A Labor of Love

In mid-May, I started a dress for Annelise that I thought would be the perfect little summer dress for her. Little did I know I would get pregnant about a week later and spend the next 3 months taking a nap every afternoon. That left little to no crafting time for me!

Fast forward FIVE months, and I finally finished the dress. "Lucky" for us, it was still in the high 80's this past Sunday, and Annelise could finally wear the sleeveless dress I made. Here she is...

 The front. And no, the empty cable spool and Daddy's mini maglite were not planned props. I just caught her being kind of still and took advantage of the moment. This little girl is almost always moving!

 The back.

The dress without a wiggle-worm inside!

 Here are the supplies I started with in May. I think the gingham is from Hobby Lobby, the white cotton from Joann's, the buttons from Walmart, and the other things you could find at any craft/fabric store. (I've slept a few times since May and do not completely remember every shopping trip 5 months ago!!!) I also remembered AFTER I finished the dress that I had planned to use black piping between the bodice and skirt and between the skirt and bottom skirt band. Oh well.

I decided to try an old (but new-to-me) technique called chicken scratch. It's basically just like cross-stitch, but on gingham. I've done lots of cross-stitch, so I thought this would be a breeze. Well, it would have been if I hadn't napped every day for an entire trimester. I found several tutorials online, and used the pattern I found at Stitch School. I will probably use this technique again, but in much smaller doses and not when I'm prenant!

I also had to make a matching hair clip and found instructions for this cute little flower at With My Spare Time. It was very easy!

If you haven't heard, the mosquitoes in Houston have been horrendous this weekend (all the store have sold out of sprays, etc.) so I haven't been able to have a photo shoot of Annelise's Minnie Mouse Halloween costume. The little pests seem to finally be backing off today (and all her bites are finally clearing up), so maybe I can get her suited up and snap some pics in a day or two. Until then...

Happy crafting,

Julie

Minnie Ears

Well, if that's not a big enough clue to what my daughter will be dressing as for Halloween, I don't know what is! Yep, she's going to be Minnie Mouse. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has been her favorite show for months, so Minnie was a no-brainer for me. Her birthday theme (in December) will be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so she may be wearing the costume then, too. I just finished the dress, so I'll hopefully be sharing that soon, but I don't have pics of Annelise in it yet.

The mouse ears were pretty easy to make. They took about an hour and about $4.00 (all supplies from Hobby Lobby, of course!). I mostly followed the tutorial on The Suburban Mom, and got a free ears template on the Disney Junior website (they have a lot of fun crafts & recipes, too).

As soon as Annelise got up from her nap and saw the ears, she wanted to put them on. Hopefully she won't destroy them before Oct 31. I'm also planning to make a few more sets for the kids at her birthday party, but I think they will all be out of plain black felt. The birthday girl should be the only one with the sparkly pair, right?

Happy crafting,

Julie

I Love Candy Corn!

So candy corn might just be the best thing ever made! (Okay, I exaggerate - but after my family, it holds a close second.) It's one of the best things about October.

I wanted Annelise to have a cute top to wear for fall/Halloween, but I'm not crazy about my almost 2 year old wearing witches, skulls, ghosts, etc. A few weeks ago, I made this dress - my 1st attempt with no pattern.

 Once I figured out that dress, I knew I would use the template again, and I thought by eliminating one of the tiers, I could make a cute top. Then I thought the 3 tiers left would be perfect for a little candy corn inspiration.

I found each color in polka dots and on sale Hobby Lobby (of course!). I used about 1/2 yard of the white, and 1/4 yard each of the yellow and orange (I used muslin I already had to line the white section). I might have spent $5 on fabric and another $2 or so on the buttons.

The only change I made from the dress (pictured above) - besides eliminating a tier - was to shorten the yellow and orange tiers. The dress tiers were all 5" long, and the tiers on the top are both about 3 1/2" long.

This is what I thought was my finished top - but I thought it needed a little something extra. So I made 3 little fabric yo-yos to put along the neckline.

So do you love candy corn as much as I do?

(It's a complete coincidence that Annelise picked up the matching duck puppet when I went to photograph her!)

And just in case you thought I was crazy for making a sleeveless top in October - ummm, it's still pretty warm in Houston. If it happens to get cooler, I can always layer a white or yellow tee underneath, or throw a jacket over it.

