smocked birthday goodness

My mother is an amazing seamstress.  This was the birthday dress she made for Abby. 
Check out the piping detail on the front!

And here's a closeup of the beautiful details. (and Abby's oh-so-straight hair.  It's getting so long!)

Thanks mom for a gorgeous dress!!!! (And see - proof that she wore it again!)  When I understand the hard work that goes into something like this, I have a hard time putting it on her to wear.

another birthday girl!

First birthdays are always cause for celebration!  I collaborated with Lisa of Cute-Z Ties to make this adorable outfit.

Lisa did the hairbow and tutu, I did the cupcake onesie.

 The mom requested a special extra on the bottom of the onesie - "Miss April" with a crown.

Happy Birthday, V!

storks cradle here I come! (& the winner!)

You may remember the onesies I made for my friend who had twins.  Thank goodness I got over to get a picture of them because they were the hit at my meeting today!!!!

I'm going to start off by making some display models of personalized onesies, then they will take orders for the shirts and hats.  Other items may be added at a later date, but this is a good place to start!  My stuff will be in a "real" store.  I'm pretty excited!

Thanks everyone for your ideas of what to take.  I appreciate your help!!!
As for the winner - I gave the responsibility to my son, the reigning king of the "Random" Club.  I said pick a number - 1-2-3-4-5 - and he said "3".  Why?  Because "my favorite numbers are 3... and 5!  And my favorite colors are orange and blue." So - congratulations go to

Rebecca (who said...)
Some bucket hats for Summer with matching onesies. Modern, designer prints always go best, as well as cute boy prints like the little red car you had on one of your t's. Maybe even little shorts to match?

April 21, 2010 10:05 PM

Email me and we'll get a little something wrapped up and sent off to you!

let's hear it for the boys!

A couple goodies for boys!!!  I decided I needed a little something for boys besides just onesies.  And I really wanted to try making a piece of clothing with my serger.

First up - a pair of chambray overalls with a pocket on front, pockets on the back, elastic at the armhole, patches on the knees, and snaps on the legs.

My second project was the one that has beautifully serged seams and facing!  It's a sleeveless romper with snaps in the legs and buttons at the shoulder.

I only used my regular machine for the topstitching and buttons/ buttonholes.

 Have you ever used snap tape?  Ah.... so much better than sewing snaps on by hand!!!  I would have used it on the overalls, but I didn't have a piece that was quite long enough.

Which one is your favorite???


{and have you entered the giveaway?}

new adventure... and a giveaway!!!

I am so excited!!!  I have a meeting next week with the owners of a store in the town I grew up in.  It's a sweet little shop named The Stork's Cradle.  It is filled with a few goodies for mommies (maternity wear, bags, etc.) and a ton of goodies for babies - nursery decor, books, quilts, blankets, clothing, toys and more.
Here's where I need your help!  I am pulling together some of my baby goodies to share with them in the hopes that they will want to sell some of it in their shop.  If you were going to walk into a store and buy my items off the shelf, what would you like to see?  What should I show off at the meeting - clothing and/or other items?  Hop on over to my Facebook galleries, click on categories ("threads") over on the right column, read old blog posts - whatever works best for you... just help me decide!!!  (Their clothing only goes up to 12month size).

I have also hit 40 followers and 400 blog posts.  So as a little thank you to you for sticking by me & helping me choose - a new giveaway & a coupon code!
GIVEAWAY - One of you will get one of your favorite things mentioned in the comments!!!!  A name will be chosen at random after my meeting with the Stork's Cradle owners.
COUPON CODE -  Order something from my ArtFire shop and include the code 4STORK and you'll get $4 off.

The coupon and giveaway will be closed next Monday at noon (after my meeting).

argyle

A few new onesies... aren't they cute?!  They were so simple - just three diamonds stitched in the middle, and two diamonds sewn in-between in a coordinating thread.

happy birthday to me!!!

It was also my birthday this weekend.  I was spoiled rotten by my husband, parents, and in-laws... a dozen red roses, necklace, gift card to Joann Fabrics, delicious meals cooked by my hubby, cinnamon rolls for breakfast, an adapter for my iPod in my car, and a new sewing machine!!!!!

Yep - I am now the proud owner of a serger!  It's a Brother 1034D.  I've been having fun playing around with the settings and trying to figure it all out.  The next challenge - putting in new thread and moving away from the yellow-red-green-blue threads that came with the machine.  One of my first projects is napkins with the rolled edge.  What is your favorite project to do with your serger?

ladybug - lovebug - PARTY

Our little lovebug turned two... which means it's time for a party!!!  The weather was GORGEOUS here today - so we had time to play outside with cousins after a yummy lunch together & naps for the 3 little ones.  Here she is in her ladybug top.

A couple more party details...

I wanted a little something to hang in our entryway.  It's a ribbon garland - felt rectangles are just straight stitched onto the ribbon.  I grabbed some brightly colored fabric, and put my machine in free motion mode.  I free-handed the letters, and then trimmed them.  Then I stitched some brightly colored buttons in between the letters.

The other garland is more party-specific, but I'll probably keep it up for a while just because it's springy, blue, and I LOVE the fabric!  I used my rotary cutter with a pinking blade to cut the triangles, and then machine stitched them along a ladybug ribbon.

 I also made lovebug cupcakes.  The "lovebugs" are made from red melting chocolate in a heart shaped silicone mold.  I popped them out, then dipped the heads in dark brown chocolate.  Then I used a sparkly black gel to do 2 spots on each side (she is turning 2 after all!) and the stripe down the middle for the wings.  Then I used a white gel for the eyes.

