Pinterest Dress

If you're on Pinterest, you've probably seen this dress making the pinning rounds. I thought it was adorable so after a string of super hot days here, I decided to finally make it. I know, it's crazy, some people actually make the things they pin on Pinterest. Truth be told, I've already made a bunch of stuff I've pinned so bonus points for me.

Here's my version...

I screwed up on my first go round. I didn't actually read the tutorial which would have been helpful. So instead of keeping the entire band of elastic on the outside of the dress, I sewed it into the seam which just turned out terrible. Lots of folding and bulk and just bad, bad, bad.

I used an old tank top from Old Navy and some jersey I got from Joann's at 40% off. I think the jersey ended up being a little too heavy. I like the idea of a knit on the bottom but what I bought is definitely heavier than tshirt weight and I think it's just a little too bulky once gathered.

My two big tips are to make sure the tank top fits fairly snuggly. Probably more fitted than you normally are comfortable with. And second, make sure the elastic band is the same size as your empire waist point. Too tight will be uncomfortable and ride up. I initially made mine too loose (along with a too-loose tank top) and that was a disaster too. It ended up looking like the dress was kind of hanging on my body instead of my body wearing it if that makes any sense. Overall, not bad for an $8 project.

Pattern Review: Simplicity 2205 by Sweet Pea Totes

I hardly ever buy patterns. Partly because I'm cheap and there are so many great free tutorials online and partly because I'm super incompetent when it comes to patterns. But we had a new Joanns open in a neighboring town a few months ago and I picked up this pattern during one of their big pattern sales.

And here's my finished product.

Notice any difference between mine and the picture on the pattern? Yeah, one is upside down. And it's not mine. I think getting the final product photographed in the correct orientation is kind of key, don't you.

The pattern itself was fairly easy to follow but it does require very precise placement of certain pieces and transferring a lot of markings to your cut pieces. These are not my strong suits (I don't really think I have a sewing strength, to be honest). I think the pattern is probably a little too complex for a very beginner seamstress but would be fine for an intermediate seamstress. Honestly, the biggest issue for me was the picture on the pattern package. I kept thinking my clutch wasn't coming together correctly. I even ripped out the interior pocket at the last minute because I realized it would be upside down based on the orientation in the picture. And when it came to the final step of folding and top stitching closed, I just couldn't make it fold up, look like the picture, and be functional. Once I went to Sweet Pea's site and realized the picture was upside down, I was irritated with Simplicity but relieved that I wasn't completely incompetent.

I think the clutch is absolutely adorable and I love the pleated ruffle. I picked up some really cute floral trim at Joann's to use in place of the ruffle and I think lace or crochet trim would be really pretty too. I really like the final product but not for myself. I tend to carry a lot of junk, even when I'm traveling light and I think I need something with a boxed bottom. It took me about an hour and a half to complete the clutch including cutting fabric and stumbling over the upside down picture issue.

A Bit of Sewing

My blog has been quiet but we've been busy with sewing and crafting around here. Bella got the cutest Hello Kitty Sewing machine from my mom for her birthday. We've worked a little on her biggest sewing issues - not pressing the foot pedal too hard and thus speeding through her sewing, and keeping your fingers out of the needle's path - and she seems to be doing really well. When I quiz her on the different parts of the machine, she knows all of the answers so I can tell she's really interested as opposed to me forcing it on her. Anyway, a few weeks ago I helped her make a ruffled scarf.

She was so excited about it and even wore it to a birthday party she went to later that day. I didn't have the heart to tell her I had actually bought the fabric to make a ruffled scarf for myself!

I'm also working on a new quilt I pinned on Pinterest.

I'm only using scraps and going for sort of a bold, primary-ish color scheme without it looking too rainbow. I started cutting scraps last weekend and already have all of my blocks made:)

And I've also been doing some sewing for my supposed-to-be-closed shop. A few trick or treat bags and some totes and purses here and there. I tried something new with this bag, gathering the bottom section so it has lots of texture and dimension. I'm very happy with the results.

Crafty Girls

Both of my girls love to do crafts, especially Bella. She can spend an entire Saturday working on an idea she's come up with and the bits and pieces she needs for her idea always end up covering our dining table. I wanted them to have their own crafty space but we definitely couldn't fit it in their room so I decided to give them their own set up in the garage.

I already had the desk on the right. It's actually an old sewing machine desk that I got at a yard sale several years ago. I found the desk on the left at a local thrift store for $20. That's more than I would usually pay for something like this but all of the drawers are in working condition and slide smoothly which is hard to find with something this old. The baskets and supply caddy are from the dollar tree so the whole makeover cost under $25.

The best part is that their new craft station is located right outside the door to the garage and my craft station is right inside the door to the garage so we're only a few feet away from each other when we're working.

And yes, that's now their laptop but trust me, it's no prize. It's been dropped a few times so the screen is damaged, we can't close it, the "u" key is missing and the cd drive doesn't work. Other than that, it's great!

Trick or Treat

Is it too early to start thinking about Halloween? The planner in me says definitely not! Now that
Back to School is behind us, Halloween is the next big event on my mom calendar. We already picked up Matea's costume a few weekends ago. She saw a Rapunzel costume at Costco that she loved. It was the last one and under $20 so we grabbed it. Of course, now she wants to wear it every day until Halloween which is driving me more and more nuts every day.

