Bookworm Birthday!

Eleanor just turned 7!  To celebrate we had a little Bookworm Party at the park with some friends and family.  I didn't do a ton for it, but wanted to share a little of what I did do.  If you want to see my inspirations for this party, you can see them on my Pinterst board.

I made invitations to look like library cards.

My frosting job was beyond terrible, because I did it at the park and the cupcakes were sticky, but the fondant books and bookworm we made were really cute.

I used the 3D letter printable from Mr. Printables and glued book pages to the back before cutting out.  It took some reengineering since I made the letters inside out, but it wasn't too hard to figure out.  The worst part was being in the depths of despair from cutting up an "Anne of the Island" book I got from a thrift store.

Since the book was already cut into, I figured I might as well use it to make my wrapping paper and bow.  I love how where the pages meet it looks kind of like ribbon was wrapped there.

Eleanor just devours books (thus the bookworm theme) so we asked that if the guests wanted to bring gifts that they bring books.  She finished reading one of the chapter books in less than a day and a half and it would have been sooner, but we forced her to play at the park.

The Cottage Mama: Party Dress

This last weekend we went to the park right after church and I realized that I didn't blog about the girls' Easter dresses, so I took a few pictures before having them change into play clothes.

I used The Party Dress pattern.  It is a free pattern by The Cottage Mama.  I love the look of this dress.  It is a very easy sew, though it is a bit of a fabric hog.

I love this picture of Eleanor.  I just wish I knew how to edit the hair out of her face.

4th of July Outfits!

See, I don't always use Ottobre Design.  For Fourth of July of weekend, I made my girls and niece some fun matching outfits useing the Sweetheart Halter by Peek-a-boo Patterns.

This is such an easy pattern.  All the pieces are rectangles.  I lengthened my girls' to be dresses and left the baby's as a tunic for ease of crawling.

I even tried making stars in the girls' hair.  Eleanor's is made from braids and Laurel's has twists.  I found the idea on Pinterest.

The tunic needed a diaper cover so I used #7 Tiny Toes Bikini Bottoms from issue 3/2016 of Ottobre Design.  I love the little bows so much.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July!

Ottobre Design: #22 4/2015 Blackbird and Cherries Tunic

The next round of filling Eleanor's summer wardrobe involved sewing this darling tunic from the 4/2015 issue of Ottobre Design.

I love how it turned out, especially with that darling Paris fabric.  The shorts are from the shorts sewing spree a few weeks ago from pattern #21 Perfect Shorts from issue 3/2016 of Ottobre Design.  The shorts really are pretty perfect.  They have lots of pockets, elastic waist and a little bit of elastic in the back hems to give it a nice shape.

The tunic was fairly easy expect the hem band, which was a beast to do those curves.

Ottobre Design: #27 B 3/16 Retro Swimsuit

Eleanor has grown out of most of her summer clothes so I have been busy trying to fix that.  A few weeks ago I made her five pairs of shorts that I should share if I ever get around to photographing them.  

Yesterday, she had a water party at school so that meant she needed a swimsuit.  I started the weekend before, but had sizing issues so ended up making the final product all on Tuesday. 

I used Ottobre Design design 27 B from issue 3/16.  It has a cute little skirt and criss cross straps and the other version has ruffles along the top.

It was a fairly easy sew and will probably sew another one, especially since I have one all cut out and started that turned out to be way too big for her.  Eleanor is so hard to size since she is 118cm tall but her waist size puts her in the 92cm size.

Sew What Club: Butterfly Dress

I hope it doesn't feel like all I sew anymore is from Sew What Club.  It just happens to be what I either need to take pictures of (for testing) or what I want to blog about.  I used their free pattern (for signing up for the newsletter) Butterfly Dress for the girls' Picture Day dresses.  I love the bows!

It was a really fast sew.  I was able to get both sewn in one day.  The fabric for Laurel's is Castles and Carriages and feels amazing and so soft.

