Awesome, Quick and Easy: New Shorts Pattern from Elegance and Elephants!

Heidi over at Elegance and Elephants has just come out with another great pattern. Boho Trousers and Shorts is just what you need for a quick summer sew. And right now there's 15% off this new pattern...you should go check it out!

I had the chance to test the shorts and Clara is love with them...in fact I have 2 more pairs cut out and ready to sew. Just in time too, because this gal of mine was in need of some shorts.

As always, Heidi's instructions are easy to follow with clear pictures and helpful suggestions along the way. You come away with a quality product.  And for this pattern it was a very quick sew from start to finish...with the taping of the pattern I think it only took me 1 1/2 hours from beginning to end!

For the grey ones I used a light weight linen blend and some contrasting quilters cotton for the pockets along with some lace on the bottom.  This pattern is perfect for those summery airy fabrics.

The purple ones are made out of an upcycled skirt and she just loves these. For this pair I used the existing hem of the skirt for the hem of the shorts.  I wish I had had enough to make the pants out of this fabric...it would have been the perfect pair of light weight summer pants. 

We do have some plans for making the pants in the future though...just on the hunt for some light weight fabric for them.  For the shorts you can get a pair out of 1/2 a yard.  All you need is the fabric, elastic and trim if desired. For the pants you'll need a little more fabric and some elastic for the legs as well.

Secret Squirrel

So Secret Squirrel has been trotting the globe giving out 5 acorns a month. It's a fun sewing challenge and you can read more about it here. The 5 acorns are just 5 things that you are supposed to tie in with the outfit you create somehow and I've been wanting to sew along, but always have a ton of other stuff going on. This month I decided was too good to pass up.

Here are the ones from this past month: 

Those would be 1. Where the Wild Things Are, 2. Blue, 3. David Bowie, 4. Pockets and 5. Great Britain.

Now here is my outfit, which you can read more about over at Sew Cool for the Tween Scene. Can you see my 5 acorns incorporated in the outfit?  I leave the key at the bottom, but here are the pictures:

Where the Wild Things Are=Fuzzy vest, reminiscent of the Hairy wild things

Blue=blue on the button of the jeans and a blue zipper (just because I only had a navy blue one:)

David Bowie=White ruffly vest (think of the movie Labyrinth)

Pockets=on the pants with

Great Britain=a flag stitched out on each back pocket

How do you think I did with the acorns? And the best thing of all is that Sophia loves the outfit and needed each of these things (ok not the vest, but she had asked for a furry vest).

Some Much Needed Pants and a Very Productive Weekend

It was a quiet weekend around here, with 2 of the 6 out of town, so I had a productive Saturday. First up, I made this jumper for Sophia...go check out my review of the pattern over at Sew Cool for the Tween Scene.

 I also managed to whip up 3 pairs of pants for Clara. I used the Oliver & s knit pants pattern that comes with the Nature Walk Pullover. It's a great pattern and these pants are really easy to make. When I say whip up, I really mean it. From start to finish I was able to get all 3 pairs cut out and sewn in 2 hours. The serger helped it go a little faster, but still...3 pairs of pants in 2 hours!!!! Can't beat that. 

 I wish I knew my types of knits better, or at least paid attention to what I was buying, but I don't. All of the fabric came from JoAnn's.

 This one is my favorite pair. I used the opposite side of the fabric to get the contrast of the band. The knit is super soft and comfy.

 This pair is Clara's favorite...purple polka dots, need I say more.

 This one is a heathery red and super soft as well.

 I do love the Oliver & s patterns and this one is no exception. Easy to follow, clearly written directions, they never fail.

 However, I found a big mistake in this pattern. I'd sewn up these pants once before and thought it kind of weird how there wasn't a front and back specified.  This time around I paid a little more attention to the pattern and there is clearly a back and front to the pants, but not labeled or even mentioned in the instructions.  The rise is different and makes a big difference in how it fits. Once you have the pieces cut out, you'll notice the difference in the length of the rise (crotch seam) for the front and the back...just make sure you piece them accordingly.  Other than that, a great pattern. 

And now my not so little gal has 3 pairs of much needed pants, just in time for the weather to turn cold here.

Linked up here:

Bumble Bee Dress Tour

It was my privilege to be apart of this wonderful little tour. RaeAnna just released a wonderfully versatile dress pattern and I get to be a part of the action.

Here are all of the other stops:

Maura Jean & Co|Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts|Pattern Revolution|Daisy Chain Creations|Get Your Crap Together|Zafarani|Welcome to the Mouse House|Designs By Sessa|Sew Like My Mom|Once Upon a Sewing Machine|Shaffer Sisters|Francess Suzanne|sewVery|Climbing the Willow|Blogs Like a Mother|House of Estrela|Rae Gun Ramblings|While She Was Sleeping|181ReUp|Feathered Ruffles

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Here's my little creation. I made view A, with a couple of little changes.

