I LOVE this dress!!

I have been fortunate enough to pattern test some amazing items for Little Lizard King, Brynnberlee Designs, and Snazzie Drawers, but this was my first opportunity to test for Tenderfeet Stitches. Boy did I luck out on the dress I was selected to test, the Malibu Mega Ruffle dress! This little gem is not only gorgeous, but is also very unique. I just LOVE the way it ties into a bow in the back and of course, who doesn't love ruffles?! *Raises hand*.. I don't! Well, I have a love/hate relationship with them. I loathe ruffling/gathering fabric and pinning it all down then sewing it, BUT, I absolutely LOVE how they turn out every time. Ruffly goodness makes me happy in the end, so I continue to take on projects that require the ruffle.

I tested this dress in size 0-3 months for my newest addition and I'm in love with how it turned out! That being said, if you purchase this pattern for your own little lady, I don't recommend making it for anyone who doesn't walk, or at least sit. It doesn't make sense to put a dress on a baby that has to lay down b/c the bow is on the back and that isn't comfortable! Tenderfeet Stitches offers patterns from NB-10 years though, so I understand why it is offered so small. And, let's be honest, pint sized anything is SUPER cute!! My husband actually said how much he loved this little dress and how we need to keep it.... he NEVER suggests keeping ANYthing, so that is huge!

Here is is! I can't wait to make matching dresses for Bailey and Brooke!

I am entering this dress into the So You Think You Can Sew contest over at the Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night blog. This looks like such a fun contest with amazing prizes!!!

Dress obsessed..

Apparently I have a problem. I can't stop making dresses! It's not like my child needs another dress. In addition to the several I've made her so far this summer, she has a closet-full of other cute ones! But.. I.just.can't.stop! 

I blogged about making my 4th of July Sundress here and how I had cut material for two dresses. Well, today I finally finished the Apple dress. It is AMAZING! I am absolutely in love with the fabrics! After seeing the finished product for the 4th of July dress, I decided to change it up a bit with this one. I cut the main body of the dress into more of an a-line shape (just slightly), I gathered the top ruffle when I sewed it down and then also added the elastic band (which gathers it more) so it was more ruffly, and for the bottom piece, I folded it in half, sewed it on and didn't ruffle it. It made the overall length of the dress shorter and I think it's the perfect length! LOVE!

This is where I'm sewing down the ruffle, before adding the elastic. Since I
had changed the shape of the dress from the original one, I had extra fabric
for this strip, so I just gathered it up and sewed it down.

You've got to love the smiles from a 3 year old! <3

Loving Little Lizard King!

I have won and purchased Little Lizard King patterns in the past. They are SO great! However, I had never made one until the past two weeks! I follow her blog and Facebook page. A few weeks ago she asked for some testers for a new Baby Doll Twirl dress pattern she was going to release. I immediately replied and was one of the lucky ones to get the chance to test the pattern! Of course, I was super psyched and this was just the nudge I needed to get back in the sewing saddle.. and to finally make one of her patterns!
It took me a few days to complete, mostly because when I started it I was also doing some naptime sleep training with the little fella so there were frequent interruptions! Oh that and the fact that I couldn't get my dang machine to shirr!! I seriously just sat there staring at the sleeves and my scrap piece that was a mess of shirring gone WRONG!! I finally figured it out (and have since made the adorable bandana dress that required a lot of shirring!). The dress is a tiered dress and takes a LOT of fabric, but well worth it! I made it in a size 4t and it ended up being really big. She is re-working the pattern and sizing it down a bit and I'm taking it in a little so that Brooke can wear it now, since she loves it as much as I do!

Here is the fabric combination I chose.. and love! 

One awesome thing I learned while doing this was a different way to ruffle! Instead of doing long basting stitches, and pulling the strings, you can do a very wide zig zag and sew over a piece of contrasting thread- that you will use to pull and gather the ruffles. It is way quicker and easier!

See the brown thread there? 

It's smart to use the contrasting thread so you can easily tell which string needs to be pulled!

LOTS of gathering.. lots of material! Lots and lots! 

I also learned that I am not good at zig-zagging edges to prevent fraying. I DO have a serger, I just don't feel like I know how to use it properly! I'm not sure I've used it since last summer actually! I need to just get it out, read up on it (again), watch some video tutorials and do it. Much easier than this zig-zag business. I also never know how far over to put my material to get it to zig and zag correctly.

Using a serger is also a much quicker method of finishing raw edges.. in case you were wondering.

