Toddler and Baby Fourth of July Outfits

I realize Independence Day has come and gone so this post is a bit moot but maybe it can give you some inspiration for other summer outfits or even next Fourth of July.  That's how quickly I seem to get to projects, planning a year in advance, anyway. :)

First is this cute little sunsuit for baby.  I absolutely love this and I wish I had the time to make a few more.  I'm not a huge fan of dresses on babies especially once they're entering the rolling and crawling stages.  They get all tangled up and just seem to frustrate the little one.  This sunsuit has snaps which make it easy for diaper changing but also nice and snug for your little one to move around.  I love how this turned out and it only took me a couple nights after the kids went to bed to finish.  Totally doable before summer ends.  Find the pattern and tutorial here at Made by Rae.

For my toddler, I made a simple sheared sundress.  I kind of just went on a wim with this dress because I have made these before and it is super simple once you get the process down (and I quickly scrambled the night before to get it done).  For a very detailed tutorial go here at GoogieMomma.  Don't get scared by the length and crazy math shown in the tutorial.  Shearing is so, so simple and it really is perfect for a beginner sewer.  The dresses are perfect for summer too because they are so lightweight and flowy.

This light blue flowery fabric is one of my favorites.  It was perfect for the fourth but isn't too patriotic that it can't be worn throughout the summer.  I just love how these turned out and I'm a sucker for matching clothes on my girls. :)

 

Just a little disclaimer here about my photos: I'm sorry they're horrible.  These outfits are so much cuter when they're on but I try not to post photos of my girls so they don't end up plastered all over Pinterest or who knows where. You can get an idea what they'll look like here and hopefully the links I posted can provide further clarification and inspiration.  I mainly like to share fun and free patterns and tutorials I find on the web.  There is so much out there!

Easter Dresses

Can you believe Easter is almost here?  Spring still hasn't shown up here in Nebraska but Easter is right around the corner.  This year I decided to make my girls' Easter dresses.

I'm not big on buying patterns because a. they are ridiculously expensive unless you hit a good sale and b. the sizing on them always seems really off.  If you look online you can find so many wonderful FREE kids patterns made by fellow moms that sew.  The best part is they usually fit really well.

The two dresses I made for Easter were made from online patterns and tutorials I found.  I wish I could take credit for these beauties but the links for each are below.  Use these sites as stepping stones to find soooo many other amazing FREE patterns and tutorials out there on the web.  Also, follow my Pinterest board "girl's sewing" for other fun little girl clothing patterns and tutorials.

First up is the dress I made for my 3 month old.  This pattern and tutorial found over at the Ribbon Retreat was so simple and easy to follow.  I altered it just a bit to make two tiers because I only had two fabrics I wanted to use.  Isn't this bunny fabric adorable?  It fits with the holiday but doesn't scream Easter which I like.

For my two year old I used this tutorial and pattern from Skirt as Top.  I made the Junebug Dress found here at Craftiness is Not Optional for Christmas so I knew it would fit just right.  I love the original version but I also liked the altered version at Skirt as Top so I thought I'd try it out.  Her tutorial was wonderful and super simple.  Again I altered it a bit by not adding the ribbon at the waist and sewing on some flowers to the side which match the hair clip she'll wear.

Now go out there and find some free patterns to make your little ones some adorable, unique and best of all handmade outfits! Happy sewing!

St. Patrick's Day Shirts

Hey friends! As promised, I'm back to share a tutorial on how I made my daughters' St. Patrick's Day shirts.  I'll apologize ahead of time for my poor phone photos.

I made these with things I had on hand but they can easily be made for super cheap.  Here is what you will need:

White Shirt

Green Fabric Paint

Pink Fabric Paint

Glitter Fabric Paint

Contact Paper

Cardboard to fit inside shirt

Sponge Brush

Scissors

Shamrock Template (Optional)

Ribbon (Optional)

First take your contact paper and cut it just larger than the size you want your shamrock to be.  You can eyeball it by placing it on top of your shirt or you can print a shamrock template off the internet.  Then cut your shamrock out.

Next slide your cardboard piece inside your shirt.  This is to prevent the paint from bleeding through to the back of the shirt.  Take the backing off your contact paper and stick your template on your shirt wherever you'd like your shamrock to be.  Make sure to rub all around your contact paper to ensure it's stuck onto your shirt nice and good.