Since neither of my girls needed a new dress, even though the pattern goes up to size 12, I decided to make this little ensemble for my niece, which means I can't get pictures with her in it because she lives across the 'pond' way over in England.

The only thing I really changed was that when it called for ruffles, I did pleats instead.

As for the dress, this pattern came together like a dream. I think the hand embroidery took longer than the assembly of the dress. Seriously.

With 2 different options of dresses, there are many chances to make this dress your own.

For my dress, I used unbleached muslin for the bodice and a floral print from Hobby Lobby (that was actually gifted to me by these lovely ladies). 

I added the embroidery just to add a little more to the dress and the button was the finishing touch. This is my all time favorite button find and this one is my last one.

I'm kind of loving how the embroidery made the plain bodice stand out a little more and go with the other fabric instead of just fading into the background.

And just for fun I made a pair of leggings to go with the dress.  I used a t-shirt of mine that was fitting kind of funny. I just used a bloomer pattern to make up a pattern for the leggings.

And since I don't have a model for this cute ensemble here are a couple more pictures that hopefully show off how cute this pattern is.

Oh the possibilities with the Bumble Bee Dress!

So head on over to RaeAnna's blog and check out the give-a-way and the amazing pattern...it's on sale for $5 from November 4-18!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keeping Busy

You know that little dream you have when your kids are finally all in school and you will have so much time to get to all of those projects you've been putting off for years?  Call me when you send your last to school and I'll fill you in with the reality...it hasn't happened yet for me.  My day seems to fly by and if I didn't have this blog I would wonder what I've accomplished.  At least here I document some of what I do so that I have a little record of my time spent.  I have been busy and am still sewing. Lately, most of my sewing has been documented over at Sew Cool for the Tween Scene, so go check out my latest review if you want to see some sewing for my kids.

 As for other projects, they were all put on hold for these that I volunteered myself for.  You see I firmly believe in serving others through your God given talents. I think sewing is one of my talents, so I do what I can with it.  This is a bunch of dance costumes that need to be altered (and these are the easy ones...there's a whole other batch that will require some thinking and time to fix). The 2 companies, a junior and a senior one, at my daughter's dance studio perform all year round at places like nursing homes and children's hospitals (one of the things I like about this place...they don't do a Christmas/Winter recital just so that they can focus on serving the community). Anyway, that means they need their costumes now, so I'm tightening straps and taking in some bodices.

 These are going to be super hero capes. My oldest, who is high school, will be headed to Grand Nationals with his marching band in a couple of weeks up in Indiana. Instead of wandering around the mall for hours in their down time between performing, the parents thought it would be a good idea to do something service oriented. They found this project called The Hero Project and plan on having a cape for each member of the band (160+) to give to one child in the hospital up there.  The capes come to me cut out and I just add the applique and sew the inside and outside together. Someone else is adding the velcro. Pretty easy on my part and just something little I can do in my own little way.

Sophia's Signature Look

Just wanted to share Sophia's signature look here as well. For the full pattern review head over to Sew Cool for the Tween Scene.

She wanted a tunic and leggings and I complied...I just like these pictures of her.

She is really turning into a beautiful young woman, both inside and out.

Bubble Gum Ball Pullover

 The inspiration for this outfit...the dot fabric of course! It looks like colorful bubble gum balls, so we went with that. Don't ask my 5 year old though, she's still insisting this is her lolly pop outfit because I originally thought I'd do 2 lolly pop outfits. Even though we went with bubble gum with this one, I still promised a photo shoot with the big lolly pops. Just like many things in life though, plans had to be changed. A cross country meet went an hour over and there were no lolly pops to be found, so it was just some quick photos outside of our house 15 minutes before we had to leave for school.

So here is my second candy inspired outfit for Project Run and Play. You can see the first one here.

I used the Nature Walk Pullover pattern by Olive & S and it was a quick easy sew.  The pants were a remake from a women's shirt.

Here she is discovering the side pockets aren't really pockets but more of a pouch...she was startled to find that her hands touched in the middle.

 The shirt I used to make the pants (don't you love the bubble gum pink stripes?) was a V neck with a little row of buttons on some grey binding. I liked the grey accent so I kept it and just added a panel to finish off the pants.

 Here's a better look at the pullover. I thought it opened a little too far down so I added the bias tape tie and decorative buttons

 Close up of the details.

Linked up to Train to Crazy

 And finally, head over to see the "Flip" for the month of September at Frances Suzanne. I'm one of the competitors this month.