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and I thought I would join in with a giveaway of my own (you can see the rest of the giveaways at Bloggy Giveaways). This is also in honor of reaching 50 posts, so I thought I would make it a good one!
I’m giving away to one lucky reader their choice of a custom sewn ruffly skirt or round neck top, in size 1 up to size 4 (you can choose one of the ones above if you’d like, both about size 1). And, since some of you (like me) are mommy’s of boys, you can choose a pair of skater style short instead. I don’t have a pic of these, but they will be elastic waist with cute contrasting pockets.
All you have to do is visit my shop and come back here and leave a comment saying which item is your favorite. Then check back this weekend to find out if you’ve won! AND, if you want 5 extra entries, link to this giveaway on your blog!…and for even more (5 more to be exact), subscribe to my blog. (make sure you let me know).
sorry..US addresses only. And make sure you leave an e-mail or blog so I can contact you if you win! And please make sure and get your entries in by Friday at midnight.
I made three more of these retro tops using this pattern by that darn kat. Isn’t it the sweetest thing? You can find them in my shop.
And another amazing giveaway from Grosgrain…the cutest little shorts!
this giveaway! I would have been so sad too, because the dress she’s giving away is so stinking cute! I love the sweet ’40’s style. Head on over there and find out how to enter.
I got the chance to be a pattern tester for this sweet dress from Samantha of The Handmade Dress. I’m so happy with how it turned out and so proud of myself. I got the pattern today and I managed to cut it out and sew it all today! The pattern will be available soon and will also include a sweet embroidery design that you can see on her website. This dress is going to a good friend of mine that just had a baby girl….after four boys! We’re all very excited, as you can imagine. Between her, another friend of ours and myself, we have eleven boys….it’s great to have a girl there now too!
As you can see, I used some of the same Ginger Blossom fabrics that I used for the skirt. The contrasting fabric in the front is a sweet little apron that attaches to the waistband. I love aprons, so I think this is just the cutest thing.
I was also inspired by Posie Get’s Cozy to try my hand at cherry clafoutis. I used her recipe, but mine did not look all smoth and nice when I poured the batter in. It looked lumpy and seperated. And it didn’t look much better once it was cooked up. I also discovered that I’m not a huge fan of cooked cherries. And don’t use frozen! It takes ten times as long…which is not good when you have starving children waiting. It reminded me of something I made before…..but I don’t know what! I think I will have to visit her if I want good clafoutis. Evidently I’m not so good at making it!
It’s that time of year again….time for another quilt giveaway from the Old Red Barn Co! Enter by leaving a comment…..she’s giving an extra 50 (FIFTY!) entries to people who are brave enough to post a video on You Tube that tells why you want to win the quilt (it has to make them laugh. 
You have to check out her store too. The soaps look yummy enough to eat.
I’ve been working on this quilt the last few days, in between yard work (boy, was it hot!), church, and having a birthday party for my DH. Incedently, my DH is not a big birthday party person, but he was a good sport about it. Anyway, I’ve had the fabric for this quilt since before Happy Baby was born. I’ve been meaning to make a “big-boy” quilt for JJ, who now has been in his big-boy bed for a year and a half or so. He has been so excited about all this….it’s so sweet to ask. He keeps asking me if I’m working on his blanket and tries to help me sew. He was guiding (read pulling) the fabric along as I was trying to sew. It’s so rewarding to make things for such an enthusiastic recipient! Hopefully I will be able to show you the finished top in the next few days. I love the fireman fabric. I’m usually not a fan of novelty prints, but I love the retro style of this one.
A couple more giveaways for me…I mean you:
I have three little boys and most of my friends have boys…even my sister who is pregnant is expecting a boy. So I don’t have much need to sew for girls, sadly. But I decided to do it, anyway. I figure it will be nice to have them on hand for gifts or I can put them in my shop. My first attempt was a layered twirly skirt. I used this tutorial, which was lovely and very well written, but I think I still managed to mess it up. She has you sew the ruffle on in the flat, which worked great until I went to join the under skirt to the upper skirt and the side seam on the one side was in the way. I’m not sure how to describe it and i have the sneaking suspicion that I was doing something silly and completely missing the obvious. I ended up ripping that part out and redoing it. It also ended up shorter than they look in the pic. Oh well! I still think it’s adorable and I know the next one will be easy! It was really fun to make and went together fast, minus my mistakes. I think I’m going to make my own measurements for the next one though. I like my skirts a bit longer.
I also sewed up this pouch sling for my sister. She was due on the fourth…can you tell I do a lot of things last minute?! I really like how it turned out. The Amy Butler Nigella is such a perfect weight for these and the Wood Fern is such a pretty, classy print. I used Jan Andrea’s instructions, except that I padded one of the rails with fleece. I used my sister’s measurements, but I’m still thinking it might be too big. Hopefully I’m wrong! The padding will make it a bit trickier to shorten.
to say, there’s another cool giveaway going on:
Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap) What an awesome prize!
And I have a couple new projects finished that I will be posting tomorrow. AND…I will be doing another giveway soon, in celebration of over 50 posts…stay tuned.
It feels so good to finish a project….especially one that was supposed to be for my sisters birthday…in April (blush). I’ve never made a messenger bag before and haven’t done much sewing with canvas. This kind of made for an interesting combination at times. I don’t think I will be making them in large numbers any time soon! I tried to be very careful to make it nice and sturdy, double stitching most of the seams, x-boxing and so on. Still, I’m a little nervous to see how it holds up. It is definitely an improvement to the bag she is carrying right now. She is in college, doing her prerequisites for nursing school and her bag is always packed with enormous, heavy books! So she wore her last bag out pretty fast. I think this one is much cuter….hopefully it’s strong too!
I made it out of canvas, both the outside and the lining. I accented it with a piece of Amy Butler’s Sky Temple. I bought this fabric from a mama on the SewingMama’s forum. I liked it okay, but I mostly bought it to make a skirt for my Etsy shop. Well, when I saw it in person, I fell in love. It is so pretty in real life! The green canvas is much prettier than the pic shows too. I just can’t get it to photograph right. I put a zipper under the flap with two pockets, one for pencils and one for money. I think if I make another messenger bag I will be constructing it completely different. I think I did it the hard way this time!
I also finished three skirts to stock my Etsy shop with. I’ll be listing them over the next few days. I think I’ve mentioned before how much trouble I have listing things. For some reason, it makes my computer very cranky. So if you don’t see them soon, that’s why. I also need to take some better pictures first. They didn’t seem that wrinkly until I looked at the photos!
I’m loving this new layered style. I think it looks so sweet. I’m excited to come up with some pretty fabric combos to make a few more of them.
