Dresses for the Girls

(Photo from Blake Collins)

I know Easter was a few months ago but I made dresses for the girls and wanted to share them here. We did not take good pictures of the girls in their dresses that day, but you can get the idea. I used a fun animal print fabric I picked up at JoAnn's for the main portion of both dresses. You may recognize the fabric from this blanket which is how I used the leftovers.

Dressing sisters in matching outfits goes back decades but since there is a four year age gap Sydney usually likes to have a little individuality. So I used a different color solid to complete each dress. Sydney picked out pink, of course, and Violet received green. I used the Ice Cream Dress pattern from Oliver + S. The pattern was well written and easy to follow. I did make a few small mistakes but I learned alot along the way. For example, I didn't secure the side seams of the dress well enough and now after a dozen washes Sydney's has begun to come unraveled. They both have enjoyed wearing them though and it makes me happy to see them.

An Irish Dress

Sydney is about to begin 1st grade. But while she was still in Kindergarten, her class did a performance of It's A Small World. The teachers asked each of the kids to dress in traditional clothes from a country of their choice. Sydney decided on Ireland so we went to work on an outfit a couple days before her performance. She loves getting dressed up for any reason so she was very pleased with the result. I think she looks adorable but the sewer in me see the things that could be better.

I just made a longer version of this skirt, with a little lace at the bottom instead of ribbon. Then I made her a quick little apron. I just cut out the shape I wanted, hemmed around all the edges and added a little tie. That gray striped fabric is from my mom's stash from when I was a little girl. Finally I made her a little vest. It was my first attempt at making a vest and I just went for it without a pattern so it is a little bit too small. We wanted to add some cording to lace the vest up so we were able to make it work though. To top off the outfit we braided her hair in a crown and added a few flowers.

Baby Quilt: Pink and Green

Some friends are expecting their first child any day now. Amy made all the bedding for their daughter so when it came time to make her a gift I knew just the colors and fabric to use.

The animal print on the back of the quilt is from the same line as the fabric she used for the bedding. For the front I just used fabrics I had in my stash. Some of the fabrics are from Anna Maria Horner, some are from Denyse Schmidt, and the rest I just picked up here and there and don't remember the names of. I used the same pattern as these quilts.

The binding I made from some leftover Kona solid. I really am enjoying sewing binding on by hand. It feels like a few moments of peace to create something beautiful.

A Simple Skirt

Sydney is very tall for her age. As her doctor told us at her recent check-up: "She's the size of an average 8 year old." Yep that's my girl...well her daddy's girl. I love her beautiful height but it does make buying clothes for her a little tricky sometimes. Especially since most skirts for little girls are getting shorter and shorter these days. And while I'm tempted to go on and on about my frustrations with that I'll continue on to a lighter note.

After some searching for skirts she could wear to school (they need to be mostly navy, light blue, white, and tan) and not finding much selection I decided to make her one. I made this little skirt for her a while back and she wore it quite a bit throughout the spring. It is perfect for her and makes everybody happy. Her school is happy with the colors, Mom and Dad are happy with the length, and Sydney is happy to have a unique skirt to wear to school and show off her individuality.

It is from the Lazy Days Skirt tutorial. It was so easy to follow and super simple. I will definitely be making more of these for the coming school year. The fabric is from Anna Maria Horner which I had in my stash and the ribbon is just a basic navy ribbon I picked up at JoAnn's.

New Pillows

I made these pillows a few months ago but just realized I haven't shared them here. The pattern is Anna Maria Horner's Love Emblem pattern. She also has a free pattern to make two different size quilts using the same pattern. They are beautiful. This was my first try with such a challenging pattern. All those different triangles and points and fitting it all together was a bit overwhelming. In the end, they didn't turn out perfect but I like them and learned so much in the process.

For these pillows I used her Folksy Flannels Collection along with some solid cream flannel I picked up at our local JoAnn's. It makes them very soft and snuggly. For the backs I just used some Kona solids. For the stuffing I mainly used the stuffing from the pillows we already had on the couch. This saved some money. Plus, we didn't need more pillows just different ones.

I like the idea of making new pillows every few months to give the room a fresh feeling. Hopefully I'll find some time to make up some new ones this fall. I also like trying new things and pillows are a good size for trying new patterns or techniques or color combinations. Do you have any favorite patterns for pillows?

Flannel Patchwork Ball

Yes, I know it is March so please excuse the next couple posts. Last Christmas I wanted to make Shane and the girls each a handmade gift instead of buying gifts and I wanted to share them here too.


Up first, is the littlest Mulholland, Violet. I made her a little patchwork ball. The pattern is from Seams to Me by Anna Maria Horner. It is all hexagons and pentagons sewn together. I thought it would be confusing and that I might have a lot of taking out stitches and resewing but Anna gave clear, concise instructions and diagrams. It was so much fun to make. I used a bunch of her different flannels which made the ball super soft and cuddly. I think half the time Vi uses it for a pillow.


