Happy First Birthday, Cecelia!

I made another cute little smocked dress for my "niece" Cecelia, this time in yellow gingham. Now that she has it, I can post it!!

 
She's promised me pictures of her wearing the dress, I'll try to post them when I get them.

Pillow Re-Do

Before

 I didn't particularly care for the pillows that came with our couch set, especially since they matched nothing in my house.  I've been wanting to re-do them for as long as we've had them. I've been going through my crafts stores recently, and found the perfect  thing among the fabrics that Mommom gave me while we were in Alabama last year.  The only problem was that it was a sheer netted fabric, and I needed something to go with it.  I went with Rebekah and the girls to JoAnn's the other day, and scored some brown/beige lining fabric exactly the color of my couches on clearance for just $2 a yard.  Happy dance!  

After

The original pillows were only wonky on the front; they were backed with the same material as the couch, so all I had to do was to take the old ones apart, set aside the front piece, use the back piece as a pattern to cut out the new fabric, and sew it all back together.

Awesome, right?  I now have two professional-looking pillows which exactly match our couch set AND the other decor in the room.  Thank you, thank you Mommom, for the fabric!!

In my sewing frenzy, I've started on curtains for our back door, but the fabric is such a nightmare that I can only stand to work on them a little at a time.  I've now been ignoring them completely for 2 days.  Instead, I pulled out that big blue "mermaid" purse I made last spring and tweaked it.  I'd decided that I didn't like the zipper I put on it because it made the top awkwardly stiff, and I'd made the shoulder strap without any interfacing and it was entirely too floppy.

So I got rid of the zipper and replaced it with just a loop-and-button closure, and remade the shoulder strap with interfacing.  Then I made a matching pouch to go with it.

Now they will live in the spare room closet until Christmas time. 

Super Easy Pleated Pouch

I've had this tutorial linked in the side of my blog forever, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it, until now.  And now, I'm kicking myself in the bum for not trying it before!  It's an excellent tutorial, the pouch is fun and easy to make, and the results are adorable.  I made this one last night, for myself.

 

Then, this morning, I was telling my sweet mother in law about it, and how I wanted to make more, and she volunteered as a recipient.  I said Yay! and proceeded to make another one.

 

 

Then I had to put my sewing machine away, because I have a ton of things I need to do to get ready for our trip.  (Did you notice that I am now posting to my blog, rather than working on that "ton of things"?  Maybe I should get on that.)  I want to go on the trip, but I did not want to stop sewing.  I'll be posting more of my recent labors soon.  

In the mean time, have a safe and wonderful Fourth of July weekend everyone!  Happy Independence Day!!

Another Dress, and the Christmas 2010 Series

I made another little dress for Elora!  This one came out a lot better than the other one, because I learned from the mistakes I made on it.  Overall, it's the same design.  This time, though, I included the belt in the construction of the dress instead of just tying it on her afterward, and I was a lot more careful about my hems.  (It's amazing the difference that ironing makes, and I knew that!  I have no excuse for not doing more ironing on the first one.)  I did mix up the measurements, so it's longer than I'd intended it to be, but that's no big deal.  All in all, I am thoroughly pleased with my results.

 Anyway, I also got straps put on the green dress that I made last summer. Elora didn't exactly cooperate with me when I was trying to get pictures, but Kaylie did!

 

Both girls got to wear their new dresses yesterday, as we went to another cookout hosted by one of Brandon's friends.  Sadly, I have no pictures from this event. There were a bazillion great photo opportunities, but my battery died as soon as we got there and I didn't have the charger with me.  I didn't get to take even a single picture.  I must be obsessed with taking pictures; I felt naked and incomplete without a functioning camera.

This morning, I finally got the last of my Christmas 2010 scrapbook pages done.  I got the Santa page done 3 or 4 weeks ago, but I've been putting off the rest because of the sheer volume of pictures.  In the end I decided to do a different spread for each portion of the family.  When I print the books, Bran's family will get the Gager spread...

...my mom's family will get the Wright spread...

...and my dad will get the Buckner spread.

   My book will have all 3.  If I ever get around to printing one for myself, anyway.

Elora's Dress

Faded Daydreams action from thecoffeeshopblog

My mom gave me some gingham fabric back when I was pregnant with Elora, with the intention that I should use it to make things for her or for the nursery.  I never did anything with it, though, and I've been toying around with ideas for it lately.  So, I went a little crazy yesterday, and turned my computer desk into a sewing station.  It made me nuts not to have my computer set up, but I so enjoyed the sewing I did, that it didn't matter.

Faded Daydreams action from thecoffeeshopblog

I decided to make a little another little smocked dress for Elora.  She never really got to wear the ones I made last year, but they'll work for Kaylie this year.  Kaylie is a lot bigger than Elora was at 3 months, and while she isn't nearly as big as Elora was at 15 months, she's big enough that the dresses look ok on her. (I'll photograph the dresses side-by-side later, for comparison.)  I have three more gingham fabrics to play with, and lots of elastic thread, so I think I'll be making more of these...for both the girls.

Winner!

Thanks for your comments, everyone! I used random.org to randomly choose my winner: 

Rogue Woman said...

Long necklaces work so well for me and

I really think that they are more in style 

right now. Congrats at getting your shop 

open!

Congratulations to Rogue Woman!! Please contact me with your shipping information, and I will get this in the mail sometime this week.  And since pretty much everyone voted for "long necklaces" I'll even lengthen it for you!!  (If I don't hear from you by next Saturday, I'll select a new winner.)

These are a few more of the things I have available in the shop, and I'll have more up soon!

Grand Opening Give-Away!

All Wound Up has finally opened its doors on Etsy!  So far, I have only a few things listed, but I will be adding many more over the next week or so.  To celebrate the grand opening, I'm giving away this little beauty to one lucky reader!  

 It's a fun, simple 15mm pearl drop pendant on a 16" antiqued brass chain, with a matching lobster claw clasp.  To enter, just leave me a comment on this post, telling me what necklace length you prefer to wear: Do you like short, choker style necklaces? Mid-length necklaces that fall between the collar bone and the bust line?  Or long necklaces that fall below the bust line?  You have until noon on June 7 June 10 to enter!  I will choose a winner at random that afternoon.  Good luck, and remember---go check out the shop!!