Parker test fitting cousin Kaleah's new upcylced dress! lol he wasn't sure what to think of it at first, he ran around for a while, twirled twice & then demanded I take it off, lol.  She's a tiny bit bigger then him so it should fit great this summer & again next summer as a tunic.  I love how this turned out & I know her mama is going to be super excited. 

A few years ago a friend of mine asked me if could make her some Matilda Jane style shorties.  She loves them but they are not cheap & the sell out fast.  So the last few years I have made some from knit fabric, but she has also had me make some of her favorite Gymboree leggings into them as well (She is in Las Vegas & don’t need full length ones most of the year). So I finally finished up a bunch for her this year & even got around to making the twins some!!! I also put a tutorial on my blog http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2012/05/16/upcycled-ruffle-shorties-from-leggings-with-tutorial/

Here is 2 of my recent upcycle projects.  

A quick & easy way to get EVEN cut off shorts that don't have a million strings & or get shorter every time you wash them .  I was so frustrated with the lack of plain jean shorts in stores for my girls this year that I will be making a bunch more of these.  The best part is it works for girls & boys and is a great way to get longer life out of pants that have had the knees blown out!  There is a full detailed photo tutorial on my blog here... http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2012/05/15/quick-easy-cut-off-shorts/



THEN I upcycled the legs with the holey knees into these cute half aprons & made a tutorial for that too http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2012/05/15/upcycled-jean-half-apron-with-tutorial/

SO I have been crazy busy but was proud to say that I made everything but Zanders black pants .  Well that & the 'ship' stroller cover, a friend already made it so we just borrowed it instead of making another.  I didn't think I could beat last years costumes but I think I may have.  The twins costumes are from a pattern bundle on you can make this.  Zanders shirt was a horrible big 3 pattern with the vest & boot covers self drafted & Parker's parrot was all self drafted using a penguin tutorial I found as a starting point of sorts.

I was shocked to find only a few parrot costumes to buy (and they were yucky!) and no patterns???  It's a parrot, everyone kept saying they looked for one for their little ones & couldn't find one so went with something else.  I am super excited with how it turned out & posted a mini tute on my blog because I spent hours looking & barely found anything!  Enough talk PICTURE TIME!







More pictures including a tutorial here: http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2011/11/01/parker-want-a-cracker-w-mini-tutorial/

A friend recently asked if I could turn a 5t gymboree dress into a size 5/6 skirt for her older daughter.  She had already bought her younger daughter a size 2 dress but her oldest was just a little too tall for the dress.  So a skirt it became!  This is also a great way to turn dresses that have stained tops into skirts or dresses they have outgrown into a skirt they can continue to wear.

This is the finally product & I think it turned out cute, I can't wait to get a picture of her daughter in it, I loved the embroidery work & the original dress!


This is what the original dress looked like before I cut into it.


I actually created a tutorial for it here: http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2011/10/27/little-girls-dress-to-bigger-girls-skirt-mini-tutorial/

These are the costumes I made for my 4yr old twin girls this year .  They love them & I love them so it's a win-win right?



I have the pattern info & some more pictures on my blog.

Things have been crazy with the arrival of our newest little on last month but while my parents were visiting the newest grandbaby I got a little time to sew .  Anyway I decided to take that time to start on the twins Easter dresses if there was any hope of getting them done in time (yes I know Easter is at the end of April this year!).  Anyway I actually managed to get them completely done almost 2 months early!  Here is their mini-photo shoot... I will get better ones later... and yes Baylie thinks shes a super model!  Baylie is on the left & Carlie is on the right.

There is a ton of info including a review of the pattern in the blog post... http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2011/03/09/the-twins-natalies-dress-easter-dresses/





Carlie...



Baylie...

I am currently doing a monthly challenge on my blog to motivate me as well as a lot of my friends to sew/complete at least 1 project a month!  This months theme is 'Something for YOU!' so this is my something for ME!  

With my due date fast approaching I decided it was time to make some nursing friendly nightwear!  I had tried out Megan Nielsen’s Maternity Wrap Top and really like it, and honestly like all of her maternity/nursing patterns they look and fit great when not prego too!  So I decided to order her 3 nursing friendly .pdf patterns Perfect Nursing & Maternity Top, Pina Gathered Dress or Top & Nursing & Maternity Lingerie Set.  I have only made up 1 of the 3 so far, but all 3 are great for Maternity, Nursing & Regular wear, so a very versatile pattern you can get a lot of use out of.
 
So this week I tackled the Nursing & Maternity Lingerie Set.  There is a full review of the pattern on my blog (link in my siggy)

I am SO happy with how this turned out and I plan to make a bunch more for nursing & afterward too! It’s not a super supportive sleep bra but it is comfy & gets the job done!  For photo purposes I did put a regular bra on under it but I am very happy wearing it at home without.  For maternity wear sizing I am 36w3d’s along in this picture… I normally wear size S/M in maternity tops & this is a size L and I still have an okay amount of extra fabric in the belly area.  Considering the very limited amount of maternity & nursing patterns available as well as the cost of buying any RTW (Ready To Wear) maternity or nursing clothing new and even used 2nd hand; this pattern, even with it’s few little finky issues, is totally worth the $5!

 
 

 

I know it's been a while since I posted, I have been lost in the nearly 200 childrens capes I have sewn up in the last 6 weeks! Those are done so now I am on to bigger & better things!

Anyway I grew up in the prime of the original TMNT, so I was SUPER excited when I received a message from a mom looking for a little help finding a last minute Christmas gift request:).  At the last minute her 6 year old son asked for TMNT masks for Christmas which apparently are easier to find for adults then for kids!  She wasn’t even sure if I knew what she was talking about when when contacted me but was happy to hear I was just as excited about them as she was & knew exactly what I wanted to do. So I spent last night after taking a few measurements I spent the evening drafting up a template.  Today I tried it out & it was a homerun on the first try.  

As a mom of 3 young kiddo’s with dress up boxes I HATE kids dress up stuff with ties!  It is simply not practical if mom or dad aren’t playing with them the whole time, that is what velcro & elastic are for.  And since I know they aren’t going to want to wait for mom or dad every time they want to play I put an elastic piece on the back of them so they can wear them even if they are untied!

 

Baylie is wearing the purple untied, Carlie is wearing the blue tied snug & Zander is wearing the red that he kinda tied himself.

   

  

   

  

   

  

   

  

The ‘back up’ plan…

   

  

   

  

   

  

READY TO SHIP!!!

I have been up to my neck in super hero cape orders from Etsy this week & honestly I doubt it will let up until right before Christmas (when it’s too late to ship anything out!).  This week has consisted of orders for a total of 50 capes & cape sets alone.

Today I finished up the 1st 25 packed them into their 11 packages and sent them off to the post office and this weekend I get to finish up a party favor order for 25 more.  This is just pictures of part of them, I already had some of them packaged up to go.  The twins LOVED helping me take them all to the post office, my little helpers!