Pleated Blue Floral Dress

 

Kids Clothes Week Summer 2013 is going on July 15-21.

 Today I am sharing this pleated blue floral dress I sewed.

The pattern: Oliver+S Fairy Tale Dress, size 5
The fabrics: blue floral cotton voile, lining is 100% cotton voile in white
The mods: Collarless. Sleeveless, I added bias trim around the armholes. I made the back a v-neck back. I used a lot more fabric for the skirt and placed many pleats. I added a grosgrain ribbon belt (and added sewn belt loops). I also added on seam sides pockets using Freshly Picked's free pocket pattern.

 This dress is a knock off of a $1500 floral print woman's dress by Antonio Marras. There are pleats on the woman's bodice, but after studying it, I realized that the pleats are to accommodate for the woman's curves. Since the girl's bodice didn't require pleats, I didn't add them.

 To make the ribbon belt I used 26 inches of grosgain ribbons and 3.5 inches for the bow. The white ribbon is 1 inch wide, the bright blue ribbon is 3/8 inch wide. I simply topstitched the blue ribbon onto the white ribbon. The ends of the belt are folded over .25 inch and sewed down. I added 1.5 inches of velcro on the 2 ends of the belt. That white and blue bow reminds me of the Finnish flag.

 There are 16 pleats in front and 12 pleats in back. The pleats are about 1 to 1.25 inches deep. I used about 110 inches of fabric for the skirt which is more than double what the pattern calls for which is 52.5 inches so the skirt is a super full and twirly.

 My daughter's request is that her dresses have pockets and have twirly skirts. I usually can accommodate one of those requests, but this one has both! She is super pleased!

Balloon Cork People

{Kid Summer Creativity}

Another cork project... last time we painted champagne corks to look like mushrooms. This time we made balloon cork people. Super simple and easy, slide balloons over wine corks, then add eyes and mouth with a permanent marker. Got the idea here. They turn out having funny noses!

Buttercup Bag

 I desperately needed a new purse, so one afternoon this past week I whipped up a Buttercup Bag (free sewing pattern). The outer fabric is dark blue chambray and the lining is gray polka dot. The one small change I did make was I made the inside pocket a little bigger. After using my new purse for the first time later that same day, I realized that I sewed the shoulder strap wrong! You are suppose to fold the shoulder strap in half lengthwise. So my strap turned out super short, but in the end I really like it because I'm petite and I really like things small and nice and snug. The Buttercup Bag is my favorite size and shape for a purse. And what a bonus that all you need is a fat quarter for the outer fabric and less than that for the lining!

FLIP This Pattern

Today I'm over at Frances Suzanne to share my "FLIP" of the Oliver+S Rollerskate Dress, click here to check it out.

Belgian Style Dress

 A couple of weeks ago I shared my Belgian style dress over at StraightGrain for the Kids' Clothes Belgian Style series. 

 My inspiration was a dress designed by Inge van den Broeck. I was so drawn to the rich colors and unique color combination.

 Just in case you'd like to create a similar dress I thought I'd share the details about it:
Pattern: Oliver + S Fairytale Dress
Fabrics: bodice (and bodice lining) in copper satin, skirt in navy blue Kona cotton, bow tied belt in tomato red 100% organic cotton sateen.
Modifications: sleeveless, collarless, the width of the skirt is 44 inches (which is the entire width of the fabric) and not the 52.5 inches that is called for in the pattern (so the skirt is not as full), instead of gathering the skirt I inserted 4 pleats in the front and 4 in the back (each pleat was about 1-1.25 inches deep). I also added the details of topstitching around the neckline and armholes. I added thread belt loops following this tutorial, these belt loops really help in keeping the belt in place. To make the .5 inch width belt, start by cutting 2 inches by 56 inches of fabric. Fold in half lengthwise and press. Open folded fabric, then fold the fabric's edges in toward the center crease and press. Fold in half and press again. At the 2 ends tuck in .5 inch and topstitch all around.

Happy sewing!

Champagne Cork Mushrooms

 {Kid Summer Creativity}

Today we painted champagne corks to make them look like mushrooms. We have a large cork collection and surprisingly there were only 3 champagne corks to be found, but that was just enough for a fun little project. We got the idea here. Just a few supplies of red, white, and green paints and a paint brush. Mostly what is needed is patience for a coating of paint to dry before applying the next layer.
So don't forget to save your champagne corks!

DIY Ice Cube Tray Crayons

 {Kid Summer Creativity}

On the last day of school when the kids got home I had them fill out My Final Day of School interview sheet (free print out). This was the first year we did that, but I hope to remember to do it every year.

They came home with bags full of stuff, including school supplies that weren't used up.

Looking for something to do with all those crayons?? We gathered similar colored crayons, removed the paper wrappers, placed them in a small jar that was placed in a small pot of boiling water on the stove. Once all the crayons were completely melted we poured the melted crayon mixture into silicone ice cube trays and waited for them to harden. And voila! New fun shaped crayons!

PS Those number crayons are how old my 2 youngest babies are turning this summer ~ I'm in complete denial!

PPS We use a lot of jars around here, if you are looking for more ideas on how to reuse jars, have a look in my archives where you will find a month of 'repurposing a jar'.