hello holly hobby

every once in a while i get to make a custom dress for someone i know. it's so much easier to sew for someone you know. as i was making this dress for a dear friend, i would hold it up for richie after each step and say, "does it look like mandy?" to which he would reply, "totally." (and he thinks he has no fashion sense.)

my only real instructions were to make it look like this picture. no stress- until i started analyzing every detail and wondering what she really meant when she wanted me to copy the picture. i'm sure i drove her crazy with all my questions. but i am in love with all the fabric she found! the blue and white floral is a moda-made in england print, and oh so gorgeous up close. anyway, this is the final result- cute on a clothesline, but oh so much cuter on the adorable baby! she wore it for a baby contest and totally should have won. what a doll.

a room for the boy

i keep getting asked what my nursery is going to look like now that i can't make it all girly. and to be honest, it's been way more fun converting my current nursery into a little girly room. but i decided i better do something for this boy since i have only a month before he's here with all his boyishness.... the main colors i wanted were brown and cream. i just can't do blue or green for some reason right now. but this worked great because the room he will be in was going to be a guest room until i decided i didn't want my boy and my girl to share, so it was already painted very neutral tan with an oatmeal rug over the hardwoods.

i have to admit, i feel a little like i caved by not making the bedding this time- but it was justifiable... and that's another story.

after i decided on the brown and cream i just couldn't let go of the mirror i had in macy's nursery, so i added a few accent colors- like lots. the mirror was on martha stewart a few years ago, and i couldn't resist making it. the baby letters are just sitting on top of it and will most likely get moved and changed when we actually have a name.

and just so you don't think i have a perfect little nursery set up- you can see the closet is still a mishmash of things we keep and don't need, like an old vcr... hey it might come in handy someday. and for my most favorite part of the room, (and probably my whole house) the doorframe. i am in love with it. i could sit and stare at it all day. my dad came and installed all the woodwork on our house and did a smashing job! (did i just say smashing?) really, i can't say enough about his brilliance. my original idea was the plain square look, but my dad insisted the little piece on top would make it look better and i am so glad he did.

as this room looks so peaceful now, i can't help imagining the whirlwind of stress it is going to go through. i'm sure no tree will be crashing through the ceiling like in macy's nursery, but i can't help but think about how much tiredness this room really represents in the next year or more... and of course the fun. we are so excited for the sweetness and fun a baby boy will bring into our home.

procrasti-blogging

isn't blogging great? what better way to procrastinate a deadline like making 3 more of these dresses by thursday? you can post on your blog, read other blogs, surf for new blogs, or just sit and stare at the computer...
otherwise, isn't this a darling dress? not that i can take credit- it's a flower girl dress for the wedding of a very stylish bride. i'm so excited because she has such cute and different things picked out for her wedding! more on that later... now what else can i do to procrastinate?

coming soon...

to a little pretties shop near you! i am finally doing a big update with new dresses and lots of fun little pretties! stay tuned for more details. this dress was going to be included until macy decided she had to wear it for three days straight.

one more dress

thank you for all the comments on macy's easter dress! i really should mention that i got the idea from here... actually, i had the fabric and was planning to make a little wrap dress with it until my sister in-law showed me this cute line and i thought- hey, i can make that!

speaking of making something i see... sometimes i think i can totally relate to the couple on Napoleon Dynamite when Uncle Rico whips out the free sailboat during his tupperware presentation. you know, how the wife whispers to her husband, "i want that," so seriously-- that's how I felt when i saw this dress but how can i justify spending $78 on a dress for a two-year old? so i set out to make one like it. it's not exact, but i love how it turned out. this dress was the first time i have made a 'muslin' since college. so in reality i made this dress three times before i got the one you see. but it was definitely worth saving the money! oh, and the shoes are from the Gap and don't actually have any of the same plaid, but you couldn't tell until I told you, right? that's what i love about sewing and creating. really, it's all ideas we see and then recreate the way our brain remembers. i guess. anyway, i am loving this dress for macy and i have plenty of extra fabric that i can use for something in my shop... (just not the exact same dress obviously) any suggestions?

