Staying On-Trend and Age Appropriate!

The little asymmetrical tops and dresses are all the rage for little girls right now. We've seen them everywhere and my daughter's been begging for one. That and a maxi dress, but that's another post for another time. We ended up with an abundance of white tee shirts, there was this end of season sale at Target and I picked up several of them for a dollar each, knowing I'd be embellishing them because there's no way the princess is wearing a plain, boring, white tee!! :) So I grabbed one and an old tee of mine that had become a little dingy, some lace that has been sitting in mu stash for three years, some pink dye and set out to make a fabulous, trendy but age-appropriate, asymmetrical sundress!!!

Hey, did you notice the dress isn't pink? My plan was to dye the dress and lace pink. That plan was tweaked a little by my girl who decided she wanted it to be tie-dyed purple. Lately, she is really into the tie-dye, I'm not sure if she likes the style as much as the actual process. I was going to remove the lace, because I just don't see tie-dye and lace together, but she disagreed and its her dress. I didn't tell her about the fabric flower I was planning to put on the waist, because I felt that a tie-dyed, lace-trimmed, off-the-shoulder dress with a fabric flower was just a bit too much. :)

This was a super easy and fun project so I put together a quick tutorial in case you wanted to make one too!
You'll need two tee shirts, I used on that fits my daughter, and an old one of mine (it was a large and not a fitted tee.)
I used lace trim, that's optional on your part.
1/4" elastic, one inch shorter than the measurement that will follow the neckline (under one arm, across the chest and around the neck.) Goodness, does that even make sense??
1/4" elastic for the shoulder strap (ours was 6" long)

Lay out the child's tee making sure it is flat and the side seams line up. Then cut from the neckline on one side, across the shirt to just under the arm on the other side see the shaky, photoshopped line on the picture below. ;)

Cut off the sleeve, just at the seam and cut off the bottom of the shirt about 2 inches below the waistline. (In the picture, I'd only cut the shirt at just above the hem and it ended up being too long, I had to go back and shorten it after I'd attached the skirt. Lesson learned; do not try and "eyeball" length when your daughter is at preschool!!!) At the exposed arm, fold the fabric under just about 1/4" with a narrow, zig-zag stitch. This finishes the arm and keeps the fabric from stretching out.

To make the skirt, measure from just below your child's waist, where we cut off the top, to the desired length, add an inch for seams. Take the second tee and measure from the bottom going up and cut it. You're measuring from the bottom because then you don't have to hem the dress, its already done. :) Gather the top of the skirt to match the bottom of the bodice.

Now you'll sew the skirt to the bodice. I chose to do it backwards. Normally the seam is on the inside, but I wanted it exposed, to add a little ruffle to the waist. To do this, turn the bodice inside-out and place it inside the skirt so the wrong sides are together and the bottom of the bodice lines up with the top of the skirt and sew in your seam. Be sure to lineup your side seams! My picture for this turned out blurry, I'm sorry!!! (I need to quit taking pictures without my reading glasses!!!) I do have a picture after I sewed the two together. I did a double seam, because I wasn't putting in a top stitch and I wanted to make sure it was secure. The seams are right over my gathering stitch seams, so I eliminated that step of removing them!! :)

Fold the edges of the neckline over towards the outside of the dress about 1/2 an inch. This will form the channel for the elastic to fit through.  Pin into place.

Onto the ruffles! Cut strips of fabric from the leftover adult tee ( I cut them 3" wide) and stretch them out gently and ruffle them up using your favourite method. Then pin it to the neckline, using the pins already in the neckline. Be sure you are pinning where the folded over edge meets the tee, not at the fold. Otherwise you won't have a channel for your elastic!! I also pinned in the lace at this point, you can do several tee shirt ruffles or just one. Totally up to you. Once everything is pinned into place, I sewed them down with a narrow zig-zag stitch leaving an opening to insert the elastic. Insert the elastic and close off the stitch.

So here's the point when we had an issue. The strap. Technically, the dress doesn't need a strap, the elastic in the neckline holds up the bodice nicely. My daughter did NOT want a strap. But. . .I felt it was just too mature a look for a 5-year old. She strongly disagreed. I decided to move forward with the dress and come back to the strap. I like giving her choices and a certain amount of control and I wanted to make sure I wasn't fighting a battle that wasn't really necessary. So we set the idea of a strap aside and moved on to the dying. We dyed some additional fabric for the strap.

She loves, loves, loves to tie dye.

