Think I'm Going to Have to do This

I found a blog called No Big Dill this evening. I've seen it mentioned before but now I'm in love. Her most recent project is this and I think it's awesome. I think I'm going to have to give it a whirl. We'll see how it pans out. the possibilities are endless. Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, The Prayer Tree, The Gorilla Did It, Alexander and Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Caps For Sale, The Magician's Nephew, Rainbow Fish....just thinking about made me excited!!!! I can't wait to see what I come up with. Maybe I'll alternate letting the girls choose a book and then make them something inspired by their choice. Hooray!

Fairies!!!!

Of course, the girls wanted to be fairies for Halloween (at first Siobhan wanted to be an astronaut, but we decided on Tinker Bell instead.) I had a bunch of fun making all of their costumes! Mr. Will was going to be Paul McCartney, but then we decided that he might be more comfortable as an owl. They were all adorable!

For Siobhan we decided that as Tinkerbell, we would go with the version from 'Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure'. She's a little more modest in that she wears pants and a shirt under her dress. I'm glad we went that direction for two reasons...the dress I made was shorter than I planned and it was really cold. So it worked on all accounts. I got a shiny green button up shirt at the thrift store and turned it around so the buttons were the closure in the back. Then I used the sleeves for the boots along with twine. Then with all the scraps, I braided her belt. For the pants and shirt, I took some white long johns and dyed them green. Take a look. Her hat was made with two giant leaves from Hobby Lobby. It was fun making it!


Audrey has always loved Silvermist. So it was only natural that she would want to dress up like the water fairy. I took a little more poetic license and didn't go quite so literal. I took a really large, unattractive bridesmaid/prom dress as well as the lining from the dress. I made a basic peasant style dress with and overlay. She loved it. Again, it's not exactly what Silvermist looks like but what can you do? A three year old is not the easiest body to make a fitted dress for....especially a wiggly one like Audrey. Take a look here. By the way, their wings are from Savers and were like as big as Audrey but I got them $5 each. Can't beat that!

Mr. Will's costume was really easy and fun to make! I used this tutorial but made a few changes. Obviously, I didn't make it pink and instead of a mask which I knew he wouldn't wear, I put the face on the hood. I got the hoodie at a consignment store and then matching/coordinating fleece from Hobby Lobby. I also beefed up the wings a little bit more than the tutorial. He was so cute but wouldn't really pose for a pic.

I love making their Halloween costumes! Call me crazy for spending the time, but it's fun for me and I have always loved dressing up for Halloween so I don't mind spending the time. We went to the ward trunk-or-treat which was super fun and we had my grandma join us which was a bonus!!! We weren't able to go trick-or-treating for real because it was pouring rain when we were planning on going. But they got plenty of sugar anyway. I hope everyone had a happy (and safe) Halloween!

National Sewing Month #1

Since one of my goals during National Sewing Month was to take pictures of my completed sewing projects, I figured I would/should post them as well.

The first project that I completed is one that I started on a whim. There is a craft blog and now a book called Graft Hope where there are a collection of projects that can be donated to specific charities. Read all about it here. For Pediatric Cancer Month, their project for September was pillowcases for pediatric cancer patients through the charity ConKerr Cancer. It's a really neat project and a really fun/easy sewing undertaking. So I joined in. But the deadline is Sept 15, so i started last week and I just finished 6 pillowcases. I sewed three last Friday night and three more yesterday. Here's how they turned out.

The great thing about this project is that each pillowcase only takes 1 yard total of fabric. So I hit the sale tables at the Cotton Shop (different day from when I saw someone get arrested) and got some really fun but inexpensive fabric. I was also able to destash which is always a good thing. I bought some fabrics that are not represented here because I couldn't find anything to coordinate with them. So I'll use them for other projects. I love doing projects for myself and my family, but it feels really great to do something for others once in a while who will benefit greatly. There's still time to get your pillowcases done because you don't need to ship them. Go here to find a regional representative who can collect your pillowcases.

National Sewing Month

I just read on Dana's blog that it's National Sewing Month. How fun is that? Just the thing to get me motivated! Even though I already had plans to do a bunch of sewing (hey, I always have the plan, right?) I thought I'd set some goals for myself to coincide with this awesome month celebrating creativity. Here's some the things that I want to accomplish during the rest of the month.

*Finish the pillowcases that I'm doing for ConKerr Cancer. These are pillowcases that go to children suffering from pediatric cancer. I've already made three but I'd like to make a bunch more. I need to get going on it as I only have until the 15th.

*Make cow jammies for Kate as a much delayed birthday present.

*Start photographing my completed projects.

*Join the Craft with Me fun over at U Create. For September, we're making fabric pumpkins that are super fun. Then I'll get the fall decor out.

*Get my sewing closet organized and finished up so I can have a workspace that is all my own (more or less). Every time I sew, I bring my sewing machine up to the kitchen table. I don't think my FIL appreciates it too much.

*Of course, watching plenty of Project Runway! Call it inspiration!

*Make some stuff for the new baby. Nothing extreme. Maybe some burp clothes or a changing pad or these super cute 'loveys'. I'm just not sure how they will translate for a little boy. Maybe if I don't ruffle the edge. We'll see. I may need to make the lovey at a later date because Minky fabric is expensive.

*Finally settle of the fabric for the bedding in the girls rooms.

*Try to figure out how to make an astronaut Halloween costume for Siobhan. Or figure out how to convince her to Tinker Bell.

*Make something for myself. I don't know what, yet, but something.

Those are my plans. It may be ambitious, but I think I can do it. And the kicker of this all, I want to spend very little money as I have been put on a spending freeze in regards to fabric and craft supplies. I may be able to squeeze some money out for one or two projects, but I think doing it all on a budget will be a good thing. I'll post pics of the projects that I complete.

If you want to participate in National Sewing Month, go visit their website (click on the link) and see what they have going on over there. Also, go visit Dana's blog MADE. She has a bunch of links to other people who are celebrating as well as some of her own ideas. So, here's to making the most of naptime!