My first matching outfit order!!

My friend asked me to make her son and daughter matching outfits for the upcoming holiday season (bring on the fall and winter!). She gave me a lot of freedom in the planning and only asked that the fabric be red corduroy that was soft. Well, let's just say that I was so excited to make these outfits and I really hope she likes them.

Her son's outfit was pretty straight forward. I chose a simple romper outfit that I have made before. The pattern is easy and I was sad to learn that the fabric stores don't sell it anymore. Do they bring patterns back every now and then like they do Disney movies??? If you want it, you can probably order it online. This romper pattern is a little different from my favorite romper pattern because it only has a little lining in the trunk as opposed to the full lining in my favorite romper. Because corduroy is warm, I did not think my friend's son needed 2 layers of it. Only having a partial lining reduces the overall fabric cost, too.
Want to see how I have made this same romper in a shortie version? Here you go!!

The daughter's dress was a little trickier because there are so many options for little girls' dresses!! I finally chose the dress that is in the same pattern as the romper for the son. I picked that same pattern because:

• I have made it before
  
• trunk of the dress is fully lined (better for cold months)
• the hem of the dress has a tuck or fold which means my friend can use this for at least a couple of years as long as she just undoes the tuck. I am always an advocate of stretching clothes out as long as possible.
  

The only down side to this dress is that it does require a bit of fabric due to the 2nd and 3rd reasons I just listed for choosing the pattern. I needed 2.75 yards for a 4T dress. Good thing corduroy was on sale at JoAnn's when I bought it!!
I added the ribbon as a trim to the dress because the dress looked too plain with just the corduroy and this dress is going to be used during the holidays. I wanted to add a little pizazz but my friend definitely did not want anything fru-fru so I kept it to a minimum.
***This dress pattern is a little difficult to make and I would not recommend it for a beginner sewing project. The continuous lap placket (aka. "pleat in the back" that makes it easier to put on and off) is hard to understand and the pictures on the pattern are terrible. Also, the trunk lining needs to be hand sewn to the skirt portion and figuring out how to keep the lining separate from the main trunk fabric while sewing is tricky.

Are you ready for some football?

I have finished all of the football outfits that people have asked me to make for the season (but I am ALWAYS open to making some more!!) Here they are:

Fully lined rompers (pattern)

• N.C. State for my son. Want to see more details on this romper for boys and other pics of non-football rompers I have made in this pattern? Here you go!
  

• Washington Redskins for one of my daughters little friends, Holland. Want to see all of the details of how I tweaked this typically plain romper into a girlie outfit for Holland? Here you go!

• N.Y. Giants for my niece (thanks mom for ordering this!!). I "girly-ized" this romper just a little bit by adding ribbon around the hem. My daughter had fun modeling it!

Partially-lined romper (pattern here)

• Pittsburgh Steelers outfit for one of my friend's son, Aiden. Want to see more info on this romper and other non-football rompers in this same pattern? Here you go!

Football season is here!!!!!!

Well, who says women can't enjoy football season and be cute at the same time? Here is a romper (although it looks like a dress in the first picture) I have made for a sweet little girl in my life named Holland. She and Isabelle are only 2 weeks apart. This romper pattern is fully lined which is wonderful for the cooler months that go along with football season.

This is the first time I have tweaked this pattern for a girl and I think it came out really cute (other than the fact that it is Redskins material, of course!)! The ribbon and ruffles at the bottom were a challenge, but they were fun to figure out. The hardest part was figuring out how to hide the top of the ruffles inside the romper. I can't wait to see if Holland and her mom like it!

Are you wondering what it would look like on a little boy? Well, the ruffles would be gone, of course!! Here is Gabe's NC State romper (please excuse the stains on the neck area... boys sure are messy!!).
Want to see all of the rompers I have made with this pattern? Here you go!!

Girl's Dress (McCall's 2033)

I finished this dress from McCall's tonight and am excited about it! Check it out! It is a gift for my niece's 3rd birthday.

