Winner!

Thanks to all who entered for the Ruffled Boot Pattern!  The winner is Joan!  I will be contacting you Joan 🙂  Happy Thursday!

Wee Vintage Wednesday 10/19/11

Hello party people!  It’s wednesday and time for my wee little people and their vintage clothes.  This week I chose to feature my Elsie Bellsie (aka Eleanor). 🙂

I found her fabulous vintage and hand made dress long before she was born.  As soon as I found out I was having a girl I started looking for sweet vintage dresses.  This one is one of the first that I found.

I LOVE that it is very non traditional baby colors.  I am pretty much swooning over the jewel tones the fact that it is plaid.

It is hand smocked too!  I love the peter pan collar and the lace around the sleeves.  It also has 3/4 sleeves which is unusual for baby clothes and it is so sweet.

Her accessories are a happy accident in that they all matched perfectly!  Her headband is one I made from double fold elastic (LOVE that stuff for headbands) and wool felt in mustard.

Her boots (yes she has like a hundred pairs now) are made from vintage velvet fabric found at my favorite vintage craft thrift shop.

This would be when the photo shoot started to go south.  I had  to get the bib though!  I made this the other day from a vintage pattern I have.  It is already almost too small for her.  Bummer.  It is a darling bib pattern!  It ties around her back with ribbons and it is darling.  I love the lace touch.  Floral fabric is from Joann Fabrics.

That my friends, is all she wrote.

Outfit details;

dress – vintage and hand made

tights – Baby Gap

diaper cover – Old Navy

shoes – made by me using my Ruffled Boot Pattern

bib – made by me using vintage McCall’s 7715 pattern

headband – made by me

Will link up to Little Vintage Style, Small Style and Mod Baby once they are up.

GIVEAWAY! Ruffled Boots Pattern

Hi all 🙂  I am back this morning all refreshed and stuff and ready for that giveaway!  The prize is the pattern to my ruffled baby boots!  One lucky reader will receive the pattern and tutorial right in the inbox!  The pattern is a full color photo tutorial with easy to follow steps, perfect for any sewing level. To enter;

1.leave a comment.  Any old comment will do!

2.blog about the giveaway

3.tweet about the giveaway.  Make sure to include @sew_she_sews so I know you tweeted 🙂

4. subscribe to my blog (link on top right of blog)

5. follow me on twitter

Make sure you do a separate comment for each of those things and either link up to a blog or email so I can reach you if you win!  Giveaway begins Monday Oct. 17th and will end Wednesday October 19th.

Good luck!

If you can’t wait and need to get your hot little hands on the pattern now, you can find it here.

Happy Monday!

Ruffled Baby Boot Pattern Available!

And in the shop!  Thank you to all the testers who got back to me with your helpful suggestions and darling photos!  It was so incredibly helpful!  I am excited to offer the pattern and as always, if you have any questions please shoot me an email.

P.S. Remember that the boots look just as fabulous without the ruffle and are perfect for the little men in your life too!

Burberry inspired boots with cozy fleece

Houndstooth and wool felt in grey and mustard

Have a great night! 🙂

p.p.s. I am now on Twitter.  Come hang out and chat!

p.p.p.s.  GIVEAWAY for the pattern coming in the next couple days!

Strawberries and Cream Bubble Tea

I went to the Asian Market the other day and they had some Tapioca pearls and bubble tea straws.  I had wanted to try bubble tea and so I bought them and brought them home.  My kids were intrigued/excited to try this new drink.  I have spent the last fews days browsing online to find some good recipes.  I woke up to this request this morning 🙂

I decided to make it smoothie style and based it loosely on Emma and Elsie’s recipe.  I basically threw some frozen strawberries in my blender (about 3/4 full) with 4 cups water and 3/4 cup sugar.  I blended it all together.  I put a few spoonfuls of the prepared boba (I bought 5 minute cook kind and followed the directions on the bag) soaked in honey into a glass and then poured the smoothie on top.  I added the half and half last to make it strawberry and cream flavored.

The verdict?  It’s really tasty!  I was a little scared of the pearls, I don’t like tapioca pudding at all, but they were yummy and fun to chew.  My kids liked it!  I think I will only do 1/2 cup sugar next time, it is a tad too sweet for my tastes.

I am excited to try it with tea next!  If anyone has any yummy recipes to share I would love to have them 🙂

Happy Weekend!

A bib for my drooly Miss

New sewing project, originally uploaded by joomoolynn.

My tiny babes is getting to be not so tiny anymore. She is starting to drool….a lot. All my babies do this around this age (she will be 3 months at the end of the month). They drool but no teeth appear for a few more months.

She is now soaking her shirts. I am busting out this darling vintage pattern, McCalls 7715, to make that darling ruffly bib pictured. I love it because it is
a. cute
b. ruffly
c. full coverage

I found the floral fabric at Joann. I have been finding lots of cute fabrics there lately and they are good quality too! WTG Joann! 🙂

I think I will use batting in this and back it in flannel so it stays put.

Happy Friday!

p.s. photo taken using Instagram.  I love me some Instagram 🙂  come find me @joomoolynn

Wee Vintage Wednesday 10/12/2011

Is October really almost half over???  Oh.my.word.  Time flies.  I guess I should hurry and finish the kids costumes, I am going to blink and Halloween will be here!

