Pink Shirt

I've decided that sewing shirts may not be worth it. They are just a bother, not nearly as much fun as skirts or dresses. Maybe I'm just not good at it. Who knows?
This is my latest attempt at sewing a shirt for Miss K. I altered a McCall's patterns and used elastic thread instead of putting in casings and then elastic. It was very full around the bottom and too short. Miss K is quite petite and she has a hard time keeping her pants up, so her shirts have to be long enough to hide the slouching pants and showing diaper. I added the bottom ruffley part with more elastic thread to help solve this problem. I think it turned out okay. I also think it's easier to buy a shirt at Target. Oh well.

Summer Skirt

A few weeks ago our family was at my parents-in-law home for our weekly Sunday visit. My 8-year-old niece was over with her family as well. She was wearing the most adorable skirt. I gushed over it so much that my sweet sister-in-law gave me the leftover fabric from her daughter's skirt. Hence, Miss K has a new summer skirt.
It was so easy to make, but I love how it turned out. The blog, Craftershours, is having a skirt contest and I'm thinking about entering this skirt. What do you think? There is nothing special about the pattern, but I think it came together so well. I also made little fabric flowers to put in Miss K's hair.

Crazy Jammies, Part 2

Diito to everything I said about Miss K's jammies. These are for Mr. E.

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!