So after much thought and a talk with her dad (who was not at all excited about the idea of an off-the-shoulder top, let alone one without a strap!!!) I decided it was indeed a necessary battle. I appreciate that she wants to be on-trend and I'm fine with that, but the strap adds an innocence to the look, and I am all for preserving innocence. I cut two pieces of fabric, 1 1/2" wide by 10" long. With the wrong sides together I sewed a seam about 1/4" from each edge, I wanted the edges exposed, just like the waist. I inserted the elastic and sewed it secure at each end.

Then I attached the strap and the dress was done! I'm pleased with the way it turned out and my daughter is delighted with it. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of the strap at first, but once it was on, she decided that it looked more like more ruffles rather than a strap and she was fine with it. :)

I love the way the lace and the thread on the hem didn't pick up the dye.

I like the exposed edges of the seams on the waist, the little ruffle it adds is fun and I think it works well with the tie-dye.

I hope you enjoy making your own dress! There are tons of options to personalize it, and it comes together quickly. If it wasn't for the dye, this would have been an afternoon project!

Linking up with:
http://www.sewcountrychick.com/
http://threadingmyway.blogspot.com/
http://saynotsweetanne.com
http://www.etcetorize.blogspot.com/
http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/
http://www.sewcando.com/
http://www.notjustahousewife.net/
http://thecreativeitchboutique.blogspot.com/
http://www.rookno17.com
http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com
http://madeinaday.com
http://www.houseofhepworths.com/
http://www.yesterdayontuesday.typepad.com/

The Wishing Flower Dress

I was so inspired by a post at The Next Bird, she had spilled some bleach on a pair of leggings and decided to "fix" it with a bleach pen. She drew a lily and then a gorgeous, intricate design on a shirt, with the bleach pen. I loved this idea and was instantly inspired by it. I wanted to make my daughter a little summer, day dress and I wanted "wishing flowers" on it. I pictured soft, lightweight knit fabric, a circle, braided neckline and an A-line dress with sweet, little wishing flowers blowing in the breeze.

Wishing flowers are my daughter's name for a dandelion when its in the white, puffy stage. Because, of course you're supposed to make a wish and blow on the flower. This girl loves, loves, loves wishing flowers. She will ask me to stop the car if we're driving along and we see one. And if they are in bloom at the park, she will bypass the swings (the swings!!!) to go make wishes (to the everlasting delight of the landscapers, I am sure.) I wanted to give her wishing flowers all year long so here's what I did!

I started with a large women's tee. A very basic v-neck, one of those $8 ones from Target. For some reason (even though I am not remotely a tee-shirt person) I felt compelled to buy one in every colour just after I had my daughter. They've been worn maybe once or twice, I still don't understand it. But, I have gobs of tees to refashion into fun, little, knit dresses for my girl so its turned out to be a good thing. :) I don't have a before picture, but I'm pretty sure you can imagine a v-neck tee in your head. :) It is a lovely periwinkle colour and I thought it would be a super backdrop colour for my wishing flowers.

This was done pretty randomly, no patterns or anything. I used on of her tank tops to measure out the armhole, which of course, ended up being too big because I did the neckline different and I had to go back and make it smaller once the whole dress was done. :) Ah, the joys of winging it. :)

So I measured across the front of her chest to determine how wide I wanted the front bodice to be and then I added a couple inches because I wanted to gather up the bodice to the braided neckline. I cut out front and back  pieces, using the measurement I took for the top of the bodice/dress. I also extended the sides out softly for an A-line finish. I left the bottom hem intact, planning to use it as the bottom of my dress.

I sewed the sides together and then folded the armholes under just a teeny bit and finished it off with a narrow zig zag stitch. The dress part was done, now on to the neckline!

Then I cut three, long, long strips of fabric from the leftovers. I stretched and pulled on them and braided them together, pulling a bit as I went. (Do you like the piece of my hair caught in the braided knit? I thought that was classy, didn't see it until I uploaded the picture!!) 

I measured the length of the braided trim around her shoulders, where I wanted the dress to lay and made sure it would fit over her head. Once I had the length, I put a couple of hand stitches in each end of the braid and  then hand sewed the two ends together. I kind of tucked the loose edges in so (hopefully) it looked like the ends were braided together. Now I had a big, circle braid.

I wanted the connected part of the trim to be in the back of the dress. I found the front, middle of the trim circle and pinned it to the front middle of the dress, folding the edge of the bodice in just a 1/4 of an inch. I took my original chest measurement which was about 6 inches and divided it in half. I measured on the braided trim, 3 inches from the pin (on each side) and pinned the end of my bodice at that point. Hopefully this makes sense to you!!

