Mabel Dress~New Release (Ollie & Annie Collection)

Hi everyone!  Today I would like to share with you one of the newest patterns I had the privilege to test a couple of weeks ago!

The Mabel Dress by Ollie & Annie Collection that is releasing today.  I think this might be her second pattern to release and I must tell you that I was absolutely beyond impressed with the perfection of the tester version that I worked with and the ease I had doing it.  She's starting up a blog today I believe so I'm going to go ahead and share the link with you so that you can access a little more detailed information about this dress as well as more photos (and FYI, this blogging business is pretty new to me and I just realized I may have assumed everyone knew that all of my underlined words are links...so if you didn't know that you do now).  Her first pattern to release was Bubbly Bubble Skirt.  I wish I could tell you about how wonderful that skirt is, but frankly I just learned about Ollie & Annie during the testing call for the Mabel Dress, however this will not be my one and only Ollie and Annie creation, that I can assure you as I absolutely adore this dress.  For the release the Mabel Dress is going to be 25% off with the use of code MABELDRESS25 and I believe if you are purchasing the Mabel Dress you will be able to get the Bubbly Skirt for the 25% off as well....that is totally sweet of her...make sure you go and share some love on the Ollie and Annie Facebook page, also as I have suggested before, before you start to sew this dress up make sure you join the Ollie & Annie Collection FB group page.  You will have access to the creator as well as all of the testers and other people that have made the pattern and should be able to find someone for help with any little issue you may run across, with this dress I didn't run into anything but you never know you could have one of those days!(PDF Pattern Groups on FB have been my lifesavers many times, atleast it felt that way to me ;)).

Anyway back to this adorable little dress, you've noticed that in this photo I layered it.  When I saw the dress it immediately screamed back to school to me and it won't be too awful long until it starts to cool down with some fall weather so I kept that in mind when I made Mabel Dress.  I dug through my entire stash and this cheetah print here yelled at me, it was just a remnant I found somewhere, bought for nothing in particular but I am happy I had it because I love my end results.

The back of the dress has buttons, as you can see here since I decided to use a plain black for the top I wanted a little bit of WOW factor and decided to embellish my buttons with sweet little bows.  All that I did was sew the buttons on like you would normally do and then sewed the little bows right on top of them.  It is a little bit tricky to push the bows and buttons through the holes, but she's not quiet 3 yet and I'm doing it anyway so we can deal with that.  Doesn't it just make it so cute!!!

That brings me to another GREAT thing about the Mabel Dress.  All the different fun ways you can take and make this dress your own.  I saw a Halloween version, a Great Gatsby version, A WATERMELON version, and dresses adorned with ruffles. There were some with extra buttons on the front and I also just saw a 70's retro style too! There is also a good set of photos of one of the simple versions here, you can see all of those as well if you join the Ollie & Annie Collection group.  

And look how cute it is when she twirls!

The Mabel Dress includes sizes 12m~10 and comes with instructions to make a belted version as well.

I could go on and on all day about how honored I was to get to take part in the testing of this dress and just how adorable I think this dress is but none of us have time for all that so I will stop now!  

Don't forget to use code MABELDRESS25 to get your 25% release discount off of the Ollie & Annie Mabel Dress and the Bubbly Skirt as long as you are purchasing the Mabel Dress as well!

Thank you all for visiting with me today and taking a few minutes to see one of my favorite new dresses for Miss Gracie's fall wardrobe.

You also may have noticed that I decided to go ahead and add a watermark to my photos from now on. I don't have time to sell many of my creations...with 3 kids, 2 which are still at home all through the day there isn't a lot of extra time to do that and make for them as well, but if you are ever interested I do make a few custom orders here and there I have a sort of page that I made.  Go check it out....Gracie's Rags, you can atleast maybe find a little bit of inspiration there!

Happy sewing!

Take 2 (Greenstyle Taylor)

Hi!  So today I am going to show you my take 2 on the   Greenstyle Taylors!  In a previous post, I got so excited that I didn't try  the pattern out first and used my expensive linen to have an end result full of mistakes...all of which were completely my fault.  I was all set to go again right away but the fabric I thought I was going to use turned out to look a little bit different then I remembered so I waited.

You'll have to forgive the no make-up, I never wear a lot anyway, but hey atleast I brushed my hair!  And my little Smokey there, isn't he a doll!  This pair was made with no mistakes.  I actually can follow a pattern and cut one correctly some days...well to be honest most days, but it's fun to share the bad days and I hope that my mistakes maybe help some of you.

These are still the size 8.  I ended up adjusting the back pleats A LOT, which in turn made my pockets pucker, so keep in mind that when the pattern says you can adjust the back pleat another 1/4 inch do just that, no more, I think the next step should've been to take a little bit out of my side seams.  Actually I think next pair I will cut the top in at an angle a bit as I'm not sure a 6 is an option for myself and my behind!

See, it's still pretty big, but I love the way these shorts fit!

