full

This is blog post #500 according to the count on blogger. and I am full.

-I am full of more ideas to hopefully make it another 500!
-I am full of projects I want (and need) to work on.  There are never enough hours in the day!
-I am full (and getting fuller) of baby boy in my belly!
-I am full of chores I have to do and just don't want to.  There are so many more fun things to do.
-I am full (in the garage) of stuff to get rid of at our first garage sale.
-I am full of love for my family and thankfulness for our relative health and happiness.
-I am full of lists.  I am totally one of those people who loves crossing things off her list!
-I am full of music-humming, singing, and listening to sounds all around me all day long.



This is one project I (finally) finished for my mother...her fall purse.  I wonder what she will fill it up with?
What are you full of?

spinning and twirling

My little girly girl loves to spin and twirl and dance.  When I saw this Daisy Kingdom pattern, I knew I had to give it a try with her.

The fabrics are by Heidi Grace.  Floral and pink and perfect for spring.  The two skirt pieces are basically squares with holes cut out of the middle, so they make for some great points that really flare out when she twirls.

Because of my growing ability to understand and adapt a commercial pattern, I was able to make sure it fit in the bodice before I sewed the skirt on. It wasn't just a matter of getting the elastic right, but changing the way the triangles overlapped in front. The halter tie didn't seem to bug her either, so I declare this dress a success.

knit upcycle + serger love

Like I said - my new serger has been getting a workout.  Here are a few Lil Blue Boo Sienna Dresses that I've cranked out recently.


The blue and green striped fabric is an old tshirt, the dots are left over from another project I did a couple of years ago for her.  Because of how I cut the sleeves, I didn't even have to hem them.  Woohoo!


The dragonfly fabric was a tank that never quite fit right in the armholes for me, and the pink floral fabric is Patty Young's design. I did a lettuce edging on my serger to finish off the short sleeves.


The calla lily fabric was also an old tank of mine - bought before I got married! It has held up relatively well, but was getting a little small for me. The green and white fabrics are just plain tees I had sitting around waiting for a new life.

The blue and white solids are just random knit scraps - the upcycled tee here was used in the skirt

I've also been using some of the knit scraps to make little shorts for under her dresses.  I LOVE my serger and being able to give my old t-shirts new life in my daughter's wardrobe!

warhol dress - the bigger size

I've been excitedly going through my knits and cranking out some new outfits.  The neckline on Dana's Warhol dress is a little too low for my liking, so unfortunately she'll be wearing it most of the summer with a tee underneath.  That is my fault though - I did not gather it enough before I added the yolk.  But this print is lots of fun, and it's a very light knit so she'll be wearing it a lot this summer!

rainbow room

Now that we have a four year old in our house - it was time to put some of the finishing touches on her big girl room.  It's been painted for over a month now, but we just recently had the vinyl rainbow installed and added some finishing touches today.

Here's her bed - with a rainbow from the floor to the clouds.  To the left of the rainbow is the quote "Follow every rainbow until you find your dream".  (name the musical!)
The canopy above her bed is IKEA - I just added the rainbow ribbons hanging down from the clouds.

After that first picture was added, we installed her name.  It is between the canopy above her bed and the window to the right.

On the other side of the room (between the door and the closet) is her dress-up area.  The rainbow polka dot tubs hold a bunch of brushes, hair ribbons, elastics, and her "earrings" (stickers).  Then of course, her bows and purse are hanging there as well.

The dressing table has a rainbow on it, as does the other side of the chair. Perfect for checking herself out when she's done primping.  She is such a girly-girl and loves it all!

In the other corner, above her dollhouse area are a couple little white shelves.  She chose the unicorn, which just cracks up my 80s loving self.  The shelf above has a new frame (decorated by Aunt E) and waiting for me to get around to printing a picture.  The shelf above has her class picture from preschool.
The one corner left is the one with her dresser and bookshelf in it.  We're waiting for the last detail, some rainbow bookends and then her room will be totally complete.  Now if I can only get her to clean it up!
I am also working on a rainbow quilt for her bed instead of a simple blue comforter.  That may take a little longer though... but believe me I will be sharing it here someday!!!!

Halloween

Halloween 2011

I added a few trims and details to an existing dress pattern I had, made sure the pink fabric was sparkly, and we had Pinkalicious!  I made the crown and wand from felt, the wings and shoes I bought.

