My baby is almost 3

It's hard to believe... my sweet little Dodo is going to be 3 on Friday.  But, if you ask her, she will tell you that she's 5 and will be turning 10 on Friday.  She's so funny. 

She has been asking for earrings for about a month now.  I don't remember her sisters ever requesting anything for their birthdays at 3, but this is what she wants.  I've explained to her that she will have to have her ears pierced and that it hurts, but she does not care.  Her older sisters have their ears pierced and she wants earrings, too.  I got Olivia's ears pierced the first time she had her hair all cut off (yes, this is a recurring theme in our house... with all three of them)... she was 2.  Bill took Izzy to get hers when she was about 2 also.  He swears he will never again participate in that ever again.  I'm not too thrilled about it myself.  That's why Zoe doesn't have pierced ears yet.  I'm kind of dreading it.

She also asked for a sock monkey hat when I was making my nephew's Christmas present.  That I can handle.  =)  I didn't want to make the same hat I've made a dozen times now.  I thought she needed something special.  This is what I came up with:

Now, what I wanted to make for her was a stuffed Dodo.  I found this pattern one day and have been dying to make it.  When I started it, the first thing I noticed was how small it is.  It is so tiny.  It took me no time at all to finish it and I can't wait to give it to her.

Finally, I ran across this pattern the other day and decided Zoe also needed a party hat.  I don't have a picture of it just yet, but it's black and white striped with pink polka dots, trim, and pom pom.  And a pink "3".  =)  Hopefully she won't be too disappointed that it doesn't have a "10" on it.  ;)  It's a great (and free) pattern, by the way.  It has two layers of crochet with plastic canvas (and I was just shocked that I actually had plastic canvas on hand) in between, so it is very sturdy.  If I hadn't put the "3" on it, she could use it year after year.  I'm sure I'll be making more.

I'm so excited for her to get all the goodies I made for her.  Not so excited about the ear piercing...  Maybe hugging her little dodo will make the pain more bearable.

Some Christmas sewing

Earlier in the Christmas season, I had huge plans to make most of our Christmas gifts.  Sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, kids...  I was a bit too ambitious in my planning.  I wanted to make some amigurumi dolls for the girls, but there just was not enough time.  I hated not giving them anything handmade, though.  Not that they care, really.  But I do.  Over the past few weeks, I've found some really pretty non-traditional bandannas and snatched them up to sew into dresses.  Tonight I finally got around to sewing together 3 dresses.  I have a few more to sew up, but they can wait until after Christmas.  I don't have enough to give each one 2 dresses and heaven knows we don't want that kind of drama, so I just did one each.

 I've had these bandannas for months, actually.  It's not a color I normally go for (it's more peachy in person), but I think the girls will like it.  It doesn't matter who gets which dress, because all three wear the same clothes.

 The thing with bandannas is that they usually aren't cut very precisely.  Especially these.  Because of the nature of the dress, it's not normally an issue, so I'm hoping the fact that these were WAY  off doesn't effect how the dress hangs.

I think this one is my favorite.  I didn't even realize it was the same pattern as the other one, because I bought them at different stores at different times.  I like the color better on this one. 

I think they'll look so cute on the girls with some turtlenecks, leggings, and their new boots Santa is bringing.

Merry Christmas!!

Felt Coal Bag

My sister showed me the cutest bag about a week ago... a little black felt gift bag embroidered with the word "coal."  My first thought was "I have to have that bag!"  Then I thought, "I can totally make that bag!"  I wanted to put my husband's Christmas gift in it, but the bag my sister had was a little too small.  So I decided to give it a try...  and I'll show you how to do it, too.  Bear with me.  I'm not all that experienced with tutorials.

You will need 4 - 9x12 inch sheets of felt, or if you buy it off a bolt you can just cut it to size.  The sheets were the perfect size for me.  When I bought mine, they were 4/$1.  (I think my sister paid $3 for her small bag, so I got out cheaper, too!)

