Sweet

This is a little dress I whipped up for Lainey just before Christmas. Now that I have made a few of these dresses, I am getting really good at them! And I think they look really cute on. The pattern is by Leila and Ben. Fabric by Wal mart. He he he.

Flippy floppy

A few weeks before Millie was born, the nesting bug set in and I went a little crazy making hats and other things for her. My sewing machine was broken at that time but I still found plenty to keep me busy! Around that time I found a new-to-me blog called Aesthetic Nest, written by a very talented lady called Anneliese, who sews, knits, crochets, paints, and throws the most AMAZING  parties for her three girls.

One of Anneliese's crochet patterns was for this adorable hat, which has a choice of a 'flippy floppy' on top, or a ruffled rose on the side. I made the flippy floppy for Millie but I've also done a ruffled rose version for my niece and it is lovely.

The blue and brown one below was for a little boy soon to be born to my friend Tiff. I adapted the pattern slightly by doing two rows of single crochet for the contrast edging, and making the ties a little shorter.

You can find the original pattern here.

In case you're interested, I also knit the cardi that Millie is wearing in that top picture. I can't seem to find the pattern anymore so no link, sorry. It was a really easy knit, and all in one piece.

cutie in wool

What could be more delicious than a squishy baby in wool?

I really enjoyed knitting this little sweater. I used this pattern, from Lion Brand. It came together very easily and is just so cute on her. Here's to many more adorable little baby sweaters :-)

McCalls 5791

View B, again. I seem to get stuck in ruts when it comes to patterns. I don't know whether that's a bad thing or not, but it definitely helps me learn. Plus I feel much more confident when I've tried a pattern out and know it's okay. Kind of boring though, huh? However, I do LOVE this dress...

Trev's brother was getting married so I made this little dress to coordinate with the wedding colours. I love love love the fact that this dress is fully lined. It makes a much more special, professional finish and is probably more comfy, too.

All my fabrics were from Joanns, except the lining which was from a thrifted white bed sheet.

sweetie

Yet anther sweet little dress/top, except this time, I varied it! Woohoo! According to the pattern, you're supposed to put elastic in the sleeves, but I didn't. Partly out of experimentation, and partly out of lack of time. It's actually quite cute, don't you think? The fabric is very lightweight gingham, which I suspect won't hold up all that well, but it should last for the rest of the summer. I do love the colour!

In case you're interested (and you should be- this pattern is great) visit Leila and Ben on Etsy for the pattern. Also, one of my favourite blogs, Brown Paper Packages, recently did a pattern makeover month using this pattern. There are all kinds of variations you can try, to come up with cute and unique clothes for little girls.

finished at last

I've been working on lots of things lately but haven't been posting stuff. I keep making the classic mistake of sending off gifts without remembering to photograph them first.

Today I finished up this little jacket that I knitted before Christmas. All it needed was a zip, and yet it sat there waiting for me to sew it in for over 6 months. Lame! I think it's because I don't really like it. It didn't turn out quite how I hoped, so I didn't have the heart to finish it. But at least now it's not taking up space on my desk. And you know- Lainey might wear it once or twice. For camping, or something.

I'm really still a 'beginner' when it comes to knitting, so the two-colour pattern took forever! I did enjoy doing it though.

Lainey does this really cute thing when she's trying on a new piece of clothing. She sort of shrugs her shoulders a few times and then strokes her belly. Adorable!

Spring dress

Even though Easter fell on the Sunday of General conference (meaning no church) I still wanted to make her an 'Easter dress.' It's lucky there was no church because the dress wasn't finished until 5 days after Easter. So, I'm calling it her 'spring dress'.

I have to say...I love this dress. And I really like the pattern (McCalls 5791) I made view B. This was an easy dress to make. I wouldn't say it's a beginner project, but I think anyone could give it a go and end up with something cute. The dress is fully lined, with a zipper in the back.

On a lot of sewing blogs, I see beautiful dresses and tops made without a pattern! I really envy the women who have the talent to do that. I'm still stuck in the land of patterns. Maybe one day I'll become a little braver...

birthday skirt

Here's the skirt that Lainey wore on her birthday. It was inspired by this skirt over at Pink Picket Fence. (Dana has recently made the style popular with her Can-Can Skirt, but I saw the Pink Picket Fence version a while ago and tulle seemed easier)

It was so easy! I simply cut strips of tulle and sewed down the middle with a long stitch. Then I gathered them and attached them to some pink fabric. Added some elastic and....job done!

Christmas PJs

Simple flannel bottoms made using a pattern (simplicity, I think) There were going to be tops too, but I couldn't find my pattern for that. I had it all cut out and ready to go and some green knit fabric which coordinated with both of the flannel prints. Oh well.



Then Trev asked for a pair, too. I made a BIG mistake, probably one of the biggest mistakes a wife can make- I underestimated my husband's height! I didn't buy quite enough fabric. I made it work by adding this extra strip on the bottom (which was cut from the scraps I had left over) I added some piping to make it look like it was done on purpose, although I should have taken the time to match the pattern on the fabric. Ah, it was a busy time, those last few days before Christmas.

