Little dress from moms tank top

I have this ADORABLE yellow tank top that I used to wear over a white tee... not so adorable. But, I realized that it'd make a super cute dress for my little girl!

**More pictures of my cutie in the finished tank/ dress at the end of this post!!! **

My friend just e-mailed me this picture of her and I together last year and I'm wearing this very shirt! (Thanks for sending it!)

All I did was lay one of her shirts down on top of the dress so I could cut the sides off and re sew them to her size. Then, I reattached the original tank top straps, shortened of course, to the top and finished the new arm pit holes. I sewed what had been the shirts side strips back on as little ruffly winged sleeves. Easy, peasy! Disclaimer: It doesn't fit her as well as I'd hoped, but for my first ever shirt refashion project it turned out pretty good. Besides, the best thing about sewing for littles is that they make any project cute, imperfections and all. Am I right??

Don't mind the shadows. Sometimes the best time for playing isn't the best time for photography, and that's ok! Also, I was wearing that necklace but she decided she wanted it and I have to say it looks cute, cute with her dress.

Quilt Along- Come join the fun!

Remember that zig zag quilt - a - long happening over at Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night? It's not too late to join in. Here we are in the beginning stages!

Step one: Get supplies. (Gather fabric.)  

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I am especially looking forward to it this year because by Christmas I won't be pregnant anymore, meaning that I won't be sick and uncomfortable and, I'll have a soft, warm new born to snuggle up with. At least three times a week I ask my husband if it's Christmas time yet? He's such a dear, he always answers yes. We've both begun humming Christmas songs under our breath and our little girls favorite demo button on her toy piano plays jingle bells. Yes, we've all been dreaming of a white Christmas in May... It's no wonder that when I went through my fabric scraps I was drawn to the greens and reds. I really want to participate in Ashley's quilt a long, but I really, really don't want it to cost me any money. And I think I have just enough scraps to do it- at least half sized.

Step two: Cutting Fabric isn't coming up until June 6th, so you still have plenty of time to gather your fabric!

Baby dolls

Dolls creep me out. They're always looking at you! Besides, I'm not really the playful parent (better at the rule making and dinner cooking...) My husband is the goofy playful one and he likes to bring out the cars and the blocks while playing with our daughter. We really hadn't planned on buying any dolls for our little girl, nor have we encouraged any mommy play. So, we were shocked at our daughters obsession with baby dolls while in nursery at church. There are probably seven dolls that live in the nursery and they're typically strewn about the room on the floor, in some toy bins and even in the cabinets. The past couple of weeks, our little girl has found every single one of those lost dolls and proceeded to feed them and cover them up with blankets and devote all of her energy as a diligent little mother to all of her babies! Good thing the nursery is mostly little boys who don't care that she isn't sharing the dolls...

Last week I wasn't feeling well and had to take our daughter out of nursery early so that we could come home. Forcing her to abandon those babies was a horrific, dramatic event and she cried all the way home! Yea, I felt like a schmuck. I'm sure she thought I was punishing her when she did absolutely nothing wrong! So, first thing this morning- right after breakfast- we drove to wal mart to right this terrible wrong. I wish I had caught our daughters reaction on video camera when we cruised down the doll aisle. Her face lit up and she started bouncing up and down in her seat in the shopping cart and stretched out her arms as far as she could trying to grab them all up! (Keep in mind our little mother is only 14 months old!) Thank goodness she only has two hands! We intended to buy her one baby doll, but we were lucky to get out of there with only two. And, as far as dolls go, these aren't very creepy. No noises or movement and certainly no wetting diapers. Goodness, what will those toy makers think of next. Our daughter wouldn't let them go once she had them in her arms, not even for the cashier to scan them, so they gave dear husband the scanning gun to find the bar codes beneath protective fingers. She held them tight in the car all the way home and carried them around our apartment for a good while too. A few hours later the newness has worn off, and maybe she trusts me not to take her away from them this time, so she'll leave them be on the floor. But every so often, she runs over to give them kisses. It really is endearing. It's amazing how happy making our child happy makes me!

