YCMT Patterns

Just about every time I'm online I check out You Can Make This to see what new patterns they have now and what people have posted in the I Made This! section. I look through the latter section for insperation. Sometimes I'm not completely sold on a pattern before seeing what some of the women have done with it.

One recent example would be The Patricia Tunic. At first I thought it was okay, but when I saw the pictures of it made into a short sleeved dress I bought it.

When they first came out with the Women's Reversible Wrap Skirt I bought it. I figured it was about time I make something for me. I have only used the pattern once, but I have the fabric to make a second one.

My all time favorite and most used pattern from YCMT is the Boutique Bottoms. I have made a lot of these and have plans on making more. I want to make Kaitlyn some sleeping pants with this pattern that she can wear under her brace.

There are more patterns I want to share that I have yet to buy, but those will wait for a later post. Right now I'm having problems working around the little tail that keeps sitting in my lap. LOL...

Today's Accomplishments

I've been kicking tail today and just had to share a couple photos. Alright now that I take the picture it doesn't seem so much like kicking tail. Here they are anyway...
The flash is killing the colors of this pillowcase dress and pants. Today I finished the dress and made the pants. In the past I put elastic between the main fabric and the cuff of the pants. as of right now I'm leaving these like they are. **edit** I forgot to add these are Boutique Bottoms by Sew Sensible.

This doll outfit is the same as the one I made yesterday other then I shorten the pants 1" so it won't cover the dolls feet.

My other accomplishment was sewing up some pants of mine. *insert blushing* Last week I was dressing for church when I decided to iron my pants (thank God). While straightening my pants I noticed there was a hole in the rear. For heaven's sake if I hadn't ironed the pants I would have worn them that way. I'm so glad I took a moment to look less frumpy. Well today I restored my black dress pants to their former glory with an extra seam as back up. =)

PJs and Snowsuit update

Last night I made Kaitlyn some sleeping pants out of bright green flannel with red, yellow, blue, and white flowers on it. As you can see from the picture the red flowers are much bigger then the rest. This was the only flannel I bought when the BX put all their fabric on clearance. Today I made a cap sleeved peasant top to go with the pants. Seeing how we will be spending the cooler months in Texas I thought long sleeves would be a bit much. When I originally bought the fabric I thought we might be moving to Montana in October (last month) so had planned on this having long sleeves. It's a bit plain so I'm thinking about sewing a little red bow on the top to give it a little something more then just plain, bright flannel PJs. The pants are the same Boutique Bottoms I make all the time and the shirt is the Portrait Peasant Top by CarlaC Dolly Designs. I'm actually about to use another CarlaC ebook to make a doll gown out of the same flannel I made Kaitlyn's PJs out of. Well here's the debate... I can make pants and a top just like Kaitlyn's or a gown. My plan all along was to make PJs, but now I'm leaning towards a long sleeve gown. This is the cover to the fun doll clothes ebook I'm going to use.

Here's the almost finished snowsuit for Kaitlyn's baby. I've decided not to make her the mittens. Yes, I know her hands will be cold, but I think she will survive. The way her thumbs stick out it can be a bit of a challenge getting her top on at times. Besides, I'm thinking all my hard work in making mittens will be for nothing because Kaitlyn's wouldn't keep them on her. So far she is doing well keeping the snowsuit on. I think the hat needs a chin strap; Heaven forbid it slide off, and it does every chance it has. If I think about it while Kaitlyn is sleeping I need to swipe her doll and put the fur on the hat and top.

Now my biggest challenge is sewing everything I can before our household goods are picked up in less then three weeks. Goodbye sewing machine. *sniff, sniff

Faith Top and Boutique Bottoms

I made Kaitlyn the Faith Double Layer Dress Top and Boutique Bottoms recently. She wore it to base Friday night. When the BX (Base Exchange) put all their fabric on clearance for 50% off, I picked up these three prints. Looking back I wish I had bought more of the main green fabric on her top and none of the green top band fabric. The two greens were different colors; enough that I had to use two different colors of thread on them. and keep them separated by bands of the pink and white check. Instead of putting ruffles on the bottom of the pants I tried to make them bell a little bit and put a second layer just like the top. I actually used the pattern for the main shirt panel so the bell would be the same. I know this isn't the best picture, but Kaitlyn didn't want to cooperate for a better one; as usual. =(

New Clothes

A couple days ago I finished Kaitlyn's Tiered Dress by Belle Elysse Boutique. The fabric sure is bright, but I like the results. Originally I was going to put ruching between the tiers with the same fabric as the bodice. I believe I have ruled that out now. Oh, who knows I may stop being lazy and tackle it. I have yet to try ruching.