 

You will leave two of the felt sheets whole.  Cut one felt sheet in half length-wise so you have 2 - 4.5x12 inch pieces.

The fourth sheet will be the bottom and straps.  The bottom should be 9x4.5 inches and the straps were 9x1.5 inches (cut 2)

So, to review...
(2) 9 x 12 inch pieces (I'll call them front and back)
(2) 4.5 x 12 inch pieces (I'll call them sides)
(1) 4.5 x 9 inch piece (the bottom)
(2) 1.5 x 9 inch pieces  (straps)

Now, there aren't any construction pictures, because it's black felt and black thread, and you really can't see anything.  So hopefully I can describe it adequately.  It is really simple.

Match up the front to a side and sew together with a 1/4 in seam allowance.  Stop about 1/2 in from the bottom of the bag.  This will help you sew the bottom on.  Then match up the side to the back, the back to the other side, and finally the side to the front.  You will have a square tube.

If you are like me, your felt will creep a little.  You can even up the bottom of the bag if it's kind of wonky. 

Take your bottom piece and line it up with the front, with the bottom piece inside the tube.  Start 1/4 inch from the side and sew until 1/4 inch from the other side.  Line the bottom up with one of the sides and sew all the way across minus 1/4 inch from the back, and do the same for the back.  Your final side you can sew all the way across.  You will have this:

Now, like the original bag, I am leaving it with the seams on the outside.  But if you were making this for something else, you could totally clip your corners and turn it inside out for a smoother look.  You might have to press it a little for crisp edges.

Next, pin your straps on, about 2 inches in from the sides... or where ever it looks best to you.  Sew them in place.  You can do this however you like... I just sewed back and forth across the strap.

Voila!  You have a bag.  It was really quick and simple.  You could do this in any color felt and embellish it any way you want.  Use contrasting thread, or whipstitch the edges.  Sew on appliques.  Go nutty.   I embroidered the word "COAL" on mine (but it will be stuffed with The Muppet Show Seasons 1-3 on DVD because my husband has been a very good boy this year and he loves The Muppets).  I free-handed it, and it's kind of sloppy-looking, but I guess a coal bag would be, huh?

Here is how mine turned out:

 

Christmas Card!

Ornament Bubbles Christmas

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Muriel's throw

For the past few years, I have taken an ornament from the Be A Santa To A Senior tree at Walgreens. It's a great charity that is kind of like the Angel Tree, only it benefits elderly people in nursing homes who may not have family to provide things for them. Most of the requests are for basic items like socks, sweats, lotion... it's heartbreaking in a way. This year, I took Muriel's ornament. She requested lotion, perfume, a stuffed animal, and a lap throw. I decided to make her stuffed animal and her lap throw.

The pattern I used is the One Skein Throw, which is only one skein if you are using a Red Heart one pound skein. Most skeins of yarn are between 5-7 oz. And since I think Red Heart yarn feels terrible, I went with another brand. It took just a little over 2 skeins. I could have almost finished the main part of the blanket with 2. I almost shortened it by a row and did the border in brown, but I decided it wouldn't look that great. The throw is smaller than I thought it would be.... more the size of a baby blanket. Izzy thought it was a perfect size for her to take to bed, which I vetoed pretty fast. It took me just about a week to finish it, but it wouldn't have taken that long if I hadn't been working on other projects at the same time.

I really hope she enjoys it and that it's big enough to keep her lap warm (because it's not big enough to keep much else warm).

Woo Pig Sooie

razorback hat
Originally uploaded by Silvertears1275

One of my coworkers has a birthday on Monday. And she is a huge Razorback fan. I've been kicking around the idea of some kind of Razorback hat for her, but wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. Today, inspiration hit. It really had nothing to do with their win today. In all honesty, if it weren't for all my facebook friends posting about it, I wouldn't know anything about it. I'm just not a sports fan at all. Nothing against the Hogs...

