Happy Halloween!

Here is the final round up of my random Halloween crafts - I have to say I got really into Halloween decorating this year. I think I'm just a sucker for those awesome color combos of orange, black, purple & green! So this is basically a picture post of random things around my house I've made for Halloween, I'll be sad when I have to take them down!

Witch silhouette inspired by this. This I love ... and I love how it turned out. A blank wooden plaque, scrapbook paper, exacto knife and a little Mod Podge :)

The decorated mantle complete with the garland leftover from last year's cocktail party.

I loved my Halloween Pom Pom pillow so much that I made it a partner - only this time I used pumpkin bias tape along the edges in lieu of pom poms.

Also, I had to try MADE's 10 minute spider web. The kids LOVE this ... it's their absolute favorite. And it's now full of adorable little pre-school crafts they bring home and cannot wait to put on "the web." PS: this larger web took about 20-30 minutes but well worth it!

Last but not least, I just HAD to make the girls some Halloween dresses ... I found this adorable Itsy Bitsy spider fabric at Girl Charlee and couldn't resist it. This is hands-down my fave dress to date ... it's perfect with the purple, green and orange polka dotted trim. And yes, they'll be wearing it well past Halloween! :)

Have a great day / night everyone!

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New Dress - Freddy Style?

In Joann's recently, I saw this red & navy stripe fabric. It's some kind of rayon blend. At the time I had no idea what I'd make w/ it, but with the 4th of July around the corner, I decided on a dress - for me! I used the Lil Blue Boo Pieced Tunic pattern (this is my 4th) but used yardage instead of pieced tee shirts & scraps. Using the yardage makes for a totally different look - it looks just like something I'd buy at the store! The only modification I made to this pattern was to add a ruffle at the bottom (with the stripes switched to run vertically). I pretty much love this dress.

Keep reading, it's funny....

The cut of this dress is so flattering and I love the bouncy ruffles. Whenever I wear it, my daughters ask if I'm a princess. The ultimate compliment! Below, the racerback detail.

Pardon all the spatulas in the background - I took a cooking class last night w/some girlfriends and I was surrounded by kitchen gadgets. (The class was at Sweet Basil for Phoenix people - delicious and fun. Just eat a snack first because you don't get dinner until about 9pm = starving!)

Back to the funny stuff ...when I first showed my husband he said it looked like a Freddy Kruegger dress. WTF? No it doesn't ... but there's something about the colors and stripes that make him think of Freddy. Hmmm. For fun, I found a picture of Freddy online and made a little collage of us! ;) I only wish I'd seen Freddy's pic first because I'd probably have tried to mimic his awesome pose - with the nails!

Happy sewing / crafting everyone ... and to a nice weekend! ;) I just got my serger back (more on that later) and LOTS of knit yardage - I see a sewing weekend coming up!


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Festive Romper turned Dress

By  now, the cat's out of the bag: I'm currently obsessed with Lil Blue Boo's patterns, and I love sewing with knits. This is Ashley's Maliboo Romper Pattern, which is the most recent clothing pattern of hers. When she released the pattern, she offered a giveaway on her blog and I was lucky enough to win one! Woo-hoo! 

I couldn't wait to try it out, and I knew I wanted to make a patriotic one for the upcoming Memorial Day & 4th of July. I have had the worst luck finding cute printed knits in stores, and am slowly realizing that you have to just purchase online. I am so impatient, I couldn't wait for that. SO, I went to Goodwill and found some fun red, white and bluep prints (and even one with stars!).  Silly me, I thought I may have gotten enough for two rompers, but it was only enough for one, so the "baby" gets this one! She makes a fine model and may be the cutest thing I have ever laid eyes on. Ever.

Materials for this one: upcycled knits from Goodwill; purchased ribbed knit in red for the back 'band'

see the little 'flair' on the bottom back here - that is because I didn't sew up the crotch!

Why is this a Romper turned Dress? Well because I goofed up! I accidentally sewed the crotch of the front piece to the outside. I'm a little embarassed to say that I didn't even notice this until I got to the VERY END and realized that there was no front crotch to sew to the back crotch. Oops.

I wasn't even about to rip this all out and I also wasn't going to scrap the project. So, I tried this on the little miss without any crotch being sewn and decided - it worked as a dress! The only modifications I made were to trim the front crotch (which was on the outside edges of the dress) to make it flow a little smoother. I left the back crotch there (it gives a little asymmetrical flair) to the back and just did a quick zig zag stich around the bottom as a "hem."

I totally love it! I may make more dresses from this pattern too because these rompers / dresses are just perfect for summer! ;)

If you're wondering about the leggings - California is COLD! They don't totally match, but it's what I had. It was a little colder there than we are used to here in Arizona ;)

In case you're wondering, yes I've made more rompers by now. The proper way. As soon as I finished this one, I cut material for another. I slowed down and paid attention and ended up with an actual romper. Then I made another one ... because this time I had enough for two matching rompers for my sweeties! I still need to attempt photos of them together in those rompers so I can post, but they are stinking cute in them.

Gotta say, I love the open back of this halter style romper - shows off her cute baby tan she picked up at the beach! :)

We were in Oceanside, California this past weekend for the holiday and Great Aunt's 90th birthday. My in-laws beach house is GORGEOUS and I thought this Red & White lifeguard ring was a perfect prop to have Izzie pose with. She is always happy to play along!

ps- have you voted for the Garden Challenge yet? Please do!

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