My little burrito lover became a burrito - even had some guacamole on his shoulder.  We used a take-out bag for his treat bag.

Olivia the Pig birthday party

My daughter LOVES Olivia the pig.  We have read the books, watched the shows, played with the house & car & stuffed animals - it was only a matter of time before we celebrated with Olivia!

She definitely wanted to wear red for her birthday party to be "just like Olivia" - but I didn't want to go costume-y and have her be an exact replica.  So she got her own special Olivia jumper.

The fabric on the bottom is that ruffle fabric everyone is raving about.  I'm pretty sure I couldn't pull that off myself but I knew Abby would love it.  The dress came together very quickly - I did a tube of matching red knit for the bodice, a tube of red (a little wider) for the skirt, and two pieces of red knit for the straps.  The cutting and measuring probably took as long as the sewing - at most a total of 30 minutes to whip it together.  She calls it her "jiggly" red dress and LOVES it.
The bows are red with white polka dots.  Once again - not an exact replica of Olivia's bows, but perfect for her and for the party.  I found red and white polka dot paper goods & balloons, so it was thematic.

Her goodie bags included red and white twisty erasers, notebooks and notepads with Olivia on them from the Target dollar bins, red and white polka dot pencils, tiaras and red and white striped hair bows for the girls, pirate patches and telescopes, pig noses, and pig ears.  I made the hair bows, patches, pig noses, and ears.  If I can get the kids to dress up I'll add pictures later.  The patches were just black felt with skinny black elastic sewn on.  The pig noses were pink felt with a large pink button on top to make the nose holes.  For the ears, I sewed them up in felt and hot glued them to a pink headband.  I made the ears quite oversized to be like Olivia's.
For the craft, I bought pink circular metal tins and hot glued a pink button in the middle to be the nose.  The kids then added their own rhinestone stickers and glitter to make their very own piggy treasure boxes.  I considered piggy banks, but it was too late to get the right containers together from our recycling stash, and I wasn't going to pay for brand new piggy banks to decorate.  I think the boxes turned out cute, and it has been a great way for Abby to store the pig dress up parts (eye patch & nose).

playing catch up

For a variety of reasons I won't go into, I took a blogging break.  But I've decided I would like to get back in the swing of things.  It's nice to have a record of all my handmade goodies, and I like sharing them with you.

First of all - I made some new shirts using heat transfer.  The front of the shirts have an H5 on the pocket spot.  We are kind of geeky and like math problems around our house... can you solve this one?

Yep - baby #3 is due in late June.  It's a boy.  We've named him, but aren't telling.  And yes - I've already embroidered his name on a blanket.  I'm not superstitious in that way.

Conner turned 7 in February, and he really wanted a detective party.  The invitations have his fingerprints on the outside of the card (as well as the outside of the envelope) and vinyl magnifying glasses with a clear plastic lens over a paper "TOP SECRET" headline.
Goodie bags were a detective kit - ID tag, disguise glasses, magnifying glass, flashlight they could decorate, and a little notebook & pen - all kept in a black box.  They played a few games to "earn" the parts of their detective kit, and then ended with a scavenger hunt around the house to find the goodies for their ice cream sundaes.

"Kirstin's Skirt" - Olabelhe Designs - made last fall.  Abby's hands were covering up the big bow in front, but I'm just glad she stood still and smiled.

Abby's first day of school outfit.  Their are matching capri-length pants with a ruffle, you just can't quite see them under the skirt.  Her hair was braided and put into two loops - with matching bows.  I love Hobby Lobby fabrics with all their perfectly matching ribbons!

I love being in a good hand-me-down chain.  I made this top for a friend's daughter, and it got passed back to me when she outgrew it.  Yay for durable and handmade!

I know it's horribly out of order, but I'll post about Halloween costumes tomorrow and Abby's Olivia the Pig birthday party as well.  As for Easter - I have no handmade goodies to share because honestly I was rushing and didn't measure well and by the time I was done with the dress I realized the bodice was way too big for her.  I'm hoping she grows into it by her brother's baptism later this summer.

There were a few Christmas projects made for my nieces and a dress for my daughter that will go undocumented unless I can find those pictures somewhere.  I just need to move forward and show you all the goodies I'm working on now!  I have three quilts in progress, a purse for my mom, a couple spring dresses for Abby, and a couple baby things for our June firefly.
Thanks for sticking around - I'll see you again soon!