School Photo Dress

It has come to my attention that I never posted this dress.

Oops.

So here it is, The Bug's dress for her Kindergarten school photos.

Gotta love a model with attitude.

The pattern is Kate's Dress from Lily Bird Studios.  The Bug picked it out, as well as the fabric. I totally had her pegged to choose a brighter more flamboyant print but she surprised me by choosing this sweet Kokka fine whale corduroy

The pattern was really well written and easy to follow. I made the size 5 and it fits perfectly.

Since it was school photos I knew the dress would only be seen from the bodice up so I added really thick red piping and these exaggerated vintage buttons.  I also used red thread to do all of my top stitching. I love those details and how they help pull the little bit of red out of the print.

I realized a bit too late that September is generally too chilly for a sleeveless dress in these parts. So reluctantly I paired it up with this sweet little lettuce hemmed turtle neck. (made my The Childrens Place, not me!) I think it looks cute and classic and very sweet.

The little ruffled sleeves are so cute. And you can see the print a bit better here too.

I bought three yards of this on clearance at The Needle Shop several years ago. I remember thinking it was so pricey at around $11 a yard.  I had no idea.

I've hoarded it since then. No project was quite good enough.  

I'm so glad we used it for this.

The back is held together with a few simple buttons.  All brown but somewhat mismatched.  It's hard to find matching buttons in Grandma's button jar!

The sweet little hair bow was made for us by one of the girls in our youth group. She makes these bows and sells them (Crafting Compassion) so that she can support a Compassion child. I love that. And she did a perfect job with it. It looked so cute.

So there we have it.

A sweet, simple little dress for her school photo.

And she must have liked it, because she actually smiled!

~Lindsay

A Circle Skirt for Fall

Since the Bug fell in love with the twirly purple skirt that we had to send away, I made her one of her own.

This sweet little print is a Kokka print on a super soft fine wale corduroy that I found on clearance at The Needle Shop about a year ago. Oh to have had the gut of steal and just bought the entire remnant. Instead, I purchased three yards--which seemed extravagant since I had no plan for it and even on clearance it was more per yard than I typically pay.

But I loved it.

Plain and simple.

Isn't it silly how some fabrics do that to you? Or am I the only one?

At any rate,  I have been hoarding it for just the right project ever since.  I'm not sure this was "it".  I still have a sweet little coat in mind but this skirt was a good way to ease me into the idea of actually using this fabric and not just letting it collect dust.

And the Bug loves it which is good enough for me. I am reveling in these days when she swells up with pride to say, "My mommy made it!".  I know soon enough eyes will roll at the suggestion of wearing something made by mom. 

~Lindsay

Happy Birthday To Me Purse

The issue of purse envy is solved.

I decided that since tomorrow is my birthday I would spend tonight working on something purely selfish.

I had totally forgotten that I had this fabric and the navy fabric that's accenting it. I'm pretty sure that probably means I have too much fabric, right? But really, is there such a thing?

I thought the large floral print lent itself nicely to this style of bag. And even though it was a bit of a hassle, I like the added detail of the bias tape around the top.

This one here is all for me. A present for myself. But I think I'll make another for the store one of these days. It's too cute not to share!

~Lindsay

A Purse and a Dilemma

This is why I shouldn't make purses.

My friend requested a purse in this fabric after she saw the cell phone case I made a while back. I finally got around to making it and now I love it so much that I don't want to part with it.

I love, love, love this purse.

Lea, if you change your mind, it's totally o.k. with me. I promise I won't be offended!

The strap is just long enough to toss over your shoulder. The body of the purse is super soft, thin corduroy, with a fleece interfacing on the interior for added support. There's a cute, curvy pocket on the back and a fun polka dot pocket on the inside. The whole thing closes up with a silver magnetic purse snap.

Adorable.

I don't know if I have enough of the brown cord to eek out another one of these puppies for myself but you'd better believe I will be trying!

~Lindsay

Cell Phone/ iPod/ Gaget Case

I have a new boss. She has a new phone. And she needed a stylish way to keep it on her because she's just not into the hip clip look. When she found out that I sew she commissioned me to help solve her problem.

Enter this cute little cell phone case. Inspired by this Moda Bake Shop tutorial and some other similar cases I found on Etsy I set to work.

Forgive the rotten photo quality and staging. I finished this puppy at 11 pm last night so I was lacking in both natural light and creative staging inspiration.

It's hard to tell from these photos (sorry!) but this fabric is a really soft, narrow corduroy in brown and a really bright robin's egg blue. Super cute.

It closes with a magnetic snap so there is no danger of losing your valuable electronics. There is a short strap so it can be carried as a wristlet, or you can attach the strap extension and wear it around your neck.

I have to say, both my boss and I were a little afraid the "around the neck" option might end up looking a little too much like rapper bling, which probably wouldn't go over well in the middle of nowhere Indiana, but it doesn't look that way at all. It is actually a really cute alternative for people who need to have their phone (or iPod) on them but don't want to look like a construction worker wearing it on their hip.

I have to admits, I thought I would just let the boss test drive this one before I made her actual case but she liked it so much that she's going to buy it! Not to worry though, I have a good deal more of this fabric so you may see one of these in the Etsy shop in the near future.

~Lindsay