Taking it to the limit! Matchy Matchy….

Last night after the kids were in bed I decided to make a little something for my Miss Violet.  I had already made a dress for Eleanor out of this pillowcase and had a bit left over and decided to make a shirt out of it for her.

I measured from her shoulder to where I wanted the shirt to hit and added a couple inches for the seam allowance in the neckline.  I cut armholes using this pattern and made seam bias from some other vintage polka dot fabric I had.

Then I ironed down the neckline 1/4″ and then another 1″ to make room to thread a ribbon through it.  I sewed it down.

Then I added pockets by making a template in a wide U shape I cut the pocket and liner in this shape.  Then ironed a pleat in the center and tacked it down.  I covered some large buttons with the vintage sheet fabric and attached those at the center of the pockets.  I then attached the pockets to the shirt.

Then I added the ribbon to the neckline.  Using a large safety pin, I fed the ribbon all the way through the front and back of the neckline.  Then I cinched it up to where it would best fit her.  I cut off the ribbon ends and used a lighter to heat seal the ends so they don’t fray.  Then I folded the ends over a few times and sewed them down so they *hopefully won’t unthread.

So, now they have a matching outfit 🙂  It’s kinda cute, I kinda want to make more matchy matchy stuff…….

Violet’s outfit details

Shirt – handmade using vintage sheet and vintage fabric.

Leggings – The Children’s Place

Jacket and Boots – thrifted

Necklace – vintage costume jewelry inherited from her Great Grandma Rouvoe 🙂

Hairbow – handmade using wool felt

*Eleanor’s dress is one I made using the Altered Onesie Dress Tutorial.

Lovingly Made

Is what came to my mind when I came upon these treasures while thrifting this last week.  I am always on the lookout for vintage clothing for my little man and little lady and especially keep my eye out for handmade items.  I just swoon when I come across a hand smocked dress, or hand sewn suit………….

A few months ago I had come across some handmade  crocheted booties with tiny little flowers on the toes.  I love them and Eleanor wears them almost daily, but they have almost fallen apart.  They are just so delicate.  Imagine my joy when I came across these beauties!  They had never even been worn!  There was a little piece of yarn tying them together so they didn’t get separated.  It almost makes me sad, no one ever got to wear them.  I imagine a cute Grandma lovingly making these for her new grand baby 🙂  They are just a tad big on Ellie, which is perfect, they will fit this winter for sure!

The stitch is such an airy and delicate one, I will have to make sure to be very careful with them.

During the same thrift store outing I found Ellie this darling vintage pinafore.  She was not too cooperative for photos, so I didn’t get any of the back, but it really is the best part!  It has a simple tie in the back leaving most of it open with a ruffle lining the entire thing.  Very girly and breezy.  I was really happy to find something vintage that fits her right now.  She has a few dresses, but no shirts and most of the things I find are for older babies.

My older children started school today and it is also my 10 year wedding anniversary!  There is lots of excitement in the air!  Have a happy Wednesday.

Linking up to Little Vintage Style and also Small Style.

Once There Was a Foolish Girl…..

Who stayed up until midnight sewing when she had a 5 week old baby.  That person is me and boy am I paying for it today.  I think a little of this might be in order

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I have times when working on a project that I have to keep going until it is done and I can think of little to nothing else, other times, it takes me months or *ahem* years to complete a project.

I saw this dress on Pinterest and remembered seeing it posted on Rachel’s blog back in the day.  I bought these fabrics at my local thrift craft shop and had been saving them for something when the baby came along.  This dress, my friends, was it.  It was like, calling to me. 🙂  I paired the vintage rose fabric (fitting since my little Jelly Bean’s middle name is Rose) with some Urban Chiks (the stripes and bird fabrics).

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I followed the basic pattern for the dress pieces but switched things up a bit by adding an apron, making a large pleat with a bow in the front and changing the shape of the straps and adding snaps instead of buttons.

Now, I want to make her some shoes to go with it 🙂  Maybe these

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Is anyone working on something fun this fine Sunday?  I need a nap……but not before that coffee!  Have a wonderful day 🙂

New Project

New Project, originally uploaded by joomoolynn.

Working on something tonight and letting my dirty dishes sit in the sink……..when inspiration calls housework must be pushed aside, right? 😉
I can’t wait to finish it up!

Altered Onesie Baby Dress Tutorial

Here is the tutorial for the onesie dress. 🙂

Gather supplies.

• Onesie
• scissors
• fabric for skirt
• various fabric, ribbon, buttons for adornment
• thread
• sewing machine or need and thread
• ruler
• pins

1-1.  Measure onesie’s width across.

1-2. Cut onesie off where you would like skirt to be (add around 1/2 inch for seam allowance).  *A reader brought up a very good point.  If the onesie still fits your little one length wise, you can forgo cutting the onesie and attach the skirt with the bottom still intact.  This will leave you with a built in diaper cover! 🙂

2.  Using the measurement of the onesie taken earlier, cut your skirt fabric that width x 4.  Determine length desired and add 1/2″-1″ on each end for seam allowances.  If using vintage sheets, you can measure, make a little snip in the fabric and rip it to size 🙂

3.  Hem the bottom of the skirt piece first.  Then sew the sides together.  I used a felled french seam since I didn’t have a serger and didn’t want to zig zag.  Any of the 3 are suitable.  This will make a tube.

4-5.  Gather the top of the skirt.  This can be done with a special gathering or ruffler presser foot, or you can baste (large stitches) and gather.  If gathering, you will want to make the skirt half the size on front and back to fit the onesie.

