Shirt Dress #1!

I am so excited about this little dress! I finished it this afternoon, took me a tad longer to complete than I thought. But now that I have my pattern pieces made, I think the next attempts will be much quicker. The tutorial is great and it ended up fitting perfectly, which I couldn't be happier about, and my daughter looks darling in it. I had these grand visions of getting her all gussied up in her new little dress and taking her to the local sculpture park or lake and doing a photo shoot like these super bloggers here and here. Then the reality of my messy house, two-year-old son (who is still in that phase where he likes to just take off), and 5-month-old son (who would probably be strapped to my body in some baby carrying device) sunk in. So I snapped some shots of the dress on a cute hanger instead :). I'll definitely have to post an action shot very soon, it just looks so cute on! Such a great use of a discarded button-down. I'm looking forward to making the other two. I'm usually not one for making clothing for my kids. I don't feel it saves much money with the cost of fabric (with my picky taste anyway) and the time that it takes. Especially when they grow so fast! But a repurposing project like this is right up my alley. This new little number didn't cost me a dime. I had everything on hand. I foresee many happy, sunny days of outside play in these dresses.

Hopes of an evening project.

I'm hoping to get in some sewing tonight after the kiddos go to bed. My man is at a conference in Orlando for a few days, so I have plans for a few late night projects. This one has been on my to do list since I discovered "Made" a couple months ago...along with several of her other fantastic tutorials. I'm excited about my color combos and the chance to make some summer staples for my daughter out of shirts that have just been hanging in our closet. Hoping all goes well and I have a super cute dress to show off in the morning!

Impulse buy.

I saw this cheerful, fun print by Alexander Henry the other day and it happened to be on sale! I thought to myself, "Oooo, that's cute! How fun for my boys, I don't have a lot of boyish fabric." Therefore I bought a yard initially not knowing what I would make with it, but I think I've thought of just the project for it. Though it will have to wait until I'm finished helping my sister with some wedding preparations. A little show and tell on that soon to come!

Vader iPhone Case.

Yesterday my hubby turned the big 3-0! He's not the easiest person to shop for and our current budget doesn't allow for an iPad, which is still on the top of his list. So I decided to make him a gift, a first attempt. I've been sewing for close to two years now but have found it difficult to think of cool things to make for guys, especially my guy. That being said, I was quite pleased that he thought his gift was "awesome" :). Thankfully that was his response because this was the most frustrating project I've done to date! And it really shouldn't have been. It's felt. Doesn't get much easier to work with than that, right? Generally yes, but I had this great idea of cutting a Darth Vader silhouette out of the back to give the case some attitude and detail. It worked out great in my head...pin my illustration over the felt and cut with an X-Acto knife. Well lets just say easier said than done. I thought I had wrecked it more than once, modified while I cut, and somehow managed to salvage it. Once I was done with all the cutting and felt confident that it still resembled the helmeted villain, I thought it would be smooth sailing. Sigh of relief. Come to find out snaps are from the dark side! I went through a whole pack before I got the female snap in place and even with the one I got to work I ditched my snap setter and went at it with a hammer! I think I just got lucky there. There has got to be a better way. Maybe I should have used the force ;). Fortunately everything worked out (it fits like a glove!) and my man loved his gift, which made all the work and frustration worth it.

Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Josh! I love you!

Old Drawings, New Fun!

We were running low on paper, which is a common problem around here since my four-year-old can go through a sketch book a week. Instead of resorting to printer paper I pulled out an old sketchbook and the watercolors. Most of her earlier work was done in crayon so it worked out perfectly. At first she was less than enthused about having to paint on pages that were already drawn on, but when she saw the magic of the watercolor over the crayon she was sold. She added new life to several old drawings and then I drew her a couple of hidden pictures with a white crayon. Horses of course. She was excited about those most of all, and the finished pieces received the honor of being pinned to her bulletin board. It was a very successful project. Nearly an hour of fun (and quiet) and several drawings got a second use before making their way to the recycle bin.

Instant gratification.

I had a lovely Easter weekend, and I hope you all did as well, but I fell flat on my face with my Easter crafting. I had plans to make gifts for my kiddo's baskets and started an Easter basket for my son, which I still plan on finishing. I'll just be way ahead of the game for next year I guess :). I eased the pain of my holiday failures with some instant gratification. It doesn't get much faster or easier than a staple gun and fabric glue. Quick and simple but with a big impact, just what I needed. I've been wanting to cover my daughter's bulletin board for a little while now so I grabbed it off the wall and did it! I covered it with fabric left over from her curtains, cut a flower out of a beautiful scrap of Amy butler fabric, added some felt leaves, and done! Olivia really likes it and I'm pretty pleased with the result myself.

A Day in the Life of Me: Eau de Spit-Up

Copyright Katie Emrich. All rights reserved.

All three of my kids were urpers. Well number 3, who is only 5 months, still is. For the first year of their lives my go-to accessory was/is a burp cloth and I felt/feel like I constantly smell like baby spit-up. Just today Henry spit-up ALL down my shirt. Right down the neckline. Not quite sure how it managed to flood the inside of my shirt without the help of cleavage, but it did. Every time my husband gets christened he makes a big fuss and has to change. If that were my reaction I'd go through about five outfits a day. And let's face it who wants to do that much laundry? I just wipe it up and move on. I guess I could smell like worse things, right? :).

Crib-side organization.

My little guy had a growing pile of animal friends covering his bed and ultimately spilling onto the floor. I am a firm believer of the saying "a place for everything, and everything in it's place," and the toddler bed wasn't cutting it. A solution was needed! I referenced this tutorial (perfect solution, with the perfect name even) on Pickles and created a handy dandy place for Jackson's stuffed animals to live while they're not being played with. I used leftover fabric from his curtains and repurposed a pair of old jeans for the base and the straps. I've been trying to only use fabric from my stash lately, easier on the wallet :). Now he picks two buddies to sleep with at naps and bedtime and puts them away in the morning. No more clutter, and he likes being able to clean up his things on his own. It's a win, win.