Two Little Princesses

Okay, let me start by saying I've had no sleep and therefore, may be a bit unusual...even for me.

Today Anna is having a Princess Tea Party Themed Jewelry Party at her Grandmother's house. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to get out the princess material I've been hoarding for the little ones and make them a special outfit. Aubrey has been on me to make her something special since I made Anna's prom dress.

So, we made our plans, picked out our patterns and I scrimped together some remnant pieces and dug out the fabric I've been hoarding for nearly two years now.

Let me see if I have any pics I can insert here...

Yay! I kept the photos. So yeah, some sewing stash that we picked through, patterns the girls chose themselves out of a stack of them and finally the fabrics I decided to work with.

Okay, in the process of this we also picked up some flip-flops at Hobby Lobby the other day because Sophie has chewed two pair...no as of about 4:00 AM...THREE PAIR of Bekah's flip-flops. Now, any princess I know has always worn beautiful coordinating "slippers" with her lovely attire. So....

Yes, that is pink tulle shaped into bows with a daisy. Both girls have a similar flower in their outfit.

Now, after hours of sewing and an entirely sleepless night we end up with these, (and may I say I'm SOOOOOO Happy with how they turned out)...

Can't wait to see the girls in them. They have no idea how they turned out.

Well...timer just went off telling me the cupcakes are done.

Keep Your Hands Busy!

SMiLES!

GWeN

My Pink Peony Dress Refashion

When working with this shirt I started thinking about one of my favorite bushes...peony. The blush pink of the blouse reminds me of the soft pink peonies you sometimes see. Not white, not bright hot pink but a pale soft pink...like little blossoms of cotton candy growing on a bush.

Later when the ruffles took shape, it really sent the image home with me so I decided that I would call this dress my pink peony dress. (Even though the florals on the skirt are tropical.)

So, the pictures are pretty self explanatory. If you read my post on Anna's Refashioned dress then you get the idea of how this works.

Started with this:

Cut off flowers, put in some tucks and cut off bottom:

Used part of the bottom to create a ruffle for the neckline:

Added some more ruffle to create some extra pretty:

Here you can see where I cut the edges with pinking shears to add a little extra "texture". I also added some stitches to hold the ruffles in place once they get in the washer. A zigzag stitch down the center of the neckline ruffle to allow for any stretching that may need to happen when putting this over my big fat head...LOL!

Time for an intermission...

This intermission has been brought to you by hill-billy sewists everywhere. Because you just can't operate your sewing machine when you have on shoes and socks...

That's right! I absolutely can not sew with my shoes on and even socks seem to get in my way. Am I a weirdo for doing this? Probably, but we all have our certain little idiosyncrasies and it makes the world a much more interesting place...right?

Now back to the project...

Time for the skirt:

Gather...

Pin and stitch...

Now what the photos don't really show you is that I pinned this the wrong way and had to completely undo the seam. Later I had to undo some areas that got caught in the seam. My quick project ended up taking quite a bit longer than expected...OIY!

Anna took a photo of me so everybody could see the dress on a person. I think the position enhances the girth of my waist...honestly this dress hangs loose around the waist and feels great.

Had to have one of my classic goofy faces for the post...hehehe!

So that is it. A simple little dress made from a shirt that I barely used and a thrift store skirt that cost me a whopping 99 cents.

Thanks for stopping by!

Keep Your Hands Busy!

SMiLES!

GWeN

Refashion Project

Anna wanted to do some shopping today with her new found B-day money she got from her Dad and his side of the family. So, we went to the thrift store and Goodwill. She found a few fun things. A couple that we could refashion into a cute summer dress.

So here is what we started with:

And this:

The top was super cute but hung too long and Anna was not impressed with the side tie sash. So we decided to combine the two pieces and create a fun little summer frock she could make and easy breezy go-to-dress.

First....

Figure out how long you actually want the shirt portion to be and then cut off the extra.

Second...create gathers...

Setting the stitch length to the longest stitch I made two rows of stitches about 1/4 inch apart...

Then...

holding onto the "bobbin" threads...slide the fabric along creating gathers...

Now...

pin shirt to wrong side of skirt (did this due to the decorative edge on the skirt, wanted to maintain that feature) being sure to match seams and spread the gathers evenly.

Finally...

Stitch, I used a zigzag stitch because of the elastic waist on the skirt. Following two of the decorative stitch rows, I zigged and zagged right over them creating an invisible attatchment. Then I pulled the waistband to its limits and popped all the gathering rows (straight stitches don't stretch, but zigzags do), pulled the loose threads out and ended up with this...

an easy little frock all ready for a beautiful summer day. Its casual enough to use for every day but pretty enough to wear out to dinner with family.

Anna wearing it, notice how the top blouses over the skirt a bit. Wanted this to allow her to have breathability on hot, hot days.

She's even pretty without her makeup and her, I-just-pulled-my-hair-back-to-wash-my-face look.

This is her right after she made a hiliarious face...caught her in the middle of laughing at herself.

Well, I'm planning on making a couple of refashion dresses for myself too. Have a floral print skirt I got for 99 cents to pair up with a blouse I've had that I never have anything to wear with. Also a mulit print top I got for $1.99 and a great little jersey skirt I got for a whopping 99 cents as well! 

I love wearing loose skirts and dresses in the summer months and I'm so excited about the ease of this project and the fact that my tops and skirts will be matched out and ready to go. Easy, breezy, summertime...here we come!

Keep Your Hands Busy!

SMiLES!

GWeN 



Happy Mail for Sew Crazy Me!

Okay so this is my second post of the day...what is going on with me? Right?

I got some "happy mail" today that I wanted to share with you. Direct from Girl Charlee my fabric for some of my summer sewing projects!!!

When you look at this photograph do you see at least five dresses? Hmmm? Well, do you? LOL!

