Americana Peasant Dress

Here it is! My newest interpretation of the SquigglyTwigs Designs Pretty Peasant pattern!! (For some reason my virus protection won't let me enter her site anymore.)

I am loving the way it turned out! Cailey put it on for the pictures and refused to take it off again! A definite score for me! :)

Now she has something to match Colin's Stars and Stripes Shorts! :)

I really love that pattern. It's just one piece!!! The same piece for the bodice and sleeves! Then you get a walk-through to make it into a tunic, top or dress, long sleeves or short. 


With this one, I cut it at a size 10. For the sleeves, I added about 2" to the pattern. Then for the elastic casing, I added 2" of the contrast fabric. 

For the dress, I added 2 rows of patchwork squares at the bottom to make it longer. I only had 1 yard of the red, white and blue stars to work with. The blue with white stars was even less! LOL 

My 3rd time making this pattern and I am just as pleased with the results as I was the 1st time. 




HAVE FUN SEWING!!!!!

Never Cut Your Patterns AGAIN!!!

Have you ever had a pattern that you thought you would use more than once and for different sizes??? Well, I have found a simple solution to NOT cutting the pattern!!

When I was making the monkey pajamas for my friend Lisa's granddaughter, I knew that I was going to use that pattern again later for Cailey. Lisa's granddaughter needed the smallest size and Cailey would use the largest size. What to do????

Here is my idea.







Iron out your pattern (not like the picture LOL). Place it over ironed paper and put down paper weights (I usually use my owl figurines).  Take a Sharpie (or other marker) and trace the pattern lines.







The marker will bleed through the pattern tissue and leave very good markings on your paper.

I used left over packing paper but you can use any kind. If you need bigger pieces than what you have, just tape them together on the back. Dollar Tree used to sell brown paper for packages, that would be perfect!







Write the number on each piece and any of the instructions you think you will need. I am going to go back and write the pattern name and the size on these so I will remember. ;)



There you go! Never cut into a pattern again!

My Goodness.....

It's been a whole week since my last post!! MY GOODNESS!!!! I am SO sorry!!! It's been crazy and hectic around here. I am still unpacking... I am working on my sewing room/library. That's about all that's left except for figuring out where to put some little things. I have most of MY books put up but there are still boxes and boxes and BOXES of the kids' books. YILES!!!!!!

I have also been fighting yet another ear infection. MY GOODNESS!!!!! What is up with that????? And of course, we are in between insurance, again.... So I have just had to suck it up and deal with it. Thankfully it seems to be getting better now.

I've been thinking a lot about what my first sewing project ought to be once I get up and running again. I am in desperate need of some new clothes so I think the first few things will actually be for ME!!! LOL

I have been thinking a lot about this pattern-



Simplicity 2947

It looks SOOOO comfy and perfect for summer!!!



I wish I could remember what other patterns I have. They are still buried in a box somewhere.  MY GOODNESS!!!!



I think I am going to keep an eye on the Joann's ads. I want some more patterns!! Like these.....





M6744







M6747







M6758







B5879







B5897







V8896





OH!! I got a couple of books for Mother's Day!! Right now I am almost finished with Ken Follett's Fall of Giants. MY GOODNESS!!! It is sooooo good!! I have never read anything by Ken Follett before and if this book is anything to go by then I have seriously been missing out. I wish I had the next in the series!!!

The Hubby got me Dan Brown's Inferno!!!! I should be starting it tomorrow! I just LOVE his Robert Langdon series and have been reading it from the beginning.

Joshua got me Charlaine Harris's Dead Ever After. It is the very last Sookie Stackhouse book!!! MY GOODNESS!!!! WAH!!! It was a great ending to an awesome series and I just don't know what I am going to do without any more!!! WAH!!!!!!!

<3 Pattern Love <3

While we are packing and packing and packing, I have nothing new on the horizon. :/ It's been sooooo long since I did any kind of sewing!! I am starting to go through withdrawals now!!! LOL To tide me over, I have been looking at and Pinning patterns. I thought I would share some of them with you! :) You know, I am SUCH an enabler!! LOL





Isn't that DARLING????? Butterick B5901

It's under things but I'm thinking it would be cute as an outfit if the bodice was lined!







