So here is what distracted me from finishing my movie concession guys. I used my new Serger which I LOVE! This is the time of the year I start getting antsy for spring and start making spring and summer clothes. This usually lasts for about two months.

This dress is for my daughters birthday. We are continuing the Alice in Wonderland theme from Halloween. It’d quite the coincidence that it wasn’t until after I finished my daughters Halloween costume last summer that I found out about the new Alice movie by Tim Burton. I was kinda bummed because now Alice stuff is everywhere and it doesn’t seem very original. I am very much looking forward to Tim Burton’s version of Alice coming out in the next month. I do hope the story holds together as well as his art direction.

I love that I was able to find material with John Tenniel’s illustrations and not the Disney version. I do love Disney’s Alice, but Tenniels drawing style really suites the oddness of this book. I found this material by Quilting Treasures at fabric.com.

This is Simplicity pattern 2574 used to make the dress.

And what little girl doesn’t need a matching dress for her doll. It was quite a pain to sew doll clothes. But it turned out SUPER cute.

I used Simplicity pattern  4707 for the doll dress and bonnett.

Last week we finished decorating our bedroom. All new paint, furniture and bedding. When we moved into the house we painted it the same color as the bedroom at the old house because it matched our bedding. We were tired of the color green and the light oak furniture so we decided to redo it. Furniture is from Home Decorators. We got a new bed, dresser, bookshelves and nightstands. I know a lot of people don’t like HD but we’ve always been pleased. To save money we picked it up and put it all together. Cream bedspread, brown shams, and brown blanket, along with brown drapes, came from JC Penny. I used Michael Millers Pod Posey Fabric to make two pillow shams and decorative pillows. Can’t remember the paint color but it’s Valspar American Traditions from Lowes. We’ve tried many paints and in my opinion it’s the best. Pretty much a one coat application paint. So two weekends of work and it’s done and super pretty. The only thing missing is a nice flat screen tv.

I finally got around to finishing up these tanks for my daughter from the fabric I bought a while ago. I think they turned out pretty cute. I also made 2 pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of capris to match. I used Simplicity pattern 5982, a very easy pattern. I also finished two other sun dresses for myself that I’ll try and get a pic of as well. I’m just about done with all my clothes sewing projects…of course now the garden is calling.

This dress is made from Butterick pattern 4386. It is super fast. You can easily get one made in an evening. I had to do a little altering. I made the darts bigger in the back because it wasn’t hanging right. I can’t remember who makes the print but it’s super cute and springy. I thought my squirrel head would looke really good with this dress.

After about two months of walking past the Orla Kiely display at Target I caved in and bought some stuff. I kept telling myself I just don’t need more “stuff” even though I loved what I saw. I know a lot of people are taking the tablecloths and towels and reworking them. So I decided I need a new tote bag and since I can’t afford a real Orla Kiely bag I’d make one myself. I live in the midwest and the Orla Kiely stuff isn’t exactly flying off the shelves. Which is a good thing for me, more for me!
I used the two set dishtowels that come in blue and white flowers. I had some great orangey velvety material that I used on the bottom and a brown cotton woven strap. I did use a fair amount of interfacing as well as a heavy canvas that is fused to the blue lining. I’m not a fan of what I call “droopy bags”, I like a bit of structure to my bags. That way everything stays nice and neat inside. I also added two areas for pockets on either side on the inside. It measures 12″ x 14″. Of course now I’m thinking of turning a table cloth into a skirt. I keep coming up with new sewing projects when I really need to get back to my plushies.

Every February and March I start sewing some clothing for the summer. I wasn’t able to last year because I was super busy with a new baby. But this year I’ve gone crazy. I haven’t sewn anything for myself for so long, it feels great.
Here are some great fabrics I’ve picked up recently. Most of these are going to be outfits for my daughter for the summer. I need to wait a month or two before I start these though.

I picked up Simplicity pattern 2922. I was a little apprehensive having never sewn one of these Project Runway patterns. However the fit was pretty good. The pattern runs a little big so I had to take it in. I also added darts in the back so it has a little bit more form to it and doesn’t hang like a tent.

Here’s some of the pieces I’ve finished.

I decided to make a holiday apron this year. I haven’t made an apron in a while so it was a nice change of pace. With having a daughter now I’ve been trying to come up with new traditions that we can do year to year. I like to bake a lot of cookies this time of year so I decided that this apron is from Mrs. Clause and it is magic. I thought this might be fun when my daughter gets older and we can have fun making cookies every year. I’ll probably embelish the story a bit when the time comes to tell her. Anyway I used Simplicity pattern 4282.