Then I hand sewed the top of the bodice to the inside of the braid. I did it by hand because I didn't want the stitches going through the braid and then being visible on the outside of the dress. I kind of gathered it up manually as I went, and since it was only a few inches on either side it was a quick deal. :)  I folded the edge of the bodice slightly under. This picture shows the inside of the front of the dress.

Now we have a fun, frolicky dress perfect for a hot, sunny day! But we aren't done yet. . .

Get out that bleach pen!!!! I put a piece of cardboard inside the dress to protect the back, I didn't want the design bleeding on the back! I drew out my design in white crayon so I had something to follow. I took a picture, but all you could see was blue fabric. :)

Then, using the narrow end of the pen, I followed my design. It isn't an exact science and lets face it, I'm not an artist. :)

I let it sit until the bleach dried. It took longer in the middle where the was a lot of bleach. When it was dried I threw it in the wash, easy peasy!!

My daughter loves it, I love it! It was a fun project that went just as I'd hoped!! I'd like some better pictures of the dress. When I made the arm holes smaller to fit my daughter, I found it didn't fit as nicely on the dress form. That form is a 2/3T and its bigger than my petite, little 5 year old!!

I would have liked the bleach drawing to be a little more precise, perhaps more refined. However my drawing skills are pretty basic, and the bleach just kind of comes out of the pen. But I think it looks fun and whimsical, which is what I was going for. 

Linking up with:
http://etcetorize.blogspot.com/
http://www.mommybydaycrafterbynight.com
http://www.sugaranddots.com
http://threadingmyway.blogspot.com/
http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com
http://tearosehome.blogspot.com
http://www.sew-much-ado.com/
http://saynotsweetanne.com
http://www.bearrabbitbear.com
http://www.504main.com/
http://www.livelaughlovecraft.com/
http://acoupleofcraftaddicts.blogspot.com
http://www.sewcountrychick.com/
http://thecreativeitchboutique.blogspot.com/
http://www.yesterdayontuesday.typepad.com/
http://www.houseofhepworths.com

Two More Dresses for Dress A Girl Around the World!

I'm just delighted to say I was able to sneak in two more dresses for this month's project from Kristy at Hopeful Threads. The original goal was 100 dress for Dress A Girl Around the World, but halfway through the month we surpassed that goal, so now we're shooting for 200!

I love the colours in this little tee shirt dress, and I the fabric is one of my favourite prints. I've made a couple outfits for my daughter from it and I was happy to use the last of it for this project. :) I'm finding that the basic tees I get from Target seem to pull a little when I attach the skirt. Its odd because I love these tees for how well they fit and wash. I redid the seam a couple times and kept cutting the shirt shorter and shorter and finally decided it looked okay. I'm hoping it will be well loved by a little sweet heart.

I decided to do a basic pillowcase dress for a couple reasons; it seems to be the "go to" dress for the organization we're sewing for and I had the cutest, unused pillowcase. The pillowcase came with a bedding set I bought solely for the print. I cut up the topsheet and used it to make fabric-covered cornices over my windows in our master bedroom. I was left with the pillowcase and fitted sheet, but I loved the colours and print so much I decided to hold on to it. I thought the pillowcase would be super for this project. I kept it very simple and used some brown cotton to break up the pattern a bit so it wouldn't be overwhelming. I resisted the urge to add ribbon or ric rac, even though I have both in that same pale aqua. I know there are girls out there who aren't into the pink and fouf and perhaps there's a girl out there who would love a dress that is a little more simple and less fussy. I used the leftover fabric from the pillowcase to make the binding for the trim as well.

I've been so touched by this project and excited to be part of it. A big thank you to Kristy for organizing this!!

No Moldy Berries!!

Don't you hate when you take the time to sniff and inspect berries at the store, making sure they are fresh and mold-free. You take them home and a day or two later get them only to find that creepy, white mold growing!! Gak!!

I received an email a couple months ago from my mom <3 about preventing mold on berries by rinsing them in a vinegar wash. I decided to give it a try and can I tell you it works?!?!? I've tried it several times on strawberries and blueberries and its wonderful. Not only does it prevent the mold from growing, on whole berries. But I can cut the leaves of the strawberries and package them in snack-sized containers so independent, little hands can get their own snack from the fridge without worrying about them getting moldy and icky. :)

So here's how it works:

Prepare a solution of 1 part apple cider vinegar and 10 parts water

Add the berries and stir them around (but gently, so they don't bruise!!) 

Let them air dry

Store them in the fridge for easy, healthy snacks!

I love little tips like this! What's your favourite kitchen tip?

Dress A Girl Around the World!!