I debated on 2D versus 3D and finally decided to give 3D a try. I think it's just too cute. The snout is a little crooked, but I don't think I paid much attention to it, so it's probably a miracle that it's not way off.

I'll probably make another one for my friends' girlfriend... her birthday is later in the week. And I'm sure I'll have some friends and family who will want one, but it'll have to wait until after Christmas. I have too much going on to get bogged down in Hog hats.

Hubby asked if I was going to add eyes or ears, but I think I like it just like it is.

Hello Old Friend

I haven't sewn in quite a while... until tonight. I want to get some good pictures of the girls on Friday to use for Christmas cards and I am just bored with their clothes. The budget just doesn't allow me to go clothes shopping any old time I want, so I brainstormed for a while over what I could make. I have plenty of fabric in my stash, but not quite enough of anything for a whole dress. Then I found some white tshirts on clearance for $2 the other day and decided to build on that. I did some blog browsing and found this tutorial. Perfect. I had to make some adjustments for the older two, but it wasn't rocket science.

So I unearthed my buddy from underneath the junk on my sewing table and got to work. This is Zoe's.  I want to check out how it looks on her before sewing up the other two.  I don't absolutely love sewing ruffles.  I will make some headbands to go with them.  And they'll be just too cute =)

Getting away with myself...

I have about a million ideas running around in my head.  More than I can possibly complete, I'm sure.

So... let's see...

Already started projects:

• Crocheted blanket for Muriel (my Be A Santa To A Senior lady)
• Crocheted bear for Muriel (I'm always drawn to the ones that want toys...)
• Knit skirt (no deadline there)

Things I would like to make:

• Handmade gift for Secret Santa
• Crochet snowflake garland
• Yarn-based ornaments of some kind or another
• A wreath
• Dresses for the girls (by the end of the week so I can get Christmas card pictures)
• A crocheted doll for each of the girls for Christmas

I think that's all the stuff I want to make by Christmas or before.  I also have a new set of double pointed needles I'm dying to try out, simply because I have never used dpns before.  And every day I think of something else I have to talk myself out of just because I don't have the time. And I'm sure I've forgotten something here.  I swear I have crafty ADD.

You'll be disappointed =)

This post is mainly for me... I found some things I want to make the girls for Christmas and I'm not at home to bookmark them, so I'm putting them here.

Felt Playhouse

Pretty Felt Dolls

That's all for now.

Meet Zoriah

I've been a terrible blogger lately.  I've been busy or sick or busy.  I spent the better part of two months making the girls' Halloween costumes.  It was crazy.  I don't think I'll ever pick such a large project to make three of.  Here's how they turned out:

 

I like Zoe's the best.  I loved the yarn... everything about it.  The colors, the self-striping... It made it much more fun than Olivia's hideous pink.  Not to mention that Olivia's yarn was a lighter weight so it just took forever.

Olivia was invited to a birthday party this weekend, and we picked out a cute amigurumi pattern for a doll to make her friend.  So meet tiny Zoriah:

She doesn't look anything like the real Zoriah.  I was going to at least give her dark hair like Zoriah, but Olivia insisted we use red.  I imagine I'll be making more of these in the future. 

I haven't been sewing at all lately.  Crocheting and knitting are just a lot easier for me to deal with right now.  Plus, it's getting colder out and I'm not really proficient in sleeves =)  I have a pattern for a knit skirt I want to try.  I bought some circular needles today for it and I have some gorgeous pink/gray/black yarn that should stripe up really nicely.

Well, that's about it for now!

Nothing much going on...

I really don't have much to report right now.  I'm working on knitting a mermaid costume for the girls from Vickie Howell's book New Knits on the Block.  The top is done and I'm making good progress on the skirt.  I really want to finish this before getting into much of anything else.  That plus I'll have two more to make.  :::sigh:::

I said "much of anything else" because I do have to sneak in a quick project later this week.  Izzy has been invited to a birthday party for a little boy in her class this Saturday.  I think I'm going to get some felt and some Hot Wheels and make a little travel play mat/carrying case for the cars.  I saw something similar online once and it's not exactly what I want, so I'm going to revise it heavily. 

