Go Blue!

This coming Sunday is Superbowl XLVI and our favorite team made it this year!  Go NY Giants!  I have been making some fun new gear for our kids to get ready for the big game.  

Love this girl!!!!!!!! This hat was a gift from my brother.

FLEECE VEST

I will post separate info on the vest pattern later.  This post is mainly just for pictures.

Yup, it is big but she will grow into it, right?

Cutie shoes

One cute model!

Fleece skirt with twirly bottom (aka randomly cut fleece strips)

Precious girl who loves to twirl!

My little man in blue

Matching corduroy

These matching dresses for my girls put the biggest smile one my face because I think they are just so adorable. This McCall's pattern is very easy and I have made dresses from it a few times. I made Isabelle's dress a while ago as part of matching set with her cousin and also for her Christmas dress.

This is the second time I used this Butterick dress pattern for Grace. The first time was her Valentine's Day dress. It is such a simple pattern!! This time I used the dress fabric for the bias tape on the armholes and neckline instead of buying bias tape. I think the accent is really great!!!

She must be a really good friend!

I have a really good friend named Autumn who has been a prayer partner of mine for many years now and we have been raising our young kids together. Her youngest son, Judah, turned 1 today. Here is Judah (on the right) with our son, Gabe (on the left) a few months ago.

I really wanted to sew Judah something for this special birthday. It is harder to sew things for boys because cute fabric and good patterns are harder to find for boys. What to do?

Well, Autumn's husband is a big Dallas Cowboy's fan so I decided to make Judah a Cowboy's hoodie. You have to know what a labor of love this was because the Cowboys are my LEAST favorite football team and they actually wound up beating the Giants the day I finished this hoodie. Oh well. I love you, little Judah! Happy Birthday!!

I have added something new to my projects... labels!


I realized that none of the clothes I was making had sizes on them and this might be a problem later on as I forget how old the kids were when I made the outfits. It would also be helpful for people who I give gifts to to know what sizes the clothes are. I am still working out the kinks but labels are really easy. You can get fabric that feeds through your printer so you print on it and it is ready to get sewed onto your project.

Fall-meets-retro for matching cousin outfits

Ok, who isn't excited about the cooler fall weather and sewing with corduroy? Well, when I started thinking about sewing some fall outfits for the kids and their cousins, I wasn't too excited because corduroy colors always seemed so bland and boring to me. Not anymore! I found some really fun corduroy at JoAnn's and had a blast making coordinating tops for Isabelle and her cousin Virginia Grace. The fabric would normally be a little too retro for my taste but I think it works great for a fun fall look. This pattern is pretty easy and has a bunch of variations.

I made Virginia Grace's top before I got a bunch of the polka dotted fabric so there is not a lot of contrasting going on with her dress. I tried to make it a little snazzier by appliqueing her initial on it and adding the ribbon at the trunk seam. I hope she likes it!! Hopefully, I will get pics of her in it to post.
With Isabelle's top, I went a little wild and did more contrasting fabrics. I have gotten into appliqueing and simple monogramming recently and had hoped to monogram or applique' an "I" on Isabelle's top, but I think there is too much going on with the fabric and pattern to do that. What do you think?

Normally, fake pockets drive me crazy but I did not want to spend the time on sewing on real pockets when I know Isabelle will never use them.

Here are some great pictures of Isabelle and Virginia Grace in matching pillowcase dresses and also in coordinating tops in nautical fabric.

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.

Girl's Gathered dress or top (See and Sew B5009)

Now this might be my favorite pattern because it taught me a new sewing technique - GATHERING! I did not like it at first because it really challenged me but I have come to love it!!! What is more fun for a little girl than having a twirly top or dress?

In the cousin picture below, Isabelle and her cousin, Virginia Grace, are wearing the same top but I put a blue panel in the middle for Isabelle and a red panel in the middle for her cousin to make them coordinate but not be identical.

Here is a picture of Isabelle and Gabe's matching outfits just so you can see how they coordinate so well!

Then, I decided to use the gathers in the pattern but change it to a vertical paneled top/dress instead of a top/dress that had horizontal panels. Check it out!! I love choosing the coordinating fabrics in the dress top and panel. Fabric stores make choosing the fabric really easy because there are often multiple bolts of fabric in a design line so all you have to do is choose the ones you like in that line. By the way, Isabelle accessorized herself in the brown and red dress. What looks better with that dress than a blue bow and orange necklace?

A matching idea!!! I have made Isabelle's cousin Owyn an identical dress to the brown one above (but in a pattern that is a little warmer) for her birthday. Here is a picture of it:
But another option for these dresses when making them for multiple children is to use the same fabrics but change the order of the panels or use more or less panels in the pattern so the dresses will coordinate but they do not have to be identical. What do you think?? Hopefully, I will have a pic of Owyn in her dress soon to post next to Isabelle's.

There is one thing that I want to change on this dress... Because there are no button holes on the straps, the straps are sewn into the dress and I need the child's measurements to make sure the straps correctly. Getting children's measurements is not always easy, especially if the dress is going to be a surprise for someone. I am also not thrilled with the sewn-in straps because they means that you cannot adjust the straps as the girl grows without taking out a bunch of hand-sewn whip-stitches in the trunk part of the dress to access the straps. I like clothes to be adjustable and long-wearing. One solution is to put in buttons which I will probably do the next time I make this dress.