Simplicity 1800

I had bought a nice cotton chambray with a particular pattern in mind for a church dress, but have come to realize that I could use more casual dresses. Last summer, we went to several events that required more than jeans, but not so much "church" dresses. So, I made this one instead:

I used this pattern:

I reviewed it here. This is the first time I've made one of these Amazing Fit patterns and to be honest, I found it less than amazing. I don't usually have fit issues and I almost always sew a straight size 12, so I found the extra fitting features confusing. When it was done, it was huge. I took the back seam in a lot.

Also, I don't love halters because they're just too shifty. I criss-crossed the straps and sewed them down in the back and like the resulting dress a lot! Probably won't make it again, but ya never know. 

The new Vogue patterns are up on their site today. Not impressed at all! There might be a couple I'm interested in, but the rest are just really not me. Not even a little bit. Everything seems overly drapey and baggy and I guess I like things more fitted. The ones that aren't loose are dresses that are super tight, short and low-cut. What gives, Vogue??

Ah, well, it's not like I don't have enough patterns as it is, ha! 

Warming up

Just like every year, I am so thankful for the warm weather! Keeping happy kids is just easier in the summer, I'm convinced! And happy Mom too :) Casey took a day off on Friday and didn't tell me until...Friday. ha! It was awesome. Since we hadn't had a chance to "make plans", we spent the entire day outside as a family, working on our yard. We worked really hard and yet, it felt so relaxing. The yard is looking so pretty!

I sprayed all the darn dandelions yesterday. Any tips on how to keep those at bay would be appreciated!! The kids and I are excited to plant some things. Here in Colorado, though, we can't plant til a bit later. But, after Mother's Day, we are going to get right on it! Last year we planted a bunch of flowers. Some worked and some didn't, so now we know. This year we will tackle just a few vegetables in containers and we'll learn a bit more. 

 Some backyard FUN!

I've been using Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD. Anyone tried it? I've had it for a few years, but last time I tried it, I thought I was going to die. Now that I'm in better shape, though, it doesn't seem like such a near-death experience, although it's still tough! In a good way. I'm on Day 8 of Level 1 and have seen changes in places already! Casey wants to do Insanity together when I'm done. Eek!
Anyway, my kids enjoy working out with me too. The other day, Kelby got his tinker toys (my latest vintage score at the thrift store!) and made his own weights. It was sooooo cute.

Natalie uses hairbrushes for weights, haha! Then, sometimes, after Jillian, Natalie watches exercise videos on Netflix for awhile and tries all the moves. It's super cute and funny :)

Pointy Kitty and other goings on

I'm sorry for my absence lately. Last week was crazy busy and I'm not used to being crazy busy (outside of home, that is!) so I was WIPED by the time Monday rolled around. I have been sewing, though! I made a flower girl dress! You can see that after the wedding on Saturday. And, a little friend turned 5, so I made her one of these:

I made Natalie the black one one the right several years ago--she was three I think. And every time our friend Kinsley comes over, she finds Pointy Kitty and carries her around and talks to her and pets her. She loves her. So, I made her one :) It was fun! I haven't made something fun like that in awhile, so I really enjoyed it. The Pointy Kitty pattern is FREE here.

In case you're wondering, we did enjoy the military ball! Who doesn't like an excuse to get fancy and eat a nice dinner that you didn't cook?
Here's a poor-quality iPhone pic:

I found some silver shoes at Savers, ha! They were six bucks. I really didn't want to spend a bunch of money on shoes I'd only wear once, so I tried the thrift store and scored. Nice! My dress came from Dillards.

Speaking of Dillards, the Jessica Simpson dress from a few posts ago is from MACY's, not Dillards. My mistake. There were a lot of stores that day, haha! Anyway, a commenter told me that Jessica Simpson has been in the spotlight because of some designer shoes she copied. It's true, I looked it up!! Stinker, Jessica Simpson.

I have plenty of plans for blog posts coming up!! I will try diligently to actually get them posted! I sure do like blogging :)

Cheers!

My Easter Dress

I picked up this beautiful floral rayon at Denver Fabrics when I was last there with my mom. I don't usually spring for fabrics not in the clearance bins, but Mom really encouraged me to get this one and I'm glad she did :) It is SO pretty and flowy and comfortable to wear.
Here's how my Easter dress turned out:

I debated over the pattern for ages because I didn't want to try a design I was unsure about and end up ruining this fabric! I decided on Simplicity 2588 because I've had good experiences with the Project Runway line in the past and this dress has lines that I knew would flatter, since I've made similar things before.

I like it, I'll definitely make this pattern again! You can read my review here.

I've come to realize that I really could use some Summer tops. I have some t-shirts and tanks, but not much else. I would like to make some light, flowy tops for Summer, so I went to Anthropologie.com
for inspiration. I found a few I'd like to copy and would post their photos here, but Anthropologie has somehow made it to where no one can copy their photos, probably to avoid being "pinned". Why a company wouldn't want their clothes on Pinterest, I'll never know. Wouldn't that exposure be a good thing??

I also found this dress I really want to copy and I think I already have a pattern that will work, with a few added details! Kinda excited about that. Now I just wish Anthro sold fabric, ha!

Eastery

I didn't blog at all last week!! I don't know if I've ever done that before. My laptop was getting low on space and you know, when that happens, computers get cranky. They move like molasses until you give em some space! So, before uploading any more photos into iPhoto, I had to move the 3,300 I took last year to a hard drive. But not before putting the ones I want prints of on Flickr! It was a big deal. We're saving our pennies for a desktop Mac.

Anyway, look at my cute Easter kids!

Kelby's hat and the girls' dresses received lots of compliments at church :)

I'll post my own Easter dress tomorrow, once I review the pattern on patternreview.com. We had a FULL, but great weekend. I hope you all did too!!! :)

In other news, the military ball has been scheduled. For this weekend! They gave us a little over a week's notice. Nice. So, my friend Liz and I went on a mission to find dresses. (I found a great one AND it was on clearance. Whew!) But, while we were in Dillards, look what I spotted:

Look familiar to you?? No?? Here's a clue:

It's the exact same dress! The pleats, the wrap, the neckline and even the open back, which I didn't get a picture of on the mannequin, but here's what it looked like on mine:

I thought for sure it would be by one of the designers who also designs patterns, but nope, it's a Jessica Simpson dress. And, in my opinion, the fabric is all wrong ;) Anyway, I just found that interesting. Who copied who here?? It's not just similar, it's the exact same design. I know the pattern has been out for awhile, it is not a new one, so I just wonder what happens. It is a Project Runway pattern, so I guess I can see how the designer could have also designed for Dillards. But why put Jessica Simpson's name on it rather than giving proper credit? Surely she didn't design the dress, or I'm sure her name would have been on the pattern too. Clearly, although a celebrity's name appears on a clothing line, they don't do the actual designing!

Just a thing that made me go "hmmm".