In these past couple of weeks I finished up 2 new shirts for Little Helper. (As I write this I am realized that I never shared pictures of my girls from my sister’s wedding with my girls in their bubble dresses!) Anyway- 2 new shirts. I made a Puppet Show tunic and a Class Picnic blouse.  And I am so pleased with them! I think that what I like the best about them is that I really took my time and they are my best work so far.

The Puppet Show Tunic (click on the link- I am having photo uploading issues…again) took me over a week to do. I did a little bit each night with some nights off because I was too tired. I did some seam ripping…several times. But in the end it was totally worth it!! I didn’t hand sew the hem, but my hem is still really straight and isn’t messy at all. I did French seams on the sides and I love the finishing of the bodice. I am so thrilled with it. Funny thing- this is the 3rd time that I have made this pattern- and this is BY FAR my best one. But I only just realized that there are supposed to be buttons on the sleeves. So I will add those to one of the ones that I made (I gave the other one away) and I will put them on this one too.

The Class Picnic Blouse is just perfect too. I LOVE it.  And so does Little Helper. And it is so cute on her. She has worn this one a couple of times (including today). The style of this blouse is just so perfect. I think that I am going to make one of these for Baby E in the grey colorway of this same print.  And I am going to make more for Little Helper. I love this pattern.

And the Bubble dresses from this summer are here and here.  (and another photo here.)

Edited to say that I just realized that this is the most boring blog post ever. Seriously. Sorry about that.

I also realized that this outfit reminds me a lot of one that I had purchased for her when she was a little younger that was a favorite of mine. So…I take back my offer to trade patterns. I see more of these in the future of Little Helper and Baby E.

Wow- I am amazed at how  many comments I got from this!  Thanks to everyone for stopping by and I hope that at least a couple of you come back again to see me some other time!

Thank you to everyone for all of the great ideas! I really couldn’t choose one favorite- there we so many great ideas! So I decided to narrow down to my top 10 and do a random drawing out of those 10 for first prize.

MY TOP TEN ARE…

1. Bernice said…It’s not overly girly but I think it’d be really neat to have a silhouette, or maybe handprints of each of your girls to hang in their own “side” of that room?

2. Callie gave several ideas- these are my favorites of hers…Also, these colors: http://pinterest.com/pin/25089111/Books as decoration/easy access to bookshelves for little readers:http://pinterest.com/pin/19041459/http://pinterest.com/pin/16948884/ (that one would be so inexpensive with ikea spice racks!)

3. From Katie:  I love this room. If I was decorating a new room, it would inspire me: http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2011/05/inspiration-home-2.html

4. Jen suggested this…my idea is to paint a tree and do shelves – like this: http://pinterest.com/pin/26862178/ on the wall! I’m just decorating my daughters room this next month and it’s something I want to do!

5. Megan shared this link- http://samstermommy.blogspot.com/2010/07/pottery-barn-butterfly-mobile.html- Which I love because these are so cute at PBK, but so expensive!

6. Jessy suggested:  I love the idea of using embroidery hoops to frame up different girly fabrics and hanging them in a collection on the wall. Or cutting out lots of paper butterflies and sticking them to the wall as if they are flying up and across the room.

7. Victoria shared this link:  http://pennycarnival.typepad.com/penny_carnival/2009/02/tutorial-hanging-book-display.html (my favorite is the yellow ones in the grey room)

8. Felicia shared several ideas that are fabulous-  I love this shared room. If I had 2 girls that had to share a space I would like something like this http://pinterest.com/pin/10294725/ I think any kid would love this cozy little nook. And it looks easy enough to do http://pinterest.com/pin/20608575/ Another great shared space http://pinterest.com/pin/7751598/

9. I also really liked this idea from Deb:  The best thing I put in my DD’s room is HER special things shelf. It’s a 3-shelf unit that is screwed to the wall over her bed. She gets to put her treasures on it. Sometimes it’s Happy Meal toys, sometimes it’s sand art, or the ukelele that she got on our trip to Mexico. All things that drive me crazy. But the rule is it if doesn’t fit on the shelf it has to be put away, not stuck on the bedside table or on top of the dresser.

10. Anna suggested this:  http://www.thestudentteacher.com/journal/2011/5/16/a-sewing-tutorial-emilys-embroidered-growth-chart.html

AND THE WINNERS ARE (according to the random number generator)…

(from my top 10)

#10 - Anna suggested this:  http://www.thestudentteacher.com/journal/2011/5/16/a-sewing-tutorial-emilys-embroidered-growth-chart.html I pick the Dr. Suess fabric.