I need to start planning out Christmas presents soon, also.  It might be 4 months away, but if I plan on making stuff, I'll need every bit of that to complete them.  I just hope I don't make someone something and then realize last minute there's something even better I have to make instead.  I do that.  It's why I can't shop early... I always change my mind last minute and get them something else. 

They're not lunch bags anymore

I only made 2 of the lunch bags, instead of my plan of 3.  Let me explain why...

One of my friends was packing up her house to move and decided to give me her daughter's old lunch boxes (because she's in high school now and will never use them again) that were still in good shape.  She thought I could put them up and use them as back up in case someone left their lunch bag at school (which actually happened - first day, even) or they needed to be washed.

Well. 

One look at the lunch boxes and my kids were in love.  Olivia's words were, "I'm so glad you didn't make me a lunch box so I could use this one."  Well, I had and I had showed it to her, but Lisa Frank's crazy colors apparently scrambled her memory.  Oh well.  They're better insulated and probably would keep their yogurt and drinks cooler.

I didn't even bother with the 3rd bag after that....

So what to do with 2 rejected lunch bags?

They just so happen to be the perfect size to hold a pair of tap shoes and a pair of ballet slippers.  =)  I had to take their dance backpack (which they shared) to use as Zoe's Mother's Day Out backpack and when I went to get their dance shoes yesterday, they happened to be on the same shelf with the bags and I thought, "why not?"  I put the shoes in there, the girls each had a bag (Olivia doesn't dance anymore), and they worked perfectly.

So it wasn't a total waste of time after all.  =)

Knitwit

My sister gave me a book of knitting patterns last week, not realizing that I crochet instead of knit.  They are really neat patterns though, so I decided I should give knitting another go.  I've tried before and couldn't get into it.  My mom gave me several sets of needles a while back when I asked her if she had any crochet hooks, so I let the girls pick what they wanted me to make and bought some yarn.  Of course, they picked probably the biggest pattern in the book... a mermaid costume consisting of a tank top and long skirt with a tail. 

I started working on it yesterday.  Every time I'd get a few rows done, for some dumb reason I'd set it aside to do something and Zoe would pull the needles out of my work.  It's 99 stitches long.  SO frustrating.  But I'd rip it out every time, because I knew there were little mistakes along the way and figured I might as well try again.  At the time I was doing a 2 needle cast-on and it was hell.  I kept thinking I had never used 2 needles to cast on before, so I googled and refreshed my memory on 1 needle casting on.  So much easier and faster. 

I got about 1/3 of the way through the top last night and made it about half-way today when I set it aside and went to switch out laundry.  I heard the sound of needles clacking together and my stomach flipped.  I ran to the living room to see Izzy with 2 empty needles in her hand.  I wanted to scream.  We're talking 40 rows of work.  I managed to get it all back on the needles though with only a few stitches lost.  Thank goodness.  I must remember to not leave it out no matter how long I plan on being away from it.  It's not so bad with crocheting.  If they take the hook out, I might loose a few stitches.  Knitting is a whole other ball game.

Here is what I have done so far:

I love this butterfly pattern going on and I think it's what is keeping me interested in it.  Every 10 rows I get to see these butterflies emerge and it's so neat to me.  =)  It's supposed to look like scales.  I can't wait to get the top finished and try it on one of the girls.  I'm trying not to think about the fact that they've placed an order for THREE of these beasts.  At least they'd have Halloween costumes ready...

One down... two to go...