The top is very full and is sleeveless instead of having thin straps which will be warmer for my niece who lives in a cold part of the country! I really like how the lining shows here and complements the main fabric.

I am showing you the back because it was difficult for me to get that last button on there with my machine. The buttonhole foot could not glide over the bottom of the trunk and the top of the gathered skirt. I wound up having to use a zigzag stitch manually and wing it. It is functional, but it sure is a technique that I need to improve on for next time.

This dress also has a continuous lap on the skirt part which I need to do a lot of practice with for future outfits. The part of the pattern that explains how to do it just baffles me!!

I have also made this dress as part of a matching set for my friend's children for the holidays. It is a lot simpler looking in the red corduroy my friend chose for her outfits than in the crazy patterns I chose for my niece. I like the way they both look in the different fabrics.

This dress, as I said, is for my niece Owyn's birthday and Isabelle has a matching dress in another pattern. I can't wait to see pics of Owyn so I can show you more matching cousin pictures! Here is Isabelle in hers:

***11/27/10 Here is the picture of my niece in her dress. She is soooooo cute!!!

Boy's fully lined romper

This was one of the first patterns I tackled because of the name of the website (YouCanMakeThis.com). It sounded easy enough!! And it was easy!! I really like this pattern because the romper is completely lined instead of just having a trunk-lining. Because of the complete lining, it is a really sturdy pattern and it keeps my son warmer than most rompers do which is great since he is usually prone to being cold.

These are the first two matching outfits I made for Isabelle and Gabe. I have gotten so much better in my technique since then but they hold a special place in my heart.

The second time I made this outfit was as a NC State outfit. This picture of Gabe is not the best one I have in this outfit but I am working on taking a better one. This outfit is what I recommend to people to have made during the winter months since it is fully lined.


The third time I made this outfit, it was part of a matching set for Isabelle, Gabe and their cousins at a family reunion. They all looked so adorable in the same fabric but in different patterns! What do you think?

It has been fun to learn on this pattern and get better and better each time I make it. I have not made it with snaps yet but plan on doing that soon!

I recently made this pattern for a little girl whose mom loves the Washington Redskins. I think it is so cute! Have a look and let me know what you think!

Boy's Romper (Easy McCall's 2033)

I have made this outfit (the little boy's jumper) a few times. I have gotten much better at matching the pattern at the center seam since making this Steelers romper, but I think it looks cute even though it is a little mismatched. My friend's husband is a huge Steelers fan and he loved it!!

I have made it with and without pockets and have made it in a short- and long-legged version. Here is my nephew in this outfit.

Here is a great picture of how you can put different kids in the same fabric but in different patterns. This was the first time I made matching outfits for my kids and their cousins! My nephew Elliott (on the far left) is wearing this romper pattern in the nautical print. Gabe is wearing a fully-lined romper and the girls are wearing gathered tops that can be made as dresses.

Sports fabric sale!!!

UPDATED SALE INFO!!!

I am getting the fall and football fever a little bit (ok, A LOT!) so I checked out JoAnn's and found that their sports fabric is NOW 40% off right now if you buy online. Here are the ones that are calling my name:

• NY Giants fabric at $5.39/yd. This was one of the cheapest prices/yard of all the teams... Does that mean something????

• NCSU Fleece (good for vests!!!) at $8.99/yd. I just bought a pattern for fleece vests, too, so this is doubly tempting!

Toddler's top and dress (McCall's 5416)

Isabelle has a sweet friend named Holland who was born just 2 weeks after Isabelle. They are so adorable together!! Here are some sweet pics of them growing up together.

Holland was being a sweet friend and keeping Isabelle company in "time-out" in this picture~~~

I did not make these matching outfits for the girls. It was a total coincidence that they had the same outfit, but it did start some wheels turning in my mind...

