Pink for Spring

For Bug's birthday last year, she got spoiled with McKenna, the American Girl Doll of the Year. She has been a wonderful addition to our family, as Olivia needed a big sister. My girls spend hours every day playing with their dolls so it has been a good purchase! She loves to pick out outfits then have me help set up photo shoots for her dolls, much inspired by Super Inky and Pleasant Piper. Love that silly girl of mine!

We have been working hard on McKenna's Spring wardrobe these past few weeks. Bug has informed me that Pink is the best color to wear in the spring... and she has kept true to that trend as she has designed clothes for me to make.

I used a Liberty Jane pattern for the pants, the fabric is from a pair of thrift store jeans. It has a bit of shimmer which is perfect for a 6 year old. Everything's better with a little shimmer. I mixed a couple patterns together for the top, and it could have been a bit more successful, but I'll take what I can get sometimes. Bug is happy, so I am happy.

owl for my big girl

Somehow in the Christmas craziness I was able to make a couple dresses for my girls. I used LBB's new A-line dress pattern and love it! The owl shirt was not long enough on its own, so the black was a nice lengthener. I am amazed I get anything done some days, my sweet {almost} 9 month old does not nap for me. I am super pleased with a half hour nap once! Usually he will sleep for about twenty minutes for me, and I swear this boy waits for his daddy to come home & cuddle him to sleep! He is snoozing within minutes of when his dad gets home.

KCWC: Day 7

Another simple refashion.
For Bug.
Yeah, I almost forgot about her :)

It was originally a tank I chopped off below the bust, I serged the top of what became the skirt and added the ties from the tank as a waistband. There is a zipper in the side that I'm pretty darn proud of... I don't do a lot of zippers but somehow it just worked this time. Yeah! The fabric has a little metallic gold to it in places, which is Bug's favorite part but it didn't photograph well.

KCWC: Day 6

Flutter sleeves.
I love everything about them.

Thankfully Moo does too!

{I am thankful she let me style this outfit.}

 See the animals in the background?
Yup.
Bison.

I love where we live!
For this tunic, I modified the Sienna dress from LBB.
It is such a great pattern!

KCWC: Day 5

My sweet 3 year old loves blue. LOVES blue. So it's fitting that she has a new blue skirt!

This took less than half an hour to make & take pics of. Hooray for a great refashion! It was originally a tank and I just chopped off the top & added an elastic casing. Perfect.

Unfortunately work has been getting in my way of sewing this weekend. I hate it when that happens! So when Monday rolls around I'll finish up the next couple things I had planned out & finish off the week!

KCWC: Day 4

{twirl skirt}

I am so happy to have made it to day 4!

I went with simple today and made a black twirly skirt with another LBB pattern. I love the exposed white serged seams, and had imagined it with an orange halloween shirt. However, my 3 year old took over the styling for the shoot and we ended up with a favorite too-short shirt instead.

I think one of the hardest parts of this challenge is getting the pictures done!

KCWC: Day 2

Boy clothing is tough.

Really tough.

Every once in a while...

I find something great.

Today was one of those days!

Browsing the flickr group, I found this.

{source}

And fell in love.

Got out my sewing machine,

and got to work.

Less than an hour later,

I had a handsome drooly boy

modeling a great boy shirt.

My favorite features are the cuff sleeves and the band at the bottom.

I slightly modified the LBB Sienna dress pattern for the shirt. Another one of my favorite go-to patterns, I am happy it will work for a boy too!

This girl's got moves!

...or at least she thinks she does...

and it makes me happy.

I used the LBB Sienna dress pattern {gulp} again.

I really do love it!

Bug had originally picked this shirt out to be a 'night shirt' but since it had Hello Kitty on the tag, it was a favorite & she asked for it to be a dress. I love the green stripe of fabric on the side!

silly moo

With both of my girls in Joy School together this year, I couldn't help but make them some new school clothes. Moo loves dresses, so we went with the Sienna dress pattern again. We made a special trip to the thrift store together and she picked what shirts she wanted to make into a dress. I love the creativity that sewing allows me & my girls! It really is art!

She was so happy to have her own 'school dress' that she didn't stop dancing through the whole photo shoot! She loves it & that makes me ridiculously happy too!

LBB "America" dresses

I took an unintentional break in June. My computer died, and I have had worked some extra shifts to cover for a coworker, but I am back now.
Yesterday as I was explaining what the 4th of July is all about, the girls asked for "America dresses" to go to the activities in. Hello, how could I say no? I hauled out a big mess of t-shirts from my stash and this is what we came up with. LBB patterns again, I can't stop with them.

Bug insisted Olivia match her again, so she got another dress to add to her ever-growing wardrobe. She is a spoiled baby!

Moo's dress has Popeye in the center of the star and she keeps calling it her "popper the sailor man" dress.

We went to all of the celebrations at Huntsman Springs in Driggs today, and although I do think it's kinda cheesy to dress up for holidays, I loved that they were patriotic. 

Kids Clothing Week: Day 6/7- dubble bubble

I have to admit I lost a little steam by the end of the week, and just finished this today. Day 6 I spent over an hour just staring at the fabric deciding what to put together, and Day 7 was spent cutting and sewing. It seems silly that this dress took me three days when I got the cupcake dress for Bug put together start to finish in under an hour, but that's how it goes with 3 kids underfoot sometimes.

I am happy that Moo loves it too!

Kids Clothing Week: Day 5- beautiful butterfly

I am super excited for spring to come... so I dug through my refashion pile and found a tank with this great print. I chopped off the top, made a casing for the elastic, did a couple rows of shirring with elastic thread, and was done in no time! Hooray for super cute easy projects!

Kids Clothing Week: Day 4- Sienna cupcake dress

I am still so in love with the Sienna Dress Pattern from LilBlueBoo. I have made 20+ of these dresses and they are absolutely a staple in my girls wardrobe. I have been hanging onto the cupcake shirt for a loooong time waiting for the perfect fabric combination to strike... it took a while, but I absolutely love it. After I took this pic, I had her try it on and it was super long, so I took off three inches and did an exposed serged hem.

 Thank goodness for warm weather! Indoor clothing pics are just not nearly as fun!

I am also glad I waited because suddenly she has outgrown the majority of her clothing and I had to go up a size for this dress. Apparently she loves it too because she insisted Olivia get a dress to match.

Our outdoor photo shoot quickly was abandoned for a much-needed hour at the park. So glad the snow from Monday did not stay long!

Kids Clothing Week: Day 1 - Octopus shirt

I am really excited to be working on some boy clothes this week! Inspired by the great shirts at Mini Boden, I did a super simple applique on a shirt for Mr. I found at a secondhand shop and it turned out perfect for this project.

I would love to try another applique on a shirt using Dana's 90 minute shirt tutorial - maybe later this week if I get time!

Ice Cream & Polka Dots

I know I have mentioned before how much Bug loves polka dots... the obsession continues! We were out thrifting a while ago and she found this Ice Cream tank top (size 8... WAY too big) and insisted she buy it, so she did- pulled her $2 out of her wallet and paid herself at the register!

 Since her Red Riding Hood dress was such a hit, I upcycled this in the same style. Using Dana's math to help with the circle skirt, it came together quickly. I serged the bottom and did a quick hem just folding under once. For the top of the 'skirt' part, I also serged it and then just did a topstitch along the existing hem from the tank. 

Easy! I also took in the sides starting at under the armpits half way down the tank to help with the fit across the chest.

In action: