Busy Weekend

Wish I could say that I had loads of sewing time, but that's never the case around here. We had a very busy weekend starting with date night Friday night. My husband and I enjoyed a nice dinner out for an early anniversary celebration. Saturday my brother and I took the kids out on the lake fishing. We had a lot of fun, but it was HOTTER than HOT out there. A few hours was all we could take before calling it a day. Sunday was spent at the in-laws house for celebrating my mother-in-laws birthday and yesterday we had everyone over for a BBQ at our place. My youngest child has a cold/cough that kept us up most of the night last night...it was a rough one. The big plans for the extra day I took off today were to finally sit down in front of my machine and create. I tried....really I did, but it's no good to sew on no sleep.

Since my last post before the SMS giveaway, I have been able to successfully accomplish a few things. 5 sundresses, a top and one clutch.

Here is my new clutch! I'm loving this. It's a first for me and I'm sure after more practice I'll get through these quicker. I needed something smaller to make a run through the stores with. My purse was way too heavy. Between that and holding hands and bags I couldn't take it anymore. My neck and shoulder have been killing me for months from the weight of my purse. Now I have a cute little hands free bag :)

Here is a picture of the top that I made for my little Bee. I also made a dress exactly the same. Didn't think about it before, but this is one of those items of clothing that you can wear as a dress and a top later. After I completed it and held it up I realized that a 6-12 month old could get away with this as a dress and later on wear it as a top just as Bee is below...

Way cute, right?! Wish I thought of doing this sooner. I love clothes that they can wear through the years. This would be an excellent gift for a new baby girl.

Below is another sundress that I made. Don't mind the picture. My little girl was really under the weather when I shot this one.

I'm really loving these dresses. So easy to make, look fab and they are comfy for the little one. Bonus...they are easy on and off too!

Hope you all had a fun and relaxing weekend. If you had some time to get sewing in I would love to see what you've been up to.

Until next time.....

Happy Anniversary :)

Tomorrow marks the day that I married my best friend 13 years ago. My how time passes us by.

And We Have A WINNER!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to Antonia for winning the toy patterns. I hope you enjoy sewing them and would love to see a picture of your creations. A warm thank you to those who entered and are now followers. I will have more giveaways coming so please check back in.....

GIVEAWAY DAY IS HERE

Yeah! I'm so excited to offer my very first giveaway on the Sew Shellz Blog. Since I didn't have much time to put together something handmade for this giveaway deadline I decided to look through my supplies to see what I could offer. Look at what I found....

I found that I had two of the same patterns. Guess I must have really wanted to sew one of these three patterns that come with this set. You can make one or all three of these adorable toys as a gift for a baby by using scraps that you have sitting around in your fabric closet. Would be a fun project to include an older sibling to help create this gift for the new baby sister/brother to come.  Want to win this trio pattern? Follow the rules below to enter for this giveaway.

HOW TO ENTER

All entries must leave a comment with your name on this blog. That's it....that's all you have to do. Of course if you want to say something more that's always welcome :) BONUS entry for becoming a follower or if you already are.

All entries must be posted on or before 11:59 PM EST on May, 25th, 2011.

This giveaway is for domestic U.S. residents only. Sorry I cannot ship internationally at this time. I will announce the winner on this blog on May 26, 2011 and ship the pattern no later than May 30, 2011.

Good luck and I'm looking forward to all your comments. Please come back to visit or follow the Sew Shellz blog for future contests and giveaways. Dont forget to go to the Sew Mama Sew blog for more fabulous giveaways.

http://www.sewmamasew.com/ (go to the blog)

May Giveaway Day

How exciting....a day of giveaways hosted by SewMamaSew!! I just found out about this wonderful day and I'm happy to announce that I've found something to offer for this giveaway. I do not have much time to prepare something handmade so instead I had to raid the supplies. Come back on Monday 5/23/11 to see what I'll be offering. For more details on this fabulous giveaway extravaganza, please visit the SewMamaSew Blog or follow the link below.

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=17334



It's Mother's Day Weekend

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there. Love you Mommy!!

I love this picture of my mother, brother and I. Judging from my brother's age in this photo, I'm guessing that I was around 6 when this was taken.



Months ago my sister came to me and asked if I could fix her favorite skirt (burn hole). Ummmm, no sorry I cannot do that, but I can make a dress out of it for you.

Her skirt is now the bodice of this dress. I cut the bottom of the skirt and used that fabric to make the ruffle for the top. Ran to Joanns to pick up the black fabric used for the skirt/lower portion of the dress. I think this turned out pretty nice. Hopefully she will love it. I'll surprise her with it next weekend on her birthday.

While at Joanns I picked up some additional fabric. It's rare that I can go into a fabric store for one thing and only come out with one thing. Anyway, whipped this one up quickly. 

What I really like about this little dress is that you can wear it as a dress or a skirt. Fun!

New Fabric Has Arrived

New fabric is here :) I've yet to decide what I'm going to do with it, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. Right now I'm slamming out a bunch of sundresses and waiting on my serger that went in for repair on Saturday....OUCH!

More from Sewing Clothes Kids Love



This is a dress and shrug (both patterns are in the book). What's great about this book is that the author shared many pairing options with the patterns that are in the book to give you ideas on what you can put together. The book is inspiring and really draws out the creative side. I keep a notebook in my room now, b/c out of left field I'll think of an applique or embellishment that would be simply fab to add to something I'm working on (or for future use). 
I have yet to mess with this pattern above, but it is on my list of to do's. Yet another pattern to LOVE in this book.



Here is a jacket pattern that is in the book. As you can see there are some boy patterns and those are hard to come by. Having a son I love that they included boys as well. Many possibilities with this one. If buttons or snaps scare you, use velcro. Spring raincoat anyone?!

Here is a repeat that I've used from this book. The top/shirt pattern was used in my 2-piece set recently posted and the skirt was used in the Tiki Dress. I joined a knit top/shirt to the skirt I created (added an elastic waistband) to make the Tiki. This top/shirt pattern can also be used for creating something for your little guy. You don't have to limit yourself to only knits with this one. Think about winter and using a nice fleece. There is also a hood option that can be added to this shirt included with the pattern.

Book Spotlight

Here it is....the book that has inspired me to sew with more detail than ever before. In fact I hardly ever added much trim or embellishments to my clothing until I read this book. Sewing with more detail does take longer, but the end results are worth it. When my daughter wears the clothes I've made her we are stopped by multiple people and asked where we purchased the dress she is wearing.

If you love to sew children's clothes, I cannot stress enough that you have to own a copy of this book. I've used the patterns in this book on several designs I've created. The two piece set posted yesterday was from this book with some alterations of my own and the Tiki Beach Dress was an altered pattern from this book as well. I LOVE this book and all the patterns in it. The first few chapters include information on how to use the patterns in the book, how to choose fabric, how to measure properly and even how to make a dress form for your little one. There is even a chapter with information on embellishing. ***NOTE*** read all the chapters before you start any of the projects in the book. One very important thing to know is that the patterns do not include a seam allowance so when you trace your pattern on tracing paper (highly recommended) be sure to include a seam allowance.

Before you rush out to your local bookstore to see if they have this book check the amazon link below. The book is $24.99 and worth every penny. When you spend $25 on amazon you'll get free shipping anyway (and Amazon is quick) so no need to run out to the store.

http://www.amazon.com/Sewing-Clothes-Kids-Love-Instructions/dp/1589234731/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304639896&sr=1-1
Just checked and amazon has the book for $16.49 right now....score!

BAM! That's what I'm talkin about........

The completed outfit. I'm loving this one. The pants are too cute and my fav of the two pieces. I used the Quilted Fish fabric on this one as well. The knit top was fabric purchased from the Patsy Aiken outlet here in Raleigh.

                                                          View from behind

 Up close and personal shot of the back pockets. I sent my 3 yr old into the trim drawer and told her to pick out trim for the pockets. She came back with the pom-pom trim. Way cute!

 Full view of the back. I just LOVE these pants. Too bad I'm too old to own a pair of my own. I forgot to include a picture of the completed front view of the pants.....equally as cute.

Here is the completed top.

Tomorrow I will spotlight the book I used to make these creations. It's a must have for anyone who sews children's clothes.

**update** new fabric on the way...sooo exited! It may arrive tomorrow, but I think I'm going to knock out some more sundresses before I start my next detailed project. After every few longer detailed projects I like to complete some quickies.

SNEAK PEEK **** SNEAK PEEK **** SNEAK PEEK

On this rainy day in NC, I wanted to brighten things up by sharing a sneak peek on the two-piece set that I'm working on. Coming soon to a blog near you......

Hot Fun in the Sun Dress

Such a fun dress to run and play in. She stood still for one picture and then ran around the yard.

Love this easy dress (you cannot believe how easy it is to make) and LOVE this fabric from Quilted Fish!! I think this design will be a summer staple in the closet. More from Quilted Fish to come. Working on a two-piece set :)