First day of school means we need the necessities. I have the great gift of procrastination as we have discussed before but even with that gift the necessity of a backpack was filled just before (two days to be exact) the first day of school. I used the same pattern from which I had made Sis’s last year (she was devastated that I did not make her a new backpack for this year…a bit of a touchy subject with her).

Brother picked out his fabric from the ever growing stash of fabric and asked daily if I was finished yet with his backpack. The little man was elated when I finally held it up for him to behold. Whew, there was so much anticipation built up in him it could of been really bad if he declared it not wonderful. While I was working on this pattern I was reminded of how fabulous this it is so if you are a sewer, don’t be intimidated! It really is doable! Honest!

Not done yet but here is a peek at the Easter dress and skirt. They are finished except for the hem on the skirt, maybe I will have time to get to that tomorrow. Sis’s dress is a bit to big. When I start messing with patterns I always forget to adjust the original size but at least she will be able to get a lot of wear out of it (when I say a lot I mean years). That is a good thing though…right!? The original pattern had a gathered waist but after I saw Daisyeyes Easter dress I loved the little pleats in front so I started messing around with it. See sometimes it is good to procrastinate…a good idea might come. Sis also is taller so there are not many things that come down to her feet so as a special something I added length and fabric for a Princess Dress feel.

The skirt came together pretty quickly and I am not sure that I love it but it will be fine. It is just very twirly skirty. Great for dancing around with our daughter!!! You can find a review of the skirt here just in case you are interested. I do like that the dress and the skirt both have little pleats that is a fun thing.
You may also notice that I had to change the trim fabric. I had originally gone with this but had to change after I needed a bit more fabric and the original fabric was no longer on sale. Before you ask, no, it was not an excuse just to buy more fabric. Honest, I was trying to save money as a different fabric store was having a sale but not the original fabric store that I went to. No one wants to pay full price. I had to go for the sale!

So, yesterday sister approached me very nonchalantly and asked when I was going to make our Easter dresses. My friends, Easter is like two and a half weeks away! So I am staring at her wondering in my head, what I am going to say and I heard, oh soon, come out. What!? Two and a half weeks!!! I am not very diligent and I am very prone to wandering and I am a great starter and not the best finisher…two and a half weeks! Hmmm, okay! Keep in mind that I have ever only made her ONE Easter dress and yes, I did make a matching skirt for me but it was just ONE time. I guess somehow in that ONE time I set a precedent that we make matching Easter outfits…maybe she will grow out of it in a few years. Yes, in my heart I love it, but it is a little odd when you walk into church and everyone stares and makes comments. By odd I mean it is just a little too much attention for me! Alas though a local fabric shop was having a 25% off sale yesterday so I headed over and lo and behold I found fabric that I really could live with in the 50% off section! So now I am off to attempt being diligent, not wandering and being a great starter as well as a great finisher!

I have dusted off the ole’ embroidery machine as a few friends have asked for a few items to be monogrammed. I keep forgetting to take pictures of these things before they head out the door. I did however remember to take a picture of this little monogram. I think that it might be one of my favorites. I love that it is simple and very low key. It was monogrammed onto a little white sleeveless summer dress. Sometimes I forget that I really enjoy simple non-fussy things…occasionally!

Some friends and I had the honor of hosting a shower this weekend for a Mama to be. My friend who often says that she is not crafty came with these little happy pom poms to hang and place around the table. I had seen them before but decidedly classified them in my head as way to hard and time consuming to make, after watching her put them together though I have declassified them and decided that they are doable. They just seem to make you so happy. They are still hanging up at our house and show no sign of coming down any time soon because they just make you smile!

When celebrating a baby girl it is so hard not to make a fun little outfit, so that is exactly what I did last week. While staring at fabric in the stash it was again so hard not to pull out the Alexander Henry Pears and Apples, so that is exactly what I did. It is just way to cute for a little girl. I used an Amy Butler pattern for the pants and found a new quick little tutorial for matching shoes which I will definitely use again. Now, back to that Christmas sewing!

Well, it is official! There are no longer any cribs in our house! I thought that this moment might be a sad one but I am really good with it. I kind of even think that it is exciting! I don’t think that makes me a bad Mommy, just an excited Mommy! It is amazing how quickly the kiddos are growing but it is so much fun at the same time to explore new stages! Brother is all settled in his big boy bed. We thought that this might be a hard process but he has done really well with it. I must admit that his mattress and box spring are sitting on the floor because someone (that would be me) has not finished painting his bed. I love the bed and cannot wait to finish painting it but it is so cold outside right now that I cannot brave the temps to finish the bed (I know, that is really sad). I came across the bed at an antique store and it is o-l-d and loved. It was wood but since it was so loved it needed some sprucing, thus the coat or 5 of paint. Anyways, back to the story…We found bedding for brother when he was a wee little one and snatched it up as it was a cute quilt with fishies on it. After pulling it out of the closet the task of curtains began for him. I wanted cute and fun so I ended up with fish curtains! I grabbed cheap solid curtain panels at Target. I found an outline that I liked online that matched the fish on the quilt and cut out the fabric and a bit of Heat-n-Bond added a little sewing and voila! Very FUN and fairly simple! Now if we can just get some warmer weather to finish up that bed!!!

Look how early I am for Christmas!!! It is just the beginning of November and I have already finished the stockings and they are ready to go! Okay, not really…remember this from way back in 2007? Yep, 2 years in the making! These are some incredible stockings…I mean 2 years to make them…you should see the quality! Okay, not really either, they where shoved in the bottom of a basket for 2 years! I had to iron them before I could even sew them! You all know how badly I detest ironing so they were pretty wrinkly! I am excited to have the stockings all finished up. They were really fun to make and even have lining! I borrowed the shape of the stocking from here (check out how many different shapes they have) and then had fun creating on the rest.There is still time for you to make stockings this year as well…or at least start them!

Update: Since the previous stocking post in 2007 Sister has claimed the snowmen and Brother has made claim on the reindeer! Just in case you were wondering and all!

So, recently a friend passed along a fabric panel (you know a big panel of fabric with printed items on it that you just need to cut and sew) to me that she could not use. From the moment that she handed it to me I knew that I had found a new love. It is so simplistic! Some of you out there may think that I am off my rocker, but I love these things! Since I was given the ballerina I have been scouring Ebay and Etsy for fun fabric panels. I came across a monkey (he even has little clothes) for brother for Christmas and Sister will receive the ballerina. I have a few more hopefully in the mail and on their way to me also so stay tuned!

McCalls patterns are 99 cents again this week at Joanns and I feel like this is the first time that I have taken full advantage of it. I made my list and hit the store without the kids as to not be distracted from the task at hand which of course was finding my 10 (there is a limit to these things) patterns and making it to the checkout on my own time and not the kids meltdown time. It was thrilling! I decided to purchase a fleece jacket pattern in a feminine and masculine styles and then a pattern that included hats, scarves and gloves as well. I was anxious and cut into the hat, scarves and mittens last night. I finished up the scarves and hats leaving the mittens for another time but they were fun to make and came together pretty quickly. I of course had to play and mess around with the pattern a little bit but just because I cannot leave a good thing alone!