a little crazy

today i created something a little bit more funky than usual. my sister loves upcycling clothing and she is great at it (just check out her etsy shop!!) and when she was over yesterday she looked through some of my old t-shirts with me. this one shirt i used to wear back in college just screamed to be re-made into something new. i think it was from anthropology back in the day. i liked it a lot way back when. then gradually it found its way to the bottom of the stacks of clothing on my shirt shelf and finally found its sad self a new home the "scrap and re-craft bin" in my sewing nook. today the shirt morphed into something altogether different. two somethings different to be exact. on a whim, i pulled it out of that bin, hastily (maybe too hastily?) selected two fabrics to go with it, and headed over to my cutting table to get to work. i cut out two tank pieces from the front side of the tee using one of reece's tops as a guide and then i chopped off some fabric to form the skirt of the dress. i couldn't leave the other side of the tee just laying there til the next time inspiration took me back to the scrap bin, so i decided to make a dress for little macy too. i guessed entirely on her dimensions for the tank (and have a little tailoring to do now) and cut some more of the cotton fabric for the skirt for hers. then it was off to the serger and the sewing machines for my happy little scraps. surprisingly, both dresses came together really quickly--guess that is a perk of upcycling (part of the work is already done for you!)--which was great because as i sat down to sew i conveniently heard reece waking up. it wasn't too long before macy followed suit, but by then i had already finished one dress and was on the second one and couldn't stop! they are quite crazy in my opinion, but reece liked her dress a lot and that means they will be keepers. we had some fun walking around the neighborhood tonight in the new frocks! what do you think? too funky? or will they work?

y'all ready to ruffle?

hello, chickadee chickadee friends! tonight i will be offering ruffle pants--they were highly requested in last week's poll, so here's your chance! when you comment to claim your favorite style on its facebook photo post tonight, be sure to include the following information:

-size (0-3m, 3-6m, 6-12m, 12-18m, 18-24m, 2T, 3T, 4T) larger sizes are $5 more and i can accommodate up to size 6.

-capri (3" shorter than full length), full, or custom (please include the length in inches that you would like)
-paypal address


-capri ruffles are $22 and shipping is $3
-full-length ruffles are $24 and shipping is $3.25


these are the styles i will be offering! lots to choose from! i can take on about 2-3 pairs per style. i will have more photos of these styles tonight!


aqua/red flowers
pineapple brocade
pink/aqua tiles
navy/pink paisley
pink/white polka dots

multi-colored polka dots on cream
trees on grass
aqua/lime brocade (pictured above on the right)

pink/pink polka dots
lime/brown floral


 
size chart is as follows:
length=top of waistband to hem of ruffle, waist=unstretched elastic waistband:
6-12 months-Waist 15" Length from waist 14"
12/18 months- Waist 16" Length from waist 15"
18-24 months- Waist 17" Length from waist 16"
2T Waist 17” Length from waist 17”
3T Waist 18” Length from waist 18”
4T Waist 19" Length from waist 19"
capri ruffles are three inches shorter in length than the full-length dimensions.

welcome spring dresses

this weekend, the weather in atlanta was heavenly. so perfect that i just had to sew to welcome the spring. this is what my machines turned out...a knot dress for my oldest and a total experiment dress for my youngest.  i laid awake all night on saturday sketching out in my mind how i wanted little m's dress to look. there are some changes i will make when i tackle this style again and maybe i will be super productive and make out a pattern for it. anyways, here are some sneak peeks of their welcome spring dresses!

it's no secret that...

we love ourselves some matilda jane around this house...
yes, we get stopped all the time and people ask if the girls are wearing matilda jane when really they are just sporting a mama-made chickadee chickadee this or that. yes, many of the matilda jane styles are pretty easy to sew but there is just something about denise's beautiful combination of fabrics and trims that lures me in every time a new line is released! most days the girls wear chickadee chickadee, but a lot of those days, there is a little mjc mixed in too! can you spot which is which (probably isn't that tricky!)?

anyways, my first mjc purchase was this summertime tank dress and these sprite leggings last spring. the sprite leggings have long been sold out and i know why--they are so wearable--they go with almost everything and are so lively! i have been stewing over the fact that my youngest missed out on the sprites...so when i saw this fabric at the fabric store...i knew i had to get busy. last fall, i just played with the fabric a little and made my niece a pair of straight-leg cropped pants to go with her birdie peasant dress i made her for her birthday. but today, i just had to do it... i had a tiny bit of the print leftover after cutting and sewing all the adelaide collage dresses this past week...so my mind went straight to the sprites and my sweet pea's lack thereof... and here you have it, folks...i wouldn't dream of copying one of denise's current designs, but i don't think she'd mind seeing as this style is a year old and hard to find. and of course, my take on the sprites is a little different and the fabric is not the same color or quality (and not quite as cool as anything mjc of course!).

i cut these "sprites" to be more like pants rather than leggings. my littlest wears cloth diapers and sometimes leggings just look goofy with a bulgy bum! anyways, what do you think of these happy little pants? i am pretty smitten (especially because they will be perfect for st. patty's day this coming week!!) and plan to do a little more experimentation with knit leggings and ruffles this spring and summer!

three!

(can you tell i do not have the skill of cake decorating?)

my oldest turned three (gasp!) on saturday! i had to make her a "princess birthday dress" because i knew if i didn't, she would insist on wearing her ole standby from the dress up bin...a um lovely little aqua thing...

which of course she put on as soon as she woke up since i didn't have the new dress ready (or eek! even started until 9am (the guests came at 10:30!).

she requested ruffles and that is just what she got!

i didn't manage to snap any decent pictures of her wearing the dress since she was too busy flitting around and trying out and on all her new presents, eating cake and brunch goodies and playing with her cousins!so this is the best i ended up with!

 
she adores all things fancy and she loves dressing up, so we gave her a big bin full of dress-up things! i made her a super hero cape, a crown, a cheerleading outfit...and had plans to sew more things, but time got the best of me and i had to hang my hat!  she got much more excitement out of her disney princess costumes that my family gave her than these handmade things anyways, but hopefully someday she will enjoy them too!