vintage sheet to maxi dress

tada! I love* posting my to do list on the blog, then I have some accountability with you guys to finish it! so here's my finished vintage sheet into maxi dress! I kind of love it.  Especially with this belt I thrifted on the same trip as the sheet. I only wish I'd sewn pockets in! Well, it'd be easy to unpick the seam and add some, but let's face it, it's done and I probably won't.

*only when it's something I really want to do...and not something like tweeze my eyebrows or vacuum my sewing room floor.

It's swingy and flowy and fun. (and that strap doesn't want to stay on my shoulder.) It was not too bad of a sew (I used this pattern), just a little crazy wrestling with the fabric to cut the pieces out. It was a BIG sheet. I have a ton leftover. Do I sense some mommy and me outfits? (just kidding guys! or am I...)

I even whipped out the shoulder pop for you guys. (that's a legit modeling term. er, swear.)

  and the "hippie dancing in a field".

Thanks to my sister Janae for taking these pics for me, and to the runners who ran past as quickly as they could, avoiding eye contact with the weird girls taking pictures in a field. We appreciate your eye contact avoidance.  It made it much less awkward.

Funky Little owl bag pattern review and giveaway

****this giveaway is now closed, scroll down to see the winner!*****

I know what you're thinking. But no, you cannot have either of these bags. Sadie would have a conniption. She adores her owl bag. Can you blame her? Look at those adorable goo-goo eyes. Sadie's is the one on the right, the other bag was for her little friend's birthday present. The moment I spotted this adorable pattern, I knew I had to make one. It's from the lovely shop, Pattern Play.

They have many other adorable patterns like these Zoo Friends toy balls. Have you ever seen such cuteness? Honestly, it shouldn't be legal, how cute these are.

A few of the other patterns that caught my eye were the Preschool backpack (eek Sadie is going to be  starting that sometime soon, huh?... hmm...preschool I mean, not sewing backpacks)

and the pattern for these soft and stackable rings. AWEsome. I wish I'd seen this before I bought the plastic ones.

Still...those owl eyes get me every time. WHO (I'll wait...) says owls are overdone? I still love 'em!

And it's a pretty large bag! Here's a pic with Sadie to show how it compares. I'm thinking it will be a good size to carry her quiet toys to church in. Hope no one minds an owl-y bag staring at them from the next pew over.

 

The only things I did differently for this pattern were adding magnetic snaps instead of ribbon ties, and shortening the strap to better fit Sadie. (still big, but she'll grow into it) The pattern and instructions were flawless. I was never once confused. (THAT my friends, means it's a good pattern, yes even I get confused with patterns...hence making up my own!) Oh, and that main stripey fabric on Sadie's bag is by Mo Bedell from Bluehill Fabrics, and called Party Dress in Drip Stripe. I got it from my sponsor, Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops, it looks like she's out though, I must have cleaned her out, lol. Love this fabric! (I found it in a couple places when I googled it.) The other fabrics are from Hobby Lobby, Joann, Amy Butler, my scrap bin...

 How would you like your own copy of this adorable pattern to make your own owl bag? Or the chance to choose a favorite pattern of your own from her shop?

Here's how:

Take a look around her Etsy shop, come back here and leave a comment on this post telling me what pattern you'd choose if you won! That's it! ALso PLEASE oh please oh please leave your email address in the comment also so I can contact you!

She would also like to offer 20% off purchases through July 15th from her shop! Use the code CisNoptional20 for this awesome deal. :D

I'll choose a winner Friday night, July 1st. Good luck!

The winner is....Amber! Congrats! I'll be in touch.

guest posting for Riley Blake!

Yes, THE Riley Blake fabric company that you probably know and love and buy too much fabric from. (oh, just me? naw)

This is one of the cool projects I was so coyly referring to last week. They sent me some lovely Sew Cherry fabric to play around with, and I decided to make some cinched up skirts-just like this one. Of course there's a full tutorial available on their site! Have I linked enough in this last paragraph?

They're really easy to make and it sure would make me happy if you went over and left some love for them. (or a comment, either way)

Ok, are these two girls just the biggest hams ever? They're totally working it. Giving Tyra a run for her money. Showing some sass. Pretty much just begging with their eyes for that soda.

See the tutorial below!

Charlotte's "cute as a button" party

 We can all agree that Charlotte is cute, right? (not as cute as your kids, I know, but I digress...) So when I decided on the "cute as a button" theme I knew I could have some FUN with the details! So, fun I had. (a major THANK YOU to my wonderful in-laws who let me commandeer their home for the afternoon and evening! We had our wedding reception in their backyard actually.)

First off, the monthly picture banner-just some simple scrap-booking paper, ribbon, and homemade-looking handmade paper buttons.

The rest of the fabric for Charlotte's button dress got made into a table runner by hemming the edges under. I made some vanilla cupcakes with this amazing frosting (also used these recipes for the cake) and decorated them with white chocolate buttons. (found the mold here) Ca-ute huh? (as a button! Yeah, get ready to be sick of that joke.)

 I got my cupcake liners here, and made the little banner by sewing together some little felt triangles, gluing the ends to two bbq skewers, and puff painting Charlotte's name on them. This was a last minute decoration and I love how it turned out!

Lovely buttons.

Balloons. (the green one in the back must have had too much slushie to drink.) Yes, we had a slushie machine!

