Easter Sewing

I've been Easter sewing up a storm! Well, that makes it sound more frantic than it's actually been, cause I started several weeks ago. Here's a sneak peek!

After three attempts, I finally made a winner for my own Easter dress. It's the beautiful rayon on the left. I'll post specifics about all these dresses after Easter, when I have photos of us wearing them!

I had a couple of vintage bunny prints that were given to me that I thought would be perfect for nightgowns for the girls, so today I dug them out and whipped some up to put in their Easter baskets. Rather than deal with a pattern, I made them pillowcase-dress-style. They turned out sooo cute, especially after adding these eyelet trims, which I think I got a whole bag of, with several colors at a thrift store.

I made these pretty much from memory, but there are tons of instructions for pillowcase dresses around the web. I'm going to JoAnn's this weekend and if they have any cute knits for boys, I'll put some p.j.'s together for Kelby too :) I spent $15 on the fabric for my own dress, but the girls' dresses and the nightgowns were all from my stash and were all given to me by my dear older friend at church! A couple zippers and a roll of ribbon later, and I think I'm down $25 for FIVE Easter garments!! Not bad.

Speaking of JoAnn's, the new Simplicities are out and on sale this weekend! I have picked out a few from the new line.

I like the lines of this one a lot, especially with those pockets! I'm a little concerned about the width of that neckline, though. It looks like a regular bra would show. And, I'd only make the short sleeved version.

I'm on the fence about this next one. The lines are really cool, obviously, but I don't know how this would flatter the hips. I've had mostly good luck withe Cynthia Rowley line, though, so I think I'll give it a shot. Any thoughts?

This one's kinda cool. I'm not sure about the cut-out, although I have recently seen something just like it on the cover of some style magazine or another, but I do really like the ties around the waist. Plus, the shape is a tried and true one for me.

Have you noticed all the asymmetrical hems this season?? I have a fabric that would suit this style perfectly and thought I would have to wing it, until I saw this pattern. (And there's that cut-out thing again on the top. What do you think about this cut-out style?)

This is adorable for the girls. I love every view. It goes up to size 8, so I'm in luck.

The only thing I like on this last one is view C, the little top with the cute pleats and sleeves. Natalie would look adorable in it. And maybe the shorts. Maybe. Okay, and maybe the dress, I guess. But those pants are awful. I haven't been a big fan of the Suede Says line. Usually the styling is so bad that it's hard to even see the lines, but this one could work. Natalie's style is getting a little more grown up (*sniff*) so I'm going to grab this pattern.

Have you seen the new simplicities? Which are your must-haves??

Dress Success!

Okay, number 3 of the 5 dresses I've made recently is one I almost forgot about!! I only forgot because it's a summery dress that I made in the winter. I wore it once in the winter, styled with a cardi, a cute belt and tall brown boots, but I really like it better on its own. This is Simplicity 2591 and this is the third time I've made it. I think it's safe to say, this is a go-to pattern for me. I love every version. Here's my latest:

You may remember my Easter dress from last year:

And I made this version at the tail end of last summer, so it only got worn once. I love this vintage cotton, though, so I can't wait to pull it out again!

I highly recommend this great pattern!! There are lots of version of this on patternreview.com and on Flickr and I have yet to see one that didn't look fabulous! The pockets are the best part, for sure, but I also really love how it fits and flatters the waistline. I got lots of compliments on my newest version at church yesterday!

Kelby loves to be in on my photo shoots :)

Happy sewing! And, Happy Monday :)

Dress #2 could be for you

Edit: I just noticed this is my 600th post!!!! Get out!!!!! What better way to celebrate than an unplanned giveaway? Ha! 

So, another dress. I'm pretty disappointed in myself because every time I make a cowl neck, I don't like it on me! The back is great. I like the fabric. The skirt and the length are perfection. But, I hate the cowl neck. On me.

See?

This bodice style is doing nothin' for me. It makes my trunk look unshapely and my arms look big and I don't have big arms.
But, the back is gorgeous! See?

Although, in these pics, the dress looks a little snug on me all the way around, doesn't it?? Fail. Bummer.

If you like cowls on you, though, the pattern was great to work with and was this one:

Is it me or is the dress in the photo deceiving? It looks much drapier on her and the skirt looks much fuller than in the drawing.  It's probably just too big for her, that's what it looks like to me.