6.  Turn your skirt inside out.  Tuck the onesie inside the skirt so that the raw edges match together right sides together.  Pin at the side seams and then in the middle in front and back.  Arrange gathers equally in the quarters of the onesie and pin into place.

7.  Sew onesie to skirt.  Make sure your seam allowance goes below that gathering stitches so they don’t show.  Flip right side out.

8.  Determine how you want to accessorize the dress and attach with pins and sew.  For this dress I cut striped knit jersey into strips and gathered them into ruffles.

9.  You are done!  Dress that little sweetheart up and hit the town 🙂

Tutorial for personal use only.  Have a wonderful wednesday! 🙂

It’s been this kind of day…..

So, after blogging yesterday about doing nothing crafty for the last month, I developed a crafting itch that had to be scratched.  I have a bunch of onesies from my last baby that are still useful, but stained.  I really wanted to repurpose them into something pretty for my little Ellie Belle 🙂

I had seen many pretty decorated onesies on the internet and decided that even though I have about a million other duties to attend to, that I needed to do that today.  Sigh.  Ever have a really crappy sewing experience?  One where everything you try goes wrong and you screw up every little thing?  That was me trying to make this dress.

I just kind of made it up as I went along and made a ton of really annoying mistakes that were mostly fixable.  It took all afternoon instead of an hour or so like I had anticipated.  I was grumpy.  But in the end I think it turned out pretty adorable, so I forgive myself 🙂

I think now that I know how to do it, I will try again in the near future.  Maybe I will do a tutorial……

So, without further ado, The Dress That Almost Wasn’t.

This was all done with vintage sheets.  The skirt is from a vintage sheet, the ruffle is from a vintage sheet.  The mustard colored fabric in the tuxedo center is that flat seam bias stuff and is also vintage.  The lace trim is also vintage.  The buttons are from Walmart.  The ribbon is Offray grosgrain.

Little missy was not too thrilled about trying it on.  This is right before the big melt down……

She is adorable, am I right?  She turns ONE MONTH OLD tomorrow!!!  I told her she was in big trouble and that she needs to stop this growing up nonsense.  She just stuck her tongue out at me!

So, there you go!  Now I can say that I have attempted to be creative amidst all this newborn chaos.  It was not fun, it was not pretty, but I DID IT! 🙂

Have a fantastic tues!

Hey Stranger! It’s been a while!

I haven’t disappeared totally off the face the earth, this new baby business is keeping me very very busy and I just haven’t had any time to make anything except breakfast 🙂  I just wanted to pop in and say hello.  I have re-opened the Etsy shop for some destashing fabrics but for now I can’t take any orders for mobile kits.  Hopefully I can start that up again soon.  Maybe once my kids are back in school and I am not having to entertain 4 little people 24/7.

I will just leave you with this cuteness.   Little miss Ellie is now 4 weeks old!  I cannot believe how time flies!

The Vintage Sheet Blog Feature!

My crib mobile made from vintage sheets is being featured on The Vintage Sheet Blog today!

Hop on over and check it out! 🙂  There will be lots of baby decorating ideas there this week.

Little Bits and Pieces

I am so in love with this little girl!  She is just the sweetest thing in the world 🙂  I am dying to freeze time and keep her this small forever.  Knowing this is our last baby is making it so much more bittersweet.  She is already a week old and before I know it, she will be done with this newborn stage…..my favorite.

I took her and got her newborn photos taken by a friend of mine.  I made lots of goodies for the shoot and thought I would share them on my blog 🙂

I had so much fun making these little hair flowers.  I found a free tutorial online and whipped up a bunch in every color 🙂  I bought some swarovski gems for the centers.  I use Elmer’s school glue to attach them to her head.  It is water based and non toxic and works wonderfully.  I used wool felt for the flowers and leaves.  After working with wool felt, you will never want to go back, it is so worth it!

I normally swaddle my babies in jersey knit fabric, it doesn’t fray and holds the baby comfortably and snugly.  I wanted some swaddle photos but wanted some fun modern fabrics.  I found this black and cream striped jersey at Joann Fabrics.  The headband was made with a silk flower with a swarovski jewel center, repurposed beaded leaves from a headband of mine, glued onto some thin round elastic.  I used a circle of felt on the other side of the elastic to adhere to the flower.  Headbands are so easy to make for so little money.  This probably cost me $.50 total!  I made this before she was born and had to guess on the diameter of the circle (I did 13 inches) and it fits perfectly.  I would suggest waiting to see how big the baby’s head is first though.  Some great sources for elastic for the headbands can be found here and here.

I love this one 🙂  The crocheted hat and diaper cover pattern was purchased from here.  My friend made it for me, it was a bit above my crocheting abilities.

The quilt is one I have been working on for her and I just need to bind it.  It is made entirely from vintage sheets cut into 6.5″ squares.  I made her crib mobile out of the same prints.  It is so soft and feminine and I just love it.

I made this crocheted cocoon out of some yummy chunky wool blend yarn found at the crafty thrift shop.  Here is a free online tutorial to make your own.  It is really easy and makes such a fun photo prop!  The background is a vintage sheet I picked up a few weeks ago.

So there you have it!  I am already itching to make something again, it will have to wait though.  I just need to get through these sleepless nights first!  I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday.

Introducing Eleanor Rose

eleanorweb22, originally uploaded by joomoolynn.

She is here and she is perfect 🙂 She was born on July 31st at 11:28 p.m. after a long day of labor.

Forgive my absence, we just can’t get enough of her.

Have a wonderful day 🙂