A Dress for October (Updated)

Another dress for the fall using 5 different t-shirts.

I bought Sienna (yes, storebought) the perfect black and white striped leggings to wear underneath. Now it just needs to cool off! It was only 101 degrees here today.

I’m sewing an identical one for my Etsy store except that the purple is at the top and orange is at the bottom….I’ll finish it tonight. The plan was to offer someone their pick and Sienna would get the leftovers, but my iron was too hot and I smeared some of the text at the top of the dress! She’ll never notice.
Halloween tees are SO much better than when we were growing up, right? I wouldn’t have been caught dead in one until recent years…..
Pattern used: The Sienna Dress

Update: Here is the 2nd one I made. I LOVE the little owl tag that is on the bottom ruffle! This dress is in my etsy shop now…..there will only be one.

For the Owl Lover

Here is one of Sienna’s new fall outfits I made this weekend. We love owls.


Sometimes I buy clothing just to reuse the fabric…..that was the case with this pajama set I found at Target. I saw the owls and knew immediately that I wanted to cut them out and use them as appliques. They are HUGE owls which is hard to find…..each is around 5″ tall.


I used one owl for the shirt and stitched around the edges……


….and two owls for the pant with a polka dot corduroy layer in between. One owl is on the side of the leg…..


……and one on the seat of the pants.


I used Pink Fig’s Bella Pant pattern for the corduroy pants.


I used my detail scissors to cut out the rest of the owls that I didn’t use. And I am offering them in sets of three in my Lil Blue Boo etsy store if anyone is interested (and can’t find the pajama set at your local Target). I applied fusible web to the backs of them so that they are iron-on ready. Each set is different.

Update: I sold out…I’ll try to get more cut today and relisted. You can also email me if you are interested and I’ll let you know when I am getting ready to list or even reserve you a set. Thanks!


Frog and Frog…..and Frog and Frog

Margaret from With or Without Nap made these adorable little frogs using my frog pattern download. I had to share her frogs because I just LOVE how she uses the fabric design for the eyes…..aren’t they great! (and I’m such an impatient crafter…..I love anything that eliminates a step from a project!)


There is nothing more rewarding for me than seeing others use my tutorials and patterns and make things their own. I love when I get an email with a link to something new. Everyone has their own unique twist and fabric choices. I love getting new ideas!

Folding Fabric

I couldn’t function yesterday morning. The house was a wreck. I spent ALL day cleaning and organizing to get everything back in order. Somewhere in between polishing the refrigerator and putting away laundry, I took every piece of fabric I own off the shelves in my studio and began folding. I snuck a few TV shows in while I did it (Criminal Minds, CSI NY, a random Lifetime movie). 

I can’t believe how many fabrics I had forgotten I had. So many projects I had planned but never got to. Plus…. perfectly folded fabric just looks so pretty, right?

Etsy Additions plus ElleBows!

These dresses and tops are now in my Etsy store. Lisa of ElleBows made adorable little matching ElleBlooms for each one! I’m have a hard time parting with them……seriously.

I listed these two as well, but without ElleBlooms….sniff.

Boutique: Done

Last night was the Artisan & Commodities Girls Night Out in downtown La Quinta. It was a really small crowd but lots of fun. The food and frozen margaritas were the best part! I had a little table with some clothes, nursery art, portraits and blog info. 

It wasn’t really the “handmade” clothes or sewing crowd, so I didn’t sell many clothing items or patterns. I put them all in my Lil Blue Boo Etsy Shop. I did talk to a bunch of people about portraits and nursery commissions and gave out a ton of cards. 
My awesomely supportive sweet hubby stopped by after picking Sienna up from school and surprised me. Sienna was very uncooperative with picture taking! It was REALLY hot so I had to put my hair up. Does my top look familiar
I have the most supportive friends too! You might know Lisa from ElleBows? She made adorable bows to go with the little dresses and tops I brought. Leslie has the oldest sewing machine known to mankind with “ONE stitch option” and she still volunteers to be one of my pattern testers!  Emily has her own little craft blog and is the best cook! Thanks you guys for helping and watching the booth! Here we are at the end of the night:

The night was a success but I am over the “boutique” thing for a while. At the end of the night as I was loading up my car battery decided to die! Some kids hanging out at the liquor store across the street heard the car die and must have been bored beyond belief because they came over and asked if they could jump it. They were SO nice and polite and helpful and I had to FORCE them to take money for their trouble. They used their Ipods/Iphones to light up the engine to see what they were doing….very surreal.

