Baby Bonnets from Leftovers

I don't often do craft shows, but my friend Danielle of Live Laugh Sew is having one in her home in a few weeks.  I have been going through what I have on hand and realizing that I REALLY need to sell some things, LOL.

I've also been looking at Pinterest. Sometimes that gets me in trouble, LOL. I usually wind up heading into my sewing room with boatloads of ideas afterward and today was no different.  More on the other ideas later...

The one I focused on today is really very simple and I have been itching to get into my sewing room and start in on them.  In fact they are so simple that I would be willing to put together a tutorial if anyone is interested.

Baby bonnets.  I have so many small pieces of fabric left over from other projects, and bits of lace and rickrack and ribbon galore.  I thought this would be a great way to combine them!  I am really loving making these.  They are so simple and quick to sew up and will hopefully sell at the craft sale (unless someone else wants them before... wink, wink...)

This one is a 3-6 month size.

This one is also a 3-6 month size.  I will need to purchase some ribbon for this one.  I didn't have the right size red and the brown that I had seemed too drab.  

And this one is a 6-12 month size. 

I am hoping to do a few more in both sizes and also a few in 0-3 month size.  I'm also considering doing a few lined with flannel.  It has turned downright cold up here in Minnesota in the last few days.   

All in all it was a pretty fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  What about you?  What have you been up to lately? 

Randomness - Finish It Up Friday

My niece, Claire is turning twelve in a few days.  She requested a drawstring backpack for her birthday this year.  Sniff... Sniff... I think she might be done with the fun little dresses... They grow up way too fast. I kind of followed this tutorial and finished this up this week to mail off to her.  I did change the dimensions slightly since this is going to a 12 year old and not a toddler.   It was nice to use up a couple of odds and ends I had lying around, too.  The rickrack was the perfect size and color, I had just a little bit of green already cut ruffle size and had a piece of turquoise polka dot just the right size and color, too.  I even had the zipper in my stash! All in all a pretty easy little project.  

I also finished up these blocks to send to Margaret's Hope Chest for their "A Mother's Hope" project.  There is still time if anyone else wants to join in.  These quilts will go to women who are in a program to help them with post-partum depression.  

I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts with these things today.  

On a sad note, I received word that my father passed away early this morning.  I will be dealing with family matters for the next several days, I'm sure, so I will not be around blogland for a little while.  

Project Run and Play - My Signature Style

This week for Project Run and Play we are able to showcase our signature style.  It was a good chance for me to step back and really try and define what my signature style really is.  I have such a diverse range in taste when it comes to children's clothing that it was a little difficult to begin to define what I would call a signature style.

My style is sort of a meeting of two opposite ends of the spectrum.  I am totally blown away and inspired by the beautiful, delicate sweetness of heirloom sewing.

I look at these things and say "I want to make THAT!"  Reality tells me that my budget cannot meet that demand... look at the prices of Swiss Nelona and you will see exactly why.  Wowzers!!

And yet, I also love the fun and funky, crazy, ultra girliness of boutique sewing.  I see fun, ruffly dresses like this one and I want to make it just as much as I want to make the sweet little heirloom dresses.

So I took a step back and tried to evaluate what it is about these things that I love.
I made a list of the things that I really seem drawn to.
1. Full skirts
2. Ruffles
3. Femininity
4. Floral prints
5. Classic styling
6. Sundresses (looking at my own website I realized that all of the dresses I offer on my website are some type of sundress)
7. Bright clear colors
8. Combining at least two fabrics

So I took the elements of these things and decided to incorporate as many of them into this little dress as time would allow.

 I made a full skirt by using the full width of the fabric and added ruffles to the hem, across the top of the bodice and on the straps.

I used classic hand smocking on the front.  Smocking is always sweet on a little girl's dress in my book.  I had a marathon smocking session over the weekend. :)

I chose a bright, clear turquoise and yellow floral print as the main fabric and accented it with a sunny yellow check.  I trimmed the back with a placket made of the yellow check fabric, turquoise buttons and a little bit of turquoise rickrack that I had leftover from another project.  It was just the perfect color!

This was a fun adventure for me and I look forward to the next season of Project Run and Play.
I am also linking up for Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.