Results of My Recent Sewing Frenzy- Part 2

As promised, here's part two of my recent sewing frenzy. I'd had too long of a creative dry spell- can you tell? Make sure to check out part one of my sewing frenzy here. Lots of adorable girly outfits all inspired by my beautiful nieces and of course, my daughter.

I made this dress for K as a Valentine's Day gift. She is obsessed with hearts and the heart printed knit top is adorable without a complete pink overload.

The tulle overskirt is layered above a mint linen underskirt. It gives it a romantic, floaty feel. I created the lace flower brooch by gathering two different lace trims and layering the smaller one over the larger. Then I simply glued on a piece of felt and a pin back so that it can be removed when the dress goes in the wash. 

These lilac dress/tunics are beautiful but K did not like them at all! I really wonder what she sees when she looks at them. Hmm...the mind of a 5-year old! Anyway- I thought they were great since I designed them myself but I think I made a mistake giving her the heart dress first before showing her these two beauties. 

I created these two in a size 4/5 but will now have to sell them since she refuses to wear them. Pooey! I always feel like the time and materials go to waste when the kids refuse to wear what I make but I guess I could just chalk it up to more sewing experience under my belt, right?

They'd be great layered over leggings, wouldn't they? Let me know if you'd want them. I'm going to hold onto them in case K changes her mind as she is sometimes wont to do. Seriously- girls change their minds more often than they change clothes, right? So- I may yet get to see her in one of these come spring, at least I'm hoping anyway!

Results of My Recent Sewing Frenzy- Part 1

These outfits are available for sale here!  And while you're there, like my FB page to find out when I'll be releasing these patterns so you can sew them up yourself! Thanks for stopping by!

I've been busy drafting patterns and sewing for the past few weeks and I've got some fun stuff to share! I've had plenty of inspiration from my nieces, including one who isn't even born yet, and what I've got so far is what I'm going to call my spring-inspired girl's apparel. I'm actually hoping to make a business out of this one day, so let me know what you think! Without further ado...

I'm calling this first outfit, the Harmony, after my soon-to-be-born niece. I drafted it in a 9-12 month size and I fell in love with the results so I'll be making this one in bigger sizes. 

I love lace, ruffles, and pleats and those are all present on this little top without making it look too busy. I also love bubble shorts for girls and these chambray striped ones go so well with the Harmony top. 

This next one is a vintage floral peasant top with magenta corduroy bubble shorts. I'm calling it the Cadence outfit. I love the sweet vintage vibe of this outfit so much but I'm so sad that I no longer have anymore of this floral fabric left! I bought it on a thrifting expedition and had been holding onto it for a wee bit too long. It's hard to cut into beautiful fabric- it really, truly is!

But I'm happy that cutting into the fabric resulted in such a beautiful little top at least!

And of course, a touch of vintage lace trim on the bottom hem gives it the perfect amount of sugar.

And I don't have a name yet for this baby peasant dress but isn't it just adorable?! I love mixing fabric prints and this one outfit alone has three. 

The bodice is made from a men's cotton dress shirt! I love upcycling material- saves money and the environment!

I'll also be drafting this dress in bigger sizes because it's just so sweet!

And how could I leave out leggings? It's become a staple in every girl's wardrobe these days. The colorful Navajo-inspired knit fabric is just fun and graphic! I paired it with a mustard-colored knit from my remnant pile and it looks pretty modern and fab, eh?

I love this set- especially the top- and will definitely be sewing up bigger sizes! This set is about an 18-24 month size. 

Just in case you're curious, my sewing frenzy stemmed from a long creative drought. I recently returned from a very long blogging hiatus in which I didn't sew a stitch for three months! And yes, this is what happens when I resurface, ha! 

I've still got more to share with you, too- didn't you notice the title said "Part 1?" Part 2 has some more dresses and tunics in some lovely shades of lilac, gray, mint, and cream and are all self-drafted patterns that were finally released from my imagination. Can't wait!

This post is linked up at Make It and Love It's linky party. See it here!

Spring Baby Dresses for a New Baby!

No, no, no- first of all, before you congratulate me, I have to set the record straight. No, I'm not having a baby- my sister is. She's having her fourth girl and I'm soooooo very happy and excited because I get to sew for a brand new baby girl! I've never done that before- it's a bit different and a bit similar to sewing for my little girl. The difference being that the baby can't say no to anything I make for her and I can still have a ton of fun mixing and matching prints.

So- check out my first two dresses I made for the yet unnamed baby girl. 

I used the free Baby Geranium dress pattern from Made by Rae for this first vintage floral, stripe, and lace number. It really is a ton of fun mixing prints and I get so inspired when I see a winning combination. This was definitely a winner!

The floral print is a French cabbage rose fabric sample and the skirt is made from thrifted linen fabric. The eyelet lace trim was found during an antiquing trip.

I love the little lace-lined pocket. I only added one pocket instead of the two recommended in the pattern. Newborns don't really use their pockets, right? 

And on the back, I applied a simple elastic loop and fancy button for the closure. This dress was so easy and fast to sew up so if you have a new baby girl to sew for- go grab this pattern and get sewing! You can modify this dress so many ways- add sleeves, lace trim, buttons, etc.- to personalize it and it always looks great because of its classic shape.

This next little dress is my own design! It's a peasant bodice with a layered skirt and eyelet lace sleeves.  Again- a super duper fun time mixing and matching fabrics and trim!

The skirt underneath is fuller than the outer skirt so it bells outwards which makes it easy for baby to kick her legs at will without any fabric hampering her movements. 

This little dress is lightweight- great for those hot Florida days! I'll be making a matching ruffled diaper cover to go with this soon and perhaps a little sunhat too? Adorbs!

I'll be sewing up more stuff for baby and will post them as they're completed! 

A Sweet Upcycled Sweater

Okay, so this is a super duper later KCW post- it was finished for day seven, the last day of KCW, but I had issues with Blogger so I shut my laptop before I started to pull out my hair. 

So now you know and we can move on!

This is another fun upcyle that turned out great, in my opinion. I found the knit skirt at the thrift store and it was originally from Target. Don't you just love the fun colorful stripes???

I had seen a swingy, slightly baggy but girly sweater on a kids clothing website (I've forgotten where now or else I'd link to it!) and just loved the shape and fit of it. 

So I decided to draft a similar top for K and it was so easy! Instead of a straight bodice, I cut a slight bell shape instead. I added lace trim at the sleeve seams and at the bottom hem to make it even more sweet and girly.

The short sleeves are from another thrifted sweater and the collar of the sweater is from the bottom hem of the skirt- I simply folded it in half and applied it like bias tape and it was done!

I don't know why I like this combination of top with skirt. It seems like major stripe overload but I just thought it was adorable together! K did too- and when she wore this outfit out into the cold the other day, we simply layered a long sleeve  shirt underneath the sweater with a pair of colorful leggings under the skirt with her boots and she was a fashionable upcycle do!

I seriously enjoy fun colorful upcycles and look forward to sharing more with you soon! I've got a lot of thrifted treasures that are just waiting to be turned into something wonderful!