Kitty for my cuties

Do you have Hello Kitty fans in your life ? I do. 3 of them: Bug and her  2 cousins. . I'm guilty for part of it. My sister may not be super happy about this but my nieces will be thrilled with the little bags I whipped up for them (and the Hello Kitty goodies I put in them)

I found the fabric in the remnant bin at JoAnn's

and pulled some red satin from my stash for the bows and lining

They are so cute. Bug certainly would like one too. I almost want one for myself :) 

CinderFiona

 This year, both my nieces have a doll just like Fiona... well one is blonde and one a brunette but thankfully, I can use Princess Fiona as a model to sew for their dollies. Miss L has the blonde doll is a HUGE Cinderella fan... So by special request I fitted Fiona with a blue ball gown CinderFiona style :

I must say I had to get friendly with my seam ripper a couple of times to pull this one off since I was putting this together without a pattern.

Shirred bodice  to make it easy for little hands to dress and undress the doll

I think it turned out OK but I'll have to wait until later to find out :)

Oh and Bug wants a ball gown for Princess Fiona now :) 

Not exactly a surprise

15 minutes dress fix

Happy Thanksgiving to all! This morning I decided to take a couple of pictures of Bug in her pretty formal dress, and I noticed a little problem. Do you see it ??

 Look closer... Here.

Well, Bug is one of those string bean kids, show only grows one direction : UP, and fast at that. While short dresses are cute for babies and toddlers, I felt this was a lot of leg to show for a formal dress, even with tights underneath.

So a little stash dive later... I cut some 6" wide strips of satin that matched the sash color as closely as possible:

Folded in half, ironed and cut to size.

Then sewed into a loop

And added to the bottom of the skirt

Ahhh much better and it only took 15 minutes :)

Happy Thanksgiving !!

Pastel spring skirt

 Spring is definitely here, a full 4 weeks earlier than last year!!! I'm out of my usual winter funk but it also means I have to pay a visit to my Dr's office very soon to renew my Epi-Pen prescription ... bees will not wait for me to start buzzing around. It's also time for pretty outfits... Starting with a cutie Easter skirt for my sweet Bug. Love the bead hair in these pictures :)

And Bug loves the pink and pastel colors of this lovely paisley I got for a steal ( $4 a yard!!)

My ruffler foot got another workout... Definitely the best attachment to invest in when there is a little girl that loves frills and ruffles

Doesn't she already looks so grown up? 

 

And I even put a zipper !! 

Pajama party !!

I did it! I grabbed all the cute fleece Bug had been choosing during our craft store expeditions and made all of those that were big enough for it into pajama pants.  Chocolate with aqua hearts with a rick rack trim, flowers and ladybugs, and flowers and hearts with a fun red satin ruffle. Bug looooves them and I think I have the elastic waist pants technique down pat now :)

Here is Bug rocking her new girly pajamas!

HAPPY!

Cosy flannel pajamas

Bug often tags along in my craft store expeditions. I usually allow her to pick out a remnant piece for me. Lately she has been picking out flannel. I don't know about you but for me flannel = pajamas for the cold months. Bug of course picked some girly prints and it was a good experience for me to use a pair of her pants as a pattern for this project.

Bug is super happy with her girly pajamas and it shows right ?? 

Yep she really really likes them :) 

I guess should make some more since I have a few other Bug-picked flannels in my fabric stash ... after all it is the time of the year to be cosy and warm inside. Pajamas party coming up !!

Ruby Lou rag dolls quadruplets

A couple of month ago I was lucky enough to win a Ruby Lou doll pattern. Ruby Lou is totally adorable and I knew immediately I would sew a couple for Christmas to make some little girls happy. Last weekend, the Ruby Lou quadruplets were born. I was driven to get them finished quickly so I could send them overseas to their future little 'mommies'. I even enlisted my mother-in-law to help with the "stuffing". Of course I had to put my own twist on this set of quadruplets: they have yarn hair rather than felt and they shoes are made out of flannel.

Here they are looking happy and relaxed

They had to have pretty names: 

Ruby (of course), Rena

Rachel and Rebecca

Here they are sharing one last big hug before they are going their separate ways. I think they are going to be happy in their new homes!

Flower power: Fix ripped jeans

Do you have an active kid? I do... VERY active. I sew a lot for Bug, not only new outfits or updating old ones, but I also often have to mend, patch. Bug loves it pink and girly so what to do when a pair of plain old jeans gets a nice tear? Flower power ! 

First mended the hole in with a zigzag 

Then I used a fun quilt block cast off from a friend's project

Iron on with some Wonder Under

And a zigzag stitch with silver thread

The finishing touch, some pink flower lace at the cuffs

Flower power works pretty well for Bug

 Yep that's Bug, in Bug mode :)

Can you say active kid ??

A coin purse

Bug is not very familiar with money. Make that not at all. Since she started Kindergarten, and it's an all-day class, we had to introduce the concept of milk money. This had been a bit of a challenge. 

Bug needed a safe place to tuck her coins in so she could get her milk at the cafeteria so I made her a fun little coin purse with a velcro opening. This didn't use much fabric but everything came from my stash... 

Moo money for my little Sunshine.

Stashbusting - A fall ruffled skirt

Another long overdue project finally completed thanks to Stabusting September: I've had this grey fabric in my stash for almost a year. It was time to make a skirt that Bug could wear at school when it gets cooler. It is already getting that way. Another little corduroy in a mousy grey that I girlified with a colorful ruffle. 

 

I finally conquered my fear of zippers and it worked ok 

 

Not bad for a first time...

 

Bug already proudly wore it at school