(from everyone)

#14- Skooks-

Golly I’ve got a lot of ideas . . . I just pinned this one yesterday though as something to do in my sewing room, but I think it would be so fun in a little girl’s room.

http://pinterest.com/pin/25094895/

Both giveaway items are sweet. 

I will be emailing Anna and Skooks shortly! And then I will be continuing to unpack. Because right now I am surrounded by boxes.

I hope you are all having a more fun weekend than I am!

Hello and thanks for stopping by today!  I know that there are so many fun blogs to read and check out this week- thanks for taking a minute to stop by mine!

Here is what I am giving away…

Fabric

(Brown and cream hexagons- not sure what it is and Amy Butler)

Applique pattern and Dr. Seuss

We are getting ready to move.  As in right now I am surrounded in boxes in my living room and I will be continuing to pack my house until Saturday when the movers show up.  When we move, we have decided that it is time for our2 girls to move into a room together (the baby is still in our room) and I want to decorate their room in a cute girly sort of way.

What does this mean to you???

I am looking for ideas. Ideas of things to make. Ideas of things to buy. The ONLY rule is no licensed character stuff and it has to be girly suggestions (not that you can’t decorate a room for a girl with fire trucks and dump trucks, but I don’t want to! ) I would prefer that you add a link in your comment, but you don’t have to have one. Please also include in your comment which item(s) you would like to win.

I will choose 2 winners. The first winner will be the idea that I like best for my girls room (the idea that I am most likely to execute). That person will have his/her choice of items. I will choose the other winner randomly of who is wants the other item.

I will choose winners on Sunday, May 29. I am willing to ship internationally.

Thanks again for stopping by!  Happy giveaway day!

And I don’t love it. I shortened it a bit, but left in the pockets. I also did the lining, hem facing, and pockets in the pink that you can see on the top. I needed it to be wearable by Little Helper’s standards.  :) I did move the pockets up a bit so that I could shorten it to be more of a tunic length and not have the pockets hang out. I also shortened the sleeves. Little Helper didn’t like the longer sleeves and I am certain that summer is going to start here one day soon and then 3/4 sleeves will be too long.  I didn’t shorten them carefully though and I think that they are slightly different lengths.

So…I don’t think that am going to make this pattern again. Actually, I am sure that I won’t. So I was thinking that maybe someone else out there felt the same way about a pattern that they had and might be willing to trade. My question to all of you blog readers out there…I have a Playdate dress in the smaller pattern range that I would like to trade. Anyone interested? I am open to pretty much any O+S pattern that I don’t have. But I would also love to get my hands on a Citronille  patterns (wishful thinking here that someone would have one to trade? ).  If you have something else that you would like to propose (Modkid, Amy Butler, heck- I even would be interested in some of Heather Bailey’s pin cushion patterns). So- I am totally serious here- if you have a pattern that you are done with and want this one- please let me know! You can either email me (rebeccajweber@gmail.com) or you can leave a comment.

Edited:  And I just came across this one, so apparently I copied her too.  :)

Next up:  Tea party dress for Baby E and playdate dress/tunic for Little Helper.  Both are cut and ready to sew tomorrow!

(I will get better pictures during the say on my little models when these are completely done!)

Kids Clothes week starts Monday.  I am trying to to prep so that I am ready to SEW for one hour per night  on kids clothes.  Now, I am certain that it is ok if I cut fabric or trace patterns- and I am sure that there will be some of that- but I would really like to make some progress through all of this fabric that I have on hand!  So here is what I have and what I plan on doing with it.

Starting at the top…

Lisette Chambray- (1.5 yds)- puppet show shorts for each girl, maybe a playdate dress (shortened to a tunic) for Little Helper. (I saw one in the flickr group a while ago and I am copying it.  ) Maybe a sailboat skirt.

Kitten knit fabric from Joann’s (7/8 yd)- Hopefully I have enough for a hopscotch nightgown for Little Helper.  She picked this one out.

Tinkerbell/Peter Pan Fabric – (1.5 yds)- I was thinking matching 2+2 blouses for Little Helper and Baby E.  But I think that those colors aren’t really going to work for Baby E.  I also still need to get another fabric for the ties.

Modern Workshop print- (1 Yd)- 2+2 for Baby E, I think. Maybe a bubble dress.  Maybe something else. We will see.

Pandas- (1 yd)- picked out by Little Helper. 2+2, maybe.

Frog knit from Joann’s (1 yd)- Knit pj’s from Spring issue of Stitch magazine for Baby E.

