Author Archives: julie

Apr 4 2013

Oliver + S Family Reunion Dress

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I made Marissa a dress from the Oliver + S Family Reunion pattern. It’s a cute pattern and I love the details with the pin tucks on the front and back. I used variegated thread on the pin tucks and top stitching for a fun detail. I didn’t get any pictures of her wearing it, of course. I really appreciate the details that go into these patterns and the instructions are easy to follow. I found this Alexander Henry fabric at JoAnn’s a couple weeks ago which was a lucky find since our Joann’s is in the process of moving and currently has 3 bolts of fabric left. But the good news is we are getting a super Joann’s the middle of April.

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Mar 13 2013

Easter 2012

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I never did post the pictures of the dresses I made for Easter last year. I loved how they turned out! I’m still debating what to do for this year. I’d better decide soon: Easter is coming fast this year.

For last year’s dresses I used another Brynnberlee pattern design- the Lily dress. I tested the pattern in the larger size for Allison’s and bought the smaller size for Marissa. I cut into my beloved stash of Heather Bailey’s Nicey Jane fabrics. My favorite is the blue and yellow flowers on the back of Marissa’s dress. I wish I could get away with wearing so many ruffles and different fabrics!

Mar 13 2013

Birthday Presents

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It seems spring is the season of birthday parties. A has been invited to two so far, one of them for boy/girl twins. I like coming up with handmade gifts since if they are anything like us, they have way too many toys. I made them each tote bags with their name stenciled on them along with a fun design. I only got a picture of one of them. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out contact paper to use for the stencil and painted onto tote bags I got at Michaels. I filled the bags with arts supplies like window markers, coloring books and other fun things.

Sep 1 2012

Quick sewing

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I finished this pouch and it’s ridiculous how much I love it. I used this Noodlehead tutorial but used the large measurements from this post. So many possibilities!

I love how it opens up wide. No more digging for stuff in the dark. I added a little pocket to the inside, too.

Aug 5 2011

Some Recent Sewing

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Contrary to what it may seem on this blog, I have actually been sewing and crafting. It just seems that nothing gets photographed in a timely manner. First up, I was a pattern tester for Brynnberlee Designs. I made the Kimberly dress using the Strawberry Fields fabric I’ve been hoarding. I think it turned out well and a lady at church even thought it was something from Gap Kids 🙂 So that’s a success in my book- not looking homemade. A very cute pattern and easy since there aren’t any zippers or buttons to deal with.
I didn’t get that great of pictures since M was just getting over Roseola and wasn’t in the best of moods. As evidenced here: 
Next up was a dress to match M’s dress for family pictures. I call it the Pink Lemonade dress. I knew I couldn’t get away with just a yellow dress so I added the contrasting pink. The pattern is a modified version of Prudent Baby’s Snappy Toddler Top. I wish I had made the top bands a little wider but I think it came out pretty good. I enlarged the pattern by hand and cleaned it up a little since it wasn’t symmetrical (which drives me nuts). A usually wears a 5T so I added 1 inch to the width of the top itself and about that to the front and back bands. Now I need to figure out matching hairpieces.
Jul 22 2011

Happy Birthday M!

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I can’t believe it’s already been a year since M was born. It has gone by so incredibly fast; except for the whole no sleeping part. She is such a silly baby. I can already tell that her favorite phrase is going to be “no, I want to do it!”. She is super independent and will fling something if it isn’t what she wants: food, toys, your hand. She has the army crawl down to an art form. I think she likes that better since she has her hands free to carry stuff around. Happy birthday baby girl!

May 24 2011

Hannah Dress

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I found this cute Etsy shop, Yeppar, through a giveaway and just had to have the Hannah dress pattern. I made it up in the 12m size for baby M.
It came together fairly quickly. There were just a few minor issues with the pattern and instructions but overall I loved the way the collar turns out. I just used some random fabric from my stash since I didn’t want to cut into the good stuff on an unproven pattern. But now I will make M at least one more of these. The pattern goes up to a 5T so I can even make one for A.
Here are some of the edits and things I will do differently next time. For one, the pattern doesn’t have seam allowances. I will cut the actual pattern out with these allowances instead of waiting to add them when I cut out the fabric. Another issue was with the collar. The instructions say to finish the edge of the collar by folding under 1/2″, then another 1/2″. This should be 1/4″ then another 1/4″. A full inch and you can’t sew down the back inside of the collar to the back of the dress. I will probably finish the underarm of the dress a little differently next time, too. I didn’t like how there was a seam floating in the middle of the dress. So I followed the directions but made my seam connect to the sleeve edge seam. I’m not really sure what I’ll do next time, but I’ll have to think about it. I also constructed the little button closure a little differently. I folded in 1/2″ on either short side, then sewed right sides together down the long side, turned right side out, then top stitched. The way outlined in the directions turned out too sloppy for me. Oh yeah, I also made a 2T length on the 12m size. The original was just a little too short for my taste. It would make a very cute shirt, though.
All in all a very cute pattern and fairly easy to construct. Easy to get on and off, too. No elastic, zipper or buttons in the back to worry about.
Apr 29 2011

Happy Easter!

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So, it’s been awhile 🙂 As usual, I’ve gone more than a month without blogging. I’ve been busy- I made the girls’ Easter dresses as well as a bow tie for Ian. I also messed up the rotary hook on my machine and had to wait almost a week for the replacement part to arrive. And I officially hate making clothes for me. I scrapped the dress I was making for me. Usually with a commercial pattern, I go down at least one, maybe two sizes from what the measurements say. This time, I did that and made a muslin of the bodice, nope, didn’t fit. The next size up, still no. So I just went with the size the measurements indicated. As I expected, the waist fit but it was huge in the bust and under the arms. I just don’t get it. To top it off, the waist pieces didn’t even fit together the way they should have. I should have just saved the money and bought a dress from one of those places like Shabby Apple. Oh well.