Once again I made mine with a custom length, I cut for the 5 inch inseam and then just fold them up until they feel right and hem them, this pair I think may be a little bit shorter then the last, but still more then the 2, probably about 3.  The fly still feels a little bit small to me, as in it doesn't cover my zipper pull well, and I thought that was some of my doing last time, but I took extra, extra care with it this time...actually even sewing into my zipper a little bit so that I had to pick it all out so my zipper was functional...but I said I made these mistake free didn't I :)  No major ones anyway! But the pull stays covered all the time, just not as much as my jeans do so I can live with it I think and I still love my Greenstyle Taylor shorts.

A funny thing I also noticed this time when sewing, my fly is done the opposite of the last pair and opposite of my store bought shorts.  With the linen pair, as far as I could tell with that fabric there really wasn't a right or wrong side and I just looked at photos on the pattern and did what they did but I do remember being a little bit confused...this time I READ really well and just followed text and disregarded the pictures that are labeled right and left because that's not what my right and left were...I ended up with the fly done backwards, but that's ok, they are mine...maybe I just don't know my right from my left, who knows!  I think I will ask for a little help again in the Greenstyle Creations Pattern Group ( you will have to ask to join).  After my last try I got detailed help and ended up figuring out that it was my pocket mistake that caused the huge size problem.  They are really great over there, I would definitely advise joining before you ever begin to sew these shorts or any pattern for that matter from any PDF designer, if they have a group join it as it will be your best resource for help!

Anyway I'm going to sign off for the day and see if I can fix my embroidery mess...I purchased some awesome appliques and ofcourse have to use a different size for each of my boys to make them matching shirts and one of the files was corrupt so the big shirt is only halfway stitched and I have an upset boy now!  Time to go see what I can do about it!

Thanks for spending a little bit of time with me today and go check out Greenstyle Taylor Shorts, I swear you will love them!

UPDATE:

And it didn't take very long, for my fly problem I did ask over in the group and I was told that it's referring to how your shorts will be worn, whatever side will be on your right hip is the right side and vise versa...hope that helps anyone else who is silly like me and gets stuck on the small things!!!

   

New Release (High Low Tide Top - Patterns for Pirates)

Hi!  Today I am so excited to show you guys some of what I was working on last week!!!  I did 2 I loved it so much and Miss Gracie, well she adores them!  We live in Texas and it is HOT here, but she didn't want to to take these tops off!!!

The High Low Tide Top (use code HIGHLOW to get the release 25% off on Etsy) by Patterns For Pirates!  Isn't it lovely, and the fabric...this was something I purchased with one of my 15 coupons during the coupon commotion last week at Joann's!  It is soooo soft and flowy, I'm actually jealous that this top belongs to my 2 year old daughter and not me!

The top is made from knit so I can only just imagine how comfortable it has to be.  With this version I used very thin stuff, and during some uncharacteristic 70 degree weather in a TX July I actually already let her wear it out...the sleeves may have been a little bit long for her with this one, but that's ok, I think it makes it darling, but she's honestly just my darling anyway so I am biased.

The Bambi top is the first one that I made.  I actually managed to make it with scraps, which is something that I loved.  Knit is expensive and this one doesn't take a ton of fabric, atleast not in a 2/3.  The Bambi knit I bought way back in the spring to make her a sweet little A-Line dress with as well as the purple knit being scraps from another project.  PurpleSeamstressFabric is where I was able to find the darling Bambi knit...ofcourse we all know that a 2 year old would love Bambi.  I take all these photos right outside the fence of our yard so my children are blessed to get to watch deer out of the window and we almost always see them on the way in and out of our driveway, yesterday evening while taking a walk we just stood and watched a bunny eating grass not even 10 feet from us, they bounce all over our yard.  Sometimes the distance from things can be a little bit annoying, but kids having the freedom to play outside is worth it for me...no highways, no neighbors...the occasional wild animal getting a little bit too close, and "baby" fire ants, but Mommy is never out of hearing range.  While taking these photos, in both of the shirts she got stung by fire ants, it had rained and they are kinda just everywhere after a rain, so while I was getting one from between her toes that she had picked up in the wet grass I managed to stand in a fire ant bed, ofcourse my whole foot was COVERED.  She was watching me dance around and beat my shoe and she said "AWWW baby ants, I wonder where their Mommy is?  I love the baby ants!"  And now she has 2 big blisters on her feet from their bites, BUT she loves them!!!

Can you tell that I get distracted easily?  

Don't you just love the way it flies when she runs! I just can't get over how much I love this top!  I think the thin knit is definitely more suited to get the twirl factor.

But she could still twirl in this one too!  It was heavier so should be a bit warmer for her when it starts to cool down!  The High Low Top (Crafsy release discount is already applied) by Patterns for Pirates also has a couple more options.  In the test I chose to do long sleeves with ruffles as I am trying to get  a start on fall and winter wear and she and I are just ruffly kind of girls, but it comes in 3/4 length sleeves which you can use the ruffle with or a band as well as the band being an option for the long sleeves.