As you can see not all my corners match up very well but luckily Violet doesn't mind.

Baby Quilt: Pink and Orange

One more baby quilt to share. This one is also for a friend who is due in about a month. These fabrics are Anna Maria Horner prints that I had in my stash along with some solids.


Like I mentioned before I want to keep trying new things with each quilt so I decided to add a little hand embroidery for the quilting. First I used my sewing machine to 'stitch in the ditch' and then used thick embroidery floss to add detail. I just tried to do some straight stitches around different portions of the patterns in each piece. It really added a handmade feel to the quilt. I think in the future if I decide to do this again, I'll try to add even more.


The pattern is the same as this first quilt. I really love this pattern because it is super quick and so fun to pick out prints since it is designed for six fat quarters. The back is an Anna Maria flannel and I tried my hand at making and attaching binding again. This time the binding went much better and I feel like I'm understanding the process much more. I think my favorite thing about this quilt is the colors. I must confess that I wanted to keep it. I hope little Alli loves this quilt to shreds.


I have one more baby quilt finish that I'll share once I get pictures of it. And since I have more friend's expecting there will probably be more quilts to come this year. I really love making this size quilt. It is just fast enough to feel satisfying and keep me interested in each individual project.

Baby quilt: Pink and Black

Here is another baby quilt for yet another friend about to have a baby, a little girl. I had all these pink fabrics already and the black and white came from my mom. She probably had the black and white check since I was a little girl. The pattern is from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. I really like how easily it all came together.


My goal has been to try a little something new with each quilt since I'm such a beginner still. So this time around I decided to tackle making and attaching binding. It came out alright for my first try. I think the fabric I used was a bit thin and something a little sturdier would work better. I used the same check fabric for the back and since it is a bit thin I added some cotton batting so it would be a little warmer. Hope you enjoy Baby O.

Hearts and Needles

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a weekend of heart shaped food including toast with hearts cut out and filled with eggs. We call these birds in a nest but I'm not sure that's an official name for this food. We also made homemade pizzas in heart form.


Today is a no school day for Sydney. The girls have been having a fun day playing together. While Vi was napping I decided to work on a little hand-stitching.


It is so lovely to look down at this fabric (from Anna Maria Horner). But so much better to look up to find Syd has joined me with her own project. She knows how to make a mama feel so loved.


The only thing that would make this day better is having my Valentine here with me. But alas, a day of love is not a holiday for the movie making folk. :) I'll just have to wait until dinner.

Appliqued shirts

A few months ago I made these two appliqued shirts for a couple of our favorite little boys.


This penguin was a birthday gift for our friend Ryken.


And this little owl onesie is a just because / surprise gift for a cousin's son.

I do love making these. They are easy, quick, and it's fun to use fabric from my stash. I hope to make some more this year. I also have some other ideas to applique these little birds on some other projects. Do you have any fun ideas?

Crocheted Halloween Costumes

I have wanted to make Sydney's Halloween costume since she was a baby. This year I finally got the inspiration to really go for it. She really wanted to be Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon, which of course made Shane really proud. We actually looked around for a costume for her but couldn't find one anywhere. We did see some girls wearing pre-made ones on Halloween so they must have been available but maybe just sold out. Either way, with Shane's encouragement, we decided to make Sydney an Astrid costume ourselves.


First I picked out some yarn and crocheted the vest/shirt for her. It is two different yarns, one aqua color and a tricolor, that I crocheted together. I just chained enough to fit around her waist and slip stitched to the first chain to make a large loop. Then I just did rows of double stitch up her torso. I was worried the double stitch would be too big and not tight enough for a shirt but because of using two yarns and a H hook it worked out great. Once I made the tube big enough for her torso I just winged it to go up around on shoulder and then attached it to the back. Then I crocheted the other side. I was in a hurry so I didn't keep track of stitches or anything like that. Basically the poor girl had to try it on every hour or so as I went to make sure it was going to fit correctly.


The skirt is a faux leather I picked up at Joann's. I just made myself a little template and cut out all the pieces by hand. Then sewed them onto a waist band piece. I didn't really have the time to finish the skirt well so we just cut belt loops right into the waist of the skirt and put her brown belt on the inside of the skirt. It worked perfectly. Plus, this method means it is adjustable so she can wear it again next year if she wants. The skirt also includes a basic tube of brown cotton fabric for the bottom layer. The 'studs' are just silver buttons I found and sewed onto the skirt. The little skulls and the studs on her shoulders are clay Shane mixed up for me that we baked in the oven until set, then we just hot glued them into place.


The shoulder pieces are made for cardboard, hot glue, spray paint, and more of the clay for the spikes. And to finish it all off I made her headpiece from a scrap of the 'leather', extra buttons, and verco. Viola! Astrid.