I have been sick as a dog on a log for the last few days.  I came down with strept throat.  My sweet Violet girl got it right after me.  No one else (fingers crossed) seems to have caught it.  It is a nasty disease!  I could barely move or eat.  My husband has been a champ doing everything that needed to be done 🙂  Way to go awesome husband!  So, that is the reason for my absence.  I have not lifted a finger to make anything.  I am starting to feel a bit better so that is gonna change soon.

Today is wednesday and you know what that means!  Vintage clothes with the wee ones 🙂  I sadly took no pictures this week since I have been sicker than sick but these I had on my hard drive from a few weeks ago.  Nice save, I know! 😉

This week features my little Rowan.  He is mischievous and then some.  You can tell just by looking at him.  See that apple?  You may think, oh good, he is getting in his fruits and veggies.  Don’t let the fact that he is holding an entire apple fool you!  He will only touch them in the whole and uncut state.  Cut that apple, it becomes the worst thing ever and he will not touch it with a ten foot pole.  So, whole apple.  Takes a few bites.  Decides that he is done with it.  Wants a new apple.  You try to give him the barely eaten apple.  It is now not new and he will have nothing to do with it.  Cut it?  Forget that, remember?  So, yeah……good times.

Back to the clothes……he is sporting some pants that I made from some vintage pirate fabric that I have been hoarding for years and years.  I got it from a friend who inherited it from a cute old lady who had been saving it in her stash for years and could no longer sew due to her poor eyesight.  It is pretty adorable/awesome.  It has nothing on the selvage, which is common with vintage fabrics.  The liner fabric is from a vintage sheet I found.  It has little blue anchors all over it.  Perfect match I would say 🙂 I am letting go of a FQ of it in my shop.  I am hoarding the rest thankyouverymuch.

The blonde pirate there is my favorite.  There are so many fun things on this fabric.  Canons, ships, guns, treasure chests and pirates.  Any boy’s dream!

We made a shirt change after a large water spill and headed outside for a change of scene.  I have noticed that when we go outside to take pictures that he (a) stays on the driveway and (b) will not look at me.  Haha!

Outfit details:

Shirt(s)-Target

Pants-made by me using my reversible pants tutorial.

Socks-Baby Gap

Shoes-See Kai Run

In other news, reviews from my pattern testers are starting to roll in!  I am dying over the cute boots that I am seeing and all the great tips to make the pattern better!  I wanted to share some that Amber (One Shabby Chick) made for her nephew.  I am so glad that they look equally as cute for boys by omitting the ruffle!  Adorable, thanks Amber!

I think my love for that Heather Ross clothesline fabric from Far Far Away III has reached an all time high.  So adorable.

Well, I think that covers it.  Have a wonderful wednesday!  I will link up to Little Vintage Style and Small Style once they are up.

The world has lost

one of the best.  Not just because of his innovation and creativity, which was unmatched, but because of the man he was and how he inspired others to reach for the stars and always dream.  To not be fearful but to go forward and strive to achieve greatness.  RIP Mr. Jobs, you will be missed.

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. – Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Wee Vintage Wednesday 10/5/2011

Good morning everyone 🙂  Time for one of my favorite times of the week, posting my kids wearing vintage stuff and seeing everyone else in their garb 😉  This week features my sweet Violet girl.  I very rarely find anything in the vintage dept. in her size that is not totally fugly (that’s freaking ugly, people).  It’s usually a pretty rare treat to find something cute, so when I saw this tunic/dress I snatched it right up.

She was so excited when she saw it and wants to wear it all the time.  Success! 🙂

We paired it with a pair of black leggings, knee high boots (not pictured) and a handmade headband from some fun houndstooth fabric.

So cute!  I love black, red and white together, don’t you?  Linking to Little Vintage Style and Small Style.

Outfit details:

Dress/tunic- vintage and thrifted

Leggings – Walmart

Boots -thrifted

Headband – handmade

p.s. the response yesterday to the pattern tester post was so overwhelming! 🙂 Thank you for all the encouragement and kind words.  I have asked the first 5 people to test for me, but don’t worry, I plan on holding a giveaway of the pattern on the blog once it is all final and finished.  Stay tuned!  I plan on emailing everyone who emailed me, it may take me a few days.  Have a wonderful wednesday!

A Few Pattern Testers Needed!

I have gotten loads of requests for the pattern to the baby boots I made for Eleanor.  I have learned a lot of things trying to make this pattern.  Mainly, that pattern writing is hard!  Really hard.  I have also learned that these booties are really best for small babies.  I had dreams of making the pattern all the way up to 18-24 months, but the way they are designed is best for little wee ones.  So, I have a pattern for 0-3 and 3-6 months done.  I think that is all I am going to attempt.

I need some pattern testers!  I have tested them on Eleanor, but she is just one baby and before I list a pattern for sale I want to ensure that I have made it easy to understand and that the shoes are totally wearable and comfy for lots of different babies 🙂

I still need to work out a few kinks and make a final draft, this week should be plenty of time.  If you are interested in receiving the pattern for free in return of your mad sewing skills (you can be a beginner sewer too!  I want to make sure it is easy enough to follow for a beginner) and feedback, please contact me at sewshesews [at] gmail dot {com}.  I will be taking the first 5 people that contact me.  I really want testers that have a baby or know someone with a baby that can try them out for me.  I also need people who are able to sew the shoes within 2 weeks of receiving the pattern.  Thanks! 🙂

Have a great night!