March 14th, 2011

Another new dress! I’ve been wanting to make this one for a while, but it took a bit of time to get everything into place to start. I picked out over 30 fabrics, chopped ‘em into little squares, and gathered them into huge tiers of rainbow-ordered loveliness. Then I tried out smocking/shirring for the first time on the bodice, and it went so smoothly! I was very pleased.

Lyra spotted it on the dress form before it was even finished, and she absolutely loves it. I think it may be her favorite dress ever. Sometimes it becomes necessary to stop her twirling, before she falls over in a dizzy stupor.

I have enough of these prints for a few more dresses, so the listing is up in the shop.
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February 28th, 2011

This fancy green party dress might be my new favorite toddler dress. I’m a big fan of green, simple prints, tiny details, and overly full skirts that seem to require twirling.

It has wee little pintucks on the bodice, stitched in dark green. The skirt is a sheer green and tan polka dot organza, layered over solid green cotton. There’s a ribbon sewn on at the waistline.

It’s absolutely adorable on Lyra; I should get some pictures of that, too. Outdoor pictures, even! I am *so* ready for spring.
This dress is available in my shop, in toddler and baby sizes.
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February 25th, 2011

This is a coordinating little outfit set for spring or Easter. The full set includes a romper, newsboy cap, and knot dress.

The dress was vintage-farm inspired, with a 1930′s reproduction floral print skirt and an apron with little crocheted embellishments. My wonderful grandma crocheted the leaf-shaped doilies, and I tea dyed them for an older look. I added a ruffle to the bottom of the skirt, and knotted straps that cross in the back.

The romper was sewn in the same light blue cotton twill as the dress bodice. It has fabric covered buttons and a snappy crotch for easy changin’.
This set is listed in the shop in various forms, here’s the full set, the dress, and the romper and hat.
A huge amount of thanks goes to my friend for bringing her adorable baby boy out for a photo shoot, and to my mom for doing a fabulous job with the pictures!
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November 8th, 2010

This dress came to me as a package that was rescued from a thrift store and passed around a little bit, until it landed here. It was a kit, dated 1961, that someone, somewhere, had begun working on, but never completed. Only the hand smocking was finished, I sewed all of the pieces together.

The smocking details are fabulous. I am completely in love with this dress. Isn’t it awesome?

It was really neat to have a chance to see Lyra in something 50 years old (though freshly finished). This is certainly a dress that is hard for me to let go of, but I do have it listed in the shop. There will definitely only be one of these, but I am considering taking up smocking now.
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November 1st, 2010

I designed this colorful lollipop fabric, with coordinating stripes, and had Spoonflower print it onto their lightweight cotton lawn. Paired with some super soft and airy chocolate brown cotton voile, the dress came out so light and flowy.

This is the first of a few different Christmas-y dresses that I’m going to list before the holidays.

Striped straps tie in back for an extra burst of color. The dress has cute little puff sleeves, and it is fully lined in the brown voile.

This dress is available in custom sizes in the shop.
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October 5th, 2010
Craft This! is a weekly challenge to create any kind of craft based on a chosen theme. Next week’s theme is up at Tiny Elephant, come join us!

Last week’s theme was “housewares”. I sewed up some curtains, in a purple floral print, for Lyra’s very purpley bedroom.

We’ve been doing some other work in Lyra’s room, too, like putting in that spiffy new window there. I’ll share some more pictures soon.
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September 27th, 2010
Craft This! is a weekly challenge to create any kind of craft based on a chosen theme. Next week’s theme is up at Tiny Elephant, come join us!

Last week’s theme was Halloween, and it didn’t take me long to decide that I wanted to make another costume dress. This one is a princess gown.

The generously gathered layered skirt gives the gown a rounded look. The pink and purple satins are shiny and smooth, and were a huge hit with Lyra.

The dress is available in custom sizes in the shop.
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September 20th, 2010
Craft This! is a weekly challenge to create any kind of craft based on a chosen theme. Next week’s theme will be posted soon at Tiny Elephant, come join us!
I put this Undercover Crate tutorial on my to-do list almost two years ago. Putting it off for this long wasn’t really my fault, I couldn’t find any milk crates! Isn’t that weird? I decided to look really hard for some this week, since the Craft This! theme is “organize”. I ended up bringing home file folder crates, which are basically the same thing in a different size.

I made two covered in an animal print for Lyra’s diaper-table-turned-shelving-thing. They fit in the bottom shelf great. It’s certainly an improvement for her room’s organization, and it’ll do until something better comes along (no, I’m not going to buy that–the plans are here
).

I also made two for me in a brown floral print. I’m going to use them to hold fabric that I’m not ready to put away yet. Better than piling them up on my desk, right?
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September 15th, 2010

I received a custom request for nap mat with an attached blanket, handle, and ties. I think the result was pretty nifty, so I’m listing it in the shop as the Deluxe version of my nap mat cover.

I used a fabric covered elastic band instead of ties. I think it’ll be easier for a child to pack it up this way.
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September 13th, 2010
Craft This! is a weekly challenge to create any kind of craft based on a chosen theme. Next week’s theme is up at Tiny Elephant, come join us!
After seeing the lunch set that I made, Jon asked if I could make some reusable sandwich bags for him. His request fit perfectly with this week’s “eco-friendly” theme.

I dug around in my fabric stash for a while, looking for something manly enough, until I found these plaid flannels. I think he’ll like them.
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