Happy Thanksgiving

Another wreath... a random combination of raffia, berry bunches, a fabric scrap and coffee filters. Just wanted to make something and needed to use what I had in my stash.

My assistant and lovely wreath model.

Happy Halloween

While the blogging has almost completely ceased since the arrival of baby boy... the crafting has only slowed a little. Will I ever catch up? Probably not, but here is a little something fun we did for the "candy holiday" – a simple Halloween wreath. We took a dollar store wreath form and tied lengths of black tulle around it. My 6 yr old and 4 year old were great helpers with this part. If I were to do it again, I might cut the tulle longer and have a fuller look. I added in some purple and orange ribbon and then hot glued this spider web (also from the dollar store) to the back, making sure I didn't cover the peep hole.

The peep hole is important because of the number of door-to-door salesmen who don't seem to understand what "no soliciting" means. I put that sign up after being visited by 6 sales people in three days... a little much for pregnant mom/new baby mom. My dad also rigged my doorbell so I can switch it off when baby sleeps. Why isn't this a standard doorbell feature? OK, rant over.
Salesmen stay away! Trick-or-treaters welcome!

Happy Halloween!

Ruffle Dress Refashion

I've seen a lot of cute things in blogland made from this ruffle fabric and have been wanting to try it. Until recently it wasn't available in my local fabric shops and at $17 + a yard I didn't jump on it right away. One day I saw this XLarge top at a thrift store and grabbed it for a few dollars. I thought it would be an inexpensive way to see how I liked sewing with the ruffled material.

I used the Sienna Dress pattern that I had from Lil' Blue Boo to make a cute little dress for my toddler:

Since the shirt already had some interesting details with the crisscrossing ruffles at the top of the shirt, I was able to keep that same look by my pattern placement. I reused the shimmery neckline to finish my smaller neckline adding a flower made of the ruffles to cover the spot where my new seam ended up. I think I might add a few more flowers there so it doesn't look so lonely.

Cutting the ruffled fabric and sewing it, I had to be careful to keep the ruffles laying the same direction, so it took a little more pinning than I might otherwise have needed. Matching the ruffles at the shoulder seams to the front was a little tricky too. Overall, however, it is a quick way to get a much more complicated looking dress from a really simple style. I've already got plans for a few more ruffle fabric dresses for my older girls.

I couldn't get baby girl to pose wearing her new dress and wasn't up for a power struggle over a blog post, but she does like it and looks so cute in it!

Learning our Colors

So far our summer has been filled with as many indoor activities as I can dream up during the day, saving the outside time for the evenings when the temperature is more bearable for a cranky pregnant lady. This is one we did last week. I saw the idea on Pinterest, pinned from the blog Gluesticks... and thought it would be a good craft for the girls to help with as well as a fun way to have the older girls help baby girl learn her colors. I got the unfinished wood pegs and candle holder cups at Hobby Lobby. Even though they were pretty inexpensive to begin with, all their unfinished wood was 30% off last week... even better. The girls helped me paint all the solid colors and I finished the hair and faces after they were asleep. They've already had a lot of use. Now I just need to whip up a little drawstring bag to keep them together.

Maternity Solutions 5: One more dress

Just one more example of using two items to make one that fits the need. I found this shirt/tunic on clearance for $7 and, of course, bought two. Again, I used the bottom half of one to elongate the other. The busy, floral print hides the seam pretty perfectly.

The leftover top half is intended for a dress for my daughter with the pintucking detail that I am looking forward to incorporating into a bodice.

Maternity Solutions 4: Pants

During my first pregnancy I wore my regular pants for a long time using the rubber band trick. Now I find myself longing for the comfort of the full belly panel even before I'm truly showing. There are lots of cute maternity jeans/pants out there... even designer versions, but I also noticed a few DIY tutorials and thought I'd give it a try.

I had these white skinny jeans that had been really inexpensive but I hardly ever wore because I didn't really like the back pockets. They have a bit of stretch to them, so I thought they'd work well for this alteration. My favorite tutorial is on Grosgrain, here. She gives really great step-by-step instructions with pictures.

The one thing I did differently is that instead of making my own panel, I used a "Belly Band" that I already owned. I like the thinness, the stretch and smoothing support of this over a knit folded in half... and the panel doesn't slip down like a knit might. It also makes this alteration even easier. My favorite belly panels are from Forever21.com. Sadly they don't have them on the site as I'm posting this. They were only $7.80 each and are the most supportive, longest (covers the entire belly, not just up to the belly button leaving a line at your widest point) and definitely the most affordable ones I've found.

I think the most important step is to try on the band and the pants together before sewing, as Kathleen mentions, and make some marks where you will pin the two pieces together. You will want more of the panel in front than in back, as opposed to just attaching the band evenly. I was prepared to trash these pants if it didn't work out and was happy that it went together smoothly.

I recently saw a love/hate conversation about skinny jeans on Facebook and I had to laugh because those opposed to skinny jeans in general would certainly be appalled by my pregnant channeling of Tweedle-Dee or Tweedle-Dum here. I say to each his own. Whatever style you like, give your pregnant self the gift of being able to breathe and move without constantly hitching up your pants!

Maternity Solutions 3: Using my leftovers

Remember the top half of that blue dress from the last post? Here it is with short sleeves and a new, maxi length skirt. I'd seen the fabric on clearance for a few dollars a yard and just guessed that the color might be close. The material for the skirt is slightly darker and is not knit but a silky, lightweight, polyester blend of some sort. I just sewed the whole piece matching both selvedge ends into a tube and then held it over my tummy draping it different ways and pinning. I decided to do a double box pleat in the front and just slight gathering around the sides and back to avoid too much poof, but still being able to stretch with the knit as I put it on. Then I hemmed it and made yet another sash to help define the "waist" area. Maxi dresses are really popular right now and I have been wanting to find a maxi that actually was floor length on me. To be honest, this is not the most practical dress with my toddler who likes to grab hold and hang on the skirt, so I don't know how often I will wear it but I do like the feel of the silky long skirt brushing against my legs as I walk.

This tunic is from a pre-maternity alteration that I did. I used the skirt from one and added a yoke to top to make a long slip to wear under the tunic so that it looks like a dress. I can also wear the tunic over pants and leggings. I had this leftover top part sitting around along with a bunch of the grey fabric I'd bought on clearance and used for the yoke. I decided to try another maxi dress. This time I gathered the skirt mostly across the front and left the sides and back to hang straight. Without the sash it hangs straight down. As I look at this in the pictures I've decided the top needs a little more work to fit a little better and be more flattering as well, but in a very short time, using leftover stuff in my stash I have another option.