Tuxedo Ruffled Reversible Dress

Last week I got to go to a baby shower for a friend of mine.  She has twin 2 year old boys and is about to have a baby girl.  It's about to get really fun over at her house!

For her gift I made her a little dress from vintage fabric I got from Great Grandma.  I used the Kaileigh Dress pattern from Grits and Giggles.  The dress is reversible!  For this dress though only the plaid side had decoration the reverse side is just the plain pink you see in the ruffles and the ties at the top.

For this dress I wanted to keep things simple so I added 3 little tuxedo ruffles down the front and called it a day.

Just another way to add a little character to a simple little dress!.

To see more pics of my other reversible dress click here.

Nursery Blocks & Subway Art

Welcome to my new followers!  At first glance it might seem like this is a sewing blog.  But really it's an everything blog.  I've just been addicted to sewing lately.  So let's mix it up shall we?

Today I thought I'd show you a little baby gift I made for a friend a while ago.  You guys, this baby is so cute and small and sweet.  Babies are just the best.

I made these little nursery blocks from my scrap wood pile.  I wish I would have taken their measurements but they were pretty petite.  I think the big one is a one inch board that's 10 x 7 {I don't know, I'm just making that up really} and the smaller blocks are made from 2 x 4's.

The smaller blocks are for sitting on a shelf but the subway art has a metal tooth hanger on the back and has the option of being hung.  For the images I used my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot program.

For the owl I used a vinyl stencil of the outline of the owl and painted the entire thing brown.  Once it was dry I cut out another stencil that had the eyes, feathers and wings and stenciled that part white.

To create the aged look to the finish I randomly painted brown spots on the edges and corners.  I then rubbed Vaseline over the brown spots and then covered the whole thing in pink paint.  The pink didn't want to stick to the parts that were Vaselined and I rubbed the pink away in those areas with a baby wipe.  It gives it a shabby chic vintagey feel.

For the tree I just did the same thing as the owl.  I use one stencil and painted the whole thing brown and then made another stencil for the leaves and trunk and painted that one white.  Just a simple layering of stencils can make for a fun result.

Simple little keepsake blocks that anyone can make.  If you don't have a cutting machine you can make a stencil with vinyl and an exacto knife or even try a little hand painting.  You could conjure up your skills from the days of toll paining in the 90's.  {Please tell me I'm not the only one that remembers toll painting.}

Now,  what I really need to do to switch it up is show you some boy crafts.  Stay tuned.  I'll be showing you a really fun one next!

Adelyn's Dress

Maggie's speech therapist is having her first little baby.  We are so excited for her!  Her therapist is just the sweetest and has helped Maggie progress in her speech so much.  We wanted to do something special for her and her baby girl, Adelyn (Add-uh-Lynn) .  Isn't that such a beautiful name!?!

I made her this little peasant style dress from a nice thick white cotton.  It is seriously one of my favorite dresses that I've made.  I only wish my pictures could show you it's full sweetness.

The neck and arms have elastic.  I created a matching hair bow from the scraps of fabric and ric rac.

This is what makes it my favorite though - the light teal ric rack and the pink hand embroidered name.  I haven't done any embroidery in a LONG time.  It was really so easy.  I don't know what has been holding me back.  I simply wrote her name in pencil and traced the marks with my needle and thread.

I think what makes this my favorite though was that I took the time to create French seams.  It makes for such a beautiful inside and steps up the quality of the dress by about a million notches. I was so glad I did this step it made it feel more boutique as opposed to just handmade.

As cute as this little dress is, I know it is nothing in comparison to how cute that sweet baby will be!

Anyone ever used French seams?  Interested in learning how?  Just speak up and I'd be happy to create a tutorial.  Well, I'm off to sew some more!

Birdie Baby Shower

Mindi is Adding to Her Nest!

My friend Mindi is having another baby girl so Jill, Mary, Amy and I put together a bird themed baby shower for her and little Kaitlin.

Mary's famous strawberry doughnut kabobs.

This salsa is to die for. 

Like the white platters and basket?  John got them for me. 

 They form a tower if you set them up that way.  I love them!

We were going to use the baby's breath to make a garland but we ended up liking the little nest we made instead.  I love this drink tower (or whatever you call it) of Jill's it's so pretty!  I want one!

No party is complete without some completely adorable cupcakes from Amy. 

Amy and Mary spent the morning decorating these beautiful, delicious treats.

Some eggs I made using some Styrofoam eggs I got from G.G. Cutts. 

I just twisted, and wrapped and glued fabric onto them and laid them in a nest of raffia.

Baby birds waiting to be eaten be fed.

This was the main centerpiece that I created.  The tornado and storms weren't all bad - I was able to go to a neighbors yard and collect a bunch of these beautiful dark branches.  I then sewed and stuffed little bird ornaments using fabric scraps and hung them from the branches.  This now sits in Maggie's room and goes with the bird theme I have for her decorations.

Mindi opened presents (my goodness I forgot how cute baby girl clothes are!) and each of the guests got to take home a delicious chocolate dipped cookie that Jill made and put in a cute little package.  Baby showers are so much fun!



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