Audrey Hepburn "Sabrina" Dress

 I grew up on old Hollywood classics. Doris Day, Julie Andrews, and  Alfred Hitchcock were very familiar names to me! I especially adored Audrey Hepburn, so when the Gertie pattern B6353 came out I immediately fell in love! It is a copy of a dress from the movie "Sabrina" that I always loved.

 When the corresponding Gertie fabric went on sale a year ago I snatched it up! I finally sewed it up this month and I am going to be Audrey Hepburn for Halloween! My childhood dreams have come true!

 This dress is the nicest thing I have ever sewn! The lining is the best one I have ever sewn too!

 I really wanted to step up my photography by taking outside pictures! I totally got heckled by the river though!

 There is a beautiful old mansion in my area, "The Moore Mansion", that I new I wanted to get a picture at, but I wasn't sure how to do it. So I drove up to it when the owner happened to be outside, I asked if I could take a picture just outside the gate and they told me I could take a picture anywhere on the property! It was a dream come true!

I am so happy they let me take a picture here! I have admired this house for ages! It really is lovely. And I thought it was very "Sabrina" to wear this dress outside of a mansion!

What I know about the Moore Mansion was that it was supposed to be a vacation home for a wealthy, ailing woman. It was built around 1920 but the lady died before it was finished! In the 1930s it was a "speakeasy" and even Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been here! It was abandoned for many years and was a restaurant when I was a child. It caught on fire and sustained a lot of damage when I was in high school. Thankfully new owners fixed it up and now lots of people get married here! Sewing bloggers also can sometimes take pictures of their vintage dresses here as well! ;)

Happy Halloween!

 I made the executive decision to do a 101 Dalmatian theme for our family this Halloween, and it was a hit! The kids loved dressing up as puppies.

It was a very light sewing costume year for me, and I am okay with that! I sewed the faux fur white wrap that I wore and I tried to sew red gloves, but they were a major flop! I bought my wig, baby's costume, and three white shirts. I painted spots on the shirts for my girls and made them masks out of felt, elastic, and glue from my hot glue gun! 

We had a blast this Halloween and hope you did too, if you happen to celebrate it of course!

A Belle Dress and other Happenings

It's birthday season at our house! I always try to make a "dress up" for each of my kids. I usually try to make something I would've wanted as a kid, which isn't always something a parent should do, but it's worked well for costumes so far.

 This dress is like buttah! I think I want one in my size! To wear to the live action Beauty and the Beast next year! I'm not a nerd or anything.

 I found a dress I really liked for $3 (yeah!!!). It was just a bit too short for me so I bought another dress just like it and then cut off the skirt from one to add to the other. Voila! Magical longer skirt!

 Me Made May was difficult for me to be apart of this year. My body just doesn't want to snap back from having a baby! So therefore I don't fit into many of the clothes I have made in the past. I did my best to get this simple, loose top finished but it didn't until June 1st! Waaa! A day late. :(

I had to take in the sleeves, but otherwise this is an awesome, easy pattern!

I have lots of birthday sewing to do but man, I need to do some more selfish sewing soon! ;)

Maleficent

Since I am obsessed with Halloween and costumes I couldn't just make one outfit! I followed this tutorial to make a Maleficent headdress out of plastic bags, tin foil, and duct tape. I also used the exact same cape and dress that I used for my Miss Clavel costume.

Maybe I could be the real Maleficent's stumpy, less glamorous half sister?

So so scary as I pose among the shoes!

Although the Madeline costumes were a hit at our ward party the night before, we all wanted to change it up for the actual trick or treating we always do at Grammy's house.

I hope you all had a fun Halloween!

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!!!

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!

The "Ella" Cinderella Dress

We thought the latest "Cinderella" movie was pretty cute! I've seen costumes from the movie at stores and I knew I had to try to make one for my little girls.

 

 I used the same simplicity pattern I used to make the Anna Coronation dress and then I added the sash and butterflies to the top.

 The Original Dress that inspired me

 I love this color! I love how the glittery sheer fabric looks too.

The dresses at the store were $30 and although they looked cute, this dress cost $20 to make and it is much more solid and princess like, in my opinion.

 

 I put a floral lining inside the dress because I had this cute fabric and I thought it went along with the whole feel of the dress.

I'm happy with how it all turned out!

The Elsa Dress

Life has been so busy! I did take the time to make a special dress for my little one's birthday.

It isn't perfect but my little one loves it.

I used felt to make the snowflakes at the bottom of the dress.

Happy birthday sweet girl!

Sorry, I've been Busy

Well, a lot has happened. We moved from our house into an apartment. Then, lo and behold, two weeks later the sale of our home fell through. The buyers had some problems they were not upfront about. It's pretty tragic. So right now my life is a bit of a mess. Keep us in your prayers that our home will sell, will ya? It's back on the market.

In other news, I won a giveaway from one of my favorite blogs, Lucky Lucille! Look at those vintage notions and that beautiful fabric! Thank you so much Rochelle. I love them.

Also, my sweet, spunky strawberry blonde had a birthday! Long ago I think I had or saw a Sleeping Beauty Barbie that had a reversible dress (you know, because in the movie Aurora's dress turns from blue to pink, of course!). So I made her a reversible dress for her party because, why not? 

Magic!

I just took the top of a basic dress pattern for girls to make the bodice. I made two in the two different shades. Then I made dirndl skirts in the two different colors for the bottom half of the dress (or in other words, one must take a square shape of fabric, thread the top scrunch it together to make it fit the top). I was considering making a tutorial, but lets be honest. It's just a miracle I blogged about it at all!

Wish me luck on my house! I'm going to need it!