Rhinestone Armadillo

Here's a good girls t-shirt dress tutorial

I liked this t-shirt dress tutorial from Amanda over at I Sew, Do You?.  In fact, I like her sample (orange and black) so much that I may re-create it exactly for Halloween.  I think hers was in honor of her university's school colors, but it would be perfect for fall.

Amanda's tutorial is great---just follow the directions.  I made everything in a little over an hour.

I was able to make the dress and bow for less than $1.00 total.  Yay!  Our local thrift store had a quarter sale on t shirts, so I grabbed one in pink and one in grey.

 To give it a more modern look, I cut the dress longer on the sides and shorter in the front and back.  I plan on her wearing this over leggings.

Amanda gives advice on using tissue backing to help you sew with knits.  I didn't do that since my machine was handling the fabric OK.  However, I know knits can be tricky on some machines, so give the tissue trick a try if you're machine is finicky.

For her bow, I used a simple stretch elastic band, then made a rosette of the leftover ruffled fabric.  I sewed on a big pink enamel flower that was at the bottom of a garage sale bag of broken costume jewelry.  Do you guys go crazy over a big bag of broken jewelry?  I do--and I end up using the stuff for years.

So there---a quick, cheap, upcycled dress.  Good for your wallet and the environment.

Still Pregnant

Yes, I'm still pregnant.  This is starting to remind me of being pregnant with Violet.  After all the trouble trying to keep her in, now it's looking like it may take a while to get her out.  Nonetheless, I'm very glad to be considered full term and not have to worry about having a preemie.

 

We finally had our hay baled.  Due to the drought, we haven't had it harvested in over a year.

 
I like seeing those round bales sitting in the meadow.  They're so cheerful.

My mother gave two dresses she knitted and crocheted for me when I was a little girl.  Violet will be able to wear them soon.  I remember wearing the green dress with cowboy boots.

Ug.  My poor herb pots are so dead and neglected.  I look forward to being able to have pots of thriving herbs again some day.  Maybe I can manage some by autumn.  We'll see how things go with the new baby.

Auntie Grandma Marcia found Violet a car with appropriate people.

She loves that there are 2 car seats.  Violet seems to be working a lot of things out through playing with the little girl and the new baby.  Violet Doll spends a lot of time telling Baby Doll 'the way things are around here'. 

If you have kids, you know how careful you have to be around them.  They pick up everything you say and do.  It's sometimes a little disturbing to have a little person mimicking your every action.  It makes you pretty aware of your good and less-than-good habits.  Apparently, I say "O-Kay" a lot.

Someone watches Daddy like a hawk.  Note the yogurt shaving cream beard at breakfast this morning.  Goodness.

What blogs do you LOVE?

I have a question for you guys:

What blogs do you LOVE?

I have my tried-and-true favorites, (I never miss A Fanciful Twist,  Posie Gets Cozy, and No Big Dill) but I always like to check out new blogs.  Especially now that I am in 'hurry up and wait for the baby' mode.

I like blogs about families, crafts, art, photography, sewing, knitting, cooking, traditions, fashion, decorating, and Halloween. 

Any suggestions?

Matching Hippy Patchwork Dresses

Violet is enjoying the Amelie Soundtrack during lunch.

Hello, Mister Ant!  I wish you weren't in my kitchen, but you're very cute.

He was doing this odd thing where he stood on his hind legs, then squeegeed his antennas with his front 2 legs. I guess his antennas got wet.  It was really cute.

Did I mention I've been sewing a lot?  A LOT?

I made matching Mother/Daughter patchwork hippy dresses.  I'm trying to make things I can wear now and post-baby. If I can find a yellow onesie, I'll make one for Baby #2, also.

I have tons of scraps I like that weren't large enough to sew a whole project with.

These needlepoint roses were on an old seventies prom dress.

It took a while to sew this sucker, since I sewed every single little piece on each row.

The fabric range from new to scraps from the 1940s.  Detailed patchwork stuff keeps Violet busy, especially when we have to wait somewhere.  She likes to play 'Find the Whatever"....I say, find the blue bird or find the bear holding a bowl or find the lady under an orange tree. 

I still have a ton of these scraps left.  Does anyone want them?

Sailor Scraps Dress and Lucky Finds

Oh, boy-the first roses are blooming!  We picked the biggest, deepest red one to put on our table while we eat.

 
I forget the exact variety, but it's a tea rose, and has that signature spicy scent.

Here's a recent thrift store find----a lined and embroidered Asian jacket for $2.00.

I had to fix one of the frog closures, but it took me less than 5 minutes.  I really like intricate embroidery like this, especially with metallic thread.

I have so much scrap fabric it's not even funny.  I decided to mix some scraps and old nautical scarves into a summery little sailing dress for Violet.

I'd started cutting this already before photographing it, but I've always like graphic scarves.  This one shows the Bodensee Lake area in Europe.

I cut a bunch of rectangles, then sewed them into 3 rows.  Each row had more squares than the previous one.