I think I mentioned before that I had found an awesome tutorial for lunch bags.  It's at Pink Penguin.  I used her fabric bag tutorial (enlarged) to make the girls' Easter baskets.  I made one of the bags tonight:

Ignore the multi-colored yarn.  I was just testing out the drawstring function and I forgot to get cording today.  I really like it and I hope Olivia does.  She seemed a little disappointed that we weren't going to go buy one.  I guess I should get used to that... eventually it will probably be so uncool for me to make her stuff.  I have to make one for the other two also. 

I made one change to the pattern.  I added some fleece in between the lining and outer fabric, to kind of insulate the bag a bit. 

Last night, I was sitting here thinking about what I'm going to do with my Laura Gunn fabric that I'm in love with.  I don't think I ever posted a picture of it:

It's the gorgeous green fabric with purple pods.  The pattern itself is larger than I expected, but that's no big deal.  As I was looking at it and thinking it would be just a shame to cut up that beautiful fabric, I had an idea.  Why not make a quilt out of it?  Quilts don't have to be patchwork.  So I went and got a coordinating solid color (it coordinates much better in person... it looks off in this picture) to back it with and some quilt batting.  And, I know I'm biting off WAY more than I'm going to want to chew... but I'm going to hand quilt it.  I'm going to trace the vines and pods.  I have everything I need except a hoop.  But I need to get the lunch bags finished before beginning this monster project.  And yep, my first quilt is still not quilted....  I'll get to it eventually.

Testing...

I was given the opportunity to test a pattern for Inner Hooker this week.  It's a super-chunky, super-slouchy women's hat.  I ran right out to get this humongous P hook and some chunky yarn.  It worked up really fast, but I tend to crochet kind of loosely, especially with treble crochets, so it was HUGE.  I ripped it apart and started again and got all distracted and had too many stitches going on, ripped it apart again... then managed to get it finished.  I thought I was going to have yarn burn on my finger from keeping the yarn tighter.  It's a cute hat.

That's my super-cool coworker Kelli modeling the hat for me. 

My first attempt at the hat, the one that was super-huge, made Zoe cry.  I took it to the bathroom to try it on and she followed me.  I put it on and she started crying and saying "Take it off, Mommy!  You're not a doctor!"  (She's never been afraid of doctors before, so I don't know why it freaked her out so much)  The hat did  resemble some of the scrub hats the nurses wear at work.  That's the only thing I can think of as to why it reminded her of a doctor.

Anyway, I think the hat looks great.  I personally don't like to wear hats (I am a very warm person, even in the winter) so I may end up giving it away.  I love Inner Hooker patterns.  She's really creative and talented, and her patterns are well-written. 

And in other "testing" news... this blanket is testing me.  I got one panel finished:

My intention was to make a baby blanket, but this is much too long for a baby blanket.  I went with sock monkey colors and I really like this.  I think it would make a really cool scarf.  I was afraid that the panels wouldn't be uniform, so I decided to make the second panel with the zig zags the original pattern called for.  I'm not quite done with it, but I am pretty sure I like the straight strips woven better than the zig zags woven.  I'll finish it up, compare the two, and decide where to go from there.  Half of me wants to rip it all out and try a granny square blanket with the color scheme and half of me is still determined to make this work.  

I found a really awesome tutorial today for some lunch bags and I am going to try to see if I can knock three of them out before the girls start school a week from Thursday.  I think I can, even with us going out of town for a night on Monday - we're going to the Memphis Zoo Tuesday so we're going to spend the night in Memphis.  Needless to say, I have a lot on my plate in the upcoming week, with school starting, our mini-vacay, and the last-minute projects I'm piling on myself.  I like it that way.  I hate being bored.

Determination

A while ago, I bought some crochet patterns on etsy.  Sock monkey hat, cow hat, and a really cool blanket.   My first clue that I was going to have trouble was that it took me a whole week just to get the PDF patterns.  I had to report the seller just to get the patterns.  I hated doing it, but I paid money for something and expect what I paid for. 