For Gracie, I learned that in knits to get the proper look we really need to go down to atleast a 2 for width, but she's so tall that I HAVE to do a 3 for length all around. This pattern was very easy to adjust for fit by mixing sizes and in the pattern she includes a link to a tutorial about how you can successfully mix the sizes as well.  How neat is that? 

There are a couple things I would like to hint to you about in this pattern...things that I did just to make it easier for myself.  In the first top I elected to use only one machine...my sewing machine, and the seam allowances are 1/2 inch here.  With a knit part of the fun is that if it doesn't just drive you completely batty to leave it raw, it is ok to do so, it doesn't ravel.  With the seam allowances being at 1/2 inch though I had a 1/2 inch unfinished bulk on each of my seams...if I had chose to zigzag I needed to trim them first and on the neckband and the waist band of the Bambi top I did a topstich to help it lay flat after trimming it some because it bulked so.  That was just what worked out best with the thicker fabric for me, especially since I didn't use my serger.  On the floral print, I used the serger, which trims as you go so I lost all the bulk anyway, BUT, it was a thin fabric and I don't feel it would've been noticeable even without the use of the serger.

Another thing which I guess would be a personal preference was when I attached the ruffle to the sleeve, the pattern has you do that step after the sleeve is attached and closed up!  I did it that way with the Bambi top, but my fingers got dangerously close to the needle on my machine and fighting the tiny sleeve opening was annoying, I elected to attach my ruffle on the floral before attaching the sleeves so that then the side seam on the ruffle was sewn at the same time as the seam on the sleeve and I never had to fight a tiny opening.

This pattern was sooo easy to understand even with me doing it during the testing stages I didn't have any trouble.  Patterns For Pirates has a lot of awesome patterns and I love them all!  You should definitely go take a look around and see some of the other great sleeve options for this top!  

Don't forget to go get your copy of the High Low Tide Top while it is still 25% off and remember that on Etsy you have to use the code HIGHLOW.  On Craftsy  the discount is already applied and a lil birdy over at Patterns For Pirates  said you were even getting it $.02 cheaper there, every penny counts right? 

Thank you all for spending a little time reading about this great new pattern!  Happy sewing!

                   

                                           

  

Coupons at Joanns

Hey, how have you all been? I haven't been around this week because I have been testing, how fun is that?  That guarantees a couple posts about some awesome NEW patterns from me in the near future!!!

Yesterday I went shopping and took part in Joann's coupon commotion, if you shop there you know that they take coupons, but did you know it's ok to use 15 at once??? That is what I did yesterday and every single one of them worked, I saved $102...the kids demolished my receipt or I would show you!

I didn't figure  this out on my own though...if it wasn't this post it was something similar that I read on Pinterest a while back 

http://myfrugaladventures.com/2013/09/craft-store-coupon-policy-hobby-lobby-joanns-and-michaels/

The way I did it yesterday was this:  I got a flyer in the mail that had 4 50% off coupons as well as 1 40% off, I also received an email that included 4 50% off coupons and then I checked the website for coupons and they too have 4 50% off listed.  Also I have the app on my iphone that had 1 30% off and they accept competitors coupons from the same town...all I have to chose from is Hobby Lobby and Michaels and I didn't see any Michaels coupons that would apply yesterday so I just used the one 40% that HL always offers.  All this added up to 15 coupons. I think it was a manager that was working the front and he was pleased that I was trying this and excited that they all worked...I think he was a bit skeptical.

What you will need to check though is the barcode on each coupon, all of mine were from different sources so they were all different and it worked.

Give it a shot...you wont regret it, I promise!  All they can do is say no, but I think from what I understand this is their policy so they should cooperate with you just fine!

Hope this little trick helps you to get your hands on a little more of that wonderful thing called fabric.

Happy sewing!!!

Muslin or not??? I think I learned the answer to that question! (Greenstyle Taylor)

Hi!  So yesterday I said I was off to do a selfish sew...the Greenstyle Taylor Shorts. They are adorable, let me tell you, but yesterday was NOT my day.  I cut my $15 a yd linen that I had been saving for the perfect shorts...these are the perfect shorts, it just turned out to not be the perfect day for me.

Before I go any further, I'm just going to show you, they were not a failure, I salvaged them but they aren't perfect, if any of you sew very much you know that we all just have those days where nothing works. Most of the time I found the best solution for that is to leave it alone, BUT, I always just want it done so I never do stop...BAD ME!  My first mistake wasn't even made yesterday, I cut these shorts a week ago and it very clearly states that you cut 4 different pocket pieces 2 of one size, 2 of the other.  But I have 3 kids, they were bouncing all over and somehow the difference in the size of my pockets was maybe an inch...I mis-cut like CRAZY.  At first these shorts were sailing along...I even installed my very first zipper, the fly could've been a little wider, but that was from me not sewing close enough, I will pay more attention to that next time.  All in all though, I was proud of the zipper giving me no trouble! Then I got the pockets sewn on, I noticed that in the pattern photos there was a full front