Here's Kaitlyn in another pair of Boutique Bottoms by Sew Sensible. I make these so much I no longer read the instructions. Maybe that's more a testament to how easy her patterns are rather then my memory. These pants have bears on them. I attached a bear from the fabric up on her shirt and zigzag stitched around it. Of course no outfit would be complete without a matching clip or bow.

If you want to know how to make it do what I did. Hehehe... I traced the design off the computer. Yep, I saw, I liked, I made. As you can see miss bear is about 3" tall and 2" wide. She has four loops for a body and three for a head. The original bear had three rhinestones glued on for a necklace. I had these pink/purple beads and they matched the pants I made for Kaitlyn so I used them for a necklace. The bear really doesn't need anything around it's neck, but it did give it that little something extra to girly-girl it up. I used a two tone ribbon on it's head; I had it and have never used it so I thought this was would be a good chance to use some.

Baby Shower

I just got back from the baby shower. I was surprised that even though most of the women in our small church showed up they didn't all bring a gift. I walked in and wasn't sure where to put my gift down because I didn't see other gifts and I was the last to arrive. Halfway through I noticed a small group of gifts mixed in with other things. It was almost like the whole thing was an after thought. I guess to a point it was. It was my first time meeting Tonya (guest of honor) and her two little girls. Her oldest daughter is a month older then Kaitlyn and about three inches taller. She is a big girl. I had completely forgotten that Tonya has a second child until last night. I hated to go to the shower and take nothing for the 19 month old so this morning I whipped up a small purse and stuffed a pillowcase dress in it for her. Thankfully I do have extra of those laying around. As soon as she pulled out the diaper clutch she knew right what it was. Her eyes lit up and she started opening it up and checking it out. Assuming she already had a wipes case I bought a second one anyway. I wanted her to know what it was right off and figured she could always leave it in the car as an "oops, I forgot diapers" back up so the extra case would come in handy.

Here are the modified Boutique Bottoms without my screaming child in them.

They turned out so well I thought about keeping them for Kaitlyn. I really like how they look with a pillowcase dress.

Pillowcase Dress & Boutique Bottoms

I thought I would add my second project from today on here. I made Boutique Bottoms by Sew Sensible to go with a pillowcase dress I made. Both of these are for a baby gift. Kaitlyn was a bad model hence her head being cut out of the picture and it being blurry. It's hard to snap before they do sometimes. =) I made the pants a little different then the pattern calls for. Usually you don't put elastic or the cuff on the bottom; I did so it would match the pillowcase dress. If you look through my blog a little bit you will see maybe five other pairs of Boutique Bottoms, but made with a ruffle and no elastic.

Strawberry Shortcake Outfit

I made Kaitlyn a new outfit by Sew Sensible with a Strawberry Shortcake print. She was a big hit at church yesterday. I also made her a big pink bow with a ribbon strawberry in the center.

I also made my cousin's baby a Strawberry Shortcake outfit for his daughter's 1st birthday. She is smaller then Kaitlyn and living in Southeast Texas so I shortened the top and bottoms to make them cooler to wear this summer.

Laci's bow is folded different then Kaitlyn's, but the strawberry is the same. I have a feeling she is going to look like she has ruffles sprouting out her diaper. Hehehe...

I made Laci a dress by CarlaC Dolly Designs out of purple Disney Princess fabric too. I added a ribbon around the waist so the dress could be cinched up to fit Laci's skinny Minnie self better. As you can tell by the tissue paper I snapped the last two pictures just before packaging them up to send off. I don't know if post offices in the US were closed Saturday, but our base post office was. I wouldn't have pushed to get everything done in time if I knew I couldn't mail it until this week; "everything" includes four additional bows then the two pictured.

