Glass Onion Adventure

I bought a pattern by Shwin Designs over a year ago.  Then life happened.  So when Project: Run & Play posted up this month's challenge: Adventure, I  was excited to finally sew my first Glass Onion.  Because the split back is perfect for warm weather, and nothing says "adventure" like summer.

Not the most adventurous fabric, but I let Cupcake pick it, and that's always more important.  It's actually a vintage sheet from the thrift store!  But I love the top so much I think I'll whip up another one real quick, since she's already in the largest size. Little sister Snowflake will be gets lots of these in the future though - I made this in less than a day and the curve wasn't nearly as scary as I thought.

We went to the library for pictures, because reading is incredibly adventurous, but she had other plans.  It started with a cowboy hat and got out of hand really quickly.

This summer will be full of adventure.  Flying across the country, playing with cousins, eating popsicles, smelling like campfire, reading in the hammock, swimming at the pool, digging in dirt, and blowing out birthday candles.  With this kid around, everything is an adventure.

They Match!

One day last week Cupcake declared it was going to be "Love Day."  She talked about it all day, and got all her stuffed animals lined up and ready for the celebration.  There were going to be games and songs and food.  In reality it was just another Friday, but I did make some pink cupcakes because nothing says Love Day like pink cupcakes.  And new pink dresses.

Even though I had a million other things to do, when I came across this soft pink floral cotton fabric in my stash I was inspired, and found myself cutting out a simple peasant dress.  I didn't fight it because: 

1. Peasant dresses are fast and easy.  I've made several before. 
2. She isn't quite 5 and already well into a size 8.  Everything is getting small.
3. We're flying for summer vacation so we need dresses that pack flat.
4. There's a floral link-up party on Project: Run & Play this month! 

But why make one when I can make TWO??  I had just enough fabric to make a tiny peasant dress for Snowflake (the skirt is pieced, and a bit shorter than I would like).  Their first matching outfits!   

I up-sized the free 0-3 month pattern I found on Sew Much Ado to something closer to 3-6 month.  And I tried the scalloped edging trick I found there.  Subtle, but super cute.  And now I want to buy all the rick-rack and do this on everything!  Sometimes it's the little things that really make a project special.

 For a spur of the moment weekend sewing project, I'm quite happy and so are my girls.  I see lots of coordinating outfits in the future, more rick-rack (I had no idea I could use it like that!), and plenty of pink cupcakes.  Happy Love Day!

Paisley Pleats

Project: Run & Play has a summer sewing challenge right now, and I just happened to be sewing up some summer clothes for Cupcake!  After growing out of all of her dresses, she was in desperate need of more - for church or play.  I had already made a pleated Fairy Shirt from this free Shwin & Shwin pattern, but it was just too cute and easy to not make another.

I have sewn a few Shwin & Shwin patterns now, and have loved them all - the Pepper Pinafore and Michelle Jacket.  I've purchased a few others but haven't tried them yet.  The patterns are easy to follow, the finished projects fit well and are seriously the cutest.  Great for beginners like me!

The paisley fabric was given to me. I love it, but the greenish hue is just not my color, so I was happy to find a place to use it!  And the purple was won in a giveaway on Thread Riding Hood a while back.  I would love using stuff in my stash - I try not to be a hoarder, but my stash never seems to get smaller!

In the end, happy girl, happy Mommy.  I love to sew for her.  I hope to instill in her a love for creating.  She talks about making clothes for me, when she gets a sewing machine from Papa.  I don't think Papa knows this, but basic sewing lessons will be in her future - perhaps after she turns four.

Our conversation just now...
Me: Cupcake, do you want to sew like mommy?
C: Yes.
Me: What would you make?
C: Pumpkin pie.

Plaid Jacket

When I got the email that Shwin & Shwin was having a sale on their jacket patterns I had to get a couple.  I've been wanting to make Cupcake a jacket for a while and I'm not going to pass up on a sale.  The Michelle Jacket is the first pattern I've used with more than two pieces - I was excited for a new challenge.  Clear directions made it easy to follow and put together so it was a great first pattern to use.

I was given the adorable plaid canvas, and was saving it just for a project like this.  The pale pink lining is a sheet I picked up at the thrift store.  The piping and buttons were also given to me, so it was less than $10 for this adorable jacket!

I like everything about this jacket.  The hood for staying warm.  The pockets for keeping treasures.  The piping for a bit of color.  The shape is so girly for my little princess.  She looked so stylish wearing it to church today.

There were a lot of firsts with this project but the biggest thing was the buttons.  I had never sewn a button hole before!  I did do a few practice ones before starting on the jacket, but I probably should have done a few more.  Patience isn't my strong suit.  Of the five, the first three aren't great, but my last two were as good as I'd expect to get.  I'm glad I had this project to push me to try something new!

This whole project made me smile: starting with cute fabric,  facing new challenges, having lots of success, and ending with a warm, happy little girl. 

