Plaid Top

So school is rapidly approaching (Breanne and Janey will both be in school this fall, can you believe it?!?), and while I've bought the girls each a few things, I also have had some fabric hanging around waiting to be made into shirts. This is the first of what will be several, if I find the time.




I kind of love the way it came out, especially the bias casing in the middle. I made my own pattern to make it, but really, it was super simple all in all. I'm working my way up to a non-peasant-top neckline, and who knows, maybe even buttons with button holes will be next. We'll see. :)

P.S. Don't ask what skirt she's wearing with it, this girl definitely has her own ideas about style. The other day I was voicing a concern I have about her being made fun of because she wears homemade clothes. Then when I asked her to put on something to match her new shirt and she came back with this skirt (second try, even, the first was worse... haha), it hit me that maybe I don't have to be super concerned about what I make that she likes to wear... just how she puts them together. Funny girl.

One of These Things

is not like the others...

Cailin Defined

I could be wrong (doubt it), but I'm pretty sure this is pretty much the definition of adorable.

Just the girl, not all of her crazy antics lately.

J&C's Room Stuffs

So since we got back from Utah, I've been on a bit of a sewing break. Just a little bit burned out. To try to get back into things, I decided to finally get something up on Janey and Cailin's window. I found these white sheers at Walmart for 3 bucks a piece (they're actually voile shower curtains, but they were WAY cheaper than anything in the curtains, and make pretty and sweet little curtains) a few months ago, but I knew I wanted to do something with some color too, to get a little bit more color on their walls. Enter Hancock's $4/yd upholstery fabric that I found the other day, and basically this tutorial, and you get this:




Yep, entire window coverings done for less than $15. I like it a lot, though I think I may cinch up the valance just a little bit more--does it seem too long to you?


Also, while I was taking pics of these, I realized I never showed off the little girls' name letters, which I finished a few months ago. Here are those as well:




Do you think I need an & in between the names? I'm leaning towards yes.

Maybe someday I'll take pics of the whole room, but I swear, their room always has some sort of mess going on. *sigh*

P.S. Thank you all so much for your kind comments on Breanne's hair. I ended up fixing up the back just a little bit more (it doesn't show in the picture I posted, but I needed to cut the hair underneath just a little bit--weird wavy hair stuff), but I really am pleased with how it came out, and Breanne loves it. And all of your kind comments about it. :) You guys make me happy.

I Can Do It On My Own

So I've decided recently that part of the problem with being a DIY-er is that it makes me want to make/do everything on my own. I see something in the store, and think, "Hey, I could make that!" or see someone doing something, and think "Hey, I could do that!" Sometimes this works out for me, and sometimes the results are a little more questionable.

The last few weeks, Breanne's been asking me to cut her hair. I was hesitant at first, but then watched some tutorials, looked at some pics online, and today decided to just go for it. I think it went ok, what do you think?

Breanne's hair before:


And after--the back:


And the front!


And for the record, Breanne loves it. I think I need to learn more about cutting wavy hair--even though it's cut straight, in some places it doesn't really look like it, because of her natural waves. Where did I get these curly-haired kids?

4/5

4/5 of the dresses in a blurry picture that makes me look super happy (seriously, there are NO happy pictures of me during the wedding festivities... I had no idea I had an angry face all the time!)... but hey, you can see them in action! I'm so happy with how the dresses came out--I'll definitely be making more clothes in the future. But probably not yellow. Or circular. For at least a few days. :)



And in case you were wondering, I ended up hand-finishing the sleeves (while watching Arrested Development, excellent use of time, if you ask me), and I put embroidery-floss hand-crocheted belt loops on there to hold the sashes in place. Both worked out great, I'd say.

Would anyone be interested in tutorials of any of these things I'm making these days? I feel like I'm finally at a point where I might have something to show--lined zippers, fully lined dresses, hand-crocheted belt loops (felt hand puppets, whatever else I've made)... anything? I don't want to take the time to make a tutorial if it won't help anyone, but if you're interested, speak up please! I know everything I've learned has come from the internet/my own head and trial by error, so I'd be happy to share what I've figured out, if you want it. Let me know.

Circle Quilt

So remember how I made 28 circle skirts for those flower girl dresses? (Yes, 28. 3 skirt layers, each lined, to make 6 circle skirts per dress, except for Cailin's, which was only 2 layers, so 4 circles, which totaled equals 28 circle skirts cut.) Well, for every one of those 28 skirts, there was a circle I cut out of the center to allow for the waists of the girls wearing them.

Well.

I couldn't just let 28, approximately 3.25 inch radius, perfectly good circles go to waste... so of course, I made a small circle quilt for the bride and groom. It's just a throw blanket size, but I love how it turned out.

(the back, pretty basic, but I like it, too)

I know, I know, it looks really girly, but these were their wedding colors. I just added a couple more fabrics with the pink in them to balance out the yellow. (Yes, that's pink in there, it was just raining outside when I finally took these pictures, all of an hour before we gave the quilt to the couple.) Also, this was the first time I've ever had a project professionally quilted--I seriously love the loops--what do you think?

