my firefly is one!

My firefly is one!  For his birthday outfit I used Patty Young's Natalie&Nate pattern, the boy version.  The fabric is from Eric Carle's Very Lonely Firefly collection.  The lining fabric is Brown Bear or Very Hungry Caterpillar - I forgot which one.


I also embellished a romper for him with a firefly star.  We now have five people in our family - so a star seems just right as our family symbol.  His older brother requested a matching tshirt, so he got an orange one with the star appliqued in the middle as well.

very hungry caterpillar

My daughter's latest dress is made from Patty Young's Frida pattern.

I finally cut into my Eric Carle stash.  The headscarf and bodice are from the Brown Bear collection.  The skirt, pockets, ruffle, and sleeves are from the Very Hungry Caterpillar collection.

She loves retelling the story and pointing at the foods on the skirt.

She wore it proudly for her brother's Eric Carle birthday party, and will hopefully wear it for the first day of Kindergarten.

more knit dresses

I love Spoonflower.  It's a great concept, and although I've only used it once - I plan to use it again for another special project.  I bought this rainbow fabric in the organic knit and used Patty Young's Morgan pattern.

I used an old tshirt for the yellow, and some scrap knits for the green and the turquoise.  I cut the fabric carefully to get a nice zigzag effect at the shoulder and neckbands.

I love the pockets peeking out a bit of yellow!

This version was made for one of my nieces using Patty Young fabric and some other solids from my stash.

Here's another peek at the pocket.

The tuck at the neckline is a cute detail.

I've made many of Patty Young's Abigail dresses before.  This is my latest version.

It comes together so easily now, especially with my serger.  Easy breezy!

bloom

This is the bloom dress from Patty Young's book Sewing Modkid Style.  It came together very easily, and is light and comfy.


I thought the print was a perfect one to use with this dress that already called for a five-petal flower applique.

halter top

This halter top pattern is from Patty Young's book Sewing Modkid Style. 

I used some of her fabric as well as a matching light turquoise ribbed knit for the facing and hem band.

She loves how open the back feels!

pinwheel quilt

Today I welcomed niece #5 into the family. R gets a little bit larger quilt, mostly because I didn't bother with really counting stuff out until it was already cut.  When I realized how big it would be, I just went for it because I had everything already.  The pattern is Patty Young's Houndstooth quilt.


In each of the gray pinwheels, I free motion stitched a heart with an R inside of it.  In the corner, I signed my name.  Otherwise, all quilting is stitch in the ditch around the pinwheels.

The pictures don't do it justice.  It is a beautiful, bright colorful quilt.  I used a dark gray for the binding, and bright "firework" print for the pinwheels that aren't as solid.

Easter outfits

Here's another Addison and Mini-Addison set of dresses.

I found that the doll dress bodice lined up a little differently than the kid's version, so the buttons look off center in this picture.  I think that was my fault and I ironed the fold in the wrong direction.

The sash becomes a bow in the back.

The boys got matching gray tshirts with the geometric fabric appliqued on as ties.  Happy Easter!

piper - three ways

I just love the Piper dress pattern from Patty Young.  The large pocket is perfect for little girl's treasures, the pleated skirt is fun, and the crossing straps in back are cute.



I chose a bright striped corduroy, with plain turquoise for the pocket and pleats.  My husband, the Willie Wonka fan, calls this the Oompa Loompa dress.  It is pretty brightly colored, I'd have to agree.  I used some sparkly ric rac on the pocket and sparkly buttons because my daughter LOVES sparkles!


This is actually the first version I sewed.  It was meant to be the one for my daughter, but it didn't quite fit her right.  When I decided to make a sewing kit for my niece for Christmas, this dress seemed like the perfect choice for her.  She loves green, and the flowers all have an edging to them that looks like handstitching.


The yellow flower buttons seemed just perfect with the corduroy fabric.


This one was made for her little sister.  I usually try and do similar styles of dresses for them, because I think matching your sister can be fun.  I also try and do something floral for her because her middle name is "Rose".  This corduroy fit the requirements.


It is definitely a different color scheme though, which sets her apart and doesn't make them matching twins.


Using corduroy with this pattern made it a little tight to do the pleats, so I look forward to trying it in some lighter weight fabric and springy print!

gretchen - two ways

This is a new favorite pattern.  Patty Young's Gretchen dress has a lot of pieces, but I think it is just adorable!  The side ties and huge pockets sold me.


I used Heidi Grace's red poppy fabric and picked out a coordinating red scalloped design.  I used Patty Young ribbon for embellishment on the bodice.


This version was for another niece for a Christmas present.


The purple has gold polka dots, and the brown has a little shimmer to it as well.

My niece complained that the sleeves were too poofy.  That wasn't a problem for my daughter, so obviously it's just personal preference.  The dress pattern gives options for a short sleeve, which might work better for my niece.  The skirt also has a bubble-style skirt option.  That's not really my style, so I'll stick with the full swirly skirt for the next one I make!

featured and FALL!

Quick note - check out my feature on Little Lizard King.  She featured my pink & purple pinafore amidst some of her other customer creations.  I am in the midst of some great company - there's some other really cute outfits there.  She has a lot of patterns that I'm excited to try out!

I told you I would get busy with some fall clothes - so here we go!
We did a little photo shoot outside because the weather was finally cooperating with fall clothing!!!  It's been so hot, humid and rainy that we haven't been able to get anything good outside!

This first one is an upcycled knit project using the Little Blue Boo Sienna Dress, long sleeved version.  I don't really love it like I thought I would, so I'm trying to figure out what to do.  I am pretty sure the big sleeves have to go - I like skinnier sleeves better.  The whole top just looks so bulky and the bottom so skinny.  I think I need to tighten up the top a little.  (Not every dress is a success!)  Maybe I'll try some freezer paper stencil pumpkin face on the orange and a ruffle on the bottom?

This is another "Annikka's Dress" by Olabelhe designs.  The first time I sewed this pattern it was (surprisingly) blue.  However, I am actually kind of enjoying the fall colors on this one!

I chose a dark brown with black swirls for the arms & underskirt, a printed orange on orange for the bodice & cuffs, and a leafy print for the overskirt.

She had been looking at the pumpkins in our garden/weed patch and was ready to go back inside!  It was windy this morning!

As she was walking up the steps I realized I'm going to have to teach her long dress on steps etiquette - she stepped on it a couple times!  I also realized I'm going to have to find her some more tights that fit!!!

Another dress I finished up this week was a long-sleeved version of Patty Young's "Abigail" dress.  I've gotten a lot of compliments on the short-sleeved version, and wanted her to have one for fall/winter too.

Her knits are a little pricey (worth it, but still pricey) so for this long-sleeved dress I used her dots & a black floral knit from Joann's.  I'm really happy with how they went together.

Abby's getting quite good at posing by the tree in the front yard.  Today she was a less somber model - she happily spun around numerous times and grinned her cheesy little had off.

Hope you all have a relaxing Labor Day weekend!  I've got a couple not-as-exciting things to finish up, but hopefully will have a little time for fun sewing too in the midst of family time!  What are you doing with your weekend?