Things to do in North Platte, NE

Casey's been in Nebraska for a few weeks (again) so the kids and I drove up to North Platte for the weekend, where he was staying and hung out with him for a few days. It was great! I'm so glad we got to get away and could keep him company over a weekend.

We were warned that there's "not much to do in North Platte", but we were okay with that. We went to the hotel pool every day and we hit the two attractions: the Bailey Rail Yard and Buffalo Bill Cody's Fort and gift shop.  Oh, and of course, Walmart, an embarrassing number of times.

Saw some pretty funny signage too:

Ummmm, don't all drinks from fast food joints include a free straw??

This was on a door, right by the handle. Pulling was obvious.

But, THEN! We discovered North Platte's best kept secret: The Goodwill!!! A vintage gold mine, let me tell ya, and sooooo cheap!! It's funny what some people think is a bunch of old junk, us city folk call "vintage" and just loooooove.
Here's just some of my loot:

 Check out that suitcase! And the lap tray is in its original package. Who keeps something for decades and doesn't take even take the wrapper off?? I don't know about you, but if something in my house doesn't get used for a year, it's outta here!

 An original game of Trouble, with all the pieces!

 I got three of the Thermos snack jars--and again with the packaging!

The kids are loving Trouble, they've played a bunch of times. I also scored an Etch-a-Sketch for a dollar. Our dentist has one and they all love it, so I've had my eyes peeled. Score!

My best find might have been the massive bag of vintage patterns for ... wait for it ... $1.50!!!! There are probably about 30 patterns in there, from the 60's to the 80's. I'm going to resurrect my Etsy shop and share the love. Maybe if I sell some of my great finds, I can realistically call myself a "professional thrifter". Ha!

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".

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 :)