easter dress no. 3

i don't know what it is about spring that always makes me itch to sew. easter is the only holiday that i have succeeded in always making macy a new dress for. this year i wanted to go a little less traditional in color and style. i love all the fluffy dresses for spring that are out right now, but that's all there is. so i chose one of my favorite amy butler prints and made a little sassy a-line dress. and macy had no problem flaunting her cute little legs in it. i actually used a simplicity pattern but really only for the bodice and sleeves. then i made up the rest. it seems like macy is getting harder and harder to photograph the older she gets!

sweet blessings

(i've been meaning to post this forever!)

so almost a year ago one of my oldest (as in we've known each other since we were born) friends emailed asking if i would make her daughter a blessing dress out of her own wedding dress. yep you read it right. she wanted me to use her wedding dress. i was actually really excited about this. think of how meaningful the dress would be. the blessing dress would be the first formal gown she would own. it would be something to keep forever. and to have it created out of the dress your mother was married in would make it even more meaningful. i love the idea of making a special garment even more meaningful. the blessing gown i made for macy was styled after my wedding gown but i made it out of silk i had purchased when i worked at a fabric store in high school. i bought it hoping someday i would have a girl to make a blessing dress for and i loved that i got to use it for my first baby. (sorry no picture of it! what was i thinking back then?)

so i agreed that i would love to make the dress for my friend. we met up for lunch one day and i got the dress. once i had the wedding dress in my possession i didn't know if i really had the guts to cut it up. it was gorgeous. it was satin. it was her wedding dress! what if i were to mess up? there's no forgiveness when it's a garment of that nature. so truly, the hardest part of making the dress was working up the nerve to cut into her beautiful gown. after that, it was so fun to try to follow the design my friend had requested and add a little bit of the original gown to the dress. so here's the end result. i used only fabric from the wedding dress minus the tie(it's a ribbon) if you look closely, the band near the bottom with designs on it is the same as a band on the skirt and the bodice of the original dress. the narrow bands of ribbon sewn on the skirt are the tie from the corset back of the original dress. i love how it turned out because it already had an antique feel to it because of the fabric having been used before. i loved working with the fabric because it was bridal satin which is way nicer than the satin you can just buy at joanns. making this dress reminded me of one i also made for my neice. it was one of my favorite styles because it wasn't the traditional blessing gown style. i don't know how, but i did princess seams down the front. then i embroidered flowers on it with ribbon(i don't know how to do ribbon embroidery) but i thought it was sweet and stylish for a cute little baby. oh i hope i have a girl next so i can make another sweet gown.

sweet baby quilts (no.14)

baby quilts are a good thing. everyone needs a baby quilt. the memories associated with babies can only be made sweeter with a quilt. my great grandma made quilts for almost every baby she knew until she passed away at age 99. i have the quilt she made for me when i was born and just love to look at it and think about each stitch and how she worked so hard at it. she probably chose the fabric carefully and matched each corner, then hand quilted it for hours on end. a handmade quilt is more than a blanket, especially when made for a baby. i just finished this one today for a sweet friend michelle. i met michelle through etsy. she lives in canada and is due to have her first girl (after two boys) in december. i can't take the credit for this quilt as it was all michelle's idea. i made up this pattern when i made macy a quilt to go with her new doll bed, then made a couple more for the shop. michelle came up with the sweet idea of mixing pinks, reds, and linen with cream. she chose the binding, the backing, and the sizes of squares. although michelle didn't make the quilt, i think she spent put just as much love and thought into it as my great grandmother would. this quilt will be off to canada soon to welcome michelle's new baby! what could be sweeter than bringing home your new baby in a cuddly quilt? that's a good thing.

have you checked out the shop lately? there's lots of fun new items over there. here are a few samples in case you can't click here or here or here to go there.

p.s. could someobdy please tell me how to do a normal layout with blogger????

