Crazy Jammies

It's getting warm. Miss K needed some summer jammies. I have been looking for some inexpensive knit for quite awhile. It is hard to find! I finally spotted some at Wal-mart. It was a crazy 70's pattern, happy with yellow and orange dots. I'm not sure I'd make a dress out of it, but for jammies, it was great.
Miss K loves any new clothes so she was happy with her new jammies. Not having sewn with knit a lot, it was a bit tricky. Plus, I'm sure my $2/yard fabric wasn't the best quality. They went together quickly and hopefully they will last the summer season.

BYU Quilt

Mr G loves heavy, fuzzy quilts. His favorite quilt is one I made years ago. It is denim on the front and flannel on the back and it is huge, at least a king size. He loves to sleep with it and it is an absolute pain to wash. For his birthday, I decided to make him a new, smaller quilt. Mr G loves BYU, so perfect - a BYU demin quilt.
I borrowed a handy little projector (I'm going to have to get one of those!). I traced the BYU logo onto the quilt, cut it out and then appliqued it on. So easy and quick! The demin back took a bit longer. I cut up old family jeans into squares and sewed them back together. I love recycling fabric! Mr G loved his quilt. Now I just have to quilt and bind it (didn't quite get that done before his birthday!).

Miss K's purple dress

Miss K has been asking for months for a purple dress. I've had a hard time finding cute purple fabric so I've put it off. I finally dug some fabric out of my humanitarian box (you know, fabric you're not sure you love, but still keep around for service projects). Once the fabric was sewn into a dress, I decided I liked it! I used a bunch of elastic thread and it went together so quickly. I basically cut a rectangle, sewed in my elastic thread, added straps and a ruffle and that was it. Miss K loves it!

Easter

I love Easter. Although it seems a bit like Christmas. I'm so busy making things, planning food, wanting everything to be perfect that it comes and goes without me really thinking about why we have these holidays, let alone teaching my kids why we have these holidays. Okay, that was a long ramble, off the subject. But, it's really bothering me. How do you balance the fun with the true meaning as a mom? Let me know.
This year, Miss K and Mr E got a few homemade things in their Easter baskets. Mr G did not. I just don't know what to sew for an almost 12-year-old boy beside jammies and costumes. Back to Easter. I really wanted to try these cute dollhouses. I convinced myself I could do it and just starting cutting fabric. After much unpicking, fudging seams and wondering why I was doing this - I finished them both. Wow! They were a bit of work, but the kids will love them. A note: be careful. I didn't realize until I was done with Mr E's that I put the 'grass' fabric on the ceiling. At that point it would have taken major remodeling work it fix it, so I didn't. Also, I cut my fabric twice as big as the dimensions given in the tutorial.

I also made a cute little dress for Miss K. When I found this fabric in the remnant bin at JoAnns, I grabbed it. I love the color, the embroidery and the texture. When I showed Miss K the fabric and told her I was making her an Easter dress from it, she said, "No mama, peeple (purple)". I guess she needs a purple (her favorite color) dress.
I also made some ties for Mr E. I'm in love with making ties. They are so easy and quick. Mostly, you can pick out way cute fabric instead of boring navy and red stripped ties. Another added bonus: Mr E cannot take these off himself as opposed to clip on ties which always get left at church. This was made with the Simplicity pattern. A note: I had to increase the boys tie by about six inches to give it enough length.
PS - My photography skills will improve someday!

Pink Knit Dress

When I picked up this fabric at Wal-mart for $1.50 a yard, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it - I just knew I liked the color and feel (so soft). Miss K looks so cute in this color; of course, it had to be hers. It is very thin and flimsy so I knew I had to layer it. I ended up doubling up the fabric. I also plan on having Miss K wearing it over a peasant slip. I loosely followed this dress pattern. I think it turned out very cute! Miss K spent at least 15 minutes twirling in it!

Stripe Skirt

I put this skirt together for Miss K this afternoon. I used fabric from my statch and matched it to a shirt Miss K already had. I'm not sure if I like it or not. It looks a bit like a too-long tube. I'm deciding if I should just leave it and use it for a play skirt (which was it's main purpose) or try to 'fix' it. Any ideas?

Conference Candy Bags

I love the blog, MADE. It is fantastic; check it out if you haven't ever been there before.
When I saw these cute bags on her blog, I immediately put them on my projects list. After looking at them a second time, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them.
Last General Conference, I put together some bags to keep the kids entertained (after all, 8 hours of church is a lot!).
I thought I would add something fun each Conference to keep things exciting. One of my kids favorite parts of Conference is unlimited M&M's. Perfect! A cute little bag to hold their chocolate.
I've never made bags with the zipper like this. They are so easy and go together very quickly. This was also my first time working with plastic; a little tricky on the sewing machine, but it came together in the end. I think they turned out very cute and handy for my first go-around.