Pumpkin Jumper

I have been researching monogram and applique machines and I have discovered one thing they all have in common - the are EXPENSIVE!!  Don't get me wrong, I still want one, and will one day have one, but that day is not today.  Now, if I were back in Georgia, I would just call up my friend Marianne and she would monogram and applique anything I needed, but I am in Louisiana now and I have not found a friend like Marianne to do these things for me, so I had to get resourceful and figure out a way to do it myself with my plain ol' sewing machine.

I bought some brown corduroy and some orange gingham check to make a reversible jumper for my darling niece.  I thought it would be precious if I could applique a pumpkin onto the brown side with the coordinating gingham fabric.  Here's how it turned out!

 

Not bad for my first try.  It would have been super cute if I could have monogrammed the pumpkin or the reverse gingham side, but I think it's pretty cute anyway.

 

Remember the Groovy Dress?  I had enough scrap fabric left over from it and the brown corduroy jumper to make a "mini groovy dress" for precious Anna-Kay.

 

I also whipped up this sweet dress and matching bib with some left over fabric.

 

I hope these two sweet girls enjoy their new outfits because I'm putting away the sewing machine until after the first of the year.  I'll be decorating for Christmas soon and I need to get my dining room table cleaned off.

 

On second thought, my darling niece has a birthday coming up soon and then Christmas will be here too, so I might need to whip up a couple more outfits.  I'm thinking a flannel granny gown and a cute peasant top with ruffle britches might be in order! Hmmmm.... 

 

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A Groovy Dress

Now that I am unpacked and I've decorated for fall, I've decided it is time to drag out the sewing machine and get sewing for my darling neice.  I've also added another little bundle of joy to sew for and that is my friend Amy's darling baby girl  Anna-Kay.  Here is the little dress I made for her.

I used a pink gingham check fabric with eyelet trim.



 

I had enough fabric left over to make this matching bib.  If only I had a monogramming machine I could have put the baby's initials on it.

I love this peasant dress pattern.  It is such a simple pattern, yet it is so versitile.  Here is my newest version of the peasant dress I made for my darling niece.

 

This version has long sleeves in a coordinating fabric.

 

I added some elastic to the upper arm to give the sleeve a gathered look.

 

 

  

 

I added a coordinating border with a trim detail using a third coordinating fabric.  This is the first time I've done this trim detail and I love how it turned out!  I took a strip of fabric and folded it in half to create a narrow border then sewed it onto the dress along with the wider border fabric.

 

I'm dying to see how it looks on my darling niece!  Oh, and speaking of my darling niece, she will be a big sister come spring!  My sister is expecting her second darling baby.  Maybe I'll have a little boy to sew for this time.  We'll have to wait until the spring to find out though.  Can't wait!!!

 

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Oldies but Goodies

Okay, I'll confess, I have not bought the turquoise paint for my table, nor have I started on the second ugly chair, so I decided I would post some oldies but goodies.  These are some items that I have made in the past but not actually blogged about, so they'll be new to you, but old to me.  Anyway...  you've seen the wedding cake cookies I made for a friend and the apple cookies I made for my class, but here are a couple of other cookies I've done.

Ruler cookies for teacher appreciation week.  I placed this in a snack sized plastic bag with a label that read "Teachers Rule".

I made baby carriage cookies for several baby showers this year.

Along with making cookies, I've done a lot of sewing for my neice, but also for other friends babies.

A pink plisse' peasant dress and bloomers with white eyelet trim for my darling neice.  I think this is one of my favorite outfits.

A onsie decorated with fabric roses and bandana bloomers with eyelet ruffles I made for a friends new baby.

Another peasant dress for my neice.  I loved the fabric on this one.  I also made matching pants but forgot to take a picture of them.

A fully lined make-up bag made using bandanas. It was my first attempt at adding a zipper to something!

Besides sewing, I did a little crafting too.

 For a last day of school gift for my class I printed a tag that read "Stay Cool This Summer" from some site I found online (wish I could remember where) and tied it with curling ribbon around several unfrozen ice pops.

Fish bowls made using rice cakes, blue icing and goldfish crackers during "pets" week at preschool.

I actually started on a new craft today - a burlap wreath!  I ran out of burlap ribbon so I've got to run back to Michael's but I will post about it the minute I am finished.  I also bough the fabric for my second ugly chair, so I hope to have that started and finished soon too!  I've got lots of projects planned and I can't wait to get started!

I Couldn't Help Myself!

Okay, if anyone overhears me saying I'm going to Hobby Lobby or Hancocks, please host an intervention!  Things are really getting out of hand with all the fabric buying.  I may have to start quilting to use up all my scraps, because y'all know a true crafter NEVER throws away scraps! 

So anyway,  I was strolling through Hancocks the other day just "looking" and I saw this adorable fabric!  I thought to myself, "my darling niece NEEDS something made from this!"  So I bought this cute witch hat fabric, then ran right next door to Hobby Lobby... you can see why I'm having such issues with Hobby Lobby and Hancocks right next door to each other... and I bought the orange and white polka dot. 

Then I rushed home and whipped up this little cutie!

The beauty of a pillowcase dress is that next year she can wear it as a top with a pair of leggings since babies don't really get wider just longer!

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The Trick or Treat Dress

Remember this cute fabric?

Well here's what I made out of it.

I just adore the trick or treat fabric!  Isn't this knot dress pattern the cutest?  I can't wait to see the baby in it!

As I was cleaning up my sewing area I came across this rick rack and it was exactly enough to use on the dress!

I just love some cute rick rack!

Now to make her a second dress using this fabric.

I'm thinking a long sleeved peasant dress with ruffle legged pants for the fall.