Now I'm working on her Halloween costume. Hopefully, I'll be able to post it before the end of the month! Until then...

Happy crafting,

Julie

Where have these been all my life?

I went on a quick trip to Walmart today. I was only supposed to be exchanging some curtains (for Baby #2's nursery!), but I decided to take a tour around the store to grab a few other things. (Get's me in trouble every time!) I love Walmart's special holiday baking displays in the main aisle next to the groceries. Today I spotted a new item, and it quickly flew into my basket.

Don't they look and sound amazing? The back of the package has a few suggestions for their use:

• use as decorations on top of cupcakes or iced sugar cookies
• spice up hot chocolate
• mix with popcorn, pretzel sticks, peanuts, and M&Ms
• nd there's a recipe for using them in rice crispy treats

I would think you could also add them to your coffee. No, I've never put marshmallows in my coffee either, but why not start now???

As soon as Annelise was down for her nap today, I had a little bowlful. My favorite way to snack on marshmallows is to nuke them in the microwave for about 8 seconds. That's just long enough to make them soft and melty on the inside without turning them into one giant melted mess.

Let me just say they are just as good as they sound. If Starbucks turned their Pumpkin Spice Latte into marshmallows, this would be it (just without the coffee flavor). Yummmmmmm.....

Seriously, look for them, hide them from your children, then eat them all!!!

Happy crafting,

Julie

Look Ma, No Pattern!

So I blog-stalked for about a year before I decided to start my own. I've seen so many wonderfully crafty ladies take an existing garment and recreate it for themselves and/or their children. I've been sewing from patterns since high school, and am very comfortable with professional patterns and detailed step-by-step instructions. This summer, my daughter wore a super-cute sundress that finally inspired me to take the no-pattern plunge.

Here is my little cutie wearing the sundress this June. There is still lots of growing room in the bodice, and overall, it seemed to have very simple construction. Annelise had a bit of a growth spurt (height only!) this summer, so the only real change I needed to make to the original dress was to add a bit of length.

The amount of fabric you need will depend on the size of garment you are recreating. My original dress is a roomy 18M. I needed 1/3 yard each for the bodice and the 3 skirt tiers (got my fabric at Hobby Lobby - love their coordinating collections). I also used 1/3 yard for the bodice lining (some muslin I already had).

I started out by folding the bodice in half, placing the fold at the edge of the paper, and tracing the edges. I traced all the way to the side seam and extended the side seam about 2". Then I drew another line 5/8" outside the edges (professional patterns call for a 5/8" seam, so that's what I'm comfortable with).

Here are the front and back bodice pieces all traced out.

Next I marked the button and buttonhole placement. The original dress had the buttonhole on the front piece so the decorative bow would hide the button. I will be using a decorative button that I want to be seen, so I'm going to put the button on the front of the bodice and the buttonhole on the back.

Here are my button placement markings:

Cut out your bodice pieces. To make the most of your fabric, fold each side in to the middle to get two folds - one for each bodice piece.

Cut two matching bodice pieces from your lining fabric.

With right sides together, stitch along the arm, top, and neck seams. Do not sew the side seams yet. Trim the corners near (but not through) the corner stitching. Clip the neck and arm curves close to (but again, not through) the stitching.

Turn each bodice piece right side out and press. Use something small to poke out the corners (just don't use anything sharp that would punch through the fabric).

Next, fold under 5/8" of the lining. This step will make sense later. (On a side note, one of the best things about being pregnant is the way prenatal vitamins make your nails grow!)

Fold out the side seams and match up the front and back bodices.

Pin together, folding out the lining you pressed earlier. Stitch the seam.

 Press the seam out, then repeat with other side seam. Your bodice should now be kind of a circle.

Here's the finished bodice:

Next, I determined the length for each of the skirt tiers. The longest tier on the original dress was about 5" long, so I added an inch for seam allowance and cut all my tiers 6" long.

The tier width was 23 1/2", and I added an inch for seam allowance.

So each tier was 6" x 24 1/2". Cut two pieces this size for each tier.

Sew the two pieces for each tier together at the side seams. Finish the raw edges (serge, zigzag stitch, or cut with pinking shears). Each tier should end up looking like a big circle.

Sew the three tiers together and finish the raw edges.

 Hem the bottom tier edge. Fold up and press 5/8", then fold in the raw edge to meet the pressed edge. Stitch close to the top edge all the way around.