Tinkerbell

To set the scene: Just after I entered the sewing world I made a trip to the fabric store.  I stuck to the clearance section and had no idea what I was doing.  I bought fabrics that I will never use because I didn't know what I liked yet.  But I found some sheer, sparkly, light green material and immediately thought, "Someday I will make a Tinkerbell costume with this."

Cut to now; Aaron's Uncle Darren is turning 50 on Saturday, and is holding a masquerade to celebrate.  Any excuse to make costumes, right?  With Halloween being so cold (there is usually snow on the ground) I was very excited at the prospect of finally making the Tinkerbell costume for Cupcake when it will be warm enough for her to wear it!

I started with this tank top, given to me from a friend quite some time ago.  I shorted the straps considerably, and added elastic to the back to gather it in.  And of course, I added the green sparkles.  A bit at the top for modesty, and bunches at the bottom for attitude.

I was still stuck on the idea of pick-ups, like the Cupcake Princess dress.  It gave it a party feel (it is for a masquerade), and the rounded bottom reminded me of leaves. 

But it still needed a little something to make it just right.  Thank goodness for Project Run & Play!  The addition of embroidery was exactly what this dress needed.  I know I wouldn't have thought of that without the suggestion from Frances Suzanne.  

I don't know if this will even count, since it is more of a refashion instead of sewing from scratch (and there is no way I'm beating the Tinkerbell from June), but I did create and I did add hand-sewing.  Let me know if I'm breaking the rules!

I had never done any hand-sewing before, so this was totally new for me.  It is far from perfect, but it was fun to do.  It's all basic back-stitching, with a few attempts at French knots that didn't work.  Nothing fancy, but it did the job I needed done.

To complete the outfit, a pair of light-up wings from a friend and some hand-painted shoes with yarn pom-poms tied on.  Cupcake had so much fun painting the shoes.  When we were finished she grabbed two other pairs of shoes and declared that we paint them purple.  

Did you know that Tinkerbell has a stuffed sheep?

A little magic to wrap things up - because sometimes I do get lucky with the camera.  In a true Peter Pan moment, Cupcake was playing with her shadow!

Cupcake has a Little Lamb

My favorite thing to sew is clothes for Cupcake, but looking in her closet she really doesn't need any clothes right now.  Except maybe pants.  I'm willing to buy leggings for her because they are cheap and fit her chubby legs well, but they aren't the best option for the cold weather coming soon.  Some sturdy, simple, plum-colored canvas pants coming up!

I followed my favorite basic pants tutorial on MADE and whipped up these pants in no time.  I'm excited to have made something so useful - these will go with a lot of her wardrobe!  So plain is good and practical, but it is also a little boring.  

This month for Project Run & Play the challenge wasn't a specific pattern but adding some hand-sewing to whatever we wanted to make.  Plain purple pants were the perfect canvas.  But what to add?  Cupcake and I discussed mermaids, princesses, dinosaurs and stars.  Then we came up with the jackpot: Sheepie.  If you know anything about my daughter, it is that she loves her little stuffed lamb.  Sheepie goes everywhere with us - church each Sunday, the zoo, grocery shopping.  Sheepie was even in the pictures with Santa.  Why not immortalize him on some pants?  

They were going to be hippie pants with a little bit of everything on them - I sketched stars on one hip, dinosaurs on the opposite thigh.  Of course we thought of the sheep after that so Sheepie was added to the back of one leg.  I started sewing Sheepie before the other designs, because that's what Cupcake was most excited about,  And then I realized just how long hand-sewing takes.  My hands got tired and my elbow was sore, the deadline was looming and Sheepie really was the best thing going for these pants so I stopped after that.  

 One slight problem: the sheep was on the back of the leg.  It would have worked with other things sewn onto the front, but by itself it was just sad.  So I cut the leg off and turned it around and sewed it back on.  Now there is a random seam across the leg, but I don't mind it, and Cupcake is too enamored with the sewn sheep to care.  I love how the simple embroidery transformed these plain pants into favorite ones.  There will definitely be more hand-sewing in my future!

Cupcake Princess Dress

 I'll admit that I made a rookie parenting mistake: 

I asked my daughter what she wanted to do for her birthday.

Every day she says we need to go to her party,

which won't be happening until the end of next month.

But at least we've got her party dress ready.

I made my princess a princess dress for this month's Project Run & Play.

Although the pattern was for an Elsa inspired dress, I didn't have the right fabric.

(I really try and avoid going fabric shopping - I tell myself I have enough.)

And I had cupcakes.

A cupcake princess dress for Cupcake's third birthday.

A peasant top with elastic for ease of access, plus extra elastic around the waist for fit.

I got some direction from the DIY Mommy.

But when I heard princess dress, I thought of this,

 the real star of the show: the hemline. 

Find tips on bustling your own dress at girl. Inspired.

Two layers of twirly goodness.  

The pink was originally too long, but I cut it off and turned it into the ruffle.

I love it when mistakes turn into blessings.

After her party she can put this in the dress-up box -

it'll be a good alternative to the Rapunzel dress she wears constantly.

Besides, this dress twirls better.

And everyone knows the first thing a princess needs is a twirly dress.

And if you are following our alphabet challenge, H is for Hemline.