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I'm still at it!

I'm on a roll with the sewing, but I've promised myself I will put it away after one more outfit.  Okay two.  Two more outifts for the baby and I will clean up the dining room!  I wish I had a better place to do my sewing so the first thing you see when you walk in my house is not a big fat mess!  Anyway, things are still a mess, but I just had to share this latest outfit with you!

I know the weather is getting cooler out, so I made this outfit bigger so she can wear it next spring.  Oh, and remember the romper?  I decided to get it monogrammed.  How cute is this?

Well, I'd better get back to sewing.  I've got two outfits to make before Thursday!  Y'all know I'll be sharing them with you!

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Never Say Never

As you know, I've been sewing for my darling baby niece.  A while back, my sister, who does not sew, picked up some super cute fabric and a super cute romper pattern.  She mentioned to the ladies at the fabric store that she wanted a pattern that was simple enough for a beginning sewer. They assured her that this pattern was "easy breezy!" HA! Easy breezy in couturier school somewhere in Paris maybe!  This pattern covers almost every aspect of sewing except for french seams, zippers and inset lace.  It's got buttons and button holes, snaps, piping, trim, ruffles, elastic and it's reversible!  REVERSIBLE I say!! I was so intimidated by this pattern that I sat there and looked at it for month after I cut out the material.  Then one day I looked at that pattern and said, "I'm not scared of you!", and I started sewing.  The pattern did call for piping, but I did not have enough fabric left to make my own so I opted for rick rack instead.  I love how it turned out!  What do you think?

I'm in love with this rick rack trim!

My first time ever adding snaps to anything!  And look at that darling ruffle!  The elastic just goes around the sides so there's like a little flounce at the legs!

And look!  It's reversible too!  I must say, I have amazed myself!  I never thought I would be able to pull off an outfit like this in a million years.  It just goes to show, you should never say never!

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The Baby Made Me Do It

When my sister found out she was expecting last year she and her hubs decided to make it a surprise birthday.  Nobody knew the sex of the baby.  I'm here to tell you that it is super hard to shop for a baby when you don't know the sex.  EVERYTHING is either pink or blue.  Even carseats and strollers are gender specific these days.  When it was time to throw the baby shower I had just finished reading the Twilight books, so of course we had to have a teams at the shower - Team Pink and Team Blue.  We decided, using a proven scientific method, that since there were more people on Team Blue, the baby would definitely be a boy.  Science-Smience! I  was on Team Pink and you couldn't change my mind about it!  Turns out I was right and in early December my bouncing baby neice was born.

Since we were unable to buy baby clothes before the baby arrived (other than some generic sleepers and onesies) I decided to get out my sewing machine and start sewing.  I am not an expert sewer.  I've never had a sewing lesson in my life, but I thought I could figure it out if I tried.  I started out simple with a couple of pillowcase dresses.  Mine weren't made from actual pillowcases, but the actual shape of the dress is a rectangle like a pillowcase.  I got the bloomers pattern from a friend of mine.  I think this is one of my favorite dresses.  I love the fabric! Check out this blog  for a video tutorial and free pattern!

Then I made this one with the contrasting ruffle. 

I also made her this bandana dress, which we dubbed the bbq dress, and matching bloomers and bonnet.

I had such success with the bandana dress that I wanted to try something else using bandanas.  So I came up with this cute outfit.

Next my sister picked up some fabric and I made these darling baby shoes  and a matching pinafore dress.  I love this pattern so much!  I bought the shoe pattern off of Etsy.  There are lots of cute patterns for very reasonable prices.

I found the pattern for this dress here . It was free also!  Yay Free!  This was also my first attempt at a button hole and making covered buttons!  Believe it or not, it was Easy Breezy! :)

Then I found this cute peasant dress pattern also on Etsy and with some pink plisse and white eyelet, I crafted this little dress and bloomers.

Oh and I made one more thing using a baby headband and some tulle, that I was sure the baby would need.  I realize that others doubted my logic...

... but I stand by my belief that a baby does need a tutu!

She's a Real Looker!

I am so excited y'all!  I finally finished the ugly chair and she turned out to be a real looker! I am thrilled with how she turned out, especially since this was my first time ever upholstering anything!  She is not perfect by any stretch - there are some things about the paint finish I might go back and tweak, and the seat cushion is not as perfect as it could be, but all in all, I love her!

Remember how she used to look?

Well look at her now!

I ended up using the white gimp to trim out the chair and I love how it looks!  Thanks for the inspiration Miss Mustard Seed 

And don't you just love the monogram!  I think it really makes the chair special.  If you haven't made anything using a painters drop cloth, you really should give it a try.  I love the texture and the color of it.  I even had a little left over that I'm going to use to make a throw pillow.

I learned so much in recovering this chair.  The first thing I learned is that I did not take nearly enough pictures of the before and the during.  You might think you'll remember how things looked, but trust me, you won't.  I'm pretty sure that I did not do the back of my chair how the original was done, but I will never know, because I didn't take a picture of it.  The hardest part of the entire chair was the part you don't even see - the seat bottom under the cushion!  Trying to work around the chair arms and legs was a real bear, but I worked it out and am pleased with the results. 

Now on to the next project!

Ugly Chair #2

There isn't a single thing I like about this chair. The shape is blah, the fabric is dated, it doesn't go with anything in my house.  In fact, I'm not even sure where we got this chair.  I think The Hubs brought it home one day from who knows where!  It sits in my sons room and is usually covered in laundry.  He leaves for college in a couple of weeks, so I will wait until he is gone before I confiscate his chair.  I might do something fun with it like covering it in Georgia Bulldog fabric!  Hmmm.... we'll see.

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