just in time

Gemma is being blessed tomorrow morning. I just finished the dress a few minutes ago. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?


I prefer simple, non-frilly blessing dresses. I used a basic pattern for the dress but the addition the lace and the pintucks on the bodice are my design. The pintucked fabric I used for the skirt was a remnant I picked up a year or two ago for a few dollars. I haven't used it before now because I didn't have much yardage. I am glad I finally found a use for it!

my little supers

I usually take a nap Sunday afternoon. Yesterday though I wasn't feeling very tired (miracle!) so I decided to venture into my sewing room. I hadn't touched my sewing machine in so long I just stood there trying to figure out what to work on. Cue Liam and Sutton coming in and begging for capes. I figured, why not?

don't you just love the post church throw-on-whatever-you-can-find mismatched outfits?

These are not the cute, well-made capes that you have seen around the blogosphere. I let the kids pick out whatever material they liked. Liam's is a cheap dress lining material and Suttons is some pink polyester stuff I inherited from my MIL. Because I was trying to get the capes done before the kids lost interest and I lost my energy, I quickly serged the all raw edges (except for Ezra's cape which I made from jersey), added a free handed felt letter applique with double sided fusible stuff (I use Steam-A-Seam), and sticky velcro dot finished them off.


I was unsure whether Ezra would like a cape. The child has refused to wear bibs since infancy (I am not even exaggerating!) but he loved it. He ran and jumped just like the big kids.


I even allowed a little furniture jumping which is usually off limits at our house. Sometimes it's fun to ignore the rules!

I am a master...

at wasting time. First thing tomorrow morning we are leaving for Alabama to spend Thanksgiving with Michael's sister. Instead of spending my day packing and cleaning I did some sewing. But not the birthday gifts or Christmas presents (sorry Anne!!) I did more refashioning. I know, I have a problem! And now I am blogging and baking cookies. What? I can't go on a road trip without baked goodies! Anyhow, I bought this dress a couple of months ago at Salvation Army for $2. It was three sizes too big but I liked it. The top anyway. On the body, the dress looks like pajamas.

before:

after:

I guess the JCPenney catalogs I modeled for as a child didn't help me develop hot modeling skills because my posing is lame. But Michael really liked this shot because he said "it looks like the smiley Erin I know and love." Ahh. So sweet.

All I did was hack off the bottom, take in the sides, hem it and make a tie. Super easy.

With all the left over material I got the bright idea to make a pioneer bonnet for Sutton. Which would have been adorable but apparently her head is MASSIVE! I used the small version of this pattern found at Pickup Some Creativity.

Ezra makes a cute little pioneer girl though. Anyone with a baby girl want this cute bonnet?

So I whipped up another one (it is a quick project) in the larger size and it fits perfectly! I love it. When Sutton first tried it on, she looked in the mirror and said "I look... great... sort of". Ha! She warmed up to it though.

Also Chris (the author of the bonnet pattern) is having her first giveaway- a cute little girls bag. Go check it out!

his sunday best

this is what Ezra wore to church today. with pants of course... church is one of those places where pants just aren't optional! it may be the first thing i have made for him. which is sad because he is almost 11 months old. i am glad that i finally made this for him (it's been on the 'must sew' list for a while), he looks so darn cute in it and this tie works much better than the real tie i made him for Easter (to coordinate with his dad's and old brother Liam's tie- in retrospect it was a little much). he used it as a chew toy and it was practically dripping by the end of church. gross!

this was also the first time i have ever attempted to dye anything. it was easier than i thought it would be. although i don't recommend wearing your favorite white shirt while using dye. even if you think it will be fine because you are wearing an apron... it won't end well (duh!).

i made the tie applique with some fabric from my scrap drawer. you only need a few inches, really. i free-handed the tie but Char at Crap I've Made has a great template and a detailed tutorial if you need one.