Our little princess. . . well, maybe not this year

For MONTHS the Bug has been telling me she wanted to be Princess Ariel for Trick or Treat.

Which is great because she already has a Princess Ariel dress. . . no last minute costume making stress this year!! Woo hoo!!

Until last weekend, when she informed me she was going to be Dorothy.

Sigh. . .

And she knows me so well that she knows I will almost never turn down a sewing challenge.

Had I a clue about PhotoShop I would have made that road yellow.

You'll just have to use your imagination.

Perhaps a yellow brick wall will do??

I'm not sure what's up with the pose. I think maybe she's calling Glenda or something.

I used the Elizabeth Claire pattern from Little Lizard King as my starting point for the dress since it's a quick, easy sew.

I added the rectangular apron top and straps on my own.  I also added the bias cut band around the waist as a cute little accent.  Just 'cause I was getting cocky with my pattern ad libbing self.

This dress is super roomy and should be a good addition to the dress up bin for years to come.

It's nice, too, because we can add a long sleeved shirt underneath for warmth.

And please note the bias cut band around the hem. It's all in the little details.

I think she likes it.

Hopefully, she likes it enough to actually go door to door this year.

Time will tell if we get the shy Bug or the outgoing Bug Monday night.

And if you've been around a while, you might notice. . . Dorothy is actually a repeat costume for the Bug.

Aunt Michelle made her this supremely adorable dress when she was two.

Hello squishy baby cheeks!! I love you!

That year, she followed the yellow leaf road.

Too cute for words really. 

I love it. And I"m a tiny bit glad our little princess opted out of a princess dress this year because their was no way I was going to top Cinderella.

~Lindsay

Chair upgrade

 Fabric is not the only thing I inherited from my grandma.

Grandma and Grandpa were collectors of "stuff".  This kitchen stool is one such item.

I have memories of my little sister sitting on this for Sunday lunch when she was yet to small for a regular chair.  

Such fond memories. . .

She's a bit worse for the wear, yes?

Years on a farm will do that.

But I loved her enough to save her.

I didn't love her grimy upholstery or chipped paint.  It wasn't the good sort of chippy, you know?

So I grabbed a couple cans of chrome spray paint and went at it.

I am too impatient to dig out a tarp.

Our grass will probably be silver there until next spring. I don't imagine there is much growing and mowing left for this season.

Before spraying, I removed the upholstered seat and seat back and the rubber pads from the steps.

I also rubbed the whole thing down with steel wool to take care of as much of the rust as I could.

I pulled the nasty plastic fabric and rotting foam off of the base of the seat and back and cut quilt batting and this cute laminated cotton to size.

Hello Lindsay's foot!  

You cannot deny my photography skills are impeccable.

Or not.

The fabric is Amy Butler, purchased at fabric.com when they were having one of their super daily sales.

I wrapped it tightly and used my glue gun to secure it to the metal seat base. Both the seat and back fasten onto the chair pretty securely so the glue was really only needed to hold things temporarily until I could screw it all back together.

And here she is finished!

I bought a foot of rubber matting from the hardware store and cut new skids for the steps. Who knew they sold that kind of stuff? It was a very precise measurement too. The kid had my husband hold his shoe up to the roll in order to measure off a foot.

I wish I was kidding.

But it worked well enough and I have more mat should I ever need it for anything.

I absolutely love this chair now. It is the bright spot in my very bland (for now) kitchen. And I love that it has a history and such wonderful memories along with it.

I don't tackle non-sewing projects very often but this one was fun and I can already feel myself developing a spray paint addiction.

Good thing I don't have more free time to go thrifting, I'd have to invest in cases of spray paint. . . although a rainbow colored lawn could be pretty come the first snow melt, right?

Right??

O.k., o.k.. . I'll dig out the tarp.

~Lindsay

If you could. . .

Follow this link and "like" either or both of the 402 logos to help us win a contest for custom printed sewing labels!  The competition is really close and we'd be thankful for your help! Voting wraps up this Friday.

