Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Sewing Update

As per usual, I've been trying to forget the fact that it's still winter by sewing springy/summery things.  In the past month I've made the girls' Easter dresses, a top and a summer dress for Charlotte, and two rompers for Elise.

All of these (except for the rompers) were made using the Geranium Dress pattern by Made By Rae. I can't get over how much I love this pattern. I love that it has cap sleeve and sleeveless options and can be made into a dress or tunic length top. It's my favorite pattern to date!

First up: Easter dresses. I wanted them to coordinate but not be matchy, so I used prints from the Riley Blake line "Fancy & Fabulous."

Here's Charlotte's:



And Elise's:



Next up was a top and dress for Charlotte. The top is from the Vintage Market line by Tasha Noel and the dress fabric is from Joann's. I didn't get a photo of the back of the dress, but I changed the pattern slightly and did a zipper instead of buttons. I might be the only person in the world who prefers sewing zippers to buttonholes, but it's true.



And finally, baby rompers. I used a vintage Simplicity pattern on these and it was super simple and fun to make. The top fabric is Saltwater by Riley Blake and the strawberry one I'm drawing a blank on but I believe it is also from the Vintage Market line. I can't wait to see her chubby baby legs in these :)


Happy Sewing!

~Stacy

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Update

My poor neglected blog...I figured it was high time for an update but it'll be a weak one at that. Life lately has been busy, challenging, fun, and a bunch of other conflicting adjectives all thrown together.

Here are pictures. All of the girls. They're cute.

First swing!



 The picture just above of Charlotte was taken less than 24 hours from the picture right underneath this. Cleveland weather is crazy. Also, my girl is getting to be so big and so beautiful.
She went down the big sledding hill for the first time all by herself and LOVED it!

 Elise loves food! She's tried oatmeal, apples, bananas, carrots and peas thus far. Peas are far and away her favorite food at the moment.

 Sometimes people ask if I only post the smiley pictures of Elise. Answer: yes, but mainly because those are mostly the only ones that exist. If she's ever ticked off and crying I am not typically taking her picture. But more than that, she's just always like this. She's always happy, always laid back, just the sweetest little baby. She's our best :)

Did you know they make Little House books for early readers? They are the best.


She drew a picture of herself and Harry Potter. 

We have a sitter!
That's all. Hopefully I'll make it back to the blog before spring. :)

~Stacy

Friday, January 1, 2016

Best of 2015

2015 was a big year. From almost moving (and thankfully not) to welcoming a new baby girl into our family to taking on a new and challenging role at work, it was full of changes and revelations--both big and small.

It was a very good year.

Without a doubt, this was the highlight:

But there were many, many highlights of 2015. I put together some collages of the highlight reel. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!






~Stacy

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Christmas Geranium Dresses

If you read sewing blogs, chances are you've seen Made By Rae (or at least heard of her excellent blog). I read several sewing blogs, most of which have projects for girls, so I'm pretty familiar with Rae's work and her most famous pattern, the Geranium Dress. I've seen many a blogger sew up a Geranium top or dress from this super versatile pattern and I decided it was my turn to test it out for the girl's Christmas dresses.

I downloaded the pdf pattern (though you can also order a paper version) and made a size 4T for Charlotte and size 3-6 months for Elise. The sizing is spot on--these both fit really well, no adjustments needed. I made the faux cap sleeve version for Charlotte out of some soft cotton/flannel plaid I had left over from yardage I bought last year. For Elise, I made the sleeveless version out of a large print red gingham using fabric from a curtain I had made years ago and no longer used. Repurposing=excellent.

This a super quick and simple pattern and with so many ways to change it up it will surely be in heavy rotation!











If you want to see tons of samples of what you can do with the Geranium dress pattern, check out Craftiness Is Not Optional  for tons of inspiration! She's made dozens over the years.

Happy Sewing!