I spoke in a previous post about Kristy at Hopeful Threads. She has a wonderful project this month; to make 100 dresses for Dress A Girl Around the World. This is an organization with a vision that every girl should have one lovely dress for their own. With all the dresses I make for my own little girl, you can imagine how this project touched my heart.

I've said before that every month I see Kristy's project (she has a new project every month, so do check out her blog!) And every month I say to myself "I should get involved." This month I am and I'm so excited to share my dresses with you today! I've been working on them every, little chance I get. I was so excited and eager to finish that I kept making silly mistakes and I might have worn out my stitch ripper, picking out seams and re-sewing them. :) I wanted to make these dresses with all the care I would make one for my own sweetheart and so I took a breath, slowed down and sewed them correctly. I'm so pleased with how they turned out.

This first one is one of my favourite patterns, a little peasant dress. I love the colours in this Micheal Miller fabric and the sweet, little tone-on-tone flowers on the bodice.

The next one is a little tee-shirt dress. I love making tee-shirt dresses, they are comfy and cool and easy to make. Normally I don't do a top stitch on tee where it meets the skirt, but I did on this one just to give it a little more strength on the seam. Consequently the seam doesn't lay flat, but I feel like it doesn't look bad and I'm confident that the seam will hold. I love the bright turqoise tee and the Micheal Miller "Bubble Blast" fabric is a favourite. 

My daughter especially loved this dress. She originally wanted it for herself. I told her I was making dresses for little girls who didn't have any pretty dresses. She said "Oh my goodness, then I can't keep this dress!" She asked if I could make more and if we could take them so she could give the little girls a hug. Sweet, little thing. Then, in true 5 year old fashion, she asked if I could get more of the bubble fabric and make her a dress like this one. :) 

I'm finishing up another one, which makes me really happy because I commited to making two dresses and I wanted to be able to give more than I promised. I'd like to sneak in one more before the end of the month, we'll see how that works out. One of my favourite bloggers, Pam at Threading My Way is cranking dresses out left and right! She is a sewing machine (no pun intended, hee, hee) and you should hop over and check out the sweet, little dresses she's made for the cause! 

Its not too late for you to join in the fun! Kristy posted a few days ago that we've surpassed the 100 dress goal, and now we're going for 200! Every dress counts, can you help us reach 200??

Moms, Bloggers and Doing It All

I was so moved by this post on http://powerofmoms.com written by April Perry. Its a must read for moms, especially creative moms. :) I found this post when one of my favourite bloggers, Holly from 504 Main posted it on Facebook. I'm so glad she did because it spoke to me right where I am. I'm linking the article here because I imagine it will speak to you as well.

Several months ago, when I started my blog, my thought process was that it would be a fun thing for me to do. A creative outlet, a place to share what I've made and share how other blogs and people have creatively inspired me. It was with hope that I would in turn, inspire others as well. I went into it feeling no pressure,  I had no specific goals and was excited by the whole thing. :) I'm still excited by it all, but the pressure thing? Eeek. I see so many fabulous blogs and want to be like them, every now and then that little bugger on the side of my blog that tells me how many people are following me catches my eye and I start to stress about the number, and how ridiculous is that? I have to admit that I get a really big kick out of positive comments on my posts, it seriously makes me giddy. The times I've been featured on other blogs have tickled me pink, PINK!!! :) and I will also admit that when I'm writing up a post, a part of me is secretly hoping it gets a response similar to my Puffle skirt. I'm not sure what that says about me, but there it is.

Which brings me to Holly's facebook post yesterday and April's article. April wrote about the pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect. I read many of the comments of women who were touched, as I was, by her thoughts. And a couple people actually took issue with it, feeling like she was putting down the creative "Pinterest Mom" who does the pretty and creative with little stress. I didn't see this in her writing, I saw a woman who wants to be the best mom for her kids and felt like she was falling short. And who remembered what being the best mom to your kids is really about.

So while I empathized with where she was coming from; who of us at one time or another, hasn't browsed through Pinterest, or read blogs that show gorgeous diy decor, beautiful food and stunning handmade clothing and felt a little inferior? I have to say that her article spoke to me in regard to my blog. My house isn't perfect, but that's okay because I'm working on it and I truly enjoy that process, I enjoy tooling around in the kitchen so creative snacks are kind of part of our routine. :) But my blog. . .well it isn't fabulous like other blogs I see, like blogs that are pinned all the time. And that's where April's words spoke to me. Because I really want it to be, and I every now and then (and very recently) I feel bummed that I can't be both great mom and great blogger. Some woman are blessed with the energy and giftedness to be wonderful mothers and fabulous bloggers. I'm not one of them, I really wish I was, but I'm not. I'm realizing that's okay. Because my bonus son enjoys the family time we spend together and asks what fun thing we're doing today, he does not ask how many new followers I have. When my daughter wears a dress I made for her, she doesn't tell people I put it on my blog and was featured because of it. They might remember the fun we had building haunted castles out of toilet paper rolls and using green peppers and paint to make throw pillows for St Patrick's day, but I'm sure they'll never smile in remembrance of how many comments those projects received on my blog.