Need toothpicks……

…to hold my eyes open. I am pooped. My day was a blur. My mother-in-law took my daughter for her first mani-pedi this morning so I’d have some time to work…Sienna waited by the door for an hour in anticipation…ready with her purse, toy cell and laptop. I peeked in her purse….8 erasers, one outlet safety plug, a rubber band, a small plastic dog, and some cookie crumbs….very important stuff.

Here is some sewing I did today for the boutique tomorrow:

A peasant dress (from the Leila and Ben pattern)…..


….with little black and white bows at the sleeves.


I call this one the “Sound of Music” peasant top….because I made it from some leftover drapery material. If no one buys this I am definitely keeping it for Sienna to wear this fall.


This dress was made from the scraps of 4 different t-shirts using the Sienna Dress pattern. I stenciled the stars.


I might have to keep this one too. So much for running a business…..

After everyone went to bed tonight, I painted 5,000 little dots on an assembly line of nursery paintings. 


I know I haven’t visited many of you or returned emails the past couple days! I plan to catch up at the end of the week….so sorry! I don’t like feeling out of touch. Thank you all so much for your nice comments and encouragement. Hope you have a great night!

Halloween Batik Toddler Top

I found this amazing batik fabric at Joann’s the other day and immediately knew what I was going to make with it! I made this peasant top for Boo and another one for the boutique I am going to this Wednesday. It is a very subtle “Halloween” outfit which is totally my style. My friend Lisa over at ElleBows is going to make some ElleBlooms to match! I used the same pattern that I used for the Coffee Sack Dress and shortened it.


I love the spiderweb design.


I’m experimenting with new Lil Blue Boo garment labels too. They are a little plain but I’m liking them! I used this tutorial from Pepperberry as a starting point….


If the dress doesn’t sell at the boutique I’ll be adding it to my Etsy shop.

Our Weekend of Making Stuff

My sister Perry and her fiance Justin were here this week for the LPGA qualifying. We spent this weekend hanging out and while the guys watched football and Sienna napped…..Perry and I made stuff.

I already posted the coffee sack dress. Here is another piece of clothing I made for Sienna (it won’t get cool here for a while)……by adding a patch to a Target tank top:
I added a little tiny patch to the back of the shirt:


The patches are from this adorable little book of Sukie iron-ons that I picked up at Barnes & Noble last week. I love everything in this book! They are a little difficult to use…..you have to use lots of pressure and they work best on smooth, light colored fabric. 


Here is Perry sewing a halter top in my messy studio:


I made her model it outside so I could get a cute photo. 


We miss you already Perry and Justin!  XOXO

A Coffee Sack Dress


I think it is so funny when people say “oh, she’d look cute even in a potato sack.” I decided to put it to the test. I love the look of burlap coffee sacks….so I created my own coffee sack out of soft cotton and turned it into a dress.


I used one of my favorite patterns: the Leila & Ben Sweet Dress (you can find it here).


Using a few different lettering stencils, I drew some “coffee” info onto the cotton using a disappearing ink pen. Once I was happy with the way it looked I used a black Fabric Mate pen to color it permanent.


Here is the front and the back of the dress before sewing:


Closeup of the lettering on the front:


Lettering on the back says “Superior Organic”:


I added a row of orange and white mattress ticking in the dress. Then used some leftover fabric for a frayed flower. The center of the flower is a fabric button I made that reads “coffee” (and the disappearing ink line hadn’t quite disappeared by photo time).


The finished dress:


I made actually cut the dress to be shorter so Sienna could wear it as a top over jeans. It is so cute as a little dress that I am making bloomers out of the orange and white mattress ticking for her to wear until it gets cooler. (Tip: Freeze your GoGurt’s so they aren’t messy!)

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