Oliver & S Popover Sundress

I was recently asked by a lady from church "So, do you sew clothing very often for your girls?"

In an ideal world, my answer would be: "Yes, everything they wear is handmade with love".

The real answer is something like this: "No way José."

How's that for honesty?  I'll go even further and explain why in unnecessary details, because what is a blog without unnecessary detail?

1. Elliott initially hates anything I make for her.  No joke.  (Proof: see here and here.  Just because she's aged doesn't mean she's any better.)

2. We're given SO much clothing by family and friends.  It's kind of a waste to have more.

3. I'll flip if it gets ruined.  And you probably wouldn't want to witness that.

4. Typically costs WAY more that buying off the rack. (Anyone love the Gap Kids clearance racks like I do?  Holla!)

5. No guarantee of quality or cuteness.  (That's a lot of pressure!)

6. Whenever I sew, my world crashes down around me.  I forget to feed my family, I don't do dishes or keep up with housework, and then...after all the trouble... see #1.   

Last year though, I made the Oliver and S Popover Sundress  for Elliott.  The pattern is free (yay!) and it is quick and simple to sew.  She wore it once (begrudgingly) and apparently it has been shoved into the back of a drawer ever since, wadded up and forgotten.  

When I was picking through her clothing this morning, I stumbled across a hint of familiar green seersucker and decided that this dress would be worn a second time. I prepared myself mentally for a massive throwdown, and I kid you not, I walked into the living room and handed Elliott her clothing and she replied "Oh, I looooooove this dress!".

Well.

So, here, after months have gone by, someone appreciates my hard work.  Naturally, this had to be documented.

Little sister is modeling her big sister's hand-me-down Target mix-n-matches, which, despite their cheapness are virtually indestructible, and again this is very demoralizing in the sewing arena.  The bunny that Bennett has shoved in her mouth is affectionately (and truthfully) called "stinky bunny".  It's rarely very far from her grasp, which is unfortunate, because it sure could stand to be washed daily based on the amount of love it receives.

You know, the human spirit never fails to amaze me.  After just one little glimmer of Elliott's appreciation, all I can think about is sewing.

(For the sake of details--I purchased the seersucker at Joann a few years ago and used scraps of navy blue cotton for the yoke.  I had a small scrap of white piping and added it under the yoke for detail.  I used the 3T size with a 4T length, as the dress is very easy to customize.)

Angel Wings Pinafore

My little Bennett Mae is due in July, so naturally I'm nesting.  Not so much in the cleaning my house like a madwoman kind of way (though it's highly needed) but more in the crafting until all hours of the night kind of way.  I wish I had more time to blog but there are SO many projects that I want to do that I don't even post about the majority them (obviously, since I so rarely post these days).  It may take only an hour to complete a project, but by the time you document with photos, edit your crappy photos (in my case) and blog and edit for spelling and grammar (occasionally) you've wasted TONS of valuable crafting time.

All the while, you should have been cleaning your messy house.  (Or is that just me?)

Messy house aside, I found a sweet pattern via Pinterest called the Angel Wings Pinafore.  I repinned it immediately.  And then I grabbed some yarn and about 2.5 hours later, I had a newborn-sized pinafore completed.

I used Martha Stewart Crafts Lion Brand Yarn Collection- specifically the Extra Soft Wool Blend in Buttermilk.  What a gorgeous name for the color I used--Buttermilk.  Oh Martha, you never cease to amaze me.  I love this particular yarn.  Another great option for this pinafore would be Lion Brand Cotton Ease.  I have become a Lion Brand devotee, can you tell?  Cotton Ease is a nice cotton to work with, washes up well, and it's affordable.  Win, win, win.  The Martha yarns are a bit more expensive than the other craft store yarns, but so far they've proven themselves to be worth the extra cost in my opinion.

I used pearly buttons for the back.  So precious, and a great adornment considering babies are often thrown over the shoulder--why shouldn't the back have beautiful details?

To add just a bit of color. I wove ribbon into the yoke and stitched it in on the back to keep it in place.  I think Martha Stewart would have liked my ribbon color choice--a calm celery green.

I bought leggings at Gap Kids before purchasing the coordinating ribbon.  Gap Kids really has great style and awesome colors.  I looked in a few cheaper places for newborn leggings and was pretty disappointed with the offerings (primarily hot pink and black)--but Gap had so many fantastic babyish colors that it was hard to decide.  One particular store tried their best to sell me on their infant "Jeggings" (jean-looking leggings, for those of you who don't know) and I don't think I held back my look of horror at the suggestion.  Let's just say this sweet little pinafore was not intended to be worn with Jeggings. 

Jeggings.  Ha.  What a funny word. 

Oh, and wish me luck.  I'm going to my first kitting class tonight.  My goal for the night is not necessarily to learn to knit, it's more along the lines of not poking anyone's eyes out with my knitting needles when I inevitably get frustrated and lose my temper.

Simple Skirt

Is it terribly obvious that I'm having a great time sewing with my new machine?  It sews like a dream and I love that during one naptime I can whip out a project like this little skirt.

It was made using the Simple Skirt tutorial offered by Dana of made.  On her blog, Dana offers lots of free tutorials showing how to make simple and precious clothing for little ones.  If you're new to sewing (or even if you're experienced, for that matter) you should check it out for lots of inspiration.  Plus, her photography is striking and clean and gorgeous.  It's one of my favorite blogs.

With quite a bit of typical resistance, I was able to get a few good shots of Junebug modeling her new skirt outside of our local farmer's market.  Well, she calls it a "skirk".  She also calls shirts "shirks", which we encourage because it's pretty much the cutest thing ever.  I'm not overly critical of her emerging language--I realize that pretty soon she'll be speaking fluently and I'll miss the days of cute toddler words like "shirk" and listening to her sing "a spoon full of sugar helps the lettuce-in go down".

My sweet little gal.  Sheesh, she's grown up so fast.

An on a completely unrelated note--what are your kiddos going to be for Halloween?  Junebug and I have differing opinions (go figure) on what she'll be for Halloween.  Of course she'll win, but more on that later.