Lovely tree climbing dress

 About a year ago, I found a dress pattern that I fell in love with.  I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for and what fabrics in my stash I wanted to use.

We have had our daughters pictures done by a professional for birth, 6 months, 1 year, 2 year and plan to keep doing it through high school.  When Eleanor turned one, we knew we didn't want to go some store that also has a photo studio (we did it once and wasn't happy with what we got for the price).  So I happen to see an acquaintance or friend of a friend was an amazing photographer.  She was also having a sale, yay!

So we decided to hire her and we keep hiring her and we plan to for a long, long time.

So this is the dress I made with that pattern.  Fawn of Lamore Photography is our go to photographer.  and she took these lovely pictures of Eleanor shortly after she turned two.

I went through the CD she gave us again, hoping she got one that showed more of the dress, but didn't see any so you will be stuck with one taken by my husband and I.

It is hard to see, but the ruffles and sash were made with the most adorable vintage fabric.  It has ladybugs, butterflies, and roses all over it!

Such a silly little girl!

Project Run and Play Signature Style

Today, I uploaded pictures to flickr for the Project Run and Play sew along for the signature style week.  The jacket I made I've been working on in my head for a while.  I think it turned out really cute.  I started with the pattern for the molly jacket by Violette Field Threads.  

I lengthened the sleeves and made them a little more fitted, added a sash and some ruffles for a little bustle.  I also did the collar backwards from what they say to do to show off the lining, because I wanted to break up the denim more. (I was afraid the denim may look too biker chick for me.)  On the front I added some cute pockets based on the tutorial on ikat.  (Someday I need to make the quilt she put all those pockets on.) 

The shirt was a challenge.  It started out as a boy's dress shirt (another shirt from my uncle). I wasn't sure what I wanted it to look like so I spent way too much time scouring the internet for inspiration and direction in refashioning button up shirts.  I finally just gave up and started cutting.  I knew I didn't want the collar or the sleeves the way they were, so I started by seam ripping the sleeves.  I tried the shirt on Eleanor to see where would be a good place to cut the neckline and just cut how I thought it would look nice.  

Next I cut the sleeves to make cap sleeves and later when I was talking with my husband I decided they needed pleats.  The points were an accident that I love.  The pocket also got seam ripped and gave me the idea to put a bow on the collar.  After everything was cut or seam ripped that I wanted, I added the pleats to the sleeves, hemmed all the edges, sewed on the sleeves, pocket and bow and it was done. 

 I love how it turned out.

I made a bubble skirt a while back that I wanted Eleanor to wear for the pictures.  It was the perfect color and a fun texture and since it was too big with an adjustable waist, it gathers in the back like a bustle (super cute), but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Another fun fact about this outfit is that everything was reincarnated from a previous life.  The jacket and pants used to be pants that my husband ripped.

Boy shirt to girl's

Today, I finished another remake shirt for my daughter. 

I started out with a green striped shirt and appliqued some bright pink stars on (covering some stains).

Then I sewed some elastic to the sleeves to make them more of a puff sleeve.

I think it turned out pretty cute.

   

Taking the Boy out of the Clothes

I have two girls.  Two extremely adorable girls.  I tend to be more girly girly when dressing them when given the chance.  Unfortunately, on our income I depend a lot on hand me downs to dress them, otherwise I have to make it.  So my uncle, who means well, kindly gives us hand me downs, but the sad part is his child is a boy.  A super hero, dinosaur wearing boy.  I'm new to the whole up-cycle movement.  I love the idea, but I have the worst time figuring out what to do on my own.  I rely on other people's tutorials for ideas and direction.  But no matter how hard or long I search Google, I can't find help in turning little boy clothes into something more feminine.  So I'm going to go it alone and try to document it here.  I don't promise anything will be amazing but it is a start.

Today, I took my first steps.  I didn't keep everything he gave me, just what I thought had any chance at maybe being passable as something a girl could wear.  Most of the shirts I kept are striped, but in very boy colors like orange.

The first shirt I tackled was browns, blue and white stripes.  A while ago I made a fabric flower based on the pattern from twirlybirdpatterns.  I didn't have any plans for it so I sewed it on like a corsage.  I should have taken before pictures, oh well.

 I'm not sure I like the fit, but I don't want to do much to change the size for now, so that she can wear it longer.

For the second shirt, I was inspired by the blog post from shwinandshwin.  I had a silk flower that I didn't know what to do with till this morning.  So I tore it apart and sewed it on with a button.  I think I like that one better.

Those are the only ones I've done so far and I still have a huge trash bag full of stuff to remedy.  If you have any tips or ideas, I would love to hear about them.

Have a lovely day!
Tonia

Skinny Jeans Now Toddler Jeans

I've been trying to make all the clothes for my daughter that she needs now that the hand me downs have run out.  So when my sister gave me a pair of skinny jeans that she didn't like I knew they would be perfect for Eleanor.  It was so easy.  I only have to cut of the bottom of the legs, add a place for her bottom to go, and a waistband.  The pant legs were the exact size I needed for her legs.  Why adults wear this style of jeans is beyond me.  They sound awfully tight and uncomfortable, but they worked out great as pants for a toddler.  The waist is a little chunky, but that is probably because I used the waistband from the original pants.  But they work.  I'll probably make her a tunic so the tops are covered up more.

Etsy Holiday Boot Camp

I'm trying to be brave and am participating in Etsy's boot camp.  So far I've had to reach out to another seller to try to find a buddy to work with through this process.  I hope I find one soon.  I'm also supposed to share my personal holiday goals.  I would love to find the best way for me to photograph my baby mats the best.  So far my pictures fall flat.

Summer Days Like When I Was Young

This week my family and my mother in law were supposed to go on vacation.  Plans changed when my mother in law fell and broke her arm on our first day at the campground.  It was really disappointing since we don't get to travel much, other than visiting family.  So this is our one big trip for the year.  Instead of camping, hiking, and site seeing we are spending our days at my grandparents' house like I did when I was little.  It is nice for the girls to spend more time with them.  Grandma is always busy cooking something super yummy.  We even went down to the river for big franks (vegetarian hot dogs) and s'mores.  Only my sister and I went swimming although Eleanor did try out the water but it was too cold for her.  Today, Michael is visiting his mom.  My biggest regret is that she won't get to spend much time with the girls now.  Most of the time we stay with my family since they have room for us and my mom doesn't work so they also take Eleanor for extended periods of time.  I really wish we could devote more time to Virginia but she is so busy and lives in an apartment.  It makes me feel bad, like we are neglecting her and choosing my family over her, which isn't the case.  Hopefully we can find a way she can see the girls more.  But on the bright side we did get to try out the Blue Palm's frozen yogurt in College Place and it was super tasty.