I have made a few of the sock monkey hats and decided after the last one that I shouldn't even have to credit this chick as being the designer of the hat.  I had to modify all of it.  If you crochet it up exactly the way she wrote the pattern, it's way too small.  If you make an adult hat, it fits a small child.  And the facial features are only sized for a newborn hat.  Way too small for anything but. 

Last night I decided to give the blanket a try.  It's supposed to be 7 panels consisting of 3 crocheted strips woven together.  It looks super cool in the picture.  I started the first strip, following the pattern exactly.  From what I could tell from the picture, the strips are supposed to be zig zags.  What I got was a squared spiral.  There's no way they'd weave together correctly.  So I figured out how to make zig zags on my own.  I made three strips and wove them together and started trying to use the pattern again to finish the panel.  It's completely nonsense.  So now I have to go back to square one and see if I can't pretty much design my own blanket out because I really want a blanket like this and I am determined to figure it out. 

I'm afraid to even bother with the cow pattern.  It's cute, but going on the other two patterns, I may as well knot up a bunch of black and white yarn and throw it at my kids.

August Organization

I can't believe it's August already.  There are a lot of things on my list that have been there for months and that I suspect I just won't do because I'm out of the zone... so it's time to take a look:

• Refashion dark gray striped shirt
• Refashion light gray striped shirt
• Apron for me (I have some fat quarters that would be good for this) - Partially made. I need more fabric and bias tape. Not extremely happy with it, but I had to try it.
• Aprons for the girls (I think I'll let them pick out the fabric and they'll be pretty simple)
• Re-refashion the Goodwill dress
• Refashion other Goodwill dress
• Work on lengthening some of Izzy's pants
• Make a pair of scrubs (I really want to try this)
• Barbie Organizer Started, but on hold.
• Noodlehead bike basket for Olivia
• Crocheted leg warmers for the girls Made a pair, Izzy thinks she looks silly in them and the other two don't care, so I think that's it for the leg warmers
• Corset top for Tammy  Done
• Something for ME  I did make myself something!  I made a cute top, but no pics.  That would involve me being in a picture =)
• Make a pleated dress (it's in my head and I've sketched it, ready to go to town on it)
• Make something with my Laura Gunn fabric.  It's GORGEOUS!
• I have an idea for another style corset top I can make for my BFF
• Cow beanie
• Crocheted blanket (if I can figure out the pattern, the person I got it from isn't the best pattern maker)

The stuff in italics are things that I don't know if I'll ever get around to finishing/working on any time soon.  The moment has passed =)  I didn't cross much off of the list, but I have actually been super productive.  I've made several crocheted projects.... character beanies, a cute little set for my cousin's upcoming grandbaby, and I've even sold 2 things.  I guess I keep up with a list to remind myself of my plans when I feel like I don't have any ideas on what to work on, because in general, I'm kind of spontaneous with my sewing and crocheting.  I'll get an idea and have to complete it right away, no matter what else is on tap. 

So that's that.  Let's see what I can do this month!

Oh Noooooo!

So, here's the background:

My husband goes by Bill, and quite often I call him Mr. Bill because it's funny.  To me.  He looks nothing like THE Mr. Bill, so it's just me being dorky.  Imagine that =)

The other day, I told my husband I was going to change his facebook profile picture to Mr. Bill, but we had computer issues and I couldn't.  When he got home from work, he went ahead and changed it for me.  His sister mentioned that she had seen Mr. Bill dolls at a store recently and from there I had the idea to make this:

That's her "Oh no!" face

I think I need to get back to my sewing machine a little bit before coming up with new hats.  It's not like we need them =)

I'm so proud!

I have been crocheting hats.  Hats, hats, hats.  I love cute hats.  I want to make a blanket soon, but I keep finding or coming up with hats.  No matter that it's 105* and that even in the winter, it's rarely cold enough for me to insist on putting hats on the kids.  They're cute, they keep me amused, and that's all that matters =)

I made a  Cookie Monster hat and an Oscar the Grouch hat (sorry, no good pics yet...).  When we were at the store buying yarn, my oldest picked up some fuchsia yarn and said "Mom!  You can make me an Abby Cadabby hat!"  That's great and all, but I didn't have a pattern for one.