For those who don't know our story, 402 Center Street is the address of our childhood home and is were Michelle and I learned to sew.  The branch in the logo is a magnolia branch because there is a beautiful magnolia tree in the front yard.  The logo was designed by my wonderful husband who dropped everything to help me out!  Isn't he amazing?

Thanks so much for your vote!

~Lindsay

Executive Insulated Lunch Purse--say that 10x fast

Remember the little Fabric.com fabric mix up (blogged here)?

Well, I finally got the correct fabric and found the time to whip up this cute little lunch bag.

The pattern is from the book, "Lunch Bags!", that I checked out at our library.

The book is full of a variety of really neat lunch bag patterns (as the title would suggest, right?). This particular one is called the Executive Insulated Lunch Purse.

Slightly wordy title but I guess in a book full of lunch bags you have to get extra descriptive.

The bag itself is extra roomy, which I really like.  You could definitely fit your container of last night's leftovers in here with a bit of room to spare.

And it's insulated with a thermal interfacing. Bonus!

On the inside I used a super colorful Amy Butler print that I purchased 3 yards of thinking I would make a dress for The Bug.  Being a glutton for punishment, I of course assumed she would like it and didn't check with her first. She doesn't like it. Go figure.

But I still LOVE it and I was thrilled that it complimented this lime green home decor weight dandelion print I used on the outside.  I think that bright splash of color is going to contribute to making even the most blah of leftover lunches a bit fun and exciting!

A new to me sewing detail was this zipper that hangs off both sides of the bag. It it an interesting look. I'm not sure it's personally my style. I might opt for a more traditional completely inset zipper when I make this pattern again. But, I do like how there is that little square of stripes about halfway down each side. 

Cute, just not highly functional.

Over all, I was very pleased with the way this turned out and it was so hard to part with!

But I ordered plenty of this fabric so I think another of these bags might be in my future. . . or yours. . . Christmas is coming you know!

~Lindsay

A Dress and Cape for Little Red

This pretty little thing needed a Red Riding Hood cape for Halloween.

I told her momma I'd be happy to make her one, figuring I could just wing it, right?

But then I saw on facebook that Little Lizard King was working on a cape pattern.

And she asked me to test the pattern. Perfect!

Is it not perfectly adorable? I love how it just about touches the floor and the way the hood poufs out just a bit down around her neck.

She is just lovely.

And like every single LLK pdf pattern I've used (and I've used quite a few) the directions are clear and easy to follow. This cape is a quick sew and it would make a great project for a beginning seamstress.  Just imagine the possibilities for Halloween costumes and dress up bins! A simple change of the fabric and this could be a princess cape. . . leave off the hood and it could work for your little super hero. . . Dracula? . . . piece of cake!  You've got Trick or Treat in the bag this year!

Never one to leave well enough alone, I also made Little Red a dress.  This is another LLK pattern, the Elizabeth Claire dress this time. 

I think it is so cute and fun the way you can combine so many different fabrics.  And this dress kind of has a little bit of a vintage vibe while still remaining modern.

Just a quick picture of the dress inside out. . . In kids apparel I like to use French seams like this where ever possible. I just think it looks so much cleaner and it's got to feel better up against their skin.

I can't wait to see her in it.

I think these two are going to bring home big candy trick or treat night.

~Lindsay

A fancy pillowcase dress

A chance meeting in the waiting room at the Bug's ballet studio. . .

A self-proclaimed "blog stalker". . . (that cracked.me.up. Janelle)

Resulted in this sweet little pillowcase dress.

(forgive the crooked picture, it was a windy day and I was trying to snap these before it rained)

This is a Michael Miller damask.  Do you know how hard it is to find nice cotton damask at JoAnns? I think I'm too picky.  But once I saw this one on fabric.com those cheaper ones just wouldn't do.  The pale pink polka dot I did find at JoAnns. I think it's a lovely compliment to the damask and the pink softens it up nicely.

