Summer Tops: Frost and Minions

Summer tops are a favorite.
For me.
My girl would prefer a dress over anything in her closet. While this may be a bit short for a dress, she can continue to wear it as a tunic and top later on. Win, win!

I just love this version of Anne Kelle's Girl Friends fabric called Princesses in Frost. Amazing!


I definitely knew my girl needed something made from it so I made her a fairly simple top with the Frost fabric and some pink lattice for the bodice portion. It's just lovely.


Speaking of lovely. Who doesn't like a dress with a little flare?

I continued my love of simple tops to make a minion dress/top as well. The longer bodice helped to add some much needed length to make it more like a dress and less like a top.

So much fun squeezed into super cute tops!

Simplicity 1793 with a modification

I love this pattern. It always makes the cutest outfit no matter what! I just love this whole outfit! The inspiration came from a photo I found on Pinterest and the moment I saw it I knew I had to make for my girl. But...I wanted to do something a little different.

Instead of button holes for the straps to tie, I wanted to make it a halter top and have it tie at the back of the neck. I extended the piece in the back for the bodice, sewed a casing for the elastic to cinch the top up, and presto! An easy modification for a great summer look. 

I had a friend do the embroidery for me. I couldn't find the perfect lime fabric to go with the rest of the outfit, so I decided to do white, but it needed something extra. 

Now, I am totally not one of those people who puts their kids' name/monogram/initials on every stitch of clothing. (Friend, you know who you are. :) ) But I have to say, it was the perfect decision for this project, and I kinda like it.

It's summery....it's sassy...it's adorable. It completely works for my little sassy girl. 

I do love this Simplicity pattern. 1793 has three options for different looks...dress, shorts, pants, top, even and apron add-on. It's a great little pattern and a must-have for anyone sewing for a girly girl.

Christmas Extravaganza: Blue and Red

I am so loving the fabrics I used to make these two outfits for my daughter. They are just so fantastic! And she looks so cute in them.

Up first is the peasant dress with matching dark blue ruffle pants. The main part of the dress has little houses all ready for the winter on a blue background. I used some snowflake fabric on a red background for the accent pieces. 

The dress can be worn by itself, or with some leggings or tights, and even layered with a long sleeve tee underneath, or maybe even a sweater or cardigan for added warmth. The dress is a bit longer than I would like for the pants, but she'll be able to wear it for another year or two, hopefully.

I, of course, made my son matching ties. One with the houses and a red snowflake knot, and the other with just the snowflakes on red.

Here they are together sporting the different ties and hair bows. So many options to wear!

 Here is a closer look at the hair bows. A funky hair bow, and a regular hair bow/bow tie.

Which brings me to the next outfit for my daughter. The pattern is from Simplicity (1793). I've used it before to make two outfits for a friend's two girls. This time I used it to make one for my girl.

Stop the cuteness! Too much!. 

I shortened the top middle skirt piece a couple of inches, because the finished product seemed a bit too long for her. As she grows I can let it back out. I made the size 5 pattern for her and is not snug fitting at all. I added the zipper in on the side this time. I left it out on a friend's outfits because the girl's didn't need it. So my girl definitely has some growing room.

I used Dana's KID shorts pattern to make the pants.

The tie in the back is great for making sure you get the right length of straps for your child. The bow normally looks better, but I had washed this outfit already and hadn't ironed the ties at that point. She can also wear this top as a dress. There are so many options!

I turned the hair bow into a bow tie for my son by using the neckband from his ties and slipping the bow onto it. They all look so good on him. 

I happened to be shopping at the Dollar Tree for some easy Christmas gifts and found the cutest pair of knee socks. I turned them into leg warmers for my girl, and they happen to coordinate with the above outfits! Woohoo!

Peek-a-boo Santa. Found you! It's hard to tell close up that she has Santa leg warmers on, but if you are farther away from you can definitely see him. Santa is going down a chimney and waving. You can't quite see his hand.

The back of the socks have the back side of Santa. Love! If her boots were a bit shorter you see more of the chimney, but when these were socks the chimney bricks went all the way down to the toes.

They are just so awesomely cute! 

If you happen to see any more at the Dollar Tree would you pick up 2 or 3 more pairs for me? Thanks.

I am loving that there are so many options for these outfits: funky hair bow or regular, ties or bow tie, peasant dress with or without pants or layers, Simplicity top or dress, leggings, pants, Santa leg warmers... Mix and match!

All of the fabric came from JoAnn's except the dark blue ruffle pants which came from Hancock's Fabrics.

I did a Christmas photo shoot with the kids in the Simplicity outfit and the houses tie. It was the outfits I put together when I took them to see the mall Santa. They looked amazing. Post to come soon on that one.

Giraffes, and pink/gray

Hi.
I've been away for awhile, taking some much needed time off work, working on a separate grant for the kids' school, and celebrating my birthday. Yea! My twin and I turned 70 together (35 individually). I had a pretty good birthday which I will try to share about later.

Anyway...
I don't always just make things for my kids. I do make things for a few friends when they ask, and sometimes even provide fabric.

I made this sweet giraffe outfit for a friend's little girl. It is her birthday outfit.

I found a giraffe silhouette online and used it to make the applique. I made the giraffe print ruffle pants using Dana's KID shorts pattern. Those pants are adorable. I hope the baby has a great first birthday!

I also made her this CUTE pillowcase dress. The fabric was $2 a yard at JoAnn's! Hard to pass up.

For my other friend that I have made more outfits for, we found this fabric and pattern at Hobby Lobby. The pattern is Simplicity 1793A.

So much cuteness! We could just stare it because it is so pretty. The matching ruffle pants are just too much. Gah!

I love how it ties in the back. Her kiddos look amazing in the outfits as well. Although, they did require some alterations. Somehow both of the girls' pants ended up too short. I did add another ruffle to the bottom of both pairs so that they would fit better.

I mean, it's just so pretty! Love it.