Well, the large piece on the bottom in the corals and black/white along with the polka-dot fabric...they will become at least one maxie dress for me. Maybe even enough to do a different top too.

The two smaler cuts are for easy breezy summer tops and dresses for my girls. Originally purchased to make tops but after seeing it Aubrey has decided I have to make her a dress out of each. I think I can...I think I can...

I'm so excited and can't wait to begin. However, I have to clean my machine and hem up some pants for a friend first. Maybe by the end of the week I'll get to play with this.

Keep Your Hands Busy!

SMiLES!

GWeN

T-shirt Skirt

I mentioned a little skirt that I made from one of Todd's work t-shirts. Here is how I did it and you will laugh at how easy this was to do.

First, procure a t-shirt from husband...size XL.

Then, measure up from the bottom hem the length you want your skirt to be. I wanted Bekah's to be a bit longer since she would be wearing it on gym day and outside to play. So, I measured 15 inches from the hem.

After cutting the shirt to the desired length, I ran a zig-zag stitch along the edge of the cut end.

Then, I created a 1" inch casing for the elastic. Cute a piece of elastic to fit Bekah's waist. Insert elastic and stitch up the hole.

I cut out a little image on the back of the shirt and created a fun little "applique" of sorts on the front of the skirt per Rebekah's request. Got some ribbon that I bought ages ago at WalMart and added it to the hem of the skirt for some added fun.

Here is what it turned out like...

The sunglasses and golden yellow skirt were for the school theme of You Are My Sunshine...wear yellow and sunglasses.

Sans glasses...

Here she is showing off her little dog and cat from the back of daddy's shirt. She was happy with it and it was super comfortable.

Keep Your Hands Busy!

SMiLES!

GWeN



Baking with My Babies

This past Monday I wanted to spend a little time doing something fun with the girls. So, I got out the Baby Cake Cupcake Maker and whipped up some mini-cupcakes. Then, I separated the cupcakes and let the girls go crazy with frosting, sugar, candies, etc.Here are some photos of what they did.

My little pretty baby cakes cupcake maker. Not just cupcake either...I also made mushroom bites on Saturday for my Park Lane Jewelry Party...they were AWESOME! The machine comes with a little cookbook full of great appetizers, cupcake and frosting recipes. Love this little machine!

All of them making their marks on the yummies.

I did help Aubrey and Bekah with the frosting. Just swirled some on and let them do the rest. They were very intent on making their cupcakes beautiful.

This was Anna's first time using the decorating kit. She had fun with it and experimenting with different shapes using one tip.

These pretty little confections were the work of Bekah (age 6) and Aubrey (age 4).

Anna was pretty pleased with her first-time results. I think she may like to do this again. Today I asked her if we could find a class in the area would she like to take the class with me? She said "YES"! I'm on the lookout now.

Before we did the cupcakes, Bekah wanted to go out and play. She couldn't find any shorts she wanted to wear...So, I found a pair of last years pants that still fit in the waist but not in the leg. A snip here and a hem there and voi'la! We had a very usable pair of denim bermuda shorts.

Here she is in her make-shift shorts working on the cupcakes. These had already been outside playing pryor to the photo.

Please excuse the dirt on her pants and on my floor...LOL!

Well, thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at my little blog. As you can see...we have many busy little hands in our house. It sure does keep things interesting!

Stop back soon and I'll show you a skirt I made for Bekah out of a T-shirt. It took just a few minutes to transform and she loves it!

SMiLES!
GWeN

Sew Crazy about PROM!

Many may know that my eldest daughter is 16 and this year was her Junior Prom. I made her dress for her this year. It was truly a labor of love. However, when she stepped out of her room all ready to go, my eyes swelled up with tears...she was absolutely beautiful.

Here are some photos of her dress in progress and her big night out. Hope you enjoy!

Supplies

The bodice laying on skirt sections

Inside of bodice with a special tag

Dress without the decorative extras

The rosettes I made with organza ribbons and swarovsky crystals

A few crystals added to the bodice, this added a touch of sparkle and helped hold the fabric folds in place.

I had planned on making her a cute little clutch to go with the dress. I did make one, however my lining and interfacing were too strong for the satin. So, it wouldn't turn satin side out properly. Now she has a very cute makeup pouch with a beautiful satin lining...LOL!

This picture shows what we did to replace the clutch. I grabbed one of my party bags (purchased from a thrift store for like $1.99). I made a couple more rosettes, butterfly brooch, a heart clasp with a little key tied to it in organza ribbon. The key was essential...her boyfriend gave it to her a couple of weeks ago and told her it was the key to his heart. (Sigh...young love.) It was so sweet she wanted to wear it to prom, so I figured out a way that she could. It turned out really cute. Anna loved it and Ryland was so suprised when he saw it there.

Getting her hair done...such a pretty girl...hehehe!

My beautiful girl

This is one of my favorite photos of the night. She looks so pretty. I love that our lilacs were still in bloom and looking good for the photos. Today...not so much. :)

Showing off her little purse...starting to let the personality shine.

My family trying to pose pretty...

My family just being who they are...LOL!

Anna and Ryland ready to go to prom...aren't they cute?

Now that she's done with prom, I thought the dress was going to be done too. That its brief little life was done and it would spend eternity shoved in the back of the closet. However! Anna's choir teacher told the girls she wants them to wear their formals to the spring concert...yay! The dress gets to live a little longer.

Is my sewing all done? NOPE! I've already got several projects in the waiting. Two are for my little girls. They want fun dresses made from fun patterns with princesses and pink organza...Not sure if these will be play dresses but I'm willing to let them wear them as often as they want to. All that time and energy in a dress certainly deserves some exposure...teehehehe.

Keep your hands busy!

SMiLES!

GWeN