DIY Belly Band

Motherhood Maternity Belly Band

What pregnant woman out there isn't in love with the belly band? They help you stay in "normal" clothes longer, they help keep you covered when your body shape changes and pants slide down/ tops come up, they get you back into your "normal" clothes again postpartum, and they keep those sides and back covered while lifting up your shirt for nursing. In my opinion, they are a must have! And, ones like this sell for 16.98 at motherhood maternity! (Plus 6$ dollar shipping if you don't have a store near you...)

Wowzers. Guess what- you can make them for a whole lot cheaper. I just whipped up two in less than ten minutes. I used left over fabric from my maxi skirt for one, and a fabric remnant I picked up at Joanns for the other one. I spent maybe 3 dollars on each. My fabric was a polyester/ spandex blend that has a good stretch when pulled on horizontally and vertically. I know jersey knits are also popular and I read that you can even just cut up an old jersey cotton pillowcase! Brilliant! Here is how my home made version turned out:

Sorry for the blur...

I started to follow Ashley's tutorial from make it love it, but hers was a little complicated and even involved some hand sewing. I think this is because the fabric she chose to use had a right side/ wrong side. So, if you want to make your own band and your fabric is also like that, you should head on over to her blog. It really is a good tutorial with good pictures. Otherwise, here is my super fast tutorial on a belly band made out of fabric that does not have an obvious right side/ wrong side to it.

1. Measure around your under tummy (at about your pelvic bone) and measure how wide you want your band (how far up you want it to come on your tummy.) My under tummy is roughly 35 inches and I like my band to be about 10 inches wide.
2. Cut your fabric. Cut a rectangle that is exactly the length of your waist + seam allowance and that is double that of your width. Mine was 36 inches (35 inch waist + seam allowance) by 20 inches (double my desired 10 inch width.)
3. Now fold the fabric lengthwise (hot dog style) pin and sew with a zig zag stitch. Zig zag stitching allows for stretch.

4. Now, reach your arm through the tube you just created and flip it right side out. Fold up your ends with the seam on the outside (kind of like right sides together as you'll want to hide that seam.) This may not make a lot of sense until you do it, but once you are at this step it becomes pretty obvious. Pin and sew again with a zig zag stitch.

4. Turn inside out again to hide both the original seam you sewed when the fabric was folded hot dog style, and the new seam you just created. Voila! Your very own belly band. Nothing this easy should cost $16.98!

DIY Knotted cuff AND Joann Sale

I bought these shorts a few years back and a couple sizes too big so that they'd be long enough for me (they have a draw string so it works out,) but then they shrank! Darn shorts. Oh well, I sewed a little solution to that problem. Recognize these? Crafty Critique. com did a tutorial on how to lengthen kids crop pants, and then she showed how they can be cute on adult shorts too. Sweet.

Yes, I fixed up my shorts just in time for all this rain

I think I should invest in some self tanning lotion

 Oh, and just an FYI, I found some amazing deals at the Joann Fabric Store Memorial Day Sale! 50% off fabric remnants (3$ for rayon spandex for a belly band or two? Heck yes!) 50% off red tag clearance fabric (hello, 4$ maxi skirt) And 5 for 5$ simplicity patterns! Simplicity's summer line is out and is oh- so- cute!I may not be able to wear this until next summer, but I still had to have it:

Love the split front dress and that jacket is fantastic!

I also bought these patterns because I think I could easily make them into maternity wear. And, because they have the princess seam I think that I could turn them each into nursing tops/ dresses too...

I love everything about 2409. 0326 I like the long dress, C, shown in the smaller picture, I'd just add sleeves.

DIY maxi skirt

I am back at the machine and it feels oh- so- good! Well, and a little cramped... I wedge myself in at Hubbys school desk between his keyboard and his notebooks, and try to use the foot pedal under the desk all pressed up against the computer tower. Regardless, it feels so good to be enjoying a hobby once again. I started with a really quick project. I am a super slow sewer; pressing lightly with my foot and stopping often to un- pin as I go, and I still had this skirt done from start to finish with cutting, pinning and sewing in 45 minutes. Of course, I didn't hem it. I know it'd look better if I did, but this material doesn't unravel, so what's the point? Remember, I don't finish anyth... Oh, and I just realized you can't see the bottom of my skirt in this picture anyway. Never mind. I followed Elle Apparels maxi skirt tutorial and love the result. It is super comfortable around my baby bump and I made it a little loose so hopefully it'll fit me right up to my due date. If I'm not tired of it after I've had the baby, I'll take in the waist and continue to wear this super comfortable skirt... forever! Hubby took me on a date, so I already got to wear it. Love him!

Quilt A Long

I said I'd never quilt again after all the tedious stitches I put into my daughters birthday quilt... but- Ashleys quilting sew a long looks too fun to pass up. Plus, at the end she is having a link party so we can all "show and tell" our finished quilts! I thought I'd share in case you want to play too! So, if this sounds like something you want to do, head on over to mommy by day crafter by nights blog post. Here is her invitation:

Pinned Sewing Plans

Those who can't do... pin! The past couple of months I have either been too sick, or too tired to create anything other than the latest and greatest project that I told you about. (I'm 1/3 of the way done with it, by the way.) But, that doesn't mean that I haven't missed sewing very much. I have pinned together an incredibly long list of to-do's in the magical world of Pinterest. Here are a few pins that I am just itching to create:

Elle Apparels DIY Maxi Skirt

Sarahs puffy sleeves

This hilarious pillow... While I do love the pillow, I don't so much want to make it as I do want to finish a couple of projects once started and forgotten... I need to hand sew the openings shut in a quilt and a pillow, and I need to sew my daughters Easter dress together. It's all pinned and ready, boy I hope it'll still fit even though we're too late for Easter Sunday! 

Home made nursing pads! Oh, the things that make me happy these days...

Add length to a couple pairs of shorts that have shrunk a bit in the dryer

And then turn those same shorts into maternity shorts using Jodells tutorial.

Recreate Bella Blu's maternity swimsuit.

Now if only I could find my sewing machine foot pedal... Any ideas?

Dirty dishes craft

We have this awkward wall space above our kitchen sink that has been mocking me ever since we moved in!  Finally today I felt well enough to do something about it. Not wanting to spend any money, I went through my drawers, boxes, and closet and came up with some fabric, flowers, tin cans... and, well here is what happened.

Before:

After:

Isn't that poem just wonderful? I originally saw it on pinterest, but when I clicked to follow its link it landed me at some spam site. So, I'm not sure who to give credit to for the great idea.

We love company

A few weeks ago we had some more company. Why my grandparents thought they wanted to come visit while I was too sick to make their stay enjoyable is beyond me... well, maybe they just couldn't resist seeing their little great grand daughter. It was nice to see them, and their help around here was awfully appreciated. Grandma also brought me a dress that she made for me! This made me so happy as I have really missed sewing lately! I absolutely love the fabric that she chose.

Here is the beautiful dress she sewed for me. I wore it with a belt to accentuate my little baby bump! Yes, there is too a little baby bump. I can see it, and for how much I've been sick I can promise you it isn't just a chub. :-P

She also left me the pattern, McCalls 6102, which I am totally excited about for three BIG reasons.
1. This dress slips on over the head; no zippers! I'm not very good at sewing in zippers yet.
2. It has a super forgiving shape to it. It is going to be absolutely perfect as a maternity dress, especially when I sew it out of a stretch material.
3. I love dresses, especially summer dresses, and especially easy summer dresses! I have a feeling I am soon going to own way, way too many of these.

Petting Zoo

The second half of our Bear World adventure was the petting zoo. Our little girl loved it! Out of all the animals, our daughter liked the chickens the best and they're the only ones that wouldn't hold still long enough for her to touch them.

Literally pulling our daughter out of the chicken coop

Oh, Hi there!

Poop! Hello parents, do you see what your child is doing?

Lovin' the babies