Madeline Costumes

"We love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all, we love each other!"

I've had a very hectic month and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish these costumes but at the last hour I did! I planned these outfits for a long time so I am glad they were completed!

As a family of girls we love the story of Madeline! I was inspired by others who made costumes like this. I got the hats and gloves around Easter time from the dollar spot at Target. I just finished the dresses, collars, and nun's habit last night. The dress and cape I am wearing is also for another costume I can hopefully reveal tomorrow!

My children are very beautiful but I do not share photos of them, especially looking into the camera!

I hope you all have a great Halloween! I will be trying my best not to raid the candy but, no promises!!!

Vintage Apron

 Life has become increasingly busy with the new school year and I find myself very consumed with all kinds of work! I need to fit in more sewing time but I am not sure how I will do this. 

Anyways, sorry if you've already heard this story on instagram, but I am going to repeat it! I read a great book, "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up", and it inspired me to just get rid of stuff. I got rid of so much that I didn't really care about that was just sitting around, including aprons I had. 

Then I read another great book, "Lessons From Madame Chic", where it explains that one should wear their nicest clothes every day, even if they are a stay at home mother like myself. They should just wear and apron to keep their clothes nice while they are doing chores. Seems basic but I never saw this as a child so it didn't occur to me until I read the book! 

 I wanted something with cute ruffles and I thought one of these patterns would work!

I love how it turned out! The pop of green binding is nice in my opinion. I admit the straps are a bit wonky in this picture but no worries! I took them off and readjusted them to a better angle.

Sassy Librarian Shirt

 (I posted twice in one day! It's a miracle!)

So this shirt took FOREVER!

One year and three months to be exact, from the time I bought the pattern and fabric to the time I completed it.

 It was so worth it though! I love the retro style of it!

 The colors remind me of Autumn, my favorite time of year.

 Sometimes simple fabrics can have a really great effect (hopefully I am using that last word correctly!).

I would highly recommend taking Christine Haynes Sassy Librarian class, where I got the pattern. She is a great teacher!

Also, in the spirit of books (since this is a librarian shirt), I am including a list of my favorite books that I have read this summer. I am obsessed with sewing, but I am also obsessed with reading!

Top Summer Books:

The Glass Castle

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Mansfield Park

Boys in the Boat

Bringing Up Bebe

Lessons From Madame Chic

 Unbroken

Anne of Green Gables

(A lot of these books I listened to on CD) 

Such fascinating books! I highly recommend them too!

Astro Blankie!

 We just found out that there will be another boy in our extended family! That is a big deal because with 16 grandchildren on this side of the family, so far there is only one boy! Soon there will be two!

I fell in love with this Henry Miller fabric a while ago and I thought I'd buy some "just in case we had a boy". I am seriously doubting that will ever happen! So I made a quick blanket for my sister in law's baby out of a big section of this fabric and used 

a slightly larger fleece for the back. I just turned it over to make the edging. 

My husband was surprised to see this blanket. He is so used to girl stuff around the house! 

Minnie Mouse Dress Refashion

 I spotted this lovely dress at the store and really wanted to buy it but it was about $70. That was too much for my budget. A few months later I found said dress on the clearance rack! In my own size!!! With my trusty coupon I got it for $11! Such a better price.

After I tried it on, I knew I was going to have to refashion it though. It wasn't quite modest enough for me. It's totally worth it because the little Minnie Mouse designs on it are so cute and I'm sure I couldn't find anything else like it around. BUT this was the easiest refashion ever! With the cutout over the elastic already in the dress, all I had to do was pick out the top, and then re-sew all the seams.

 It took me less than an hour to do all the unpicking and re-sewing.

 I thought it was a darling skirt!

Hermione Dress and Harry Potter Party

For this little one's birthday I made a Hermione dress because she insisted that I make one! I used a mash up of Simplicity 1433.Hopefully my daughter can also get some use out of it when Halloween rolls around!

My daughter really wanted a Harry Potter Party, so I scoured Pinterest for ideas and found a bunch of them! These owls flew invitations in the form of an acceptance letter to Hogwarts to a bunch of friends. We just invited everyone from her church class.

I do know how to spell Happy Birthday correctly. I thought this spelling was a reference to a cake Hagrid made for Harry.

I tried to turn our home into a mini "Hogwarts" of sorts.

We had to search for golden snitches.

Moaning Myrtle paid a visit.

We also played Quidditch by sitting on a broom one at a time and throwing a ball through a hula hoop. We had a "Defense Against the Dark Arts Class" by throwing little "pop-its" on the outside porch and yelling "Abracadabra!". They were sorted into houses by rolling dice to see which one they would be in. Finally, we made wands and colored pictures of Harry Potter with magical glitter glue.

It was a fast and furious affair! I had a friend graciously help me with some of the games, but then she had to leave and I had to herd ten little kids around! For the most part they were good so all's well that ends well!

Maroon Dress Refashion

I bought a dress for 11 pennies a couple of months ago. I thought the dress had potential.

I love how it turned out! I made it into a peplum shirt. I added a little bow that I took from another sweater that had started to fray.

Yeah! Not all my refashions turn out but I think this one did!