I made Isabelle this top a long time ago but then decided that it would be sweet if Holland had a matching one so I made it for Holland's 2nd birthday. It looks like I made it a little too long for Holland as a top so she is wearing it as a dress right now. It will be cute this fall over some red pants or leggings. I like the ribbon on the hem of Holland's top.

Welcome to my sewing site!

For about 6 months, I have been sewing cute matching outfits for my kids and other kids for various reasons:

1- I wanted Gabe and Isabelle (and now new baby girl) to have coordinating outfits for different events and I had a hard time finding them at stores without having to hit the boutiques.

2- I wanted Isabelle and her female cousins to have some matching dresses and it was nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find matching dresses in their varying sizes (now 2T to almost 6).

3- Football season is around the corner and it is hard to buy NFL clothes for kids that aren't really expensive.

4- It is fun to make baby outfits for people and then give them a matching burp cloth or something like that with the extra material.

5- It is helping me keep my sanity as I stay home with the kids all day. I can whip out these outfits in 2 nap-times or in a couple of evenings (sometimes these evening sewing times get very late!!)

Have you thought some of the thoughts that I listed above? Is there an occasion coming up for which you would like kids in your life to have some cute outfits (especially some matching or coordinating ones for different kids)? If so, then I would be happy to make some for you! I am posting pictures of the patterns I use and the outfits I have made from them so you can look at them and see if you would like me to make them for you.

I am not trying to start a sewing business here, folks! :) Sewing as a business demands so much skill and time that I don't have! I won't neglect my greater priorities at home of being a wife, mom, and homemaker for sewing. I am just trying to supplement my sewing budget a little bit and meet a need I have seen out there for affordable matching outfits for boys and girls of varying ages. If you come upon a need or a desire to have some matching outfits (or single outfits), I am happy to help you and my sewing budget out!

Thanks for taking time to look at what I have done. The variations on each outfit are endless so if you see something and have an idea for tweaking it, let me know! I will see what I can do!

Romper, Burp Cloth, and Shoes

I made this romper, burp cloth, and shoes for my friend Rockie's new baby, Simon. What's really fun is that I got the pattern for these shoes from Rockie's craft site.

I made this beach-themed burp cloth and matching shoes for a sweet friend who wound up having her daughter on Gabe's birthday!! How fun!

Pillowcase Dress

This pillowcase dress is so much fun to make because the possibilities are ENDLESS and it also practical because it is extremely versatile. It can be used in the summer as it is and then you can add leggings in the fall and then a turtleneck in the winter.

I had a friend make Isabelle and her girl cousins matching pillowcase dresses last winter and she did an awesome job!! Thanks, Monica!

After I got into sewing this summer, I realized that I could make these dresses pretty easily myself. I used Monica's dresses as a pattern and also found this tutorial helped me fill in the blanks. I cannot tell you how adorable I think these dresses are. If you want a great beginner sewing project, this is it!!! Anyone with a sewing machine and cute fabric can do it!!

Along with the dress at the top of this page, here is another one that I have made since.

Baby dress, hat and bloomers (McCall's 4424)

Ok, this dress is very special to me for many reasons. The most important reason is that it is the first outfit I have made for our new baby girl (due in September!!). The Laura Ashley pattern was just too adorable in the store to pass up and it was a complete impulse buy (hence the reason I am trying to sell some of these outfits... oh, the addiction of patterns and fabric!). I also wanted to find a pattern with a really good pattern for underwear (sorry, my vocal chords can't get the word "panties" out). I haven't made the underwear yet but I will as soon as I get some more elastic. I am working on making the bows, but gathering that small amount of fabric is pretty hard. I know they will look adorable once I finish them though! I am going to make Isabelle a matching gathered vertical paneled dress in the same fabric or maybe a romper since it is going to be winter when the baby will be wearing this.

What was really cute was that Isabelle wanted to put the dress on her bear today and that was actually pretty perfect since I don't have a baby model to put the dress on yet.