Start with your green paint and apply a thin but generous layer.  I like to use a round foam brush and apply the paint with a stamping motion rather than a streaking motion.  This will help keep your contact paper from coming up as well as prevent bleeding of the paint.

Let your first layer dry for about an hour and apply a second layer to ensure you didn't miss any spots.  Then let this dry for a good four hours as the bottle recommends.

Next cut a little heart out of small piece of contact paper.  Stick it on your shamrock wherever you'd like it to be.  Apply two layers of pink paint as you did with the green.

Once the pink paint is dry, remove the heart contact paper.  Next apply a layer of glitter paint over the whole shamrock.

Let the paint dry for a good four hours and then remove the contact paper.  Originally I had planned to add a bow to the stem of the shamrock.

After the painting was all done, I decided I liked it as is so I left the bows off.  It's super cute either way though.

There you have it.  A fun and cheap way to have some cute St. Patty's Day outfits.  They also match the glittery headbands I showed you how to make in my previous post here.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Tinkerbell Romper

This will be my last posting for awhile on cute dress up inspiration for little ones.  As my daughters (yes, I'm having another!) grow, I'm sure I'll be making more stuff in the future but for now I need to move onto the next project!  In addition to the clothing items I've posted, I've also made quite a few small things for our home dress up dresser like bows, headbands, veils and ears.  For some fun tutorials on quick little items to make for those little dress up lovers in your life, check out my "dress up" Pinterest board.

For now though, check out this awesome link on how to make your very own Fairy Romper.  I used some Tinkerbell fabric for mine and made this adorable Tinkerbell outfit for my little girl.  It looks much better in person.  The fabric makes it a little tough to photograph and as you know, I'm no photographer.  The tutorial is super easy to follow.  I altered it a bit and didn't add the shorts underneath just because I was in a hurry to get finished.  I'm impatient like that.  Either way, it's a fairly simple fairy romper perfect for your own little Tinkerbell.

Jesse dress

My little one loves Toy Story, especially the cowgirl Jesse. I wanted to make her an outfit to match Jesse's but that wasn't too difficult. This little peasant dress was perfect. I made this one out of an old pattern I had but there are patterns for peasant dresses all over the Internet. I made this one bigger so she could wear it for awhile. With a little red cowgirl hat, it's perfect. So simple and super cheap!! Use coupons or buy clearance fabric and this can easily be done under $5. Another fun little outfit for her dress up dresser.

Minnie Mouse

This dress started out as just a cute little dress. As I got farther along, I thought it looked more and more like a cute little Minnie Mouse dress. I made up some quick ears from felt, left over fabric and a dollar store headband and I quickly had an addition to our dress up cabinet. I think it turned out darling. I don't have a tutorial as I just went for it and made up both as I went along. With Pinterest your bound to find a quick tutorial though. Or as I did, use this as inspiration and get to sewing!!

Fairy Tutu

I mentioned I'd be back posting dress up outfits I made for my daughters little dress up dresser from a previous post. Now that her birthday is over and I'm not frantically trying to get everything done, I can take some time to share her adorable little outfits.

First up is this little fairy tutu. It is the easiest thing to make, you just have to know how to tie a knot. I didn't use a tutorial but there are tons out there to help you out. In the past I've just used elastic or ribbon for tutus but this time I decided to use this crochet elastic stuff (not sure what it's called?). I'm so happy I did. It's much more comfy for my little one and lays a bit nicer too.

All you do is tie your long strips to your elastic stuff and then tie smaller strips at the end of the long strips. I did pink and green to match those adorable wings I found in the Target dollar section but you could do all kinds of fun colors!!! This cute little outfit could easily cost you less than $5 if you wait for those awesome Hobby Lobby sales!

Sorry for the bad pics, I'm too tired to pull out my real camera.

Sweetheart Doggie Dress

I found the tutorial for this dress on Pinterest and absolutely fell in love. After making it, I love it even more! My first attempt was a bit big but after some alterations it fits perfect. I live this adorable dog fabric too with a vintage feel.

Find out how to make your own here.

My First Rag Quilt

When I was asked to make this t-shirt quilt I was little skeptical because quilts can be very time consuming! Then I found this cute idea to make a rag quilt. I used this tutorial http://cinnaberry-suite.blogspot.com/2011/08/t-shirt-quilt-tut.html and you can find many more on the web. They're so simple and so much easier then a traditional quilt. At first I was unsure about the rag look but once it was all complete, I really started to like it. Sorry I don't have better pictures, I forgot as usual.

