Easter Dress

My daughters obsession with turquoise has been going on for a while.  Back before Easter I began making a YELLOW dress. This yellow dress was supposed to be my daughters Easter dress to wear on Easter Sunday.  She saw me working on it one night and explained to me that yellow did not remind her of spring.  The yellow I had chose was bright and vibrant like a dandelion.  I loved it but clearly she did not.  So I asked her what her idea was and she said something pastel.  Ok, well what color of pastel?  Turquoise... and here is what we came up with.  I never got pictures back at Easter so I had her put it on so we could document our Easter creation.

A dress fit for a wedding and a brides headband

My sisters wedding was getting closer and closer.  My daughter begged me to make her a dress in one of the wedding colors.  I finally broke down a week before and ordered this fabric online.  I told my daughter that if it got here before we left I would make her a dress.  We were planning to leave on a Tuesday night.  The UPS man delivered the precious fabric Tuesday afternoon and I had to keep my word.  

This is a simple knit maxi dress.  What makes it fun is the long, braided tie that wraps around and around then over her shoulder.  I was unsure what my daughter had in her mind as far as "a dress to wear to the wedding"  But this is what I came up with while she was in school.  I got

lucky...she loved it!

The sash that my sister used with her wedding gown was this same peachy, blush color.  

I also worked with my sister in creating the headband for her wedding.  She found one online very similar that she wanted but didn't want to pay the price ($400)  Outrageous, I know.  Waiting to get more views of it from her Photographers.

Girls Maxi skirt

We found this colorful fabric and fell in love.

I think my daughter was drawn to it because it has teal in it which happens to be her obsession right now.

Anyway we made a simple maxi skirt and we both love the results.  With all the colors in this skirt we are left with lots of options for tops to be worn with it.

A Baptism Dress

My daughter got baptized in January.  We both loved how her Christmas dress turned out but we wanted to make just a few changes.  We wanted more of an over-sized key hole in the back instead of having the open back.  We decided to have the key hole be tied closed instead of the braided fabric closer.  We did a lace overlay on the bodice of the dress and we loved the idea of having accordion pleated chiffon for the the skirt of this dress.   

I was unable to find the accordion pleated chiffon at any fabric store.  I was way past having enough time to order it from an online provider.  Lucky me, I was walking through Sears and hanging on the rack in front of me was a womens accordion pleated chiffon skirt.  The only size they had left was a large.  So I purchased it with lots of excitement.  But how would I take it in and hem it into a High-Low hem like we wanted?  Could I do it without it raveling to pieces?

But we made it work and we were both pleased with the results of our creation.

Spring apron

I have had this cute book by Nathalie Mornu for quite some time.  It is full of darling apron ideas and patterns.  I finally decided to make something out of it.  I chose this little girls Fairy Tale apron designed by Aimee Ray.  I just loved how the cute little embroidered scene turned out.  I am in love with the darling little bunny.  He reminds me of spring.  This book is such a fun one.  Check it out and then get to work!

A Christmas Dress

Before we moved from California I made one last stop at Eddies Quilting Bee to scan the fabric and to pick up both of my machines that I had them service.  In their hidden room upstairs, where most of their apparel fabrics are, I found this beautiful cream silky fabric with small brown stars on it.  I fell in love and knew it had to become a beautiful Christmas dress.  I checked for a price and all I could find was a tag that said "IMPORTED FROM ITALY"  My eyes filled with $$$ signs as I began to tell myself, "Put it back on the shelf it will be to expensive.  I ignored the argument I was having with myself and quickly took it to the young girl at the cutting table.  As I handed the bolt of fabric to her I explained that I didn't see a price anywhere.  She did a quick search herself and still had no price.  She looked at me and said, "How about $8.99 a yard."  I tried to control my excitement as I asked for 2 yards.

 

Most of their cotton fabrics start at $10-$12.99 per yard.  In my mind I scored an awesome deal that I would be bragging to my friends about for months.

Anyway, here is what that beautiful 2 yards of creamy, silky fabric with small stars became.

The hem starts out short in the front but gets longer as you follow it around to the back.  It has more of an open back that is held together with a small braid and the gathered ruffle at the waist leaves it with  a girlish feel.

Halloween costumes 2012

Here are the three costumes I made this year for Halloween

After lots of thought my oldest son decided to go with Captain America instead of a Ninja Turtle.

My Oldest thought it would be fun to dress up as the Statue of Liberty.  The sewing part of this costume went together so super fast.  The crown however took some time.  I went back to elementary school and did some paper mache.  That's right, paper mache is how I completed the crown.  After letting the gooey wet newspaper form dry a little paint helped bring the look together.

 

This one had a little ABC show that has a circus theme.  The main announcer is dressed like a Circus Master and that is what he wanted to be for Halloween.    This look could also work for a Magician.