sparkly skirt

A super, simple variation of a tutu. Shiny satin, sequin material and sparkly tulle. I used a skirt Kate had to use as a guideline, then lengthened it a few inches so it would be extra full. I cut a front and back of each type of material and sewed each one together at the sides separately. Then I layered them together, turned down the top to make a casing for the elastic, sewed and then added elastic. Instant butterfly, princess, ballerina, whatever you want to call it dress up skirt in 20 minutes!

Playbill Project

One of my favorite things about living in Manhattan was all of the great theater we got to see. We usually went to a show when visitors were in town. We went for our anniversary once and quite a few times just because. I saved most of my playbills thinking someday I would do something with them. This was one of the first projects I did when we moved into the new house. They are hanging in the girls playroom. Kate likes looking at all of the pictures and I like lying on the rug, daydreaming about when we used to be urbanites and singing show tunes. It makes for a good time at 3 in the afternoon. :)

This project was very simple and could be done with any sort of memorabilia. Maybe some favorite pages from a children's book would be cool? I used these frames from ikea and some posterboard.

Another related project to these are shadow boxes. I made a shadow box right after we got married that we have in our bedroom with things from our wedding--Invitations, placecards, a few candid photos, swatches of bridesmaids dresses, a boutonniere and ribbon. I love looking at it and remembering our wedding day.

We've been crafting...

just of a different sort. Take a trip to Big Lots and pick up the $2 Martha Stewart craft kits and you can too!

A Summer Shirt

It's a lot easier to take pictures of my girls than myself! It is kind of hard to see the detail of the shirt in this picture because the fabric is so busy. {The fabric reminded me of a dress I saw in a Boden catalog recently. Maybe one day I will be able to afford their clothes!} To see a better picture of the shirt, click here. I saw this shirt/pattern on a new-to-me blog, presser foot. I love their idea of doing a project a month where everyone sews along. I am a little late with this project, but wanted to try it. The pattern is McCalls 5388. I find it's more challenging sewing for myself than the girls because I am more particular about the fit. For example, initially this shirt fit like a maternity blouse. I'm done with maternity clothes. Not quite the look I was going for! I took it in a few inches and added a belt, so hopefully now it looks like I have a waistline. If you end up using this pattern, know that it runs big. Make the size top that you would buy in the store. Your measurements will tell you to make a much larger size--don't do it. It is satisfying to update my wardrobe with $5 and a few hours of work. For my next project I'm going to try and copy a linen skirt from jcrew that I don't have a pattern for... should be fun!

a summer skirt

Do you like the model pose? I tried. I'm having fun sewing a few things for myself these days. With no time--or money--to shop lately I'm trying to update my wardrobe a little bit in the hour or so I have to sew in the evening. It seems that while I love to be stylish, comfort has really taken over. Something about changing diapers and doing puzzles all day that doesn't really allow for a fussy or fancy wardrobe. I love wearing skirts in the summer and I have one knit skirt that I love, but it has bright flowers all over it. Not exactly something that can be worn different ways. I got this book about sewing knits a while ago and thought I'd finally give it a try. While in theory it should have been easy, I had some major tension issues with my machine. I'm thinking a serger is a must for sewing knits--maybe I'll have to put it on my birthday list. While it's not perfect, it turned out well to enough to get lots of wear this summer. It's comfy, can be worn with flip flops or flats and cost less than $10 to make. Now if only it would stop raining and warm up so I could wear it! Isn't it supposed to be April showers? I think we've had rain for 5 days straight!

sisters dresses

simple. matching. not pink (i love it... but i think ALL of gwen's baby clothes are pink!) inexpensive. easy to sew. polka dots.

I've sewn a dress from this pattern before. There are only 3 or 4 pattern pieces to cut (depending on if you use sleeves or not) and that's about all I can handle these days. Maybe appropriate to wear at a certain special event coming up next month? I can't believe graduation is here already...

knitted booties

proof that I still have some energy left for creativity. Another project from this book.