Twirly skirts

I decided not to make fabric ornaments this month because we are actually not spending christmas at our own home. So, instead, I found this great twirly skirt pattern online for free. It is pretty simple and I have started on skirt number one. Will post pics when I get it done!

http://houseonhillroad.typepad.com/photos/twirly_skirt/index.html

Felt cookies

For some reason, I am enamored of felt cookies. They are just so pretty and sweet to look at. So, I got it in my head I could make my own. It was easy and fun and my 6 year old daughter had a great time helping me. All I did is take two pieces of same color felt as one cookie, decorate the top, and then sew the pieces together. If the cookie was supposed to have been cut by a cookie cutter, I used my good scissors to carefully trim edges. Otherwise, I used pinking shears to give them a rougher look. I either glued on or sewed on decorations. My 6 year old is in love with them!

Here they are, with a closeup of my three favorites. The white cookie has little shiny lavender beads sewn on to look like sprinkles.

Next up, I may have to investigate making a felt cake for tea time!

Ribbon disaster!

My beautiful Ottobre corduroy dress had a mishap! See the beautiful butter yellow french velvet ribbon? I forgot to sew the end and it came unravelled during the first washing. What a mishap! And I don't mean slightly unravelled. I mean it unravelled all the way around! It was a disaster! Luckily, I found the same ribbon from the same seller on Etsy, Kiwii, and was able to order more. I will be seam ripping as soon as it arrives and you can be sure I will sew the ends this time. Ooof! What a mess. Oh well, live and learn.

Kids can be crafty!

My 6 year old daughter is quite an artist, in my opinion. She loves to draw and color. This weekend, she made this absolutely beautiful flower picture with regular crayola markers. I love the details. I loved it so much, I scanned it and uploaded it to Shutterfly where we turned it into mugs for the grandparent's Christmas gifts.

Crafty inspiration!

I need to spend less time on the computer and I decided to get some reading material to help me make that happen. What better than crafting books! So, I took some inspiration from some of my favorite crafting mama bloggers and ordered their books. These can all be found on Amazon. I will review them when they arrive. In the meantime, behold my crafty inspiration:

The creative family by Amanda Blake Soule and her other book, Handmade Home. Amanda's blog, Soulemama, is one of my faves (see sidebar for link) and I have often turned to her for inspiration. It will be great to be able to take her ideas wherever I go.

Alicia Paulson's book is about turning keepsakes into memories. It is more than just scrapbooking, which I actually find time cons

uming and not pleasurable, but about taking precious items and reworking them i

n a way to appreciate and keep them. I am excited about this one. You can visit her blog, rosylittlethings, by clicking on that link in my sidebar. Enjoy!

The increasing fabric stash

New fabric arrived at the house this weekend. Yeah! I love pretty fabric. It is like jewelry, only cheaper. I love going to the fabric store or shopping online and looking at all the combos. I have to spend time mixing and matching for a while before I actually buy. At this stage in my sewing, I do try to have a pattern in mind when I shop so I know how much to buy. And then I add a bit, to round it off by a half yard. That way I have extra and can make little things to match or fix mistakes.

First of all, my next project is going to be yo-yos for christmas decorations. I found this McCalls pattern, 6002, and fell in love. I want to make the yo-yo christmas trees and the yo-yo garland. My oldest daughter is going to help me. She is only 6 and a half but this will be a good project to get her help with. I bought the pattern and the Debi Mumm fabric at Joann's Fabrics. With four different patterns to chose from and one yard of each, I think my daughter and I will be able to have some fun with this project.

The absolute finale

This is the absolute finale of this dress. I added the butter yellow velvet ribbon to the waist and made a headband out of remnants. I love it! But more importantly, the munchkin loves it too! The headband is made from the same dot print as the underskirt and has a yellow velvet ribbon tie at back.

Custom-made clothing!

The new phrase for sewing your own clothing is custom-made! Sounds so much nicer to say your kids have custom-made clothing than saying you made it yourself. Today, I bought some fabric from the wonderful Etsy store, Treasure Bay Fabrics. She has a beautiful collection of fabrics and ribbons inspired by the children's clothier, Matilda Jane. Look what I bought to make some Matilda Jane-inspired dresses for my girls.

Here is collection one:

And some ribbon trim:

And here is collection two:

And some ribbon trim:

I am not sure exactly what I am going to make but I have some great ideas. I am looking at either making another dress like the pink floral twirl dress I finished last week, but with patchworked tiers so there is more color. Or an Ottobre pillowcase-style dress with a ribbon at neckline. Either way, I am very inspired buy these fabrics.

Hanna for the day

Today, Eliza is wearing a snowflake/floral print Hanna playdress from winter 08. She loves this print and calls it her flower dress. These dresses are perfect for two year olds, as they are easy to get on and off and they are super comfortable.

I did it!

I finally completed both dresses I have been working on for my girls. The first, a McCalls pattern, was meant to be done last spring but I never got it done. Now that I am in a sewing class once a week, I was able to finish it. Here is front and back views. Back has ribbon closure. I don't recall what the material is called but it came from Joann Fabric.

I also completed this little dress for my two year old. She was so happy to see it she wanted to wear it immediately. This is a pattern from Ottobre Designs issue 4/2006, pattern 10. It was a bit challenging for a beginner like me but I like how it turned out. It still needs the butter yellow velvet ribbon at the empire waist. That material is Robert Kauffman's Cool Cords.

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