The cupcakes are just a plain yellow cake mix that I dyed pink, and then added mini chocolate chips to be ladybug spots.  (It helps that I LOVE chocolate and thought this was a good reason to throw in some more chocolate!)

{for more ladybug party details click on the ladybug thread below}

ladybug top

So - just a little something I made for the birthday girl.  It's a seersucker green fabric with butterflies, ladybugs and dots all over.  After I took the pictures, I decided to add some big red ladybug buttons where the straps meet the bodice.  She's going to wear it with black leggings.  I made pink knit capris, but I think it's going to be a little cool for her to wear them at the party.  I'll probably put a white onesie on underneath too.
It matches her new purse too!

{edited to add... check her out at her birthday party! and I linked up at a couple parties!}

ladybug favors

The ladybug party is coming up this weekend.  Here's the favors for the little girl cousins.

Each girl gets their own "Love Bug" mask to decorate.  They were in the Joann's Dollar section.  It remains to be seen whether they'll be decorated at the party or later at home.  Then there's a little glitter to sprinkle around on a ladybug picture, and tins with black and red M&Ms inside.  The tins are also from the dollar section, and I added the glitter black dots around the top.  Of course everybody gets to pick a ladybug magnet, too!

ladybug magnets

Conner wanted to help make some goodies for Abby's party.  We got busy with Model Magic.  I haven't used it often, but with it's magical drying abilities, I figured it work out well for this project.

So much great fine motor work for him - rolling the balls, smooshing them together.  We made 22!

Then we left them out overnight to dry.

After they were dry, I glued magnets to the back.  Then we paired up a bunch of google eyes out of our stash, and glued the ladybug's eyes on.  It dawned on me then - I wonder what would have happened if I had stuck the eyes in before the Model Magic dried.  Has anyone else tried something like that?  Next project I'll find out!  I also used a Sharpie to draw a line down the middle.  If I had been doing this project myself, obviously the dots would have been a little more consistently sized & placed.  But with Conner helping, each ladybug has "personality".
At the party, they'll be parading on the refrigerator, and everybody will get to pick their favorite to take home.

ladybug wreath

The next wreath in the series!

I took off the ribbon strips & the eggs on the Easter version and added some red felt in the spot without enough twine.  I used black pins to hold it in place - perfect ladybug spots!  Then I used a Model Magic ladybug (more coming up soon!) and stuck it in place with a black pin through its neck.  A little ladybug ribbon to hang it up & we're good to go for the party this weekend!

counting outside

We were sitting out in front of our house playing with the chalk and waiting for Daddy to come home.  And the kids were just LOVING walking on the stones by the garden.  So I made a number line.  Conner could hop back and forth, adding & subtracting as he went.

What a great activity for my little kinesthetic learner!!

I figure when it washes away, we can always write the alphabet and make up some letter games to play too.  I'm just so glad we've been able to be playing outside and moving around more!!!

aren't my kids adorable?

Just a couple random moments I thought I'd share...
Here are the kids on Easter Sunday.  After a major meltdown on Christmas Eve because he didn't have a tie like Daddy, we made sure to have a tie for Easter!  And of course, Abby looked adorable in her dress!

We spent our morning at the Morton Arboretum playing in the daffodils.  It's a huge field (with a beautiful oak tree) that is full of lots of clumps of daffodils all over.  We've made it a spring tradition.  It's such a great place that we go back in the fall and enjoy all the beautiful leaves too.

Then we went to the Children's Garden area to play.  It was there that I had my first random blogger sighting... I saw Maggie from Smashed Peas and Carrots.  I knew we both lived in the Chicagoland area, but had to kind of laugh to myself when I saw her kids and thought, how do I know them?? and then saw her and it clicked. :)  Go check out her blog - she's always up to something fun!

hippity hop! look what else is in my shop!

This collection of four bunnies was also originally illustrated by my friend, Beth, of Buffington Design & Illustrations.  I love them peeking out of the corners!  They just make me smile.

Well - I thought they were in need of some fabric for their borders, backgrounds and eggs.  Here's a couple examples of what I came up with.  The bunny is machine embroidered over the fabric "frame".

They've hopped right into my ArtFire & Etsy shops - and they are listed in the colors & sizes shown.  If you are interested in a bunny of your very own making, please contact me and we'll work out a special color palette for your bunny.  You just specify with bunny is your favorite, pick a color, and I'll send you some choices for your very own bunny onesie, tshirt, sweatshirt, or other item!

Just wanted you to know - I'm showing off at a couple parties...

easter wreath

Well - you might remember my wreath around the year adventure.  Well - here is my gorgeous Easter wreath.  I used a sweet little Easter ribbon and some Dollar Store foam Easter eggs.  Simple.  My big thing this time was to put it out on one of the porch posts, rather than have it hanging by the door.  Well, my great plan lasted about 6 hours before it fell down.  So my official wreath around the year has truly turned into an adventure now.

Time for a new wreath form and a new design.  I grabbed some twine I had laying around and wrapped and hot glued and wrapped some more.  I was a little short on twine and didn't want to go buy more.  So I used the ribbon to cover the remaining space, and then hung the eggs in a bundle up top.

I figure I can just use the twine covered wreath form and change out the ribbon with colorful fabrics and other stuff.  We'll see how this one works out!

skirt for a grown-up

I found a cute little turquoise jacket at the store, and needed something to go with it.  I decided to go with a simple elastic waist... mostly because I was spending time on the girl's dresses, and also *maybe* due to a little mis-measurement on my part.
Here it is!  Simple, but it does the job.

 I LOVE the turquoise and navy blue combo.