Veda's Blessing Dress - And Some Tips

As promised...I'm actually posting!! HOORAY!!

In our church, we bless our babies within a few months after they were born. It makes their membership on our church records official, and we're able to hear a wonderful blessing with it. It's similar to a Christening.

Veda was blessed in church the first week of September, and I was able to make her a little dress. I didn't make a tutorial for it, but I have listed some helpful tips when making a dress with no pattern, to let you know how I go about it, almost everytime I make something.

It was pretty simple, though it was my first major project in awhile, so I was a little intimidated. It felt good to spend a day at the sewing machine, and reap the reward of my labors!

 I went for a vintage feel with this dress. I was thrilled when someone at church asked me if the dress was handed down from a great grandmother or something. I said no, but that that was sure the look I was going for!

P.S. Our Camera is on the fritz...so sorry we have to take less-than-amazing pictures for a little bit (not that they were awesome before, but now they're "phone-quality")

The edge of the mesh fabric over top on the bottom is scalloped

Now for some TIPS!

1. When figuring out what you want to make ALWAYS draw it out exactly how you want it. Make notes as to where you want it to hit in the waist, length, and sleeves. Put all the little details on it.

2. Whenever doing laundary, shopping, etc. notice the way clothing is made. Study the lines, techniques, how they finish hems, where gathers are made, and how they are attached. This helps me to figure out how I'm going to accomplish a particular design.

3. Use clothing you already have as patterns. Always, ALWAYS use like fabric. If you are making something with a knit, use a knit as your pattern. That wasy you know the pattern you are using was made to stretch. If you are using a woven fabric in your project, use a woven as your pattern. That way, you know that the pattern wasn't made to stretch.

4. Always remember when tracing clothing to remember to add room for the hem.

5. Always reinforce hems. If you don't have a serger, use a zig zag stitch. Sometimes I like to use a faux-serge reinforcement, which I achieve by sewing another straight line next to the original (on th inside, toward the edge), then I do a really tall and close together zig zag stitch. Then I cut off any fabric that extends beyond the zig zag, so the zig zag is right at the edge. At first sight, it sort of looks like you used a serger!

6. When sewing with lace or mesh, without anything behind it, use toilet paper underneath as an interfacing, of sorts. You can then rip it off, and soak it in water, and the rest will dissolve out.

7. Arms and sleeves can always be tricky, so measure, and measure again! Look at lots of sleeves of different clothes you have and memorize how they are attached and shaped.

8. If you flop the first couple of times...KEEP TRYING!! You will only learn more and more the more you do, and you will then become that much more familiar with how clothing should be sewn. I can't even tell you how many pieces that I was excited about ended up in the trash. But - I'm always extra careful about those mistakes now!

Shawnte's Baby Gift #3

And finally, here is the last of the gifts that I made for Shawnte's new baby girl...like 3 months ago now. Man, what is wrong with me???

This is was what took up most of my time with the gift. It was a dress I decided to make for baby Demi. I remember not having very many dresses that would fit Sienna when she was first born, so I wanted to make a dress she could wear to church in her early months.

I didn't use a pattern for this, but used Sienna's baby blessing dress as a guide for size and shape.

It took awhile, and I definitely ran into some bumps, but in the end it turned out alright, and Shawnte' loved it, so that's what matters, right?

*On a funny little side note, when Shawnte' pulled this gift out, and found out that I made it, she exclaimed, "I seriously thought you bought this from a store!" Though no presents were being passed around, she insited on passing it around, and when it got to someone that was there that I've known for awhile, this person was overheard to say, "Umm, you can totally tell it's homemade." Duh! That's because it IS! That's the point! I just laugh about it. Goofball.

Shawnte's Baby Gift #2

The next portion of my gift to Shawnte' was a set of bows I made for her little girl. Special thanks to my friend Alyssa for guiding me through the first one! There was a set of mini clippies, and 3 big bows for a headband, hat, or ponytail.

Shawnte's Baby Gift #1

My sister-in-law Shawnte' recently had a baby shower for her baby girl, Demi. She had the shower on a Saturday, then gave birth that Tuesday morning! I was able to make some gifts for her shower...so here's the first installment...

Hats...enough said.

Smocked Dress for Emily

I made this little dress for my friend Lyndee's little girl Emily for her first birthday. For instructions on how to smock your own fabric (an easy way to do it, I should say, not THE only way), refer to my first post on Sienna's smocked dress (not the 4th of July one).

Halloween Costumes 2010

Sorry I'm such a slacker. This month is definitely a busy one for us, and there have been a few new circumstances thrown into the mix. Not bad, just busier. I had intended on writing up tutorials for Halloween costumes before Halloween, not to mention a few Halloween decor items I had worked on. They'll have to wait until next year.

But for now, I will show you the costumes I made for our kids.