 

On the top tier, sew gathering stitches at 1/2" and 1/4". Do not trim the loose threads. I like to break the stitching at the side seams. It's easier to gather half of a skirt instead of the whole circumference.

Pin the skirt to the bodice, matching the side seams (leave the lining free). Pull your gathering stitches until the skirt and bodice circumferences match. Spread the gathering out evenly and pin to bodice. Stitch the seam. Check the bodice to make sure it's still smooth, then trim all the loose threads.

Here is the reason for pressing up the lining earlier. Fold the lining down over the gathered seam and hand-stitch, being careful not to let the stitching go through to the bodice front. (This is the most tedious part of the whole dress. Kick back and catch up on House Hunters.)

Transfer the button and buttonhole placement markings to the bodice. Sew the buttonholes and sew on your buttons.

And here it is - my first garment without a pattern. Not bad, if I do say so myself. It's hot enough now that Annelise can wear this as is for another month or so. When the weather gets cooler, I will pair it with a long sleeve shirt and leggings or tights.

And now that I've got the bodice pattern drawn up, I've already got plans for a candy corn top. Next time!

Happy crafting,

Julie

I have a great excuse for not blogging.

So I haven't posted since July 12 - yikes!!! I haven't even crafted since then. But I promise there's a really good reason. I'll let Annelise tell you all about it...

See, I told you it was a really good reason!

I found out I was expecting our 2nd child on June 7, the day before our 15th wedding anniversary. Since my husband and I found out together about Annelise, I wanted to surprise him with the news about baby #2. So on the morning of June 8, after Eric went to work, I whisked Annelise off to Walmart for some supplies.

We got a Garanimals T-shirt for $3 and a fat quarter of black/white dot fabric for about $1.99. I already had fusible web and buttons at home, so I basically spent $5. (I like the Lite Steam a Seam, especially for sewing through. It's not too stiff when you apply it.You can get it anywhere that sells fabric. It's about $4 for 5 sheets, and I used about half a sheet for this project.) Want to make your own personalized message shirt? I promise it's pretty easy.

I started out measuring how big I wanted the message to be on the shirt. I used WordArt in Microsoft Word and typed in the chosen text. Next, I right clicked on the WordArt, chose Format WordArt, then on the Size tab, set the height & width for the shirt I measured. The font I used is called Soup of Justice, and I got it free from dafont.com (love that site for free fonts!). I like that it's bold and chunky, and not too swirly, so it's easy to cut out and stitch around.

 Next, cut out each letter (you don't need to cut out duplicates at this stage, just remember to cut how many you need from the fabric.

Trace your letters in reverse on the sticky side liner paper of the fusible web.

Cut loosely around each letter - not right on the line!

 Remove the non-sticky liner and apply the sticky web to the wrong side of your fabric. The web will stick temporarily, then when you iron it down, it will be permanent.

Finally, cut out all your fabric letters and arrange on the shirt. When you're happy with the placement, peel off the backing, set them in place, and iron those puppies down. You can stop here and the letters will be permanently affixed. I stitched around each letter with coordinating thread. If you're not comfortable with sewing, you could also use fabric paint to trace the edges, or just leave them as they are.

You'll notice I did not cut out the tiny middle parts of the "B's". Yeah, I'm lazy, not crazy. I just hand-sewed two buttons to each "B", which I think turned out cuter anyway. This whole project took about 1 1/2 hours.

So if you're still reading, you might be wondering how the surprise worked out. Since our anniversary was a Wednesday, we were at church for most of the evening. When we got home, I told Eric I wanted him to see Annelise's new shirt. I took her into the other room, put the shirt on and sent her out. At first, he got it, but he didn't GET it. Eric said, "Annelise, are you going to be a big sister some day?" I had to let him know that it wasn't just one day, it was now. After he finally realized I was serious, he got really excited.

Here's Annelise and the happy daddy-to-be-again! (Well, half of his face - haha!)

We emailed this picture to some family members to let them know, and we skyped with my parents and put Annelise (in the shirt) up in front of the camera.

For my first trimester, I was exhausted and napped every afternoon when Annelise napped. And since nap time is usually craft time, none of that has been happening lately. At 15 weeks, I'm finally beginning to have a little more energy during the day. Which is good, because I have a stack of fabric waiting to be turned into fall clothes for a cute "big sis 2 be"!!!

Happy crafting,

Julie