Breezy

I started this top for Evie last spring, and for some reason never finished the bottom hem until now. It's a pattern from the 1/2008 Ottobre magazine.

Betcha She's 30!

So it's official now, I'm an adult! My mom took the two little ones all day, and I spent my time browsing the fabric stores. It was nice to be able to look and touch everything at a normal pace. And I found out the local Joann's moved into the old Linens & Things location and is at least 3 times larger then it was!
I ended up with fabric to make myself shirts for summer, now I'll have to find the time to sew them.
Here is a picture from last summer. I made this top from a Martha Stewart dish towel.

Easy Smocked Sundress

This little black and white dress started out as my skirt. I made it last summer from one of these I'd found at Wal-Mart. It never looked right on me, so after seeing this in the Mini Boden catalog I knew it was meant to be a dress for Evie.

First, I measured and sewed it into a tube to fit around her upper body. Then I just cut a "J" shape off each side, and used a bias strip to bind the arm holes and make the ties.

To finish the hem I added a band of polk-a-dots with white ric-rac peeking out.
It took about an hour to finish, but that is counting the time it took me to make the bias tape. I could have simply attached ribbons for the ties, but I'm glad I took the time to add the details.
(The next Mini Boden knock-off I have planned is this top. I have the fabric ready and waiting!)

Pack It!

We are getting ready to spend a couple days at a hotel with an indoor water park. The kids are excited to start packing, so I used this idea to make each of them a list of what to take.