Sail Away Nautical Dress from www.thetraintocrazy.com

I'll be having one of these for me please!!! I can't wait for Madeleine to be old enough to wear something like this. I hope Nautical stays in style for...8 years...

Sail Away Nautical Dress

Itty Bitty Baby Dress

Okay First... HERE is the actual website where I got the tutorial. It also has the pattern (which is just for the top).







The Pattern comes in two portions which then you tape together. I did print it on cardstock which was really easy to pin. **I wish I would have used more pins while cutting it out. It would have mattered later in the project if the cuts were more direct**

The top :) I think it looks like bunny ears.

Start by placing the outside piece with the lining piece together. Sew just the "ears" together. Leave the bottom bits open for now. **Really take your time sewing this part together. As a new seamstress the curves were difficult for me. If I had been more patient with the stitches, I think the top would not have been as wonky as it came out**

Turn this right sides out and press. **NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE IRON** This really did make it a lot easier for me!







While its rights sides together, sew a straight line and close up the bodice.

Next, the tutorial said to use piping but I was pretty broke (40% off 2.99/yd fabric was the way I went :) so I just used homemade bias tape.

I cut a slice of the grey fabric and lined up the raw ends of the grey with the raw ends of the bodice and made a seam.

Next, I made the skirt. Cut two rectangles 9"x18". Use a long stitch, sew 1/4" inside the raw edge. On my machine I used a 0 for the tension and the longest stitch I had and it seemed to work pretty well. I had never done a gather before so it did take me a couple of times. I wanted to finish the dress last night but I got so frustrated that I put it down and came back to it this morning. I also agonized about how to attach the skirt and I'm sure the way I did it was not the best way but it seemed to work okay for me.  Pull one of the strings and make sure to gather it in a way to make the seams of the skirt even with the seams of the bodice.

I pinned the skirt to the bodice while both the skirt and the bodice were inside out. **THE SEAMS WERE OUTSIDE VISIBLE TO ME** (This was the part I struggled with) I then sewed the gathers under the original stitch to the seam of the bias tape and the bodice. I know this is a little muddled so if you have problems let me know.

 The final step is to add a lining to the bottom. You don't have to do this. You can just hem the bottom of the skirt if you want but since I used plain fabric I decided to add the tape to the bottom to make it a little fancier. Now, again, since I was broke, I made my own bias tape. This time I cut a length a little longer than the skirt, pressed it in half, and then pressed one of the halves in half again. I then lined up the bottom of the skirt inside the little pocket and sewed it on. **Make sure to sew as close to the top of the little fold as you can. It just looks a little nicer than the middle (like I did the back one).**


Perhaps the way I did this dress was not the easiest way but it worked for me and Maddie looks adorable in her new dress.
I also want to add little rosettes (with safety pins to be removable for washing) and to match her little headband that's not made yet. :)

Pleated Mary Jane Booties

I finally finished my M&M's booties for her halloween costume. Now, part 2 of 3 done! I have only her little onesie and I'll be finished!! :) I used this really great (surprisingly easy) tutorial of these adorable Pleated Mary Jane booties. Perhaps once I feel a little more handy at the sewing machine, I'll try the Abby top. But thanks to Shwin & Shwin for making such a great tutorial!! Here are my finished shoes for M&M!

Check out Shwin and Shwin!! Be Inspired!!!

Altered Trunk!! Shake the can till the ball stops making noise.

Here is my first altered anything and I'm really excited!! We had this old trunk at my parents house for what seemed like 100 years and we finally brought it  over to the house. It first looked like this...

YIKES!!

The first thing I did was try to get all the gunk off the blue. It was covered in dirt and old papers so I took my husbands air compressor and cleaned off all the lose stuff in and out. Then I sprayed the think parts with cleaner and let it sit for a while. After that I took the water hose to it. I didn't want to spray it too much because I didn't want the trunk to warp so I scrubbed and scrubbed and in the South Texas 103 degree heat that was the hardest part of all!!

After the cleaning process I spray painted all the metal fixtures with Rust-oleum paint in Metallic Black. See that nasty rusty bit under the can. The whole trunk was like that. This spray paint stops future rusting plus it has this really lovely shimmer to it. My intention was to paint the metal black and the blue bits a grey that we got for M&M's bedroom. 

This is what happened....

yikes again!!! Also sorry for the terrible picture. It was nighttime (after M&M went to sleep).

I didn't like the grey at ALL!!! I think its because its really really cheap paint. I think if it had been better paint or I had the right size brushes. 

So, after that I decided to just spray paint the whole thing! Which, if you plan on this, make sure the can doesn't run out. If it does, make sure you paint all that you can see first. Here is the final product. 

Next we will be adding shelves inside, covering them with fabric or contact paper, and turning it into a corner bedroom Entertainment center. When its up on the side and open a little bit, it's just the right height to be able to see the tv in our bedroom and takes up a LOT less room than a real entertainment center. 

Thanks for watching!

Lilypotamus!

So I love love LOVE finding local crafters making adorable things.  Lilypotamus isn't terribly close but Houston is better than Canada where I have found other things. There is a giveaway going on from them (ahem CASEY!!!) through Naptime Crafters that gives you a few different ways to win some of their awesome goodies!!
Dottie Leg Warmers!---->