A Girls Gotta have Bags!

This past few weeks I have been working on various projects.  Many involving some type of bag or organizer.  I love bags and have a few I made but none of them had pockets.  This drove me nuts when my phone would ring, or when I tried to find my keys in the parking lot!  So, after much debating I finally purchased the Rosetta bag pattern by CarlaC and sisboom on www.youcanmakethis.com. It comes in three sizes. I made the middle one which is the perfect size for a pocketbook! Can I say I am in love!

I found some great clearance fabric at Walmart to test it out.  That way if I didn't love it I wasn't out much. WEll, I love it!  And have been using it ever since! Here it is !

 I added a bunch of pockets!  One side has 3 pretty big pockets, the other side has 4 smaller ones.  Plenty of room for phone, keys, small tape measurement, pens, etc!

I felt like it was missing something.  I found this cute flower at Walmart and I think it added just what I needed!

Another project I worked on this month was a coupon organizer!  This was designed by a friend of mine who is a great seamstress!  The pattern is found here: Coupon Organizer

So, being the disney woman I am, I had to use some Tink material!  It even has a way to attach it to the buggy at the store!

 The inside!  It was my first go at it and I messed up a little on the tabs.  Next time I am going to use manilla folders and cut them in half.  I saw a friend do that on his and I really liked the way it turned out!

Very Hungry Caterpillar!

I know I updated once today, but I am playing catch-up here and want to be prepared to add the new items I am working on as I finish them! 

I bought some Very Hungry Caterpillar material a few years back to make Sara Beth a dress.  I had plenty of ideas, but no concrete plans on how or when I was going to use it.  I was so excited to have it, I didn't want to mess up with it!  In April, I used some of it to make a flannel board set for my class..they loved it!  But now, I had used the only large butterfly, caterpillar and leaf I had!  Oh well!  

So, after using up some of the material I finally had the need to make a dress.  The pattern is a frankenpattern....in other words, it is a mixture of different patterns.  The base of it is CarlaC simply sweet..I love the pattern.  I used a simplicity pattern for the apron and knot straps.  I then used my own ideas of making the strip on the bottom.  All in all, I just love it!  So much so, I don't want Sara Beth wearing it too much and getting it dirty!  I do plan on selling it next year as a gently worn dress.  It would be perfect for a 5 or 6 year old to wear to school during Eric Carle week!

Here she is on our little garden.  She was worried that the bees would get her!  Silly girl!

So we switched to the front of the house....yeah, no bees here!

Checking out the swirl!

Next up, coupon organizer and Rosetta Bags!

Gifts for my Preschoolers!

SO, as the school year drew to a close I started thinking about what to get the littles in my preschool class. I really don't have money to go out and buy a bunch of junk that will probably end up in the trash, or end up broken. I got to thinking about the crayon roll up I made for Sara Beth when she was younger and thought I could make something similar. What I really wanted to make were crayon totes. A small bag that could hold a coloring book and a place for all the crayons on the outside. I searched the internet for some ideas and using a combination of many instructions I found I finally settled on an idea. I decided to make them 10x12, that way they would fit books and drawing pads. I made enough pockets for 12 crayons, but only included 8 with the bags.

I already had most of the fabric, but had to pick up a little since I had more boys in the class and most of my fabric is princess fabric! So here they are!

This is came out a little bigger because the front side is pillow fabric.

Disney Outfits 2011

Our Disney trip this year was at a different time. We usually go to the World in September or October. However, we had been to DisneyLand in April, so Sept of 2010, was not enough time between trips. A great deal for Free Dining showed up and we decided that we would try winter in Disney. Winter in Florida is unpredictable. You could have 80 degree days or 30 degrees day. DH and I honeymooned in Disney in December and two days were nice and 2 days were freezing!

So, I planned outfits for Sara Beth that could be worn with or without shirts underneath. I also had jeans, leggins or tights for each outfit. This first outfit is a Bambi outfit. I loved this material, it was designed off of Thomas Kinkades paintings. I made a Simply Sweet top using CarlaC's pattern. I appliqued one leg of her jeans with a mickey head made of the bambi material. The top to wear underneath was a portrait peasant top.

