead of switching to the poms.  Thanks for your help on that! :)

I'll leave you with one last parting shot of the whole gift.  :)

What do you guys think?

Oh!  Before I go, have you guys heard about "One Month to Win It"?  It's a new crafting competion that is being hosted by several different blogs.  The auditions for month one start Wednesday!  I'm planning on entering, but I'm not sure which project to enter...  The two projects I'm deciding between are this post's  Little Lyric Gift Set and Little Elijah's Gift Set.  Which set do you guys like better?

PLEASE, PLEASE help me decide!!!!  Pretty, pretty, pretty please!!!!

**Edit**
Ok guys!  Apparently THIS is the one to enter so, I have!!!  Fingers crossed and wish me luck!!!!!






And, as usual, I'll be linking to the awesome linkies on my side bar. :)

Remember that baby shower gift I've been working on?

I finished it!  Good thing too, since the shower was today.  Should I tease you with a little sneak peek of the dress?  I think I should...

Haha!  That's all you're getting tonight!  I'll do a full reveal tomorrow.

In the mean time, head over to my friend Natalie's Blog, where I'll be sharing my Li'l Miss Bunny Tutorial. (Check Sunday morning.)  :)

P.S.  Incase you haven't yet entered, my giveaway ends TOMORROW at midnight...head over to Acting Balanced now!!  You might just win a hat of your choice or one of two $20 gift certificates to my shop!! :)

Seeking Advice...

About sewing machines.

I've kinda-sorta mentioned this before, but I HATE my sewing machine.  I swear that I spend at least as much time fighting with it as I do sewing with it.  It's a cheap-o bottom of the line Singer that was awesome when I got it 3 1/2 years ago.  Mostly because it was a sewing machine and for the two or three (easy) projects I had time to tackle a year, it did what I needed it to.  Which was: make it so that I didn't have to hand sew the whole thing.

Fast forward to now, where I sew just about every day, it's causing a blood pressure raising amount problems.  I'm so tired of fighting tension, needles, fabric, TENSION.  ARG!

I've been saving up to get a serger, because, let's be honest, I need one of those too.

So here's where the advice seeking comes in:  Do I get a new and MUCH better sewing machine first or the serger??

The hubster thinks I should get the serger because I already have a sewing machine so getting a new one can wait.

I'm starting to think that I will go crazy if I have to keep fighting the darn thing.

So, my sewing friends, what to do?

Any machine recommendations will also be VERY welcomed.

I seriously appreciate any insight you have.

Thanks all!

Monkeys for my Monkey.

My son is hilarious.  You've seen the pics, you know.  One of his favorite things to do is pull my blanket off my bed and then roll around and throw himself into it.  haha.  It's really a very cute thing.

My blanket is SUPER soft.  It's like a Little Giraff blanket, only king size and even softer.  I love it and so does he.

Eme has one Little Giraffe blanket that he LOVES, but I thought he could use another one.  (You know, for when the other one's in the wash.)  But Little Giraffe blankets are  EXPENSIVE.  My mom gave him one as a happy BIRTH day present.  He's used and loved it pretty much every day since.  But since buying him another one is out of the question, I decided to make him one with some of the fabric from my stash. (That I bought from the remnant bin a while ago.  I <3 the remnant bin. :) )

It's soft and it's snuggley and it's perfect for my little blankey loving monkey.  Wanna see?

Here ya go!

MONKEYS for my Monkey. :)

The fabric is cute, but not something I would have normally chosen.  The hubster found it.  So, we got it, and tonight as I was pinning on the binding he goes, "Is that the fabric I got?  I was gonna make something with that."  Oops.  Sorry.  Though I really have no idea what he would have make with it.  He just liked the feel of it.

I think this little (totally accidental) corner is my favorite part.  Peek-a-BOO!!!

This was my second time doing a binding and it went a little smoother and looks at least somewhat better.  I have a ways to go before I'll declare myself anywhere near being truly good at it though.  I went the easy(er) (though not as 'creative') route this time and bought pre-made satin blanket binding.  It was definitely faster.  haha.  Making your own binding takes FOREVER.  Especially when you don't have a binding maker. 

All in all this was a fun (relatively fast) little project that I'm fairly certain my son will love.

Gah!! Guess What?!

**I'm giving away one of my Koala Bear Hats!!  Click here to enter!**


Andrea from The Train to Crazy included this little skirt:

in her Make It Wear It, Women's Fashion Competition!!  I feel so honored!  I'm in super cute company. :)

Guess what?  You guys can vote for your favorite!  Head over now and check 'em out, get inspired and don't forget to vote!

A Little Dress

**I'm giving away one of my Koala Bear Hats!!  Click here to enter!**

This is a trial/muslin of a pattern I'm working on.  This is the first "go" and there are some obvious problems, but still, all in all, I think it'll be pretty cute once I get the kinks worked out. :)

(Do you recognize the fabric?  I know I said that I was going to make a skirt out of it, but there's a TON of fabric, so I decided to use some of it on this little dress.  I'll still be making a skirt at some point!)

The neck line is rather large, but, I plan to add a casing and ribbon to it so that it is cinch down-able.  The arms are longer then I want them to be, so, I'll be shortening those the next time.  Also, you'll probably have noticed that the under arm seam is a bit wonky.  Here have a look:

That will need to be fixed as well.  This is why I do muslins people!  So that I get the kinks out before I destroy the nice pretty fabric that I have planned for the final dress.  Not that this fabric isn't nice and pretty... ;) 

The last detail that needs some fixing is that I plan on making this dress bubble just a bit, not like big and puffy, just a little bit ruffle-y.  (Does that make sense at all?  It looks good in my head...)  So, that means I need to make the outer layer a bit wider at the bottom then the inner layer.  I'll share more as this process unfolds it's self.

Designing is FUN!! :)



I'll be linking up to the parties on my side bar! :)

Valentine's "Wreath" Tutorial

**Looking for the Linky Party?  Scroll down, it's next! :)** 
**I'm giving away one of my Koala Bear Hats!!  Click here to enter!**


Welcome to this week's tutorial!  In thinking about what to share with you all this week, I realized that I have NO Valentine's Day decorations.  None.  Zip.  Zero.  Nada. 

To fix this little over site, I decided that it was high time I made my self a wreath.  However, I had this fun little frame that I had spray painted red a few weeks ago, inspiration struck and I went with it (though the hubster totally doesn't get it.  O-well.)

I give you the:

 Tutorial.

You will need:

One old picture frame spray painted red.  It can be as large as you would like.  I used a small one, but if you wanted to do a large one, I think it would look very pretty.  Just adjust the size of your heart to fit the frame. :)

Some pink fabric scraps large enough to cut out your hearts.

a sewing needle

matching thread

eyelet lace four times the length that you want your wreath to hang

satin ribbon

Now, I don't have any pictures of me spray painting the frame, but, I'm thinking that you guys can handle that part with out my help. ;)  Have it sprayed and ready to go.



 (Like my band aid?  I *highly* recommend only using a rotary cutter as it is intended to be used.  *Don't* try carving an eraser with one.  You might get cut.  Just sayin'.)



Ta-Dah!  My new Valentine's Day "Wreath" hack.  What do you think, fun no?

I'll be linking this "wreath" up to the linky's on the right. :)

What I did today.

I got this hat sent off to it's lucky recipient:

I made this sweet, super fun bow tie for Li'l E:

And, I found this fan-tabulous embroidered fabric while thrifting (ok, really, it's a duvet cover, but I see fabric.):

It's calling out to become a summer skirt...or possibly a dress. :)

Have a Super Fabulous weekend! :)