Easter

Our Easter morning didn't get a bright welcome like we had wished for. We had to submit to the snow and give up the first egg hunt. This was our first big snow all winter and it actually waited until early spring to arrive and Easter day no less.

I put Kaitlyn's Easter outfit on her and let her go at her Easter basket. She got necklaces, bracelets, a bunny, little Cinderella and Prince Charming dolls and two books. I also bought her magnet letters, but gave them to her the day before. She spent a lot of time playing with Prince Charming. I told Neal it was just like a girl to prefer Prince Charming.
I had to read her "Who Stole The Cookie From The Cookie Jar?" three times in a row last night. She likes the rhyme and was in a crabby mood so I just kept reading. The whole time she was fingering the little plastic cookies at the bottom of the book.Oh church... The service was geared toward kids so they asked all the parents to bring the children to the front. Out of the six kids present five were 11 months to 2 years. Basically there were a lot of restless young ones at the front. I was feeding Kaitlyn the bread sticks from a Handi Snack and juice to keep her in my lap. The Easter service was a guy doing Charlie (a bunny puppet) And The Chocolate Mystery Sunday. The guy went back and forth from doing magic to playing with the puppet. All the while weaving a story about Jesus. Anyway... after Kaitlyn finished her bread sticks she saw fit to play with the Handi Snack packaging. If you have a toddler who is eating a Handi Snack during church don't give them the wrapper with the sealed cheese pack. Kaitlyn bit the cheese pack causing it to explode all over her hands, face, and top as well as my left hand. I gasped then scooped her up and ran to the bathroom. I wasn't gone long when another mother came in to see if Kaitlyn vomited. After realizing what happened she had a good laugh then started cleaning cheese off Kaitlyn's head. If I wanted my child to get dirty I would have fed her the cheese with the bread sticks. Because of her cheese covered self we never did get a full body picture of her in her Easter outfit.

We might do an egg hunt when Neal gets home seeing how it's not snowing today. I'll have to wash her clothes and try again at getting a good picture. She did keep her big flower/bow on throughout church. Shortly before leaving for church I panicked thinking the bow and headband would spend most of the time on the floor and made her a smaller bow. I never had to resort to the smaller bow.

Socks and Easter oufit

Not only can she say sock, but she can now take them off. Several times yesterday Kaitlyn walked up to me saying something like sock while holding a sock up for me to see. I would put the sock back on her foot and a little bit later she would do it again. My one sock wonder has done it twice today and currently only has one sock on.

Kaitlyn has a dry cough right now. I'm not sure what brought it on, but I wish it would quickly go away. I could hear her coughing off and on last night.

I finished Kaitlyn's Easter outfit over the weekend. I know I was cutting it close, but the ribbon just arrived in the mail Friday I believe. I was a bit disappointed the ribbon wasn't the pink/peach color I had hoped it to be. I really didn't have time to reorder so I used it anyway. It does match the flowers, but seeing how they aren't the predominate color well... yeah, grrr. I was worried about buying green, but now I'm thinking I probably should have.

These are her SewSensible Boutique Bottoms. They came out great. Because she wears cloth diapers I had to redo the waistband casing to give a little bit more room for her big tall diapers. You can see it a little bit in the picture above, but it's not as bad as it first was. I've made her a second pair of these and added a little extra fabric to the top so they will be higher.

She wasn't being a good model. This was the best front view I could capture of the Stripwork top from Dainty Designs. I wish you could see how well the top goes with the bottoms. Maybe we can get a better picture Sunday.

I actually made her another outfit over the weekend. I used Wizard of Oz fabric and my SewSensible Dress Top and Boutique Bottoms pattern.

Kaitlyn knew just what to do with the purse. She smiled when I showed it to her and stuck out her arm. She is really into purses right now which makes scraps a good thing. I've seen her several times with her other two purses on her arm and around her neck. She likes filling them up with Little People.

I'm not sure I've said this on here before, but for those who are just learning to sew or would like to tackle your first pattern SewSensible is a great place to start. She give wonderful directions complete with pictures. Personally, I can't just read directions and do something I need pictures. The pictures in the two SewSensible patterns I have are excellent. I would highly recommend trying them out. You can find her patterns at You Can Make This. Check out the links above.