(As usual, I'm linking up to AmyLouWho's Sew and Tell... finally a quilting post to put up on her quilting blog!)

The Gambler

So today, Cory and I are celebrating our 7th anniversary. Only he's back in CA, and I'm still in UT (in between two Utah weddings... long story). Which is a totally lame way to celebrate an anniversary. Apparently, after only working for a company for 3ish months, one doesn't build up much vacation time, and the most important days to be together are others' actual wedding days.

Sort of.

Anyway.

Before Cory left (actually, on our trip out here), he put together a new mixed cd for me, mostly of songs I'd requested, but he also added in a few new gems. One of the songs I hadn't listened to before, but was by a band I'd mentioned that I love called fun. Are you familiar with fun.? They used to be the Format (or the other way around?), and I love them. Very dramatic, very entertaining lyrics, and are just generally really great to sing/belt along with. So this particular song he left me, he told me he liked a lot. So I started paying more attention to it. Turns out it is a beautiful little ballad about life and love. And I like it, a lot. Just like Cory. :) So, since I don't get to spend today with him, I've been listening to this song, reminiscing about the days when we met, how we started dating, when we got married, and how lucky I am to have him for eternity, raising our family together. I don't think I realized just what a commitment I was making when I married Cory--I realize more and more every day how lucky I am to have married him. I could not ask for a better husband or father. I realize how cliche this sounds, but he truly is my very best friend. There is no one else on earth I can talk to like I can talk to him. I am so, so, so blessed.

The song is called The Gambler, and can be heard here (I don't know how to embed YouTube videos, sorry). As our relationship grows deeper and stronger, and we watch those of our friends either get stronger, or fall apart, I realize just what a gamble it can be, choosing a spouse for eternity, and I am so grateful I've been so lucky to have chosen Cory, and that he is willing to have me by his side. I am still so in love. More so than ever, really.

Flower Girl Dresses

So a few weeks ago, my soon-to-be sister-in-law (holy hyphens!) asked me if I'd consider making flower girl dresses for my girls and their two cousins. I, of course, jumped at the chance, as I love having an excuse to buy fabric and think out ideas for how to make something look nicer. I was concerned, though, as most of my projects turn out... iffy. But, I put together a list of cute ideas, most with tutorials, so I figured I'd be safe. Of course, she chose the one dress on the list that I didn't have a tutorial for, but I decided to go for it anyway, and try to recreate the dress (with a few alterations, as the bride requested (and I gladly obliged to)). And so, 2.5 dresses later, I present you with my first official J. Crew knock-off/flower girl dress:

(the front) and then the back (notice the invisible zipper, yeah, I'm kind of awesome like that):

Oh, and see that little bit of gingham peeking through there?

well, turns out I'm slightly crazy, and decided to make the dress basically reversible. It was the only way I could figure out to get the layers just right, and to keep the bodice beautiful inside with no exposed seams (some of us aren't so lucky as to have a serger).

The only issue with a zipper in a reversible dress is that it's not so invisible on the inside... but I'm ok with that. I love the gingham so much!

The original dress looked like this:

I still need to finish the sleeves. I can't decide if I should just roll them under and top stitch them, or use white bias tape (the yellows are slightly different shades, so I don't want to put the yellow on the inside dress... if that makes any sense at all), or do a handstitched invisible stitch to close them off. And I need to add a sash, just need to check with the bride on whether she wants them to tie in the front or the back. Maybe I'll somehow just do loops, so it can be moved from front to back anyway... hmmm. Not sure yet.

Anyway, I'm pretty darn excited about how they're turning out. 1 down, 4 more to go. The first one is always the hardest and longest to figure out, right? Right. Hopefully someday I'll have better pictures in real light with a girl inside the dress, but for today--I'm too excited not to share. :)

Raise your hand if you love yellow circle-skirt dresses (raises hand crazily)!! After this, though, I don't think I'll be working with yellow for at least a little while. Seriously.

30 Years of Memories

(Um, doesn't Cory look SO MUCH like my girls in that last pic? Cailin comes to mind in particular with that one, but that's probably just because she's the closest to his age there).

So, as most of you know, Cory just turned 30. Sometimes I can't believe we're getting so old, but other times it's hard to believe that I've only known him fora little over 8 years. All I know for sure is that I sure do love the man I'm married to. He adds such a wonderful stability to my life, and is truly my best friend. I am so lucky.

When I was trying to figure out what to do for Cory's birthday (30 seems like a big number, deserves a good surprise, right?), at first I was at a loss, but then I saw a post on some blog (that I can't for the life of me find anymore) about a woman who made what she called a "real-life facebook wall" for her husband, by having friends and family send in pictures and messages for her husband, which she put up on their real wall. I pretty much just copied her idea, and I loved how it turned out.

(My first bunting, yay!)

The best part is, Cory actually loved it, too. He's not into presents or celebrations, really, so it was kind of a big deal when he admitted that this was a really cool present, and spent a long time staring at each picture and message. I'm so grateful he was born, and that he is mine for eternity.