This outfit was actually repurposed! I made this dress years ago. It was a long tedious process as there are over 25 squares that are embroidered with different Disney characters. The dress was getting to small, and the bodice had been made from a Disney hankie and faded pretty badly. So, I removed the old bodice and the old bias tape from the bottom and added a new bodice and bias tape to match. Voila! Now she can get a few more years out of it!

Can you tell I love CarlaC's patterns? Simply sweet again! I used a Pillowcase square to make the bodice and the bright, cute mickey fabric I found at Walmart! I appliqued the jeans to match.

Oh my! An outfit not made from a CarlaC pattern...aka The Scientific Seamstress! This is a Feliz. It is a german pattern and I love it! There are some great sew-a-longs online to help you through, as german patterns seem to have very little directions! I love this print as it is another Thomas Kinkade fabric. I found the large Snow White online and the coordinating fabric at Hobby Lobby. The top underneath was a CarlaC portrait peasant top.

Another Feliz. Love this pattern! This is a tink dress made from really pretty fabric I found at Walmart as a creative cut. In fact, right at the moment, this same fabric is on clearance at my walmart for $1.97 for 2 yards!

This is another German pattern called a Vida. I have used this pattern before and I love how easy it goes together and how many options there are to bling it up! I found this awesome Lion King fabric on ebay and had to have it! It made the cutest vida!

Since the weather would be iffy, I decided she need a jacket. I found this cute, black hoodie at Target on clearance and added a mickey head applique to the back. Note I do not have an embroidery machine, so all applique is done freehand with a regular sewing machine!

The only thing I made for myself! I appliqued a mickey head on the back of a nice hoodie my dd gave me for Christmas.

Not only was this trip happening at a different time of the year, but I was going to meet some friends from the Disboards I have never met in real life! The disbotiquers are a great group of women(and Tom) who have been online together for years! It was so exciting to get to meet a great many of them! So, we had some matchy shirts for our meet!

We really did enjoy our trip, however the weather was in the 70's-80's all week! All dresses were worn without any shirts underneath and we didn't get to wear our new hoodies! Oh well! They all go plenty of use after Disney at home where the temperatures were in the 30's and 40's!

My next update will be some great crayon totes!

Catch up!

Seems like I try to stay on top of things in the summer, then the school year comes and I never have time to update! I am going to try to make a schedule for myself to keep up with this year. Sort of a school year resolution!

Here are some projects I completed last fall. I started a job as a preschool teacher assistant, and was promoted to Teacher after half a year. I am looking forward to working with 3 year olds again this coming year!

I made a few shirts for myself for work. I really need something that was comfortable, but also nice enough to wear to work. This first one was a Butterick pattern. I didn't love the pattern itself, but I loved the way the top came out.

This is a CarlaC pattern, the Shana Tunic. I loved how easy it went together. And I love this great fall fabric I had found at Hobby Lobby.

Another Shana tunic! Once you do one, you will want to do more! This is a great top for preschool! Hello Kitty Halloween fabric. The kids loved it! And again, very comfy and pretty!

Ashley wanted a top too. The pattern is simplicity, and it wasn't bad, it was the fabric that threw me! It was all crinkly and very hard to cut to a pattern. However, it came out great and she loved it!

Another Shana tunic! This one was for my MIL for Christmas. Fabric is from Hobby Lobby.

A portrait peasant from CarlaC! This is one of her original patterns. Very versatile. Made a quick dress/nightgown for Sara beth. Her AG dolls even got matchy ones...perhaps one day I will find the picture of them!

I found this great cradle at Goodwill for $3! I recovered it and made a pillow and a blanket. Sara Beth's AG dolls sleep well in their new bed! Only room for 2, so hopefully she doesn't get any ideas about needing another one!

Well, this is all for now. Next installment will be an update on Disney outfits from our trip in Jan/Feb 2011.