Hello again!  Somehow all my photos and the style of this blog got removed,  It might have something to do with adjustments I made to make an online album less intrusive but it is what it is, hopefully it won't happen again.  Anyway, I put it all back the way I wanted and now after a long absence I'm gonna post some new stuff before life gets crazy again...

I just finished and gifted my little friend with the second Frozen dress I made for her, this time it's Elsa.  Her friend is wearing the Anna dress.  She has been wearing the Anna dress constantly, I'm glad I made it so durable!!!  The Elsa dress however is a bit more delicate so she has been cautioned to be "a real princess" when she wears it ;-)  I think the tulle will probably rip off but it will still be a nice dress for play if it does.

   To continue the costume theme ;-)  A little someone in my life asked me to make her the dresses from the movie "Frozen".  It really was a simple makeover.  The skirt is a blue teal, not really the blue in the movie dress but the fabric is so pretty and slinky and soft that it was perfect for the project.  She's five, I'm pretty sure it won't matter! I found the stencil pattern on this website: Anna-s-Winter-Outfit-Stencils   I traced it on freezer paper, cut it out with an X-Acto knife and ironed the paper onto the bodice.  Then I painted with fabric paint and pulled off the paper.  It worked very well although I could have used an extra pair of hands to help lift the stencil...I was lucky to not mess up the paint. I hope to give it to her next week.  Again I used thrifted items, a size medium woman's tank top and a XL skirt. Both are really nice fabrics, easy to wash...a nice feature for anything for a five year old! I did buy fabric to make the peasant top but used a thrifted shirt for the waistband on that.  It turned out so well, and I had so much of that thrifted shirt left, that I had to go on and make a matching skirt.  I will try to post a picture of her wearing the dress.

I made this Swiss Guard costume for our church to use at Vacation Bible school this year.  It is made according to instructions from this fabulous mom: the-makings-of-swiss-guard-costume
I used thrifted shirts, that's why the colors aren't perfect!!!
The pants have the stripes attached because I cut down an adult pair of sweat shorts so I could get a longer pant leg.  The top is made like a vest.  The shoulders are held up with pins underneath to make the sleeves more puffy at the top and to make it adjustable so an adult could wear it too.  It is open at the sides, again for adjustability and held together by overlapping and securing with the belt (and probably more pins!)
This was so much fun to make.  I probably could have made it even less complicated but I'm very happy how it turned out.  I didn't have time to make the leg spats but it looks like some soccer socks were found which do the trick nicely.

Hello

Hello!  I just made this Mei Tai carrier for my daughter.  I used the pattern from this website:  diy-mei-tai-pattern, but since I can't seem to follow any pattern or recipe without tweeking, I made some changes!

Where the pattern calls for adjustable buttoned elastic, I just sewed in elastic to give the body of the mei-tai the feature to "hug" the baby.  I think it will retain the function this way, and still be accommodating to her as she grows but I just didn't want to do all those buttonholes ;-).  The "blanket" portion of the mei-tai is made from thrifted men's shirts.  The straps are of a material that was purchased at Jo-Ann's, it is a woven material that seemed very strong (I couldn't rip it) and yet it is thin and soft enough to make good ties that will hold. The real problem was matching the color!  Greens can be so fussy!  I get nervous when colors don't match exactly, close enough won't do, I would rather use complimentary colors than have a clash going on.  I also had to print out and use the pattern at 90% since I didn't pick a shirt big enough to get the blanket at 100%. That worked just fine, I don't think it will mean that she will outgrow the mei-tai either.  But if she does, I'll just make another!!!  And next time I will take pictures of the process.
   I usually pick the most complicated project to start and this pattern is probably the most difficult and involved of all the mei-tai patterns out there for free.  However, don't let that stop you because I also think this is a great pattern!!!  Her instructions are clear and it went fairly quickly too.
  When we went out shopping my daughter got several comments from other moms.  I didn't sew the hood on it, partly because I didn't have enough time and partly because I was unsure about whether my daughter would use it.  I was also concerned that since she will be wearing the baby so she can get some housework done that the hood would just get in the way.  My fix is to make a hood that can be snapped on when needed.  I have it all cut and ready to sew, I just haven't yet.