The day will come, far too soon I am sure, when they will be grown and I will have all the time in the world to work on my sewing projects and make my blog what I'd like it to be. I will continue to admire those fabulous blogs and the women behind them, and I am sure I will still feel a little envy here and there. But I'm not going to let myself feel bad that I don't have their gifts. I'm going to enjoy my family, be the best mom I can be and tool around with my blog when I get the chance. My daughter is sleeping in this morning, by the way, which is why I'm able to post this now. :)

I hope you read April's article and that it touches you too. I hope that you'll hang around with me and read my sporadic posts, I'll be reading yours (at night after everyone's tucked in, lol.) Most importantly I hope that I can learn to admire without envy and without feeling inferior and know that what I am, is enough.

Apple Pie Tarts

I've never posted a recipe before, I think because I don't consider myself an amazing cook. I love to cook, but a food blogger I'm not. Then I realized that I don't consider myself an amazing sew-er and yet I blog about sewing. So with that, I post my first recipe!

Here's a little something I pieced together from several favourite recipes, to make an apple pie, pastry, tart thingie. This would be super at a brunch, or pastry, or snack but it can also pass as a dessert. Unless you're baking for my husband, then just make an apple pie.

Here's what you'll need:
2 apples peeled, cored and quartered (I used one granny smith and one gala. I like to use a blend of apples in my pies just for more flavour, rather than only granny smith.)
One sheet of puff pastry (I always keep puff pastry in my freezer. I am in love with the stuff.)
1 tablespoon (ish) of butter
About a tablespoon of sugar and a dash or two of cinnamon
1 egg and water (for egg wash)
Apricot or Peach preserves or jam

Slice the apples super, duper thin. Really thin. (I keep my two types of apples separate so that I can put them evenly on the tarts.) Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the apples and mix them up a little so the apples are covered and set aside.

Lay the pastry sheet out flat (it takes about 45 minutes to defrost one at room temp) and press the seams so they seal. Gently roll the sheet kind of toward each seam to help seam them, you don't really want to change the square shape, you just want to press the seams together.

Cut the sheet into 4 squares. I use a pizza cutter to cut the sheet so there's no pulling. I also like to crimp the edges with my fingers just to give it a finished look. :) Brush the sheets with butter and cover each one with a layer of apple slices. Be sure to get equal amounts of each apple on each tart. You could probably arrange the slices all nicely and in some sort of pattern that would make people oooh and ahhh and what not. I just kind of toss them on and moosh them flat. :) Brush the tops (apples, edges and all) with the egg wash.

Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. And for the love of pete, clean your oven before you take pictures of it and put it on your blog!!!!

Microwave a tablespoon or two of the preserves for about a minute. Then brush over the apples. Sprinkle with some course sugar, if you feel like it.

Bake until the crust is a beautiful golden brown.

I ended up cutting these in half and served with a scoop of ice cream.

You can also cut them in smaller squares, for individual servings. I chose squares just because there's no waste leftover, like there would be if you cut them in circles. :) Easy Peasy.

 

Sew Along with Hopeful Threads

Have you stumbled on Hopeful Threads yet? This is a fabulous blog dedicated to sewing together to help others. Every month Kristy has a new monthly sewing project that anyone can participate in. I've wanted to participate for a while now but . . .well you know how it goes.

I'm behind on several projects and I've lost my sewing mojo. Not a fun place to be, but I've just been inspired by this this month's sewing project. Kristy is trying to sew 100 dresses for Dress A Girl Around the World. I was touched by her post and visited the site. I was even more moved, thinking of how many beautiful dresses my little girl has and all those sweet, little darlings out there that don't have any at all.

So I did it! I posted a note to Kristy and let her know I am in! Sewing mojo or none, I'm making at least two dresses!! Kristy is making one dress a week to donate, I'd like to say I can do that but I'm not sure I can. I'd hate to commit to something and not be able to follow through. But I know I can do two this month, so I've committed to that. I'm very excited about this, and about sewing for something more important than my own inspiration.

Please visit Hopeful Threads and the Dress A Girl site and consider joining in!