Ok, it was for my brother's wedding open house the next day but my mom offered it for our use so we took her up on it. It was really fun to have, but the (free) flavors they gave us were...meh...so my mom got some better flavors for my brother's shindig. (they were really good!)

 Back to the tables...I made these little wooden button balloon weights literally 2 days before the party....thought them up, called my dad for the green light, drove over to his garage wood shop, and had them cut out and first coat of paint on in an hour. Did I mention my dad is awesome? Thanks for the help Daddio. Aren't they flippin' cute?

Continuing the list of fun but unnecessary things to make for the party, I made some button lollipops!

Granted, these were actually really easy and fun to make (Sadie helped...and by "helped" I mean-asked to eat every. single. one.)

I used this mold. For these and the little buttons I used the Wilton melting chocolate you can get at Michaels or Joanns.

YUm! They were a big hit among the kiddos!

Here's a view of the food table set up, pre-food...and the slushies pre-freeze.

I had this button bouquet planned since the theme was decided on, so it's been made for awhile! I just glued felt flower shapes together with buttons and then to some bamboo skewers, which I stuck in that green florist foam inside the basket. (covered with tissue paper)

I thrifted the white basket and belt...and glued it around the basket with a fun bow! Notice one of Ela's pictures! (she was kind enough to send one so I could print it off!)

Also you'll notice a felt banner that I made with no plans but we hung it in the wisteria bush tree ginormous plant. Make it work!

The favors were some tasty button sugar cookies! I made them with a biscuit cutter, dolly bottle lid (no joke, lol), and a bamboo skewer. Obviously I was not going for perfection, but I think it makes them charming! 

Then I packaged them up in some cello bags and cute homemade looking handmade labels. These were also a hit with the kiddos. Pretty much anything with sugar usually is.

The cake. Tada! This cake was probably the easiest birthday cake I've made. It was frosted and decorated in a bout 20 minutes. I copied these awesome ladies. Everyone raved about the cake and frosting, which are amazing recipes and make you feel like a baking superstar!

Charlotte LOVED when we sung Happy Birthday to her-look at that big grin! love.

Huh Daddy? You're gonna blow the candles out? Ok, I'll just grab a bit of frosting while you're occupied....

The layers were supposed to be like ombre or whatever it's called, you know, different shades of the same color...middle layer FAIL! Oh well! It was still colorful and tasty. Next time I'll know better. ;)

I was SOO hoping for a messy cake eater, but nope...she's just like her sister. A dainty eater.

Charlotte enjoyed opening a few presents...

...but soon became more interested in the card with the button sewn onto the front...(so cute, Cassy!)

...and also climbing all over her presents. Which, resulted in a little tumble...and crying, so Sadie gladly took over the present opening duties.

It was a gorgeous summer night and I think everyone had a lovely time, at least, I hope so! We sure did, and enjoyed celebrating our awesome little fantastic girl.

Thanks to all who came, and congrats to you who made it through this supa long post. :D

Itsy Photography shoot and giveaway!

Ok, get ready to freak out over the cuteness. Seriously.

I took Charlotte to get her one year old pictures taken by the fantastic Ela of Itsy Photography this week, and it was great! She did a great job coaxing smiles out of Charlotte, and she was so professional and quick! (key with kiddos, lol)

You may recognize Charlotte's shirt in this picture above. ;)

This dress I made specifically for this shoot, and love how it turned out! I love the pleats and added trim! (thanks Court for the trim!) The sleeves aren't really supposed to look like cap sleeves (I made em too wide) but they look kinda cute that way. Happy accident!

Oh my gosh, I am loving this picture....the hydrangeas are just too much! Ela had so many cute accessories and backgrounds, so fun! (the diaper cover was for 3 month olds, but I squeezed her little toosh in. We got a view of some baby crack, but who didn't love a little baby crack)

She is such a charmer!

 When she wants to be.

In this pic she looks JUST like a photo of me when I was little...I tried to look for it but haven't found it yet...I believe it was my year old pictures too. Mom?

********So anyways! Onto the good stuff!!********

Ela is running a giveaway for a portrait session right now on her blog! She's local to the Bay Area, CA, but is also heading to Salt Lake City, Utah in July, so you SLC folks make sure to go enter!!

**commenting here will not enter you in the giveaway**

Good luck!

vintage feedsack dress tutorial

drumroll please.........

Finally the Vintage feedsack dress tutorial! I know you were all on pins and needles this entire time waiting for it huh?

chirp chirp...

no? 

That's ok, I won't hold it against you. I know some of you are new around here. 

(hello there! Welcome! settle in! Grab some chocolate!)

Anyways, it's only taken about 4 months for me to get this posted, but whatevs....Here it is! Hope it doesn't disappoint.  Let's get going!

Click below for the full tutorial!

tee shirts to dress refashion

I made this dress months ago, but somehow never took any pictures of it. I found some cute printed tees at my thrift store, so I cut off the bottom of a white tee, cut strips of the tee shirts, gathered them if needed, and sewed them into a quick dress. I used the existing hem of a tee for the bottom so it was a really easy refashion! Comfy and cool for summer too.

Check out how long Sadie's hair is getting! I keep debating on whether it needs a trim or not. Sometimes it gets a bit scraggly.

Anyway, just a quick and easy dress/refashion. Enjoy!