Proof that I mastered the shirring!!! Booyah! Take that Brother sewing machine! 

I own you (now- you had me for a while, but I'm back so recognize.).

And my scrap pieces that I used while trying to figure this out!

Each row of stitches made me more and more frustrated!

This armhole piece is the only piece you had to print out.

Since I had finally messed with my machine, by tightening a screw on the bobbin casing, to get it to shirr, I didn't want to mess it up and have to be frustrated with getting it back to "normal" sewing mode. Naturally, I plan on doing a lot more shirring, so I decided to order a new casing! That way I'll have one for shirring, all set and ready to go, and one for regular sewing! I've had to wait for it to arrive in the mail, so I had to borrow my friend's really basic machine so that I could finish the dress and work on other projects. It has worked out well, but boy do I miss my machine!

Here is the final dress! Love!

You can see it's too big at the shoulders here.

And too wide as well.

But, it's freaking adorable!

And best of all.... SHE LOVES IT!

After I finished this and submitted my pictures and revisions, she offered me the opportunity to test ANOTHER new pattern she's working on! Well heck yes!! This time it was for cargo shorts for boys and little tie shorts for a girl! I was so excited to have something to make for Benjamin! I made them today and they are SOOOO very cute!! I love them and will be making many more pairs I am sure! Brooke already wants a matching pair and that will be my project during naptime tomorrow! They were much more simple and quick to make than the dress- I was able to complete the pair in one day!

I had fun piecing the pattern pieces together.. it's like a puzzle! It also makes cutting out material much quicker! I was able to sit at my sewing table and cut out the pieces rather than have to haul my big preggo butt down to the floor! 

These have a flat front (adorable!!), pockets (real ones!), and a faux fly (too cute!).

The elastic is in the back and the fit on these was great!

I'm so excited that I was able to make him a 4th of July outfit!! 

I'm not showing off his belly here, but rather how the shorts fit! 

And the back (love his little bowed legs!).

He loved the shorts too. No, really, he did.

Check out Little Lizard King's shop on Etsy.
Here is a link to her blog.
If you are on Facebook, you can like her page here.

"One Hour" Sundress....

Or not. It always takes me longer to make something the first time I make it and this "One Hour Sundress" took at least 2x what it said.. but I did also try to make two at once.. so maybe the name does fit it?! I figured if I was making one, I may as well make two! I finished 4th of July dress #2 today and went ahead and cut out and worked on another dress with some adorable fabric I picked up the other day. I followed this tutorial from the From An Igloo Blog (she has some great tutorials! I've made her art case as well). She did a great job of walking you through the steps and I had no trouble at all completing this today, albeit wasn't completed during actual naptime! There was some "put both kids in the crib in the craft room to play" time, some snack time in your play room time, and some get out 2 puzzles... which the kids loosely translated into meaning "dump out the entire BIN of puzzles and destroy the play room floor". Oh well! Brooke wanted the dress to be finished for her to wear to "bible church" (Vacation Bible School). We had to leave at 5:15. I finished it at 5:05! Whew.. just in time to snap a couple of quick pics before heading out!

I love how it turned out. It is a long dress, which is ok and she can wear it for a while. I didn't finish the other dress and before I sew up the sides, I'm going to cut the main fabric into more of an a-line shape instead of a sheath. I think I will like that even better!

Here's all of the material cut up.. I did this while sitting on the floor. Good times! 

This is what I had to work around.... and yes.... I can still see my toes!!

Two of everything = twice the amount of FUN! 

So, the only thing I did differently than the tutorial is that I don't do my ruffles with basting stitches anymore!.. not since I discovered the awesome and amazing way of using a wide zig-zag and a contrasting piece of thread in the middle instead! LOVE it! Okay, I love it as much as I can love sewing damn ruffles. They are a major pain in the hiney, but they are worth it for the cuteness that they add to anything!  I tried to take a picture of the zig-zag/ thread in action!

And there is my little pretty!!

My sweet, beautiful, patient girl!! She is rad.

  

 

Oh, and I wasn't kidding about the Puzzle-palooza!

 SEE!?!?!

I would also like to add: I love Melissa & Doug products. They are superior to most of their counterparts. However, the puzzles with sounds are CREEPY!! They have been randomly going off all night long- freaking me out! I've heard sirens, roars, chirps, and barking coming from the play room all night long.. and no one is in there! Seriously, after I snapped this picture, I got a siren as I walked away...  Ooooh maybe that was on purpose! Sweet. I've still got it! Yup, yup.