Layla turns 7.

My little girl is 7!! It actually feels like she's been 7 for awhile now, she just seemed like a pretty mature 6-year-old. If that makes sense. But, hooray, now she officially really is 7 :)

We celebrated in a low-key way, but made sure she felt very special all day long.

We bought her roller blades, which is just what she wanted. She's been wearing them in the house all day, every day because it's been so cold outside. I loved her reaction when she opened them.

We invited our friends across the street to go to Sweet Frog with us for some frozen yogurt (Layla's favorite thing ever!)

 (Silly Natalie)

 Then we had hot dogs for dinner (easiest birthday request ever) and I brought out the surprise treat I had somehow managed to make secretly and keep hidden, thanks to the new Lego Friends present that kept the kids busy.

 Instead of Rice Crispies, I made Fruity Pebble treats. They were so colorful! If I could draw Layla as a dessert, it would totally look something like this. She is sweet and fun and spunky and brilliant and she brightens our world.

And now for a little flashback:

Layla's first bday:

Second:

Third:

Fourth:

Fifth:

Sixth:

Happy 7th, Layla Jane!!!!

back to regular scheduled programming

I have really been enjoying the handful of blogs I read this week! Everyone seems to be back to their regular lives, after all the Christmas hubbub and sewing for themselves again. Including me!

I bought the Lady Skater dress pattern with my birthday money and finally got a chance to try it out. I had a sweater-ish knit in my stash. I had plans for a drapey cardigan or something, but finding out about our move to Hawaii had me rethinking sewing anything long sleeved or warm. So I used it for this dress instead. I'm liking it!

 Try to focus on the dress and not my hair, ha! It is super windy ... and I'm trying to grow my bangs out. Recipe for a bad hair day. But the dress! I lined it with a lightweight super-soft grey rayon knit I scored on clearance at JoAnn's because the light blue parts of this fabric are almost sheer. It feels SO soft and comfortable.

 I am pleased to have overcome a huge fitting hurtle by learning to do a swayback adjustment. I noticed that clothes on me tend to always have extra fabric in the center back. Things with a waistline seam always tend to pull back on my shoulders, raising the hem in the front, making me look almost maternity. And things with no waistline seam always floated so far away from my back arch, which looked so frumpy from the side. Then I stumbled on this post and my sewing world was rocked! I've done a swayback adjustment on the last three things I've made and they all fit great!! You can see in these pics, I'm having no extra fabric issues in the back and my waistline seam and hem are hanging straight. Yay!

I can't wait to make this up in a couple other fabrics, it's such an easy everyday dress to wear. I'll for sure be making some sleeveless versions too.

On to the Spring patterns! Both McCall's and Vogue put their early Spring lines up. I hit the 5 for $7 sale at JoAnn's yesterday and got all the McCall's I wanted, which was a lot this time! Here are my picks:

6886: A simple knit dress pattern. If I can get the fit right, I think this could be a useful basic for me.

Next, 6887:

6891: I have the perfect plaid fabric in my stash already, I like the sleeveless view:

6865: 

I like what they did with this pattern on this drawing:

6890: I bought a rayon yesterday on clearance that I'm excited to make this into. I think I'll try view C with the lace inset first because I have the perfect not-too-granny lace to match my new rayon :) Lace can be a tricky thing to pull off! 

Next up, 6905: It's been forever since I've bought a purse pattern! I like this view, but not the quilty cotton look. I do like the stripes, though. I'm thinking a striped canvas with more sophisticated straps, maybe even leather!

Lastly, the irresistible 6904: Doll sports clothes! Check out the shin guards!!

Whew! That was a lot, I think I'll save my couple of Vogue picks for another day. Did you hit the JoAnn's sale this week? What did you get?

Doll fashion show

It's January 1st!! I love January 1st. There's nothing looming, it's a time to reflect and look forward and make goals and clean house (literally and figuratively). I really like reading New Year's blog posts because I like to read about what others' goals are. I have a few simple things I'd like to implement in the new year, but nothing too fancy. I'll share my thoughts in the next couple days.

For now, I have some doll clothes to show you! Doll clothes rank up there with costumes among my favorite things to sew, I love it. I stuffed my girls' stockings with handmade doll clothes and some accessories from Target (did you know that the doll shoes at Target are only $2? The accessory sets are $4. Target had a buy one, get one half off sale and I grabbed some. Good deal!

I am not going to list pattern numbers with these, they can all be found on the big 4 pattern websites, but feel free to ask in the comments, if you're curious about one in particular.

 These leg warmers are killin' me! So cute.

 Ack, that oven mitt! Adorable! (The little party set is from the American Girl isle at Michael's).

 These shoes match some that Natalie also has. I couldn't resist ;)

I couldn't leave Kelby out!!
His bear got an army shirt out of Casey's old ACU's. There is a line of patterns called Bearwear. It's the absolute only place I have found patterns to fit build-a-bear dolls! They're pdf's, which is convenient. I can't say I'd give them a stellar review, but they'll do. This shirt pattern was just not very well-drafted in the facing area. And the pajama set I made awhile back, which Kelby loves, runs pretty large. But still, it's what's out there and I'm thankful to have found something!

After our fashion shoot this morning, my girls dug into my giveaway fabric stash and started hand sewing little purses and accessories for their dolls. Aw :)  

Merry Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas and I hope you did too!! Here are some pics from our day and from the little self-photo session we had for Christmas cards :)

Natalie following along with the Christmas story in her new Bible. 

 Kelby listening patiently ;)

 This is what I do on Christmas:

My Aunt and Uncle got us a puzzle. I had just been wishing I'd gotten one to put together and there it was! The kids were so occupied with their Legos, I was able to do the whole thing while watching a couple of Christmas movie (Christmas with the Kranks is my favorite).

It was such a relaxing day. I can't remember another Christmas that was quite this low-key. I still made monkey bread (but a grain-free version for Natalie's sake) and we had a good dinner, but other than that, we ignored the mess and just relaxed.

A few weeks before Christmas, we decided we wanted to make Christmas cards this year, since we'd moved away and had several family and friends back home we'd like to send one to. I had a great idea for an outdoor photo shoot, but it was raining! Bummer. So we adapted and did it inside and they still turned out pretty cute :)

This was our card pic:

 The next is one of my fave pics EVER! Love it. And that was own idea too, no Pinterest needed, haha!

And now on to New Year's!! I'd like to make the New Year special for the kids somehow ... not by letting them stay up late, ha! But, in some other way and I'm not really sure how to do that. Any thoughts or ideas??

little mouse ornaments

Every year, I make little fabric ornaments for my friends and family, to attach to gifts, give as hostess gifts, or to neighbors who drop by. The first year I only made six, so only six people have the full collection. Now, I cap it at twenty. This little tradition has become such a favorite of mine! I can't wait to choose my ornaments each Fall and get started early.

This year I settled on little mice. I originally saw a similar design on Pinterest, but that link goes nowhere, so I drew my own pattern and changed the shape of mine.

They turned out pretty adorable! 

I took these pics after already putting half of them in gifts and in the mail! Glad I remembered before it was too late to photograph them with their buddies. 

Here's a glimpse of my ornaments from year past!

Last year:

2012:

2011:

     2010:

 2009:

2008:

Can you tell which year I acquired a better camera?? Haha.

Aw, I love looking at these! It's hard for me to pick a favorite, I have such memories attached to them all.

Since this is the only time I've drafted the pattern myself, I get to share it with you! I'll have a basic tutorial with the printable pattern pieces up for you in the next couple days!