I really like more creative and original costumes but force myself to let the girls decide. One of the greatest tragedies of my life was when my mom made me be a hula girl in 3rd grade instead of a punk rocker. She said every other girl was being a punk rocker and I needed to be something different. She scarred me for life...also, I'm sure she'll read this and call me. Ugh, the worst though was when I had to be a strawberry and my sister was a pumpkin. My mom found us green beanies for our stems and we had these huge felt bubble costumes. Looking back now, I appreciate the effort she put in to them and can admit they were cute, but as a first grader in the school Halloween parade, it was awful. I'm sure I'll find other ways to damage my children.

Enough with the therapy session...I'm offering a limited number of trick or treat bags again this year (maybe up to 4-6 in each fabric). I know I get a few emails from past customers every year who want a bag for their new baby that matches older siblings.

I have cute retro kitties, bats, and spider webs available and you can see all fabric choices in my shop.

Lalalots of Fun!

Last Sunday, my baby turned five. My baby:(

Months before hand, she told me she wanted a Lalaloopsy party so I started shopping around for cheap ideas. And since Lalaloopsy is a relatively new thing, there aren't any themed decorations out there yet so we focused on cheap and easy ways to bring the Lalaloopsy theme to the party.

First cheap idea...evite! I think my mom hates that I don't do paper invites anymore but between the invitation cost and postage, that's at least $15 saved. And I think the likliehood of people rsvp'ing is much better with an evite and I'm a rule folower so I think rsvp's are important.

One tradition we do with our girls is the Birthday Fairy. On the night before their birthday, after they go to sleep, the birthday fairy decorates the livingroom with streamers and balloons and piles all of their presents up on the couch. Matea's new pink scooter is hidden under the quilt and you can see her pinata in the background. I found some pictures of really cool Lalaloopsy pinatas but realistically, I knew I didn't have the time or talent to make one. So we bought this pink and blue pinata for $15 from Walmart and covered it Lalaloopsy images I bought from an Etsy seller. And directly behind Tatey, you can see a Lalaloopsy mini garland I made. I used one of my scrapbook punches to punch several scalloped circles in bright colors, stitched them together, glued on more Lalaloopsy bottle cap images and then hung the garland on the food table.
Here's a super easy way to save money...get your cake from Costco! It's huge (and yummy) and only around $18. Since none of their designs fit our theme. I just had them write "Happy Birthday Matea" in the center and I spent $3 to buy some pre-colored tubes of frosting. I added polka dots and a bunch of Lalaloopsy figurines from the girls' collection. So cute and reasonably priced!
Family picture (minus Bella). We always forget to do this at the girls' parties so this year, I remembered to do it before the party. The blue hair? Yeah, that was an idea gone wrong. The night before the party, the girls and I decided that it would be fun to curl their hair in ringlets and spray it a bright color like Lalaloopsy's for the party. Because we live at the beach, there was a lot of moisture in the air that morning so while the kids helped us set up for the party, their cute ringlets quickly disappeared.

And the bounce house killed the Lalaloopsy blue hair. All that jumping made the color jump right off. Budget tip for a bounce house...get your father-in-law to buy one and borrow his:)
I'm not really into getting all of the themed plates, napkins, cups, etc. since they just end up in the trash but my mom and I found these polka dot cake plates at the Dollar Tree. They definitely weren't sturdy enough for lunch, but worked fine for snacks and cake. We got plates in bright blue polka dots and napkins in green polka dots. We also picked up a few plastic polka dot serving trays and bowls that went perfectly with our bright and fun theme but can also work with lots of other themes at future parties.
Super cute Lalaloopsy birthday dress that Grandma bought from this Etsy seller...Night Owl.
Cheap decor stuff...bright colored table cloths from The Dollar Tree, Lalaloopsy dolls from our collection, and a huge bunch of purple flowers from Costco for $8.99 which we split into three vases that we already owned. I also re-used my fabric Happy Birthday banner and spent 3 dollars on 6 paper lanterns from The Dollar Tree which we hung at the entrance to our yard. Each table also had a bright mini metal pail filled with candy. I found the pails at Target when Easter stuff was 75% off so I got them for $.50 each and have been using them for storage in my sewing area.
I think Tatey LOVED her party and I loved all of the bright colors. It was so fun to see our little front yard transformed into party central for a few hours.

A few new things...

I know I closed my Etsy shop in March, but I just listed this new bag...

After cleaning up my sewing area this week and seeing all of the great fabrics I have, I guess I got the itch to make something. I love the bag and didn't really have a plan for where it would end up but decided to list it in my (former) shop and see what happens.

I definitely don't want to open up a fully stocked shop again but it's nice to be able to use the stock of materials I have and make something that's my own design. I'm working almost 20 hours a week now sewing for someone else's business and while I'm very grateful for the work-at-home opportunity, I definitely miss being the one who pairs the fabrics and decides on the design.

I also recently made a new wreath for my front door. I totally copied the idea from a friend but of course, hers is sophisticated and understated in black, white, and red and mine is loud and funky with lots of bright colors.

Our house is a very drab faded tan so I try to get the brightest colors I can with my flower pots, door mat, and now, my new wreath:)