So I had to wing it.

Duh, duh, duh....

Wanna see it?  (if not, you better move on, 'cause here it comes....)

so stinking cute!

It's mine!  All mine!  No pattern whatsoever!  Not too shabby for someone who has only been crocheting a little over a month.  (Yeah, I'm tooting my own horn.  I can't help it!)

I'm going to sell it in my zibbet shop.  Not this particular one, a custom-made one.  My daughter would be so mad at me for selling her Abby.

I'm even more excited about my next hat.  Also my own design.  I just need to go get some more white yarn.  It's going to be so awesome (probably only to me, but that's OK).

Isabelle

I mentioned before that I had found some fabric in a line named "Isabelle" and , of course, had to buy some for MY Isabelle.  I only had 1/2 a yard and I racked my brain for something to do that was not  pillowcase/bandana style or a corset.  Then a tutorial popped up yesterday for an adorable top, and I decided it was perfect.  It's by Sew Totally Smitten.

And here is my version of her Cinderella top:

Pretend the pants match, she was really excited and wouldn't wait for me to find other pants - it was this or underwear for her =)

 

I love it =)  I made a couple of mistakes when I enlarged the pattern a bit, totally my fault and the result of me trying to think at 9pm at night.  It used every bit of my 1/2 yard - I seriously only had little scraps left over.  I am definitely going to make another one, making it a dress, I think.  I had never tried pleats before and they were kinda fun =)  A little bit more work than gathering up ruffles, but easier and neater to sew onto the garment. 

That's not what I wanted...

I checked the mail today to find a package waiting for me.  Excitement!  I was waiting on my gorgeous Laura Gunn fabric, so I ripped into it and -

Wait a minute, this looks funny

Well, it's a Laura Gunn print, but not the one I ordered.  Bummer.  I've sent the etsy seller a message, haven't heard back yet.  I don't hate the print I ended up with and if she offers to let me keep it, I'd certainly use it, but I definitely want the right fabric.

I don't seem to have the best track record with etsy sellers.  Out of 5 purchases, 2 have had problems.  I bought some crochet patterns and it took me a week to get them emailed to me, and only after I reported the problem to etsy.  The seller offered me a free pattern for my trouble, but that mysteriously never arrived - and it wasn't worth the trouble of dealing with it to try to get it.  I hope this is my last issue with a seller and I hope it's resolved better than the last problem.  I understand human beings make mistakes and I'm not upset about it, and won't be if it all turns out for the best.  Good thing I have other things to work on and that I hadn't come up with a definite plan for the fabric yet, or I'd be chomping at the bit ;)

Mad Dash

Olivia and Isabelle are going to a dance day camp this week - at least 3 days this week, anyway.  Tomorrow is the last day, and they have a fashion show.  I had assumed the director had dress up clothes or something for them to wear, but the note she sent home today said we were to bring something for them to wear.  Honestly, my kids don't have much in the way of fancy or dress up clothes.  I have made them pretty practical clothes to wear and we hardly ever go anywhere that anything nicer is needed.  And, of course, if my kids are going to be in a fashion show, they MUST wear something that I made.  I mean, come on.  It may be the only time my creations are ever on a runway.  =)

I racked my brain all afternoon, taking a mental inventory of what they had.  I debated on Easter dresses, but I was never in love with those.  I remembered this cute little outfit I whipped up for Isabelle last month:

Too cute =)  And I figured it was pretty much perfect for the fashion show.  It took me a while to find it - it was buried in a hamper under a comforter (along with a bunch of other missing laundry), so I've washed it up and need to iron it.  Ick - I hate ironing if it's not a part of sewing.