updated: i didn't like how this layout was working in internet explorer, then i looked at it in firefox and it looks even worse! the pictures are all over each other (yes, in that way!) sheesh!

something to talk about

ok, i just have to brag about my cutie for a second. i know i already have a place to do that, but what a doll! have you ever seen anyone so intent on eating a sucker? here's the background (it might be long) to these pictures: so i used to have a babysitting job everyday with some cute girls. well, the mom got laid off her job so that put me out of a job as well. that put a little damper on us financially, since we were planning on my babysitting money. so i have been thinking of ways to make it up and i opened a new etsy shop and made my baby my model for it. i have been wanting to sell dresses for a while, and now this seems like as good a time as any. so whether or not you are interested in dresses, go check 'em out! you can even mark me as a 'favorite' if you'd like... (hint hint) i have a million ideas in my head for little girls clothing... so if i can make these ideas materialize, then my little shop should have lots of updates. oh yeah, you probably want to know where you can see this so-called "shop" here you go:

www.littlepretties.etsy.com

and while we're explaining... here's how the name came about... so i've done a few flower girl and blessing dresses for people and i just always have loved the little aspect of girls dresses. with macy, in order to get her to let me put jewelry on her or do her hair, i have gotten in the habit of saying, "pretty, pretty," to distract her or whatever. so the other day she went to her closet and started stroking her dresses while saying, "pretty...." in her darling little voice. and it just sounded so cute that i had to use the name 'little pretties'

ok. enjoy.

dresses

my poor little baby girl had the flu this week, needless to say, we didn't do much. so enjoy some pics of someone else's cute little girl. this is ariana. she was a sweetie to agree to having her pictures taken in these dresses. the a-line was one i designed.... i can't decide if i like it. but it was made from an old sheet, which makes me like it only because it's 'thrifted.' the other one was made with a vogue pattern, and can you believe it's a size 2??? yeah, huge.
anyway, in looking for a link for the vogue pattern i used, i found this link... it's a pattern you can buy for the little leather baby shoes! so cute! i still have plans to put a tutorial on here, but i really
don't know how.......... yet.

easter dress

here's is macy's easter dress! i actually finished it on time. i was a little nervous with all the craziness that has been going on here, but was able to finish it friday. she loves to walk while holding it up because it is a little long. so here are the details.... i think i was in a holly hobby mood when i picked everything out. i made the dress using a pattern i swiped from my mom's collection, circa 1977. the bodice front piece was missing so i made my own, which is not easy when the little girl it needs to fit won't sit still. so i am thinking the neckline is a little larger because i couldn't really measure her. i also made the pintucks on the bodice and skirt two different sizes... i don't really know why... i added the eyelet underskirt just for fun. you can't see them, but macy is wearing hot pink cowboy boots under it! i had some sweet little sandals, but she wouldn't wear them. and i kinda like the boots to go with the whole holly hobby idea.

shoes and an experiment

i fell in love with leather baby shoes when macy was born, but they are so stinkin expensive! so i made some of these shoes for her awhile ago and she has loved them to pieces! i thought i would make a pair to take to a baby shower the other day. it's a super easy, super cute, and did i mention a super cheap gift.... i found some leather jackets at the thrift store for $5 or less each (for some reason i can't cut up a piece of clothing that i spent more than $5 on....) and out of the one black jacket i got three pairs of shoes! do you like them? do you want to make a pair of your own? as an experiment to see how many people actually read this blog... i will send one pair of these fine shoes to one lucky person or share my pattern with anyone who wants it... just post a comment if you're interested! i'll do a little drawing to decide who gets the shoes!
have fun!

fall dress for spring

it's out with the old! i decided that i cannot allow myself to buy any more fabric until i finish some of my many projects cluttering my house. the first was this dress for macy! i actually made it last fall from an idea i got at the gap, but put it away because i thought it was too bland. then i got an idea to randomly embroider on it! now i am in completely in love with it! if you look closely, you can even see where i embroidered macy's name. now i just need to train her to be a better photo subject.