Finished Project

Well it's taken me longer than expected, as most projects do but I'm so happy to check this one off my list. It's a dress up dresser for our little bug. I'm working on a couple dresses, tutus, jewelry and some other fun accessories to hopefully fill it up in time for her birthday.

This project was super simple and there are some tutorials out there on the web or even better, Pinterest. You simply take out the drawers, I left one for shoes and other accessories, paint it and attach some fabric to the inside. I'd say the fabric was the hardest part but once it's full of fun stuff you wont even tell it's not perfect. I kept mine neutral anticipating it may go in a fun playroom one day but you could do all kinda of fun colors.

Stay tuned for fun posts on DIY costumes/ dress up items!

Girl's Pillowcase Nightgowns

Well, I feel like a bit of a dud for not posting in so long.  I've kind of fallen out of the blogging vibe lately.  That doesn't mean I haven't been busy crafting though!

For awhile I was hooked on crochet and now I'm switching back to sewing.  Especially sewing little girls clothes.  My daughter is at the perfect age for making her all kinds of cute little outfits.

One of my latest projects were these sweet little nightgowns made from old pillowcases.  I love them.  I wish I could make one for myself. ;)

You can find the tutorial here at Prudent Baby.

You can easily alter the pattern to make the perfect size for your little girl.  You can switch them up as I have too..with sleeves, without sleeves, shorter, longer.

They are just the cutest.  And comfy too!

Fall/Thanksgiving Dress

After seeing this adorable little dress on Pinterest...

I knew I wanted to recreate something similar for my little girlie.

This was the first dress I made without a pattern and I can't believe how easy and quick it all went.

I used my husband's old t-shirt for the yellow portion and some scraps for the rest.

Absolutely love the way it turned out!  It was perfect for Thanksgiving.

I'm inspired now to recreate other looks I've seen.

It's intimidating but once you get going, it's so simple.  You should try it!

I'm back!!!

Hello there!  I’m back! 

As you probably figured, I decided to take a little break from blogging.  It all started out by me wanting to reorganize and clean up my blog.  Then things happen and I got caught up in life.  A day turned into a week and a week turned into a month.

I was overwhelmed and inspired by all the feedback I got when I took my blog down.  I’m so happy to encourage others to create! 

Well, since I’ve been gone, I went on somewhat of a rampage on my house and decided anything and everything needed to be cleaned and organized.  It’s an ongoing process and is a bit more work than I had planned; probably another reason blogging was put on delay.  But honestly, all the work is completely worth it.

Having an organized house puts you at such peace.  I will continue this voyage with the hope of one day having a place for everything…not that necessarily means everything will be in its place.

I hope to share some of my organizing tips in the next couple months of course with crafty inspiration mixed in and of course some Christmas goodness.  

For now, let’s enjoy some Halloween craftiness.  I realize Halloween is over and these don’t help much this year but if you’re like me, get started on them now and quite possibly they will be ready for next Halloween.

I have to have a little disclaimer here…all these ideas came from Pinterest.  If you haven’t checked it out, you should!

First up, these cute little lanterns.  They are made from recycled glass jars I had been saving up and left over paint.  Which made them free!  I hope to save up some more jars and create a bunch more for next Halloween to light up our porch windows.   Get the tutorial here.

Next up, pumpkins galore.  These pumpkins are so quick and easy…and you don’t even need a sewing machine.  Although, I’ll admit, I used mine to speed up the process.  I used some lefover fabric so mine are in more neutral colors but they'd be super cute in bright, bold colors too.  Find out how to make your own here.

Finally, our little girl’s Halloween dress.  I wanted an outfit for Halloween for our little stinker but wasn’t really finding anything I liked in the store.  Then I came across this free pattern and knew I could turn it into something perfect for Halloween.  It’s such a simple and quick tutorial; I plan to make a couple more everyday dresses as well.  For this one I just shortened the sleeves, added a bow on the collar and some ruffles on the bottom.  You could do all kinds of things with this simple pattern.

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween.  Can you believe it’s November?  The holiday season is upon us!

I’m excited to be back and thank you for all your support!