I couldn't think of anything else, so I decided to make something.  I have a ton of bandanas and I decided to experiment with making a corset dress out of a white bandana and some black fabric I had.  No picture yet, because corsets don't look right unless something is filling them out.  It only took me about an hour from start to finish.  I hope it is cute on her, but we'll have to wait until the morning to see.  I probably should come up with some back up outfit just in case.  And shoes for them to wear.  We have a billion shoes, but never anything that goes with anything - how is that?

Oh, and I got a picture of Zoe in the crocheted dress:

She's such a cute little nut.  The dress is cute, but the crocheted part stretches more than I thought it would - especially the straps.  Maybe when I wash it, it will shrink a bit

Mixed Media =)

I have been crocheting a lot lately and neglecting my poor little sewing machine.  I need to get some really good pictures of the hats I've made, but my models aren't extremely cooperative lately.  I can get them outside to take the picture, but once outside they could care less about what I want.

I was thinking as I was finishing up the latest hat about a tutorial I saw somewhere (Prudent Baby, maybe?) where they made a crocheted collar for a little shirt.  I didn't really like the exact shirt they made, but the idea got me thinking and I decided to experiment.  I wanted to make a dress - the top crocheted.  I found some fabric on clearance at Hobby Lobby last week and didn't have any real plans for it yet, so I found some soft baby yarn that would go with it and I crocheted up the top, just winging it.  It's simple, just rows of double crochet, but I liked the effect - the edges were a little scalloped and it has a bit of a herringbone texture to it.  I made it so it buttons up in the back and the straps are adjustable.  Then I just whipped up a simple skirt and sewed the two together.

I really can't wait to get it on one of the girls to see how it looks on them.

Sewing yarn was trickier than I thought - it didn't feed all that smoothly and it stretched a bit, but it worked out just fine.  I think I might try it again, try a different or more elaborate design for the crochet, experiment with different fabrics.

I discovered a line of fabric named "Isabelle" last night and had to order a little bit of one of the designs.  I've found Isabelle fabric and Olivia (not the pig, although there is that, too) fabric, so now I need someone to design some Zoe fabric.  That would just be perfect.  I also ordered Laura Gunn's Climbing Lantern Pods in lime - I've had my eye on the design in turquoise for about a month, debating on ordering it.  Then I saw it in lime and fell in love.  It's going to make a GORGEOUS dress, I just can't wait =)

July Organization

I'm such a big dork. I just realized I had comments on a few posts and I got all giddy.

I can't believe it's July. I am still planning on getting a booth at The Memphis Flea Market, but I really don't see it happening next weekend. I just don't have enough stuff made up.

So, let me organize my brain here...

• Refashion dark gray striped shirt
• Refashion light gray striped shirt
• Apron for me (I have some fat quarters that would be good for this) - Partially made. I need more fabric and bias tape. Not extremely happy with it, but I had to try it.
  
• Aprons for the girls (I think I'll let them pick out the fabric and they'll be pretty simple)
  
• Re-refashion the Goodwill dress
• Refashion other Goodwill dress
• Work on lengthening some of Izzy's pants
• Make a pair of scrubs (I really want to try this)
  
• Super hero capes for the twin birthday boys Done
  
• Father's Day presents Done
  
• Barbie Organizer Started, but on hold.
  
• Clutch from Noodlehead's tutorial I've actually made several of these =)
  
• Present for sister One of the clutches. And the other sister got the cutest necklace I made for her birthday.

And adding:

• Noodlehead bike basket for Olivia
• Crocheted leg warmers for the girls (Izzy's has been started)
  
• Corset top for Tammy (she's paying me so this is high priority LOL)
• Something for ME

Of course, work on some of this stuff will be slow... that's the one thing about having a booth to plan for. I like to do so many different things and I'm trying to focus on just a few for this booth. I don't get to work on other projects and learn other things.

I have completed other things that I need to post about. My sister's necklace, a cute little bandana outfit, a bag I made from an old tshirt... just a few things I've managed to sneak in there.