on my cutting table . . .

My middle daughter picked out some fabric for a new dress, and I had the chance to cut it all out yesterday.  I'll be using the Marissa pattern from the Scientific Seamstress (the PDF pattern is on sale for $5 right now).
 

I've had this pattern on my wishlist for awhile, as I think it would also be great for my older daughter (size range goes all the way to 13/14 years).  There is also a womens version available called the Jamie dress.

There is a sew-along for this pattern right now on the Scientific Seamstress blog - which means lots of detailed instructions for anyone wanting a closer look at some of the steps.

the quickest sundress ever . . .

I wanted to make a new sundress for my oldest daughter, and after she rejected just about every fabric in our local fabric store, she saw a dress on the wall and pointed.  The fabric comes pre-shirred on the top half, and loose on the bottom.

All you have to do is sew the center back seam and finish it off with a zig-zag stitch or a serger . . .

Hem the bottom . . .

And you can leave it like that for a strapless dress - but for fear of her little brother tugging at her in church, I told her she needed to have straps added . . .

Pretty sure this is the quickest dress I have ever sewn up.

So not exactly what I had in mind when we went fabric shopping, but she loves it.  And now I can get back to finishing up a dress that I have been sewing for myself (which is coming together nicely, but not anywhere close to this quickly).

teaching a crafting class . . .

Last week, I taught a crafting class to a group of 40 ladies.  It took a lot of prep work, and getting in front of everyone was pretty nerve-racking - but I got through it.  After all, I have been part of the final show on a cruiseship singing Gloria Estefan's "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" in full costume and wig with a bunch of back up dancers dancing all around me - so that should have cured me from any future stage fright, right?

The class was part of an annual conference for GEMS (Girls Everywhere Meeting the Savior).  The conference is their kick-off to the theme of the new year, and includes workshops among other fun activities. My two oldest girls are in this program, and I'm a counselor.

The craft I chose is a 6" square album made with chipboard for the front and back, and cardstock for the middle section folded accordion style (I used 6" x 24" sheets). A piece of ribbon was attached between the back of the book and chipboard so that the book can be tied closed. The pages were covered in patterned papers, and quotes were glued on each page.  Each of the kits included a glue stick, and the kits were packaged up in cute transparent patterned gift bags from WholePort - they have a big selection for these types of bags.

The name of this project is called 'Words of Encouragement' and I purchased the quotes from Printable Wisdom, a store packed full of beautiful printable quotes and texts. The purpose of these books is that they be given to someone who needs encouragement, someone that is ill, a widow/widower, or just anyone that you want to reach out to. An uncle of mine just passed away, and I think one of these books would be nice to give to my aunt in place of a card.

Swap bag received . . .

We just came back from a big family reunion - 140 people in total.  It was a lot of fun, busy, and it was over way too fast.  The planning for it has taken up a lot of my time over the past year, and now that it's over - I'm wondering what to start working on next, it seems I have a planning gene in my blood.  When we got back from our trip this weekend, I had a nice parcel waiting for me.

This is from the Secret Tote Bag Swap that I participated in. You can see the bag I sent to my partner here.

These swaps are always a lot of fun.  The bag I made for my partner was challenging and fun to make, but not something I would've made for myself.  And my partner that received it actually had it pegged as one of her favourites before she even knew it was coming to her.

The bag I received is fun with cute little details, and I'll be sure to get lots of use out of it.  It's too small for a diaper bag (I'm a couple years past that stage), and perfect for when my purse isn't big enough for outings this Summer.

THANK-YOU Shirley!

Summer craft: making flubber . . .

My in-laws came for a visit recently, and my mother-in-law brought the ingredients and instructions for making flubber (there are lots of recipes for this online).

This looked a little too messy for me, so I nicely stood back and took pictures.

By the time they were done, they each had a nice clean looking mass of rubbery fun.

They've spent many hours since playing and creating with it, and sealing it back in ziploc bags when they're done.

I see another batch of these being made in my future . . .

matching little girl and dolly nightgowns . . .

After successfully making matching dresses for my little girl and her doll, she asked for some matching nightgowns next.

I had these monkeys in nightcaps just waiting in my stash, and well behaved kids during quiet time one day, so I got to work.

These whipped together in no time, and she's already asking to wear them to her next pajama day at school :)

making hair pretties . . .

Last week we got a fantastic parcel in the mail from Sunshine Shoppe Supply - full of flowers, elastic, and hair clips.  All the supplies needed for a load of hair pretties for my three little girls.

We got right to work with a hot glue gun and my sewing machine.  Making the clips was SO easy - just put a  generous amount of hot glue on the clip, and push the back of a flower into it (all their flowers already come with a felt circle attached to the back).  These clips can be worn alone, or clip them onto a headband.

For the headbands, they have a huge selection of widths, colors, and patterns.  Our favorites are the glitter chevron and damask prints.  Again, SO easy to make them - I just used a tight zigzag stitch on my sewing machine to secure the ends together.  For every yard of elastic, we got two headbands.

The girls have been wearing their new hair pretties ever since, and they love how much selection we have in colors and prints to choose from.

And I'm happy that I didn't fork out big bucks for them!  This is definitely something we'll make again.  If you're interested in checking out their beautiful shop, you can find it here:

teaching my girl to sew . . .

My oldest daughter picked out some fat eighths and a half yard at our local quilt shop recently, and decided on an oversized beach tote for herself.

So I cut the strips in half, and then she decided on her layout, and stitched all the strips together.  Then we interfaced the straps and outer bag pieces, and she finished the rest of the stitching to complete her bag.

It was fun teaching her the basic construction of a bag, and seeing her understand why we left a hole in the lining when it was time to turn the bag.

She's pretty proud of it, and can't wait to pick out some more fabric and her next project.

secret tote bag swap . . .

I just finished a secret tote bag swap and this is what I came up with for my partner.  She didn't give any color preferences or pattern choices, so I had free reign of what to make.

I love putting hardware on bags - so I added some rings for the straps, and a magnetic snap for the closure. There are lots of pockets, a side pleat detail, and deep front pocket.  This is a sturdy bag with lots of interfacing, fusible fleece, and a thick interfacing for the bottom.  I finished off the top edge with a bias binding because it would've been really hard to turn all those layers right-side out.

She did request longer straps, and so I tried out some natural cotton straps from Wholeport.com.  They are a really nice quality, and soft and flexible.  Their shop has a big selection of colors and sizes.

Some goodies, Summer napkins, toothpick umbrellas, and a little tray were added into the package, and they're on their way to my secret partner.  I'll be sure to post mine when it arrives!