the best advice my mother gave me

How some advice my mother gave me helped make this messy memory a happy one, guest blogged over at What To Expect.

(Family picture photo credit on the What to Expect blog goes to Valerie Hart Photography.)

kindergarten

It all happened so fast that I didn't even get a proper picture of her sweet excited face until after we had walked home from school. I blame this on my naivety that we were right on time instead of early and so she was ushered inside immediately upon arrival and it was all I could do to get my goodbye kiss. There were no tears, maybe because I didn't even have time to think to cry, but I also knew she was ready.

She chose her outfit that morning and I noticed with a smile that she was wearing some of my hair elastics as bracelets. So when she confided to me that she was 'a little bit nervous' I told her if she felt sad or missed me she could twist the hair elastics around her wrist and be reminded that I love her. She wore them for the rest of the week.

So, I guess I have a kindergartner now, and a toddler who just happens to have a nap time that perfectly coincides with her sisters school hours. I don't know how I pulled that one off. 

p.s. I made the backpack for her last year, tutorial here.

summer is...

Spending warm evenings at the lake...

Exploring the nature around us...

Cooling off in the backyard (and locking ourselves out of the house)...

Enjoying being together at home...

Going on adventures...

 Relaxing and soaking it all in...

Summer is winding down and we are settling into a new routine. Part of that routine means I get a few hours to myself each day. So far that time has mostly been spent enjoying the quiet and tending to the garden, but I am sure it won't take me long to fill up those hours with shop work (after a looooong break) and a project here or there.

For me this summer has been wonderful and healing in a lot of ways, and hard and humbling in others. I am watching all of the women who were announcing their pregnancies around the same time I was now announcing the birth of their babies. And they are beautiful and I am happy for them, but I can't help but feel a pang in my chest for my empty arms. This summer is closing a hard chapter in my life, but I am leaving it with a heart filled with hope for the next.

another edelweiss

I couldn't go too long without whipping up another Edelweiss dress. Since I made the last one a tad bit more difficult with all of the added piecework sewing a more simple version the second time around felt like it went super fast. You may have noticed a color theme going on this week. I promise I didn't plan on making everything black and white, but what can I say?! I am falling for the trend.

So this is my KCW summer wrap up! I didn't have time to sew a ton and I didn't even sew a single thing for sweet Lark, but it was really fun creating these outfits for LM.

       Stenciled Cat Top                      Jumper to Jumpsuit                     Black + White Edelweiss

refashion: jumper to jumpsuit

   

My husband bought me a cute jumper dress as a surprise when we were dating because he remembered I mentioned I liked it. I wore it a lot during the time we were falling in love, so later when I decided it was a little too short for me to feel comfortable wearing it anymore I didn't want to just give it away. It sat in a pile in my sewing room for almost two years before I finally decided to cut into it and this is what became of that nostalgic gift. I think this sassy pants almost five-year-old wears it better than I did!

This project only took about an hour start to finish. All I had to do was take the sides in and then I laid a pair of her leggings on top of it to use as a template to cut out the inseam. I actually finished this a few weeks ago but have been super busy with a work project this month so I am just getting around to sharing it now. I am pleased to report that LM has been pulling it out of her drawer to wear often.

I am linking up with KCW here.

refashion: stenciled cat top

This was one of those projects where I started with a vague idea, but really had no clue where I was going with it until I was done. It is a refashion of a plain long-sleeved peter pan collared dress I thrifted last year knowing it was the perfect blank canvas to do something fun. The dress was marked a size 3T so I was originally making this with Lark in mind, but when I tried it on her the shoulders were to wide and it fit LM much better as a top.

I chopped the long sleeves off of the original dress and added a black flutter sleeve, then printed the shapes along the bottom using fabric paint and one-half of the arrow stencil from Handmade Charlotte's Family Message Center Stencil Set. I was just going for something graphic but quickly realized - Hello! Cats! - so when I stitched the hem up by hand I gave each little kitty a pair of eyes along the way.

When I showed it to LM I secretly hoped she would exclaim, "You have cat to be kitten me, I want to put it on right meow!" You know, or something close to that. She didn't, but she liked it and I got a "Thanks, mom!" so I am happy.

I will be joining the summer KCW challenge this week. You can find my projects here. Are any of you playing along as well?

the edelweiss dress

Today I am joining the Hey June pattern tour of the Edelweiss dress. Adrianna of Crafterhours invited me along and I am so happy she did because a) it inspired me to finally get back into the sewing room, and b) I love this pattern! It is just the right amount of sweet and the options are pretty much endless of how it can be switched up with different fabrics, a pieced bodice, or by making it tunic or dress length. I already have so many ideas of different 'looks' I want to sew up.

When I first saw the pattern I knew immediately what style of dress I wanted to sew. It reminded me of this vintage pinafore I had been wanting to try and recreate for some time and so my inspiration was set from the beginning. I found the solid colors in my fabric stash and started piecing them together to make the triangle pattern first. As I went along I decided if I was going to do all of this tedious piecework then I wanted to have the triangles go all the way around the dress for a bigger impact. So, I altered the pattern a little by merging the three bodice pattern pieces into one - that way the triangles could be one continuous piece. I also added a lining to the skirt since I chose white. I am asking for it, I know, but doesn't every little girl need a white dress for summer? ;)

I love the off center buttons in the back and the fact that I can move them over to loosen the bodice so she can fit into the dress longer. 

This just might be my favorite piece of clothing I have made to date. I really love how it turned out, and a great pattern can make all the difference!