City Weekend pink knit- (1 yd)- I need to make new hopscotch tops for both girls.  I think I used the wrong stitch on my serger and the shirts are falling apart.  So yes, perhaps I could have repaired them.  But I think that I had too many issues and I just needed to start over. So I am starting over.  I got the fabric on sale, so I feel a bit better about it.  :)  Plus, since summer is coming (I am sure that it is on its way…) I will make them short sleeve.

Any bets on how many things I will complete??

The part that I am not thrilled about, is that we have decided to move to an apartment building.  There are a bunch of reasons that we have decided that this apartment is best for our family right now, but it is hard to imagine myself going back to apartment life.  I never thought of an apartment as a place where you live when you have kids.  I know, tons of people do it.  But I grew up in a house.  So I thought my kids would grow up in a house.  But we decided that now would be the time to live less expensively in order to push to try to get this brain of mine paid off.  It will be nice to own my brain again.  :) Another nice thing about an apartment in MN is the 2 heated underground parking spaces that it comes with.

I have been cleaning up my fabric and trying to organize it.  I found some that I am ready to part with.  I am setting some of that aside for the Sew Mama Sew May giveaway day.

I have also been sewing a lot of clothes for my 2 girls.  Little Helper is going to be well dressed in quite a bit of O+S this summer.  I am also working on a muslin for a Portfolio tunic.  I will try to remember to get my husband to take pictures tomorrow so I can share my process on that.  FYI- I have NO IDEA what I am doing.  :)

Here is my latest shirt for Little Helper.  I made a size 3 and lengthened it a couple of inches so it would last her longer.  She seems to grow up and not really out.  :)  This is what I get when I ask her to model for me.

The last time that Heather Ross did a studio sale I ordered some stuff.  It was really fun to say that I wanted to  buy fabric and kind of give an idea of what I wanted, but to have no idea what I was going to get.  I got some Flea Market Fancy, some Heather Ross goldfish, and a few other out of print Heather Ross fabrics (all in fat quarters) and a fat quarter of this fabric from the first Far Far Away line.

Little Helper saw this fabric in my fat quarters and told me several times that she liked it.  And she wanted me to make her something out of it.  But I didn’t quite have enough to really make her anything.  So I shopped and managed to find some- I was so excited to find some!

(She looks so old in this one.  She really does look like a little girl now.  No more baby here.  :( )

I thought it would be perfect as an Ice Cream top- and she loves it.  I now think that all clothes should be made out of double gauze or voile.

I think she likes it.  :)

Cute, right?

Since I finished it during her nap (except for the button, of course!) I had to put it on her as soon as she woke from her nap over the onesie that she was already wearing.

Not loving it.  It looks kind of like a potato sack on  her.  It just seems a little big.  And she has trouble crawling around in it.  So when Little Helper got up from her nap, I decided  to convince her to try it on.  I gave her about an hour warning and had a surprising amount of success getting her to put it on and stand still for a photo.

And I think I like it better as a tunic.  So there goes my coordinating Easter outfits.

I should have made a tea party dress.

I put the pocket on the front and I am glad that I did, but I think that I would have preferred a different fabric.  I like that one for the lining, just not the pocket.  We are going on a crazy vacation in a few weeks and I plan to give Little Helper this backpack with goodies in it to entertain her for the various car, plane, and train rides that we will be taking.  Here is what we are doing- it is ridiculous:

My mom is picking me and the girls up and driving us back to her place in WI.  We will be there for a few days before we (me and my girls, my parents, and my younger brother) will all fly to NYC to visit my older brother in Brooklyn.  We will stay there for one night.  We will take the train to Providence, RI to my sister’s fiancee’s mom’s house, where we will have s clambake or something.  We will stay there one night.  Then we will take a train to Boston to visit my sister and her fiancee for a few days.  Then we take the train back to NYC for a few days.  My husband will fly out and meet us for most of this leg.  I will get to see college friends in NJ in this leg- so excited!!  Then he will fly home and me and my girls will fly back to WI with my parents and brother.  Then my mom will drive us home.  This is a total of about 2 weeks.  And yes- I am taking a 3 year old and 7 mo old (well- she will be a little older than that, I guess) on this trip.  What am I thinking???

Anyway, since I have several train, plane, and car rides, I wanted to put colored pencils, coloring stuff, maybe a viewmaster- things that she can quietly use to entertain herself for a few minutes here or there.  Any ideas on what I could put in there?  I am open to suggestions!  I plan to put at least one new activity in for her for each leg of the trip.

I also made a music class blouse and skirt.  I need to get some buttons and there is no elastic in the skirt in this picture (there is now).