~Stacy

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Three Months


Oh, this baby. This baby is just the sweetest little thing; I can't get enough of her. She hasn't made much of an appearance on the blog yet since I've only blogged a few times since she was born. Between adjusting to having two kids, coming back down to earth after the hormonal hellstorm that is pregnancy and childbirth, and then recently going back to work I just haven't had the time or desire to do much in terms of blogging.

But I'm slowly but surely getting my groove back and I've got a long list of projects I'd like to make. Plus I'm just feeling better overall, and along with that comes the motivation to make time for hobbies again.

Through all of this though, the one constant has been this baby's sweetness. From the moment she arrived (not counting the first 60 minutes of life, when she screamed her head off and was completely displeased with everything) she has been so laid back and an easy baby. She's a good sleeper and eater and she rarely fusses. She isn't bothered by chaos or loud noises and seems to nap best in a loud restaurant. She has the biggest, cutest smile that is often on display. She wakes up happy and giggles easily. She loves her sister, watching ceiling fans, and when Chad and I make ridiculous noises in her face. She's been sleeping through the night for awhile now--something I'm especially grateful for since Charlotte was a champion sleeper and I was warned by many that having one good sleeper meant the second baby would be a nightmare sleeper.

She could use some work in the daytime napping department and prefers shorter power naps several times a day to a longer nap (or two), but it's easy enough to deal with since she's almost always in a good mood when she's awake. She has a cold right now and every time she sneezes she grins because sneezes are funny.

It doesn't matter what kind of day I've had or what else is on my mind--if I hold her it's like being plugged into a charger and having my battery filled back up. She's a snuggler and prefers being held to not. Since I know that she is my last baby, I'm happy to oblige and hold her as much as possible. All too soon she'll be running around and not needing this holding business any longer.

She has completed our family in the most perfect of ways. Of course I can remember life before she was here but I can't imagine life without her. She's already racked up about a million nicknames, the most common one courtesy of Charlotte: "Lisey." We also affectionately call her "The Little Bald Lady", though many times "bald" ends up pronounced "balbed" since that's how Charlotte says it and it's too cute to correct her.

Her list of things that tick her off at this point is pretty short. She doesn't love her car seat but does okay on car rides provided the car is moving. If it's stopped, she's usually irritated. She also does NOT like to be kept waiting for milk once she's determined that she's hungry. When it's eating time, you've got about 3.67 seconds to work it out before she's angry.

She's doing a few things quite a bit earlier than Charlotte did, which makes me wonder if she'll be an early walker. She started rolling over from her tummy at five weeks, and just yesterday she rolled from back to front. She holds herself up really well and will plant her little legs firmly upright when you hold her that way. Charlotte couldn't care less about that until a few months later, but Elise sees Charlotte playing and probably wants in on the action. I won't be upset, however, if she ends up being a late walker like her sister :)

She's completely delicious and I'm so thankful she's here. She's our best.

~Stacy

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Frozen Halloween

I haven't been doing much sewing lately, but I did manage to make two little Halloween costumes this year. Charlotte decided, after going back and forth a lot, to dress up as Princess Anna from Frozen. I knew there were patterns out there to make an Anna dress and I decided I was up for the challenge, though there were a few moments where I wanted to toss the whole thing into the garbage can and drive directly to the Disney store to be done with it.

But I persisted, and I'm glad. This is one of those projects that stands out as one that I'm most proud of. And it didn't hurt that the dress fit her perfectly and she LOVED it.

I made a few minor tweaks to the dress but stuck pretty closely to the pattern. For the cape, I used comfy fleece so it would be warm and sewed rick-rack around the edges. I skipped the collar and clasp and just added a ribbon to tie it closed.





Are you ready for Princess Anna, in all of her adorable-ness?






But I didn't stop there. Princess Anna would be lost without her loyal sidekick Olaf, so behold Baby Olaf:




That is one cute snowman :)

Happy (belated) Halloween!

~Stacy