  The girls love them and they turned out so cute. 

I've decided that this dress works best with a large print.  Without the belt, Eleanor's looks like a hospital gown.  It is still cute though.

Eleanor decided to get a little goofy at the end.

Sewing in No Man's Land: Taking Notes Skirt

This first blog that I ever started following was Sewing in No Man's Land.  Her oldest daughter is just about the same age as Eleanor so finding her tutorials for the cutest outfits in the size I needed was perfect, plus her photography is just amazing.  When I saw that she was looking for pattern testers for her Taking Notes Skirt, I jumped at the opportunity.

 I tested both the girls' and women's.  The pattern is lovely and so quick and easy.  Eleanor's has a curved waistband, ties and is simply gathered.  Mine has the straight waistband and box pleats.  

The Taking Notes Skirt is available to everyone who signs up for her amazing new project, Sew What Club, which is a monthly subscription to amazing patterns at a great price.

Also, my blouse was made from Ottobre 5/2013 #8 Girly Touch with the sleeves from #12 Peplum Blouse.  I really like it and the fit is lovely.  The placket was a horror to figure out.

Sewing Rabbit: Knot Dress/Julie's Dress Mash Up

This month, Project Run and Play's challenge is to make something with Sewing Rabbit's Knot Dress.  I used it to make the girls' Easter dresses with some sweet rosebud fabrics.

Both girls were made a size 4 bodice and then for the skirt I used both skirt lengths and had a layered look like Sewing Rabbit's Julie's Dress pattern.  Laurel's is the size 4 lengths and Eleanor's is size 5.

Eleanor's dress is white lined in the pink fabric and Laurel's is pink lined in the white.

They loved the dresses so much, they insisted on wearing them and their crowns to buy milk after photos.  Such silly girls!

The crowns were made using this darling tutorial.

My Treasured Heirlooms: Springtime Jubilee Pattern Testing

I've been finding/making more time for sewing lately and one of things I did was to test the under dress for the Springtime Jubilee pattern by My Treasured Heirlooms.  This is the same designer as the dress I made here.

The pattern includes an under dress and a smocked apron, both are really darling.  I used a fun puppy and kitty fabric that I was given.  Since I got it, I thought it would be fun to use it on a more traditional style dress.

 The under dress has a peter pan collar, puff sleeves, and button closure on the back.  On Eleanor's, I added lace to the bottom for extra length (and to cheat on the hem, I do not like hemming).  Eleanor loves twirling in it.

Silly face!

Ottobre Design: #24 1/2015 Jeanie Skirt

Eleanor recently wore out her last pair of jeans (plus they might have been a tad short) and since she is allowed to wear jeans on Fridays at school, I decided I should probably make her a new pair.  I made myself a pair a little while back and had some leftover fabric.  Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough for pants, but it was enough for a skirt.

I used #24 from the latest kids edition of Ottobre Design, 1/2015.  It was a rather fast sew and turned out so cute.  It has an elastic waist, faux fly, pockets with flaps that snap closed, and topstitching. 

 The only changes I made was to lengthen it a bit and use a fun pansy print for under the pocket flaps.

Serendipity Blouse and Capris & Giveaway

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of pattern testing for The Mother Huddle.  Destri has a great new set of patterns out called  The Serendipity Collection.  I really suggest looking around her website, sewlosophy.com.  She did an amazing job and her videos make me want to be best friends with her.

I tested the blouse and capris.  These were some of the best patterns to test.  The pattern was very easy to follow and the attention to detail was spot on.  They really easy to customize to your tastes; it can be done in all the same fabric or two like I did on the blouse.  I also added piping to the bottom of the yoke on the shirt.

The capris have darling little cuffs and there is a front yoke.  My husband said they remind him of Aladdin pants, which I didn't see till he said something.

Destri is super awesome and is letting us testers do giveaways for the whole collection; blouse, trousers, coat and hat!  Just enter via the rafflecopter below.

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