The first, Sienna's, I was really on top of and finished really early. It was actually really easy, which is why I wanted to post a tutorial on it. I'll write one up, and post it in time for costume planning next year! Sienna went as Belle, from Beauty and the Beast. I had wanted to have the kids go as Beauty and the Beast, but I knew Breck would NOT be excited about a Beast costume, and is definitely old enough to care if he got to be what he wanted to be.

Which Brings me to Breck's. I decided to let him be Thomas the Train. That's his absolute favorite character, so I knew it wouldn't be hard to get him to wear his costume (remembering last year's experience). It was fun to do, and he loved it!

Flashback: Halloween Costumes 2009

I am having major issues trying to get myself together enough to figure out what my kids will be for Halloween. I decided I wouldn't worry myself with coming up with costumes, and just ask my kids this year what they wanted to be, but from Breck only got the response of "Macca" (his name for my dad), and Sienna has only told me she wants to wear pants. My ability to get costumes together for them usually banks on the fact that I've thought about it all year long; what they'll be, how to execute the plan, and how cheap to get materials.

Well, as I'm now left to think (and quickly) about what my kids will be for halloween, I will post their costumes from last year, in case you missed them, and in case it sparks a last minute idea for you!


(excerpt taken from Halloween 2009 post)

Breck went this year as the Mad Hatter. It was a fun costume to put together. Here's what I did:


What I used:

Foam hat from JoAnn's, Michael's has them too

White Feather Boa

1 yard Crazy fabric
Boy's White Shirt
Boy's Vest
Boy's Pants
Boy's Wing-tip shoes
One of my old button-down shirts
3x5 card

For the hat, I made a band to go around it, using the fabric. I hemmed the edges, then pleated it, and hot-glued it to the hat. I took the feather boa and hot-glued it to the end of the hat leaving a little space in the front open. On the back of a 3x5 card, I wrote 10/6 which is what the Mad Hatter has on his hat. It's an old-fashioned price tag.

I made the bow tie by cutting two 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 rectangles and sewing them together, wrong sides out, but leaving a little space so that I could turn it right side out. Stitch up the hole once this is done. I ironed it flat, then sewed a little band around it to gather it in the middle. I then sewed a longer band, and attached it to the bow tie. Then you put velcro on the tips of the band.

The Jacket was an old shirt of mine, that I took in the sides, and cut up the length in front to look like a "tailed" jacket. It was of course, complete with tails in the back. I trimmed the edge of the collar, to give it a more jacket look than a shirt, and ironed it down, to give the jacket collar effect as well. I put a faux pucket and kerchiff on the front too.

The rest of it was just his normal dress clothes, though I put the shirt collar up, and ironed the tips down to look more like a mid-1800's collar.

Sienna's costume was fun.

Here's what I used:

1/2 yard white fabric
Blue Dollar Store onesy
Blue Tulle
Elastic

White Stockings

Black Mary Janes
Black ribbon

The Apron was the main thing that I made for this. I didn't use a pattern, I just looked at the picture of Alice from the Disney movie. I couldn't find an apron for a little girl like that, so I just took measurements of Sienna and where I wanted everything to hit, and it was actually pretty easy!

The skirt was a tutu, so check out my tutu post from last Christmas to see how to make those. I'm pretty sure most people know how to make those by now though, so you probably don't even need to get instructions.
Then I put black ribbon in her hair, put on her stockings, onesy and shoes, and she was ready to go!

Whadaya Know...More Hats.

Here's my latest updates on hats for the Farmer's Market. I branched out a little this year and am making other things for it too, which I will post about shortly.

And just in case you wanted to see what it looks like on the cutest, picture-hating little girl ever...

This hat is actually a fushia color...though in the picture it looks red. The color combo was inspired by my friend Sandi's little girl's bedding.

Japanese Cherry Blossoms

Allsion's Burp Cloths

I made these for my friend Allison, who I did the Twinkle, Twinkle shower for. I also made her a hat, but it was a design I have already featured on here, so I decided not to be redundant and post the hat.

These were really simple. It's amazing what you can create with just a little bit of fabric and the applique' stich.

Sienna's Bow Holder

I made this for Sienna's birthday -- she really needed a place to put all her bows, instead of just letting them wander around one of her drawers. It was made to match the color scheme in her room. I got the idea from my friend Alyssa, the same one who made the amazingly cute invites in my previous post. She makes these for the farmers market, which is what made me want one, and later, want to make one.

What's nice about this, is that it didn't cost me anything. And since Sienna dies over anything that displays "pretty" things, this worked out for everyone.

I just used scrap wood we had lying around, paint I already had, fabric, paper, and embellishments I already had, so just to reiterate -- this costed me nothing.

