Christmas Dresses

I am in love with this fabric from Michael Miller's Christmas collection! It perfectly captures the colors and patterns that I like for Christmas-- not too dorky and not too formal. I made as many reverse knot dresses as I could and squeezed every inch out of the fabric! Carly ended up with one mess-up, which worked out beautifully for our family pictures. I also made a few boy ties to match, and they were a hit too, as usual.













...And one custom pillowcase dress and pigtail bows!

Weekend Crafty Fun-ness

When we have slow weekends -- meaning no birthday parties, outings, or other reasons to leave the house for lots of hours -- I love to get "me" time in my sewing room. If I don't have a pressing business deadline, the freedom I feel with a few hours with my sewing machine and stash of goodies is amazing! Special thanks to my amazing hubby who lets me use that time to create.

This weekend was one of those.. and I ended it with four items I am pretty proud of!

I'll start with the least impressive.. at least from the pictures.

Since I don't have an adult-sized mannequin, my bathroom door has to suffice for this one.. anyway. It's a maxi dress made from a fitted t-shirt from Old Navy, and stretchy jersey knit fabric. Cute, stylish, AND comfortable! Forgive me for not modeling... but I promise it is even cuter on!


It's actually very simple to make. I cut off the shirt just under my bust, gathered up 60 inches of skirt fabric, and sewed it on. For the belty thing, I cute the remaining part of the tshirt into one LONG strip and wrpped it around a bunch of times, tied it in a bow, and voila! Done. You can do this in smaller sizes for little girls too. Anyone want a tutorial for this?



Next, I tried a new pattern for a peasant dress. I used a pattern for this one, and there are lots of things I will change to make it my own. I added the pockets for my little collector, and she LOVES this dress.


Little sash in the back make it more fitted and less sack-dress-y.


Showing off her new pretty dress.. notice the pocket on the left.. It's already full of "little thlings."






I also threw together this peasant dress using a different pattern. Love how simple it is, and cute too! I added the pocket on this one, again, for my little collector. It's a snowflake fabric with accents of penguins and snowmen. Normaly, I'm not a character kind of person, but these were pretty nondescript and whimsical, so I went with it. She likes her "blue dress with penguins."

btw, you can really tell in the above picture that my mannequin has seen its better days. It was actually brown at one time, but then my kids happened, and it lost a leg. My cousin welded it back on and painted it almond for me. It still sits a little wonky, but it is whole again! The hem on the dress is not uneven, just the picture!

And now... my weekend masterpiece! I made myself a jacket out of flocked matte jersey.. which was a mistake I made when ordering fabric online. I was expecting STRETCHY material.. I got stretchy material.. perfect for making tailored pieces with a little stretch.. like this:



I used an exact pattern for this, with only a few deviations (aka messups) but thankfully they are all on the inside and no one is the wiser!



And no, it's not for sale, nor will I make any more, but you are welcome to borrow my pattern! ha!



Fun times!

More ACU things

Shorts and Skirts:


got twins?


or siblings?




Custom request:


More dresses and outfits:




Custom request:

Military Fabric

Here are a few examples of monogrammed Welcome Home outfits for military families. I love doing these!

Little Boys Ties!!!!

Brand new and available at Sparkles.......

Little Boys ties! These are full ties, not clip-ons, and reversible! (OF COURSE!) Check out some more photos by clicking here.

New Boutique Outfit

I've been really working lately on getting a lot of inventory for the Rose Festival Show. I got my confirmation papers for that this week, and got out my new canopy and put it up in the garage, testing it out for the big show. I've got to work on getting the lattice boards treated with paint and new hinges for displaying things under the canopy. My main prodcucts are going to be the hairbows and burp cloths, but I was itching to do some sewing this week so I cut out and new boutique outfit out of some Amy Butler pieces.

It's a reversible pinafore with capris to match, size 12 month. The top is truly reversible, and there are three coordinating prints on each side, and both sides coordinate with each other. If I could figure a way to make the pants reversible (and still cute), I would! I put a bit of black ribbon trim on the pants for fun. SO darn cute! I love making these fun outfits, always knowing if they don't sell (who wouldn't want this!?), I can always put them on my own adorable daughter when she gets bigger. The thing I love most about these pieces are that they are one of a kind, and I will probably never make another exactly like it.

Side one:

Side two:

I'll have this and a few others at the show, so come by and see me! And always, I do take custom orders, for size or material. (Or both!)