I took a tank top and cut it off just above waist height.  I chose a tank with adjustable straps so she could wear it a little longer as she got taller.  I added a few cherry red buttons and red and white striped trim to the bottom.

It's very 'swingy'.  I couldn't get a non-blurry swing picture, but you get the idea.  Little girls seem to like twirly dresses. 

Heidi dress, completed

I finished Violet's "Heidi Dress". (You can always click on any of my images to see a larger version.)

It's pretty close to what I was envisioning, which is always nice.  Sometimes projects meet your expectations, and sometimes you throw them into the 'donate box'.

She said, "I no like it. I don't.  I don't like it...take it off."   *sigh*

She never stays unhappy for long, though.  I ignored the 'don't like it' comments for two minutes, and she was back to happy.

It's a little too large-see the shoulder slippage?  That's all right, though.  The last time I spent a long time sewing something, it was too small--argh!  I'd much rather have made something too big.

It's nice and roomy.

She's taking a bow.  In case you wondered.

I like being able to turn the fabric to the other side to get a different look.  It harmonizes well, and is still in the same color family.

One nice thing about sewing little bitty clothes is that you can use up your smallest scraps of pretty trims.  So....I'm pleased with it.  It's not perfect, but my sewing skills are improving.  I'm trying not to be such a perfectionist.  Better is good, yes? 

Friday things

I have some tiny roses I want to make into bows for Violet.  The color was too vibrant for what I wanted, so I soaked them in strong coffee for a few hours. 

They must be made of polyester, because the coffee didn't altar their appearance.  I had some silk flowers that turned a great vintagey shade after being coffee-dipped.  I wish these purple flowers had been made out of a dyeable material.  Maybe next time.

Here's the fabric I'm using for Violet's "Heidi Dress".  I'm crazy about reversible fabric, although this dress won't be reversible.  I will be using each side for different parts of the outfit, though.

Dinner-

• Chicken cordon bleu (easy version here)
• tomatoes
• squash
• broccolli and brown rice casserole
  
  
  

Heidi dress inspiration

Regarding the post below (about mixing pattern pieces to make a dress)...I'm envisioning a Heidi-type dress.  I want to get all the girly dresses out of my system before Violet decides she's a tomboy or something.

I like the style of the Heidi illustrations from Jessie Wilcox Smith.  They're so full of fabric, but made of nice, light cottons.

Here's a nice understated style by Gustaf Tenggren.

I like vintage boho Jessica McClintock gowns and prairie dresses. (from VioletFolklore)

Gunne Sax always had such nice lines and details.  The clothes were so uber-feminine, too.
(from GreenMarketVintage on Etsy)

I want to make Violet something like the Von Trapp children would wear for a bicycle outing.

The Sound of Music is one of my mother's favorite movies.  I grew up watching lots of musicals.  Maybe that explains a lot.  

Throw this into the mix, too.

I have great double-sided calico-ish fabric I've been saving.  It's in autumny shades of orange, brown, and soft smoky lavender.  Ooooh----I'm getting excited about sewing!  Don't you like really looking forward to a project?  Those usually turn out better, in my experience.

Frankenstein dress

No, not like this.  However, this would be a great maternity Halloween costume, huh?  That's not going to happen this time around, since I'm due in early June.

I am always buying the cheapo patterns you see at thrift stores.  They're frequently in perfect condition (never even cut), but the styles are too old fashioned.  Old fashioned eighties or nineties styles, that is.

So...I've been looking for patterns with particular pieces I want.  I'm going to mix them all, using the same children's size.  I just hope the pattern sizes are consistent from pattern to pattern.  We'll see.

I've cut out the pieces, and hopefully the sewing will go quickly.  I dislike cutting out pattern pieces.  What's your 'yucky' part of the sewing process?  I love the actual sewing (if it's not too advanced for my skills), but my favorite is picking out and adding trims and buttons and such.

I'm going to take the body of the dress from this one.  It's nice and swingy...a great 'twirl dress'.

I'll add the short sleeves from this one. 

...and the pants from this one. (This is a new pattern, by the way.)

We'll see how it turns out.  The more pregnant I get, the less patient I get.  Not to mention mood swings.  BOY am I moody these days.  If this turns out crappy, I may just throw it out the window in a fit of rage.  Or cry for an hour while eating pumpkin muffins.  I am running out of energy earlier and earlier in the evenings, so I don't want to commit to a project that isn't going to turn out at least semi-well.  This may be more potential frustration than I want to deal with right now.  I'm going to try anyway, so wish me luck!

T-shirt rug

 Oh!  This t-shirt rug project from Family Fun is intriguing. It would be a great project to work on as a family.  And it's extra special to recycle and pick out your own colors.  If you can't find t-shirts in the shades you want, you could dye them.

 

I can see kids getting tired of doing it after 5 minutes.  However, if they have to wait in line (a la Tom Sawyer and the fence), they'd fight over who gets to go next.  Then, at the end, everyone can say, "I made that."