all this for them

May Flowers Dress 2.0

2013-05-12T14:17:00.002-04:00

I really loved how my daughter's May Flowers Dress turned out when I sewed it up last month. It has gotten a lot of use, and every time she wears it, I can't help feeling proud. My friend, who doesn't live locally anymore (sad!) saw it on my blog and decided she wanted one for her daughter, who is 6 1/2. Could I sew one for her? Absolutely! Only problem was that my version of the pattern, which is Shwin&Shwin's Maggie Mae Dress, only went up to a size 5*. And so I needed to test my resizing skills in order to make a size 7 for Clara. I may have overshot a little for this sweet, skinny girl, but Clara's mom didn't seem too bothered. And it was thrilling for me when Clara tried on the dress and broke out in a huge grin. Success!

I used some pretty flower buttons from Joann's for the back.

In order to resize this pattern, I printed out the largest size (a 5) and traced the bodice pieces on paper. Then, I looked at the lines from a size 3 to a 4, and then from a 4 to a 5 and estimated how big a size 6 would be and then a 7. I then measured what ended up being about .5 inches around the size 5 bodice pattern pieces and cut them out. I did a similar thing for the skirt and band pieces, looking at the sizing on the pattern and adding the necessary inches and cut them out too. Voila, size 7!

Oh and Miss Clara was very fun and easy to photograph. No treats in the pockets needed. Seriously, it was like - Look right (Ok!), hands in pockets (Ok!), twirl (Ok!). The quickest photo shoot ever.

Over the course of the two days that I saw Clara (in town visiting), she wore this and this skirt that I made her last summer (they still fit!). And they looked sufficiently worn (yet still holding up) after a year. Made me very happy to see she that still liked (and wore) them.

And just a final note, if you've never tried Shwin&Shwin's Maggie Mae pattern, I think you'd really love it. It's a very satisfying pattern with very polished results. Quite simply, I love it.

Hope everyone is enjoying the month of May. We are so happy here to finally see May flowers.

I'll be linking up with some of these fun parties!

*Note: (Shwin&Shwin has recently re-released this pattern and now it goes up to a size 10. No guess-work needed!)

Dressy Little Boy Ties

2013-05-03T23:19:00.001-04:00

So not too long ago, my son expressed an interest in having a tie. You know, like daddy. Since it was right before Easter, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to find a pattern and make one. I looked high and low and found many different patterns, with different ways of cinching the tie behind the neck. And finally, I decided on what I thought looked easiest: this pattern. There's even a free printable!

I first made the blue bunny tie for Easter. Then I realized it would be so cute to have my kids look all matchy-matchy and decided to use material from my daughter's recent Maggie Mae dress for another tie. And then, because my son was so very excited about his new ties, I decided to make a few more.

He was (*proud mommy drumroll*) Star of the Week last week in pre-school and got to do a presentation on a topic of his choice. He chose the very respectable topic of Rocks and Minerals (which was sort of like taking a crash-course in Earth Science for me as I helped him prepare. Memories came flooding back.). Did you know that most rocks on earth are igneous rocks, which means made with heat? (Igneous - ignite) And basalt is a common igneous rock that is used to make roads? Yeah!

But the short of it was, my son wanted to wear ties that week and wanted to pick out fabric for the tie he'd wear on presentation day, you know, when he was showing off his own personal rock collection.

He chose the multi-colored squares on the blue background. For this one (see above), I lengthened the tie a few more inches just for kicks. (See? It was so long the whole thing didn't even make the picture.)

As with most new things, the novelty of tie-wearing has now worn off. But who knows - it may make a resurgence when I least expect it. And in the meantime, it will make dressing for church a little more exciting. For both of us.

I'll be linking up with some of these fantastic parties!

The Snakeskin Vest

2013-04-29T19:42:00.000-04:00

I didn't get any posting done last week, but I did do a

little sewing.

I made this cuuuute little vest for my son out of faux snakeskin material. I think he looks kind of like a cowboy in it.

For the inside, I let him pick his favorite fabric from the stash. And I made him a tie to match too.

The vest was was really easy and quick to make. The pattern was from Leila & Ben and it was a free pattern! I'm really digging their style and want to try this next for my daughter.

Never mind the patch on my poor kid's head. He had to get stitches over the weekend. Poor thing. But he's doing really well with it. We just have to wear a hat a lot now.

What a fun, easy and satisfying project! I'll post more about my ties soon. Have a great week!

I'm linking up with these parties.