I absolutely love how over the top girly this big pink shoulder bow is.

The Bug would never go for such things. . . but this dress isn't for her so I did what I liked.

I added a sweet little pink ruffle just above the border, you know, in case the big bow wasn't quite girly enough.  I love ruffles.

The things you can't see. . . all interior seams are either French seams or bound seams so that there are no raw edges to fray or get itchy.  I take a lot of pride in those little details.  It makes things just a little more polished.

I also made a cute flower head band to top off the outfit. . . and yes, I cleaned up that glue on the top of the button before it left my house. It's funny the things you don't even see until you get something out in the light.

And do you like how our grass is actually 50% clover? No wonder we have a rabbit problem.

Anyway. . . I've caught wind that this dress has inspired a family photo shoot so I'm off to make coordinating items for the older siblings! How exciting!  And how rewarding to know something you've made is so well loved!

~Lindsay

Why I love fabric.com

I have not been reimbursed in any way to provide this opinion. It is solely mine.

Though in the spirit of full disclosure, I am weak and if fabric.com decided to send me some fabric to say "thanks" I can't say I'd turn it away.

I have a lot of fabric.

Even so, sometimes I don't have "the right" fabric for a project.

I do not live close to a single "cool" fabric store.

Like not even remotely close. (shed a few tears for me, I know, it's terrible)

There is a JoAnn's and a Hobby Lobby and a Super Wal-Mart around 20 miles away so I am not wholly deprived of places to run my hands down the aisles of bolts, but I have a weakness for the the nice stuff those places just don't carry.

And this is where on-line shopping has revolutionized my life.

I have several stores I've used in the past.

Hawthorne Threads is right up there. . . but my number one go to place to shop for fabric on-line is fabric.com.

And here's why. . .

1.  Free shipping on orders of $35 or more.  And rare is the time I am buying less than $35 worth.

2.  The prices rock! For the most part all the designer lines are comparable or cheaper than other retailers in my experience.  Pair that with free shipping and they have a definite advantage.

3.  Daily deals, lots of clearance and super cheap yardage! If you can't tell from the previous two reasons, I am a thrifty girl.  I enjoy a sale and seriously, fabric under $2 a yard?? Heaven help us, I might need to buy a bigger house.  

4.  Great Customer Service and Return Policy. . . until recently, I've not had a chance to experience this first hand but had heard great things.  Seriously though, a "no questions asked" return policy that pays return shipping? I love that because buying fabric on-line is harder than in a store where you can touch and see everything right there. You are never quite sure the color, the weight or the texture will be just right.  It's good to know that if it isn't right, you aren't stuck.

So this week I received a big stack of fabric for three special orders I'm working on.

When I saw this silvery synthetic weirdness I knew it was a mix up.  That is not Chartreuse and White small dandelion print home decor weight cotton by any stretch of the imagination.

My heart sunk a little. I despise confrontation and didn't want to have to call the company and deal with an exchange, etc.  But I'd heard good things about fabric.com customer service. . . and, BONUS they had an e-mail address. Hooray for enabling my non-confrontational-ism fabric.com! I should add that to the list.  I quickly checked out the return policy on-line and then e-mailed customer service with my dilemma.

In about a day and a half someone got back with me.  They apologized for the mix up, arranged for the right yardage to be sent and told me to keep this silver stuff for my troubles.

Rock on fabric.com!

I don't even have to go to the Post Office.

In well over a year of ordering I've never had a problem with the wrong fabric being sent until now. And I'm sure it happens occasionally but it's not a frequent occurrence.  Hopefully this bolt isn't mis-labeled in the warehouse or something because I think if I get another yard of this silver stuff I think I might cry.  Still, at least I know they will do what they can to make it right.

And that means even more to me than all of that savings.

Cross your fingers with me that the next yard of fabric delivered to my doorstep looks like this, would you please?  

I'll keep you posted.

~Lindsay