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

Ice Cream Social Dress

This past week has brought some interesting and exciting opportunities. I found out over the weekend that I will be selling some of my makeup bags and wristlets at the Bay Arts gift shop, starting this week! Bay Arts is a program and a destination--as a program it offers a bunch of art and design classes for all ages and abilities. They host events and exhibits on a regular basis with an ever revolving display of art in their gallery. It is located across the street from Huntington Beach in Bay Village. There's a series of old homes that have been restored into a gallery and a gift shop, along with Huntington Playhouse (a small community theater) and a restaurant and coffee shop. It's a beautiful area and in walking distance from my house, which makes it even better that I'm able to sell my things locally.

I originally sent three samples and received the call on Saturday that it was a "yes." They asked if I could do an initial display of ten bags starting Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. I blurted out yes, but that meant that I had to hurry up and make seven bags in three days. Thankfully I've made enough that I have the pattern and measurements memorized, so it shouldn't be a problem to fulfill my promise :)

But back to the original point of this post: the dress. Before I got the call about Bay Arts, I made Charlotte an adorable spring/summer dress using the Ice Cream Social Dress tutorial from Craftiness Is Not Optional. This blog has the best tutorials; I could seriously make everything on there. The dress was super quick to make and I got to use some of my new fabric from last weekend's trip to Miller's Dry Goods.

This dress was so fun to make. It's such a simple and sweet design and really shows off the fabric. The best part? It's comfortable. No straps falling down, nothing itchy or tight or too fussy. Perfect! I originally made this as a test dress but I got the fit pretty spot on the first time, so I'm definitely going to be making more. 

I asked Charlotte if she wanted to try it on and take pictures, which she did. She was having a miniature fit at first because she wanted to jump on the bed (?) but I distracted her with a basket of Easter eggs. The pictures aren't great since we took them inside on this cloudy, rainy day but you get the idea.

Love this dress.

I'm still getting used to the time change. Every time I look at the clock I'm a little surprised at what time it is...more than usual. Have a good day!

~Stacy

A Knitted Dress

So a box arrived yesterday from my mother-in-law (who lives in Maine, and is currently stuck inside due to the 18 or so inches of snow that was just dumped where she lives) with a handmade gift for Charlotte inside. She's a knitter, and she made Charlotte a dress. A gorgeous, colorful, hand knit dress with a tiered ruffled skirt:

It looks really blue in this picture, but the bodice and bottom layer are more of a mint color.

I can't believe she made this with yarn and knitting needles...blows my mind. Of course I had to get some photos of Charlotte modeling. She was pretty insistent on wearing her new pink boots in some of them (Thanks Christine!) and in others she's wearing her pants as a cape. Just another Sunday.

I love it. It's perfect for spring and will make a fabulous Easter dress. The colors make me think of a delicious ice cream cone--three scoops: strawberry, mint chocolate chip and vanilla. Or banana, whatever sounds good. I'll take them all :)

~Stacy