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!

World Traveler

I absolutely must tell you about this! I'm sure most of you are familiar with Highlights, but we recently got an offer in the mail for their Top Secret Adventures kits and I signed us up for the trial. WOW, this is fun!! We finished our China adventure this week and subscribed to receive more right away! The girls looooooved it and for homeschoolers, it is rich with teaching opportunities. One could build quite a unit study around it. We had just learned about China in ancient history, so that made it even better. We practiced math skills, reading, writing, history, geography and more, without Natalie really even realizing it, muahahahaha! ;)

Basically, you're a spy trying to figure out clues to a mystery by working through a series of puzzles in the workbook. And the guidebook is very nicely done, a keeper, for sure! Older kids could do these themselves, but since mine are younger, we worked through it together.
Here's a few of the suspects. Pretty funny :)

Anyway, a very well-done product from Highlights! Just had to share.

While I'm on the world traveling topic, enjoy a new favorite from Andrew Peterson :)

toys and toilets

When Casey leaves town for awhile, I find it helpful to have some new (to us) things to keep the kiddos busy :) My friend Mary and I went to Savers a few nights ago and I scored some cool toys and tons of books for the kids. My best score, though, was this awesome marble track building set. Natalie literally played with this every waking hour yesterday!

These are not cheap. I checked. But, mine was 3 bucks. Nice!

On to my own new toy :)  I have been dreaming of a serger for a long time. I started to get back into sewing clothing last Spring and have felt the absence of a serger keenly ever since. A new one, or even a used, newer model was out of the question. They are crazy expensive! So, I started looking for old, since I am still SO happy with my 1970's Pfaff sewing machine. Well, I found one. She's about 20 years old and sews like a dream:

I paid just under $200 and couldn't be happier! I think it's kinda cute that my machines match too ;) I've made a few things on it already. A top that I'm not thrilled with and a nightgown that I really love. I'll share soon.

Annnnnd, Casey and his Dad and brother were super busy in our upstairs bathroom over the weekend!! We've been wanting to start tackling some house projects and decided the 43-year-old lineoleum and toilets upstairs would be a good place to start. The toilets we had were harvest gold and avocado green, indicative of the era! The new ones are white. And chair height--very important to Casey ;)  Here's an in-progress photo. I'll save the full reveal until we have moldings!

A lot of work and a big mess, but totally worth it! Even though the construction dust has Layla completely covered in hives!!!! At least, that's my best guess as to what caused them. Poor baby :(

Boy Babies!

I have had three friends have baby boys recently!! Last time I made a pair of baby shoes I thought to myself, "I'm okay with never making another pair of these again." I needed a new go-to baby gift than the shoes and taggie blankets, so when I saw this free pattern, I knew I'd found it.

Behold, the "Bapron":

I made mine reversible:

I know it has not always been easy to find super cute boy stuff--fabric, clothes, anything. Well, times have changed! There are SO many cute boy options now, don't you think??

These were really easy (although making bias binding is not that quick of a process) and a huge hit!! One sweet friend has not actually received hers yet, but I'm hoping to get them to her soon!

Now, brace yourself for extreme cuteness. When the new McCall's patterns came out, I could not resist this one. It's adorable. It has every element that a baby could want--soft minky fabric, ribbon tags, knots, etcc... My babies would have adored a lovey like this!!

I made the alligator for baby Gavin. Sooooooo cute.

Annnnnnd, some totally unrelated photos of my cute boy :)

Aren't legos just the best toy ever?