Easter snapshots.

We had a relaxing weekend of church, family, and my husband's awesome carrot cake. It was lovely. Hope you had a great one as well!

another summer top.

Whew, it's been a tiring week for me at the Emrich homestead. I don't know if three months (or let's make it six) of interrupted sleep has caught up with me or what, but I haven't felt very productive the last few days. Here's another little top for Miss O. I used this great little tutorial by Sparkle Power as my reference and was also inspired by Dana of Made's version with the buttons. I found this fabric on clearance at JoAnn's quite a while back. Because of the embroidered edge that meant zero hemming. Doesn't get much simpler than that!

Have a beautiful weekend, and a beautiful Easter. I'm so thankful for the gift of hope and joy as I live this life because of the love and sacrifice of my Savior.

a little upcycling.

Hello all! Here's another addition to my daughter's summer wardrobe that I've been working on. I found a women's top at the thrift store for $2 and thought it would make a fun dress for Miss O. I've gained quite a fondness for our local Arc thrift store. I always bring home such great finds—vintage children's books, clothes, fabric...their fabric section is great and on Sat most everything is half off! Plus the profits provide funding for children with developmental disabilities and their families, it's a win win!

Back to the project :). This was especially fun to make because it was so simple. Love me some instant gratification. All I did was take in the sides, shorten the existing straps, and then add a scrap of linen to create a modest neckline. The neckline I initially created ended up being still too low (I really should measure these things). I scoured my supplies to find something to add some extra height, because of course I'm not going to rip out my stitching and start over. Fortunately I found some vintage ribbon that was the perfect shade of orange, and created a pleated trim to give her little chest a bit more coverage. The top already had such great layers and details that it didn't take much to turn it into a lovely little dress. Sorry there's no "before" picture. I get all too antsy to get started.

Enjoy your Friday!

an attempt with knits and modern art.

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a lovely weekend. The weather here has been just beautiful, which has been great motivation for working on my daughter's summer wardrobe. Last week I tried sewing with cotton knit for the first time. I love how comfy knits are and the no-fray edges really speed up the sewing process. Though, even with my ball-point needle and zig-zag stitching it wasn't all smooth sailing. The stretch knit has definitely can cause some frustration when you're not used to working with it. I know there are some great tutorials and online info to help newbies along. I'll have to do some research and see if I can find some helpful tips. If you have any links or tips yourself please feel free to enlighten me.

Last weekend my husband and I went on a date and spent the afternoon in Denver at the art museum. It was wonderful to get out and do something a bit more cultured than Chick-fil-a, and to spend time with my guy. We are both artists/designers (he's by far the more talented one. Check out his work here, I'm just a little proud.), with roots in drawing and painting. It had been far too long since we'd made a trip down there. While taking photos of this dress and skirt it reminded me of some of the work by Colorado modern artist Vance Kirkland. His work often looks like a scene from space or the ocean with an explosion of color and what must be thousands of dots. The Denver Art Museum has three or so of his paintings. They are huge and have so much detail, really cool to view in person. I thought it was kind of funny that the pattern for the dress was named after another modern artist, 'The Warhol Dress'. You can find it here on MADE. I'm sure you all know of Andy Warhol and Dana's dress :). We got to see a couple Warhol pieces at the museum as well. The skirt was self-drafted, just a few rectangles sewn together. So there you have it. Modern art and knits. Every time I see my daughter running around in this skirt or dress, I'll think of great modern art and the wonderful afternoon I had with my husband.

a summer top.

I have been cranking out summery clothes for my oldest...working on a warm weather wardrobe for her. I've accomplished quite a bit of simple pieces during nap time hours. I've got plenty to share, but first up is this lovely top. It's a Stitch 'N Save M6306 (one of the cheapies from Wal-Mart). It's not perfect, definitely room to grow in my garment making skills. But the lovely fabric makes up for all my short falls. The bodice is a cotton, linen blend and the bottom is Joel Dewberry (so pretty), with piping in between. Admittedly I bought this fabric for myself and was hesitant to share, but I'm glad I did. My daughter's favorite color is blue and she loves it. I have a little leftover for myself as well :). I ended up making a pair of shorts from the pattern in the blue—that linen blend is so lovely to work with. They turned out cute enough but it's hard to tell the front from the back. I added a little ribbon tag to help my five-year-old out while getting dressed, just hope I ended up putting it in the right side! Next time I make shorts or pants I'm going to reference a store bought pair that fit well just for a nicer shape and styling. Overall though, it's a great little pattern. I'm planning on making the dress variation of this top out of a vintage sheet I picked up a bit ago (the same sheet used here for the lining).

Have a beautiful weekend! Check back Monday for more show and tell of the summer wardrobe in progress.

Oliver + S Bucket Hat.

*Please do not use pictures of Miss Olivia. Thanks much!

Hello! Here in Northern Colorado we have had a wonderful welcome to spring with 60-70+ degree weather! Then we got hit with rain and snow, but we're back to blue clear skies and sunshine :). The warm weather got me thinking about my kiddos summer wardrobe. The boys are covered with great hand-me-downs, as is our new tiny girl. But Miss O, the big sister, will be in need of a new wardrobe as the season changes. Inspired once again by necessity, I've decided to do some stash busting and make the essentials for her. I don't have much practice in the clothing department, so the small scale of kids clothes makes for a good place to start. I have a couple tissue patterns and some online tutorials lined up, along with my small library of sewing books to look through. I'm hoping to make a couple things for myself as well. I think I'll be able to pull it off and save quite a bit of coin in the process, which is always a plus in my book. I decided to start with Olivia's head and made my first project from my newest sewing book, Little Things to Sew by Liesel Gibson. This book has been all over blogland. You may have seen it here or here. It is as wonderful as everyone has been saying. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. The styling and end result are beautiful. I made the size medium hat, which I think ended up just a tad small for my five year old but fits my three year old son perfectly. I'll be making him a boyish one soon. I may make Olivia another one using the large size and use this one as a gift for my cousin's three year old girl. I added the blue band on a whim and wasn't the most precise with the measurements, so the sides don't quite match up...but oh well. I used duck cloth for the exterior and vintage twill for the lining. Since the fabrics were both pretty sturdy I didn't need any interfacing to reinforce the shape, which worked out well since I don't have any on hand :).

I love the shape of this hat. The kids love the hat too, all have been known to walk around the house with it on. I'm excited to make a couple more. I think they will come together quite quick now that I've made one and know my way around the pattern and instructions. Looking forward to making other projects from this book!

Well, baby A has awoken and is paging me. Gotta go!