Next up was Violet. We thought it would be cute if she was a little dragon. We talked and sketched some ideas for a little beanie and spikes as well as other details but in the end time limited her costume to just wings. It worked out because at 15 months she wasn't really liking the idea of a detailed, cumbersome costume. I just used some Red Heart soft green yarn. Once again I just sort of winged it without a pattern (sorry for the pun.) It is all double crocheted as well which made it come together quickly. Shane helped me add wire (from a wire hanger) then I just added a couple buttons to attache the harness.


I was happy with how they turned out and I look forward to making more costumes for them in the future. It was also good to try my skills at creating something with no pattern to even base it off of. Definitely a stretching experience.

First Quilt

I have been wanting to make a quilt for years and finally worked up the nerve to give it a go. This first one was for a close friend who had her first baby this past November. I used this super easy and fun pattern from Kate at Two Little Banshees, which uses six fat quarters for the quilt top. It was a great first pattern for me. I love the colors and fabrics. The back is a flannel from Anna Maria Horner. The front is cottons and mostly from her too. I learned a lot on this first quilt and know there is a lot of growing and practice still needed but overall I was happy with how it turned out. It definitely has given me the inspiration to make more quilts and do more sewing in general.

Beginning embroidery

Sydney is always interested in trying different crafts. I have been meaning to let her experiment with some hand embroidery for some time now. Last week I let her pick out some fabric and thread from my stash. She picked out some Anna Maria Horner fabric (she is a girl after my own heart) and some pink thread (of course). She decided to add some stitches around the different designs on the fabric. We talked about all different things we could do with her embroidery once she was finished: a shirt, skirt, purse, etc. In the end she decided she wanted to use it as a hankie so that she could start using it immediately.

New Tablecloth

I love the rainy weather and the coolness of winter as it turns into spring. I thought the house could use a little revamp. I think I am just tired of the same old stuff around our apartment so I purchased some of Anna Maria Horner's new oilcloth. It is beautiful and I love how it livens up our apartment. Add a little color to the 'mantel,' which is really just the top of our television cabinet, and I feel a little more cheer.

A quick but Good post

Before leaving town for a couple days I wanted to share these with you. Anna Maria Horner, who as you know is one of my favs, just shared pictures of her newest line of fabrics, Good Folks. I just love them and want some of each. She is even giving some away so run over and add your name to the ever growing list of comments if you are feeling lucky. I have saved up some money so I think that I will be fixing the sewing machine and buying some to play with.

Handmade Gifts for a baby girl

Just a quick note and picture to show what I recently made for a cute baby girl. The blanket and beanie are crocheted and the little penguin onesie was appliqued. The blanket is just a big grannie square but I really love how it looks. I feel the need to make myself a lap blanket like it for the coming cooler weather. Last week it was actually feeling fall-like here in Southern California and I just loved it. Fall is by far my favorite time of year. Hope you enjoy.

A Dress for Sydney

One of my goals in sewing has been to try and begin learning how to make clothes. I have heard some horror stories so I have kept putting it off. When I saw this tutorial from Habitual I thought it would be a good starter dress. The instructions were super easy to follow and had lots of little helpful hints. I used a little Anna Maria fabric from her Chocolate Lollipop for the bow and some Amy Butler Midwest Modern for the dress. It is far from perfect but the fact that it looks ok and fits ok is good enough for me this time. It is a little big now but since summer is almost over I am hoping to will fit her still next spring. Of course, the way she is growing that will not happen so this little dress will probably end up being passed on to somebody else. But first Sydney will wear it for a little celebration dinner tomorrow night.

Back on track...sort of

As you may have noticed things have been sort of slow on the creating side of my life. Mostly due to the extreme craze of other areas. Needless to say, the creativity has begun again. I have been getting inspired every where I turn and sewing has actually began again around here. There is nothing finished to show you yet. I am currently working on some more onesies, a couple baby blankets, and my first quilt. Hopefully, there will be more to show you soon.

Birthday gifts for Sydney

Our little girl turns 3 in a few days. This coming weekend we will be celebrating her birthday on the 4th of July so it will be a red birthday. I made her a reversible headband from this tutorial for her to wear. I didn't have any good fusible batting so I skipped it. The headband still works great it just doesn't photograph as well. I also made her a little scarf to add to the dress up box. After making some for her friends she kept asking for one so I whipped one up on Saturday. I guess that counts as a pretty productive crafting day in this house.

Catching Up

I feel bad that I haven't posted much this month but here's an attempt to catch up on what has been happening here during March. Seriously, what happened to March? We are anxiously waiting for the arrival of a special baby girl, which will probably lead to another absence from the blog, but who can resist a cute baby? Anyways, the family has been through some sickness and traveling but we are all home and well now. I have been doing some crafting, mostly crocheting. There are a few blankets I am working on for gifts. This one is similar to the last one.

We celebrated a few birthdays including our youngest nephew's 2nd birthday.

We spent Easter with some of Shane's family.

I started a quilt for Sydney, upon request.

And last but not least Sydney received her flower girl dress for Christine's wedding later this summer.

More updates and hopefully some finished projects to show you soon.