Trev loves them, and he wears them all the time. He also got compliments from his brothers, which has led to a request that I make them each a pair for their birthdays. Joy.

On the neeeeeedles

Eeek! Look at what I've been doing- knitting with two colours! And, so far, it's going well. My stitches are not perfect, they're a little uneven in places, but hey- if I wanted a perfectly knitted item I would just go and buy one. This is going to have handmade written all over it :-)



It's quite a slow process, for me. But I'm loving seeing the pattern emerge. I think that's why it's so slow- every row I knit I have to turn it round and gaze lovingly at it. I can't wait to see it as a jacket for my little princess to wear.

The pattern is from Debbie Bliss's 'Quick Baby Knits'. It's a lovely book and I'd like to try pretty much every single design in there. ~Sigh~ if only they were really quick...

Sweet little dress

Here's a little top I whipped up for Lainey, using a pattern purchased from Leila and Ben. I loved the pattern so much that I have bought it in the baby sizes, and also the big girl sizes. I think I'll be making it a lot!

The pattern is the Sweet little Dress pattern, but obviously I modifed it to make a top instead. I think you could do a lot with this pattern. It was quick to put together and I love the way it looks. I'm almost think this could be Lainey's uniform- a simple yet girly top, paired with leggins.

Luke's jammies

I'm going to make pjs for the kids this year. The tops I am making are made from stretchy knit fabric, and since I've never worked with that kind of material before- and since Luke was low on nightclothes after a recent growth spurt- I decided to have a practice run.

The attempt was fairly successful, but I am glad that I did do a practice, since there are a few things I will change when I make the Christmas pjs. Sewing knit fabric is not too scary, but mine did stretch a bit in the bottom hem, making it look kind of wobbly. I plan to remedy that by adding a kind of binding to the bottom, wth gap at the sides so that it still has some give.

We'll have to wait and see how it turns out, but for now, I'm happy to have overcome the fear of knits!

Last year's halloween

Please humour me for just a moment. I know that I posted about this costume last year, on my other blog, but I just feel like it deserves another 5 minutes of fame. I mean, it barely even got seen last year, since we didn't really go to any parties or trick-or-treating.



I just love how it turned out, especially since I didn't have a pattern, and basically just dreamed it up in my own crazy little brain.

This year, I have something fun planned for the kids to coordinate. I don't want to give it away, but let's just say, Luke's gonna be a REAL boy :-)

prototype hats

I'm thinking of attempting to sell some little crochet hats, adorned with detachable flowers as shown above. I've made a couple of prototypes/practice hats :-)

4th July outfits

4th July stuff- simple shorts for brother and sister, and a last-minute felt star for Lainey's head.

I really need to get on board with the whole bow thing. People are always thinking Lainey is a boy.

Blessing dress

I've been seeing a lot about 'refashioning' online lately, in the crafty circles, so I decided to do a bit myself. Instead of buying new fabric for Lainey's blessing dress, I used a ladies white dress I bought at a thrift store for $5. I adapted a pattern I already had (some adaptations were by design, others were made in a late-night frenzy of desperation) The pattern was Simplicity 9784.

I like how it turned out, though I did cut a lot of corners, knowing that she would only wear it once.

Bandana skirt

I made this little skirt in about 10 minutes, and it cost about a dollar. I love it, and it matches perfectly with a little top that my mum sent over for Lainey. You can find out how to make one here. The tutorial is for a size 2-3 years skirt, but I trimmed the excess fabric from the top and didn't add the trim.

By the way, I have quite a few projects on the go at the moment. I'm working on them as and when I find time. This was so quick and easy it jumped right to the top of the pile.

Warning...

I have a feeling that my next few posts will be pretty much all baby clothes. I am finding snatches of time here and there, but not much, so it's quite slow progress. Here's a dress that I started ages ago and just finished last week. Lainey wore it to church and looked sweet. The pattern says to make buttonholes, but I used snap fasteners and just sewed the buttons on for decoration. I'm a bit scared of buttonholes, I think!

And here's Lainey in her trousers, looking all chilled out in the sink

Another pair

After making that last pair of little trousers, I thought about making some for our baby. I was originally going to wait until after the baby arrived, to make sure it's a girl...but I couldn't resist!

I bought this flowery cotton a while ago, from the cheapy section at Wal*Mart. I still have enough of it left to make a top or something. If our baby turns out to be a boy, I'm sure I'll find someone for these to go to :-)

Baby trousers

These baby trousers aren't half as cute as I thought they would be. But never mind. They're for my nephew, who was born last week.

Any time I use a pattern to make clothing, I feel the need to change something. I think it is an urge to 'create', rather than just follow directions. (I do admire people who have the patience for following things exactly, though!)

In this case, the pattern was for very simple cotton trousers. Well, I decided to use denim, and make them lined for extra warmth! I hope they fit the baby. I might make a pair for our baby, if I find the time...