At the end of each strip, you put a side of velcro on the tip, and the other side about 4-5 inches up the strip, so you can loop it up to hold headbands, as pictured.

I used fabric for the strips but it is easier and quicker to use thick, grossgrain ribbon. I didn't have any on hand that I liked with this particular design, so I just sewed up some strips and stapled them onto the back with a staple gun.

Colson's Blanket

This Blanket was made for my sister-in-law, Shasta's new little boy, Colson. I'm pretty new at quilting (if you could consider this real quilting), so please don't mind the mistakes. I loved the color combo of this though, which was totally accidental.

Bow Head Band

I love the look of big bows on adult heads! Maybe because it reminds me of getting all dressed up for church when I was little in the late '80s-early '90s time period. You just weren't finished getting ready unless you had a huge bow! I wanted to make one on a head band for myself, so here's the instructions, (though it's pretty straight-forward).

(Sorry for the lack of pictures, I completely forgot to take pictures in the process, but hopefully the instructions will be clear enough)
What you need:

Fabric (in color of choice, and amount depending on how big you want you bow)
Sewing Machine and thread

Headband

Hot glue

Step 1: Cut out two rectangles that are just a little bit bigger than you want the bow to be (for seam allowance)

Repeat this step if you want a smaller bow on top as pictured, using appropriate measurements.

Step 2: Place the 2 sides together, wrong sides out. Sew around the edge, leaving a hole so you can turn it inside out.

Again, repeat this step with the smaller bow, if using.

Step 3: Turn inside out, and stitch over hole. I would make the hole in the center, so that the band covers up where you are sewing over the outside.

Repeat for smaller bow.

Step 4: Cut out a strip of fabric that is about1 1/2 to 2 inches in width, by 3-4 inches in length.

Step 5: Fold in half length-wise, wrong sides out. Sew up the length of the tube

Step 6: Turn tube inside out

Step 7: Iron all your peices so they lay flat. Remember to use a low heat if you are using synthetic fabric.

Step 8: If you want to use tulle, as I did on the top, Cut out a peice that is the size of the smaller bow, or if you didn't use the smaller bow, cut it out a tiny bit smaller than your main bow.

Step 9: Place the Big rectangle flat, then place the smaller rectangle flat on top of it, then the tulle on top of that. Sew a straight, large seemed line down the center of the rectangles. Gather the bow by gently pulling on the ends, and pushing the edges of the fabric toward eachother in the center.

Step 10: Wrap the tube peice around the center of your gathered bow as tight or as loose as you prefer. Cut of the excess, if any, and hand sticht together.

Step 11: Put a dab of hot glue on the very front and center of the bow, behind the tube, and secure the tube in place.

Step 12: Slide onto your prefered headband, and you're done!

  

Blanket for Liliana

This is a blanket I made for our new(ish) little niece Liliana. I made it awhile ago, I didn't get it to them until March, and here it is May before I'm actually posting about it. Yikes, I'm on the ball, huh?

Anyway, here it is...I loved the colors on this one.

You Can't Ride in My Little Red Wagon

I know in your head now you're singing the rest of that line...Well, once again, I'm sorry for being such a slacker...I really did mean to be more regular with posting, as I still intend to do, I think I just have a lot that I'm working on that were on-going projects, so nothing was getting done. Hopefully now I can really get on the ball and get some stuff posted.

One of the things I have been working on was this shower for my friend, Paige, and her upcoming baby boy.

The theme was "Little Red Wagon", and it was lots of fun (not to mention cheap!) to plan, and I got to plan it with my good friend Alyssa (alyssabittybowtique.blogspot.com)! We stuck to the color scheme of the wagon (red, white, black), adding in natural effects such as burlap, twine, and tin cans.We wanted to feel really little boyish, reminiscent of a little boy playing outside all day.

The food was centered around little boys too, we had apples with dip, PB&J squares, a veggi platter, and themed cake. We also had some food for our own tastes as well, including the famous shower "cucumber bread" and cinnamon bears!

For the activity, instead of games, we had everyone decorate a page for an alphabet book for Paige's little boy. It was fun, and it's a cute extra little gift for Paige!

For the decorations, I'll just post the pictures and explain:

The tablescape

Side View...by the way...those are root beers, I thought it would be cute to have old soda bottles, but it kind of ended up looking like we were having a keg in the pictures. 

Tin cans hanging with daisies

Some of the table

The cake...a joint effort :)

Beautiful Paige...also, there are some pictures I took of Breck's red wagon for decor...cheap and easy, and it totally added to the themed decor!

The Alphabet book table area. Alyssa and I thought this would have looked cuter with some pom poms hanging above it, but wouldn't you know it, all the red tissue paper in Moscow was sold out...unless you want to pay 7 dollars for a small pack at Michaels. 

close up

The favor table

The favors: little red wagons with dirt mounds in them!