At any rate, I will not wear this dress, but there's no use in it going to waste, so I'm going to offer it to one of YOU, my readers :) Any takers?? Off the rack, this would be a six or four probably. I wear a six, but I have kind of a muscular build so if you're a more willowy 6 or a 4, this would probably be gorgeous on you! And it's well made, I promise. The first thing I made with my new serger, actually! I can mail it on Thursday. If there's more than one person interested, I will random number generate, ha! Just leave me a comment!!!!

March of Dresses

This week I have no less the 5 dresses to show you. FIVE dresses that I've made over the past several months and not gotten around to photographing or blogging about!! It's probably because I'm unsure about every last one of them. Every one of them has a little something that I'm not in love with. So, I would love your honest thoughts as I post each one!

I'll start with the most recent. This is Simplicity 2248, part of their Project Runway collection. Here's how mine turned out:

And the back...

Pretty! HOWEVER the neckline gapes!!! I was pretty bummed. It doesn't look like that big of a deal in the picture, but anyone taller than me can probably see right down the front of it unless I'm super careful. And, I really don't like being super careful. Especially at church, where I work with kids and play some percussion on stage. Bummer. The fabric is a beautiful vintage cotton too! Extra bummer. Unless I get invited to an unusually high number of garden parties (even one garden party would be unusual), I don't see myself getting much wear out of this. Maybe a wedding? Maybe. At any rate, you can read my review of this pattern here.

Before I end this, can you look at this pattern envelope and agree with me that the fabrics on these models are awful for this pattern??

Kinda hard to see past the daisy kingdom print to the great details!

Anyway, wanna hear Kelby's latest antics?? Last night, he snuck into my room, colored on my deodorant with my mascara, then colored on my vanity mirror with my deodorant! My mascara brush was bent to a 90 degree angle. But, one can't go on without mascara, right?? Yep, I wore it anyway :)

Stinker.

nightie

I love pretty nightgowns, I struggle to find ones that cover enough to wear around the house in the late evenings. They're all super short, tight, low-cut etc... Those have their place ;) And the rest of what's out there is granny-wear. But I wanted a few pretty nighties that were more like loungewear. So I dug this pattern out:

I had some vintage cotton that was given to me and got to work. Here's how it turned out!

I think I really like it! I have a ton of this fabric left still. I think some summer pj pants might be perfect. I can't think past the sleepwear genre because this fabric totally reminds me of some vintage sheets I once owned. If I made a dress out of it, I would feel like I was wearing sheets, ha!

Okay, so a few days after I made that maxi skirt in my last post, I got an email from Anthropologie about their new line and check this out:

Floral border print; yoga waistband. Remind you of anything?? Made me feel cutting edge there for a minute, haha!

Last but not least, isn't this just the funniest T-shirt you've seen in awhile!?

Dude! It's Waldo! Sooooooo funny.

maxi

Don't you think the term "maxi dress" just sounds wrong? Doesn't make you think of maxi...pads??? Just me? Okay, then.

I had a maxi dress from Old Navy that is a little outdated. I didn't wear it at all last Summer because it felt out of style and because I have to wear a tank top under it for modesty and I really don't like layering like then when it's super hot outside! So, I stuck it in my fabric stash to do something with later and I finally did that something :)

I turned it from this:

...to this:

After I cut off the skirt length, I didn't have a wide enough piece for the waistband, so I used a t-shirt that was too tight for my comfort and used that instead. Love it!
I used Patty Youngs instructions for a yoga-style waistband found here.

I find it comfortable and pretty and now I have plans to make yoga waistbands for all kinds of things, haha!

Natalie turns 7

Yesterday, we celebrated my firstborn's 7th birthday!! For a few days before, I kept thinking, "this time 7 years ago, I was...". Ha! Natalie's birth was traumatic, though, so maybe that's why I remember many more of the leading-up details than I do about the next two.

Anyway, this is the first time we have had a big-girl, drop-off party and it was sooooo much fun! Art is her favorite thing ever so we had an art party. Naturally :) I'm not going to explain all these pics, because, well, they're pretty self-explanatory and there are a LOT, so here ya go!

In case you're interested:

• The rainbow cake: The idea came from here, but was made by my talented friend Melissa of Special Kakes.
• Natalie's birthday dress: Made by me :) The pattern is a Simplicity Project Runway one that is no longer on their website. Sorry! 
• Those awesome crayon candles were from Hobby Lobby. 
• The butterfly art project was adapted from Deep Space Sparkle (LOVE this art for kids site). 

Cheers!