Racerback Dress in Teepees and Fringe + quick tutorial

Hi! 

I wanted to jump on and share with you a quick and easy way I've discovered to change the bottom hem of my dresses into fringe. I've been really liking the look that fringe gives with it's movement, but I wasn't sure if I could create the clean precise strips and I wasn't interested in buy fringe trim and hoping that it washed well. 

But, I found a quick and easy solution that I can reuse over and over again. 

See? 

Winter Pajamas in Indigo + Unicorns

 Winter is certainly closing in on us here in the Midwest. Even though the forecast says we'll have quite a few 40 degree days (what?!) this month, I'm not a winter person and prefer above all else, to be in sweltering heat with no air conditioning. So, to me it's still pretty cold. haha 

Which has led me to make my oldest some new snuggly pajamas. She loves those pajama sets that have a matching top and bottom. We get them given to us from friends who have older children, but she has shot up another few inches and it's leaving her ankles a bit exposed. I thought I better take matters into my own seamstress hands rather than go purchase a new set. It sure does feel good to have practical skills. :) 

DIY Best Bottom Diaper Tutorial

Hey guys! I was suggesting my diaper cover pattern + tutorial to a friend the other day and was saddened to find the link to the tutorial wasn't working. Granted, I am not a tech savvy person so fixing it will be an undertaking in itself. If anyone has advice on how to do that, I would be forever grateful! Until then, the most obvious answer was to post the tutorial into its own blog post and link it to the pattern. My main goal is to offer an inexpensive alternative to buying pre-made diapers and I hope this tutorial does that! 

Here we go!

First you need the pattern- you can find it at my original post HERE.

KCW: Romper in Peach and Triangles

I really wish I had the time to sit and pre-purchase awesome fabric that matches the KCW theme because they're always insanely fun and well thought out.
This theme is Wild Thing and this make has absolutely nothing to do with it. I digress...

Boutique Style Outfit for Easter

Happy SPRING! 

Oh man, I've been waiting what feels like forever to say that! Luckily, my son's birthday is the first day of spring and so I get to doubley celebrate it. 

Mae & Co. SS15 Release

Shamelessly cute baby attention grabber...

Little Photographers Camera Pattern Test

Hey guys! I'm back with a really fun pattern I tested for Stephanie at Swoodsonsays who now lives IN MY CITY. As a midwest blogger, that's a pretty big deal. Sewing bloggers are few and pretty far between in these parts- so I welcome the company! 

Ok, to the pattern. Isn't it cute? I saw her post a teaser on her IG account  and asked if I could be added to the tester group. I'm kind of an Instagram junkie, so if you don't follow me GO DO THAT. 

KCW Upcycle Spring 2015

This round of KCW was super fun! I only wish I could have seen MORE awesome things. I mean, my upcycled box runneth  over and that's after purging it 6 mo. ago! 

Watercolor Dress Remade

Who would have known that the Watercolor Dress I made for Lily last summer would become one of the most adored pieces. It's gotten so much attention on my FB group that I've created two more in size 2t for a customer.

The Top Posts of 2014

This year I was having trouble wrapping my brain around the whole Round-up of 2014 thing. Last year I had fun doing The Best of the Worst 2013 where I pulled out all of the bloopers from 2013's photoshoots. This year I was planning to skip it because I couldn't think of anything new that wasn't an overwhelming task. Let's be honest, now that I have myself a busy toddler and a baby under 1yr, time is not something I have in excess. So today when I was scrolling through my newsfeed during a shockingly long streak of uninterrupted free time, I came across the idea of rounding up your top 7 posts in 2014- Readers choice. I love it! What a great way to show you guys what YOU like and also to get some insight into what makes this place fun for the readers. Shall I venture to say this is definitely going into my thought process about goals for 2015?? 

7. Project Run and Play: Let's go to the Movies

Embroidery Season

While I'm sure there are embroidery enthusiasts that stitch all year round, my tendency is to stitch when the weather gets cold. 

Small Fry Skinny Jeans in Floral

Another installment of skinny jeans for winter here today. I picked up this fabric a month or so ago and didn't expect that it would take me THIS long to make them. Oh well, the weather got warmer for a bit and has now dipped back down and she'll certainly need them.

KCW Day 1 - Firestar

Day 1 of KCW 

Thank goodness that this round is right before Halloween. I need one more reason to get in my sewing room and get these costumes done or I'll be up the night before beggars night cursing. 

Sew Geeky - Studio Ghibli Totoro Dress

Studio Ghibli - they make some of my favorite children's movies& when I saw that this was the theme of September's Sew Geeky I was ON BOARD. 

Astro Boy - Project Run & Play 80's Cartoon Sew-a-long

 Another season of Project Run & Play is upon us. 

It's a fun competition full of themes and drama. Yes, only one can be the winner- but for the rest of us, there's the sew-a-long. I've been participating for many seasons now and truly enjoy looking at each seamstresses work, gaining both inspiration and motivation to push my limitations further and further. 

So, week 1. The theme is one near and dear to our hearts... anyone who spent their Saturday morning or after school hours plastered intently to a television screen knows exactly what I'm talking about- 80's cartoons yo. 

Paper Bag Skirts in Blue & Plaid

So there's a huge chasm between those who love paper bag skirts and those who hate them and then there's me standing in the middle seeing both of their points going hmmmm...

Fussy Cut Circus Purses

Because I'm now sewing for a local brick and mortar shop called The Vintage Street Market in Altoona Iowa, I've spent a ton of time recently getting together items to place for sale. It's taken a lot of my *just for fun* sewing time away but I'm still really enjoying it! Recently I finished these purses. 

Sewing for the store-front shop: Saffron Twirl Dress in Pink & Orange Elephants

Why have I been so busy lately? 

Well, aside from the fact that we homeschool, have a new baby, are renovating a house, and are in my husbands "busy" season at work (yeah there's ANOTHER reason as if I needed one!) ...

The All-Spice Dress in Floral & Ruffles

My final All-Spice tester dress is another intricate one. Yeah, I could have quickly sewn up something to satisfy my role as tester, but how much fun is that?? Lily loves everything ruffles and girly, which if fine with me although I'm not a huge fan of them. If you remember, not too long ago I changed my mantra to "quality rather than quantity." I want my kids to wear their handmade clothing happily, and if that means taking a bit of extra time on them then I'll do it. 

Kcw - The Last Days + 1; All-Spice Mural Dress

All my dreams of finishing my dress by day 7 were shattered at about 9pm last night. 

I finally realized it just wasn't going to happen, but I kept embroidering until around 10pm. Then I needed a goods nights rest and to give myself today to finish up.