McCall's M6689

I love this silhouette!!







McCall's M6735

That looks perfect for summer!!



Now for the grown ups! ;)



Butterick B5881

Not crazy about the color but I love the silhouette!! I would probably pair it with leggings. ;)







McCall's M6758

I LOVE THIS!! It has a definite 60's Megan Draper vibe, don't you think???







Butterick B5895

There is absolutely NO WAY that I could ever pull that look off BUT I love it!!!!!  And I reallllllly want those shoes!! LOL









Simplicity 1609

This is a remake from the 60s.... Yeah, I'm going to have to get this one!! LOL





Here is a link to my sewing board on Pinterest where you can find tons of patterns and sewing inspiration! ;)

Sewing and Craft Ideas for Easter and Spring

I have a confession to make. I haven't sewn a single thing this week! GASP!!!! I don't know what has gotten into me! I do have tons of ideas floating around in my head but..... I think I need a trip to a fabric store. My stash just isn't cutting it anymore.

Some of the ideas I've had are for Easter! It's right around the corner!!!! Colin keeps reminding me because it's on his Birthday this year!



Here are Easter sewing ideas from around the Web!





Little Girl's Bunny Rabbit Apron - Etsy Shop









Bunny Pillow Pet





Bunny Easter Basket from Disdressed



Fluffy Stuffy  Bunny from  Allsorts



The Cotton Candy Skirt from Simple Simon & Co.


Sheep Pattern - Count the Sheep







McCall's M6642




Easter Bunny from Apine Industriose (It's in Italian but Chrome will translate.)





A Kid Designed Dress from A Home, Made


A Spring Wreath from Four Girlies





Emmaline Dress Pattern - Violette Fields Threads





Ruffled Easter Egg Tee - Positively Splendid





Modern Folksy Bunny Pattern - Gingercake









Spring Chick Skirt - iCandy Handmade





Simple Easter Dress - Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night



Easter/Spring Dress - Sew Dang Cute Crafts


Vintage Spring Dress - The Valencia's 









Marshmallow Bunny Plushies - We All Sew 



101 Handmade Easter Craft Ideas - Everything Etsy 


Egg Topiary - She's Kinda Crafty



Bunny Wreath -  Too Stinkin' Cute



Here's a nice list from Dana Made It

A nice list from About.Com Sewing.





Flower Power - by me ;)







High-Low Dress - me ;)









Eyelet Tank - me ;)







Orange Crush - me, again....









Fox Trot Part 1

Fox Trot Part 2







Change the fabrics and the Gingerbread Dress turns into an Easter dress! ;)







Fab Mod Dress

Gosh, I miss our old house. :/



I hope these tutorials and patterns help to jump start your Easter and Spring sewing and crafting! :)



I have something coming up. Think eyelet and pink gingham.

Helpful Sewing Tips, Tutorials and Free Patterns

I am posting under the influence of pain meds so I am not responsible for what I might say. ;) I ended up at the emergency room last night. The pain was just more than I could deal with. Thankfully the doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics and pain killers! Hopefully this will all be behind me in a couple of days.

I have noticed that my blog views have gone WAAAAAAAAAY down over the past 2 weeks. I know it's because I haven't had a new tutorial to post. SO SORRY! I have been so busy with costumes and life in general that I haven't had time to do any sewing for tutorials. :(  BUT after I finish Snoopy I will be working on Tinkerbell for Cailey. This costume will definitely be all out of my own head so I will be posting a tutorial for it, as long as it turns out... LOL

SOOOO, to tide you over until then I thought I would share some free sewing tips, tricks, tutorials and patterns that I have found. Sound good??

If you Pin any of them, please go to the original source and Pin from there. ;)

First off, I want to share SewSet with you. It's a great site where people can upload their patterns and tutorials to share with others. Some of them are NOT free but most of them ARE free! I have uploaded all of my tutorials there.

Another awesome free site is Freeneedle. I have sent them links to all of my tutorials and they have been wonderful to include them all on their site!!! :)

All Free Sewing is another site with free patterns and tutorials. I have a couple of mine on there. They send out great newsletters, too!





Here is a very cute, free pattern for a seahorse pillow! Isn't that adorable??





Here is a tutorial on how to slip stitch.







Here is a tutorial for a 90 minute shirt from Made. SO cute!!! I am definitely going to try this one out!! It's so hard to find cute stuff to make for boys!!!! Why is that???





Here is a very cute jumper tutorial from Once Upon a Sewing Machine.







How cute are those??? And if you are like me, you have a ton of fleece scraps lying around! What a perfect idea for them! They would make great presents, too!!! The tutorials are all free and are from FleeceFun.com. I am definitely thinking of making some up for Christmas presents.... LOL







Here is a great tutorial for adding a faux fly. This is from The Haby Goddess.







Ok, this isn't sewing but it is SOOOO awesome!!! What a great idea from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar!!! The house we will be moving too has hardwood floors in the living and dining rooms, so I can see this tutorial coming in VERY handy!!!







This is a tutorial for making your own wrap dress!! SO cute!! It comes from I Heart Jenny's Art.







Here is an awesome tutorial for making a peplum top. They are very "in" right now. This tutorial comes from Scared Stitchless. I love that name!! LOL







Here is another cute idea for Christmas presents!!! I know some Auburn and Clemson fans that would LOVE this!!! And I could definitely see doing different shapes and things for other teams. The tutorial comes from Kevin & Amanda and she got part of the tutorial from Make It - Love It.







How cute is that?? I love the layered look for skirts! I can totally see this as wearable for something other than a costume depending on fabric choices! This come from Sew Easy Being Green.







With Christmas coming up I know that boys are going to need their Christmas outfits!! Here is an amazing tutorial for the Classic Johnny Vest from Elegance and Elephants. She is one of the lucky few that was chosen for this season's Project Run and Play!







This is GREAT!! It shows you how to create ANY skirt pattern by using your measurements! Thank you, I Sew!!!







Isn't that ADORABLE??? Here is a free pattern for making that cute kitty from Doll Maker. More Christmas presents?? I think so! ;)







I LOOOVE this SOOOOO much!!! My Grandpa always wore that type of hat and I think it looks SOOOOO cute on little guys!! My cousin puts her cutie patootie in hats like that all the time! SOOOOO stinkin' cute!!! Thank you Melly Sews!!!!! I am definitely going to be making one for Colin!!







This is GREAT!!! Tags are expensive!!! I was looking them up and comparing prices.  OUCH!!! But here is a cheap way to make your own. from Bug & Bird.







Yes, that says 92 FREEEEEEE dress patterns and tutorials!!!!! YIPPEEE!!!! Thank you, Max California!!!!







Yes, again, your eyes are NOT deceiving you! LOL 1000 FREEEEEEE tutorials!!!!!! YAY!!!!! AMAZING!! Thank you, Everything Your Mama Made, for cleaning out your bookmarks! LOL







This is wonderful! I have the WORST problem with my bobbin tension!! So, now whenever I replace the bobbin I always do this to check the tension!!! This comes from  Cool Cottons.







This site has a ton of free applique patterns. They are all so cute! I love to add appliques! Thank you, Wee Folk Art!!!







My friend over at Squiggly Twigs Designs has a TON of tutorials, not just for clothing but for sewing techniques, too!!! She has really amazing stuff! You should definitely check it allllllllll out!!!! :)







This site has 30 Top Sewing Secrets tip and tutorials!





Another cute tutorial for boys!!! Running with Scissors has this awesome tutorial for her Oxford Gent Trousers!! They would go perfect with the Johnny Vest! ;)







This site has a big list of free sewing patterns and tutorials. They even have separate lists for the Holidays!!! The site is aptly named Sewing Freebies! LOL







This would be an awesome charity sewing project. About.com has the tutorial for making this wonderful walker attachment!





OK, that's all for today, folks! I hope you enjoy these tips, tutorials and free patterns! You can always check out my Pinterest boards for more. Just click the Pinterest button at the top of the page! ;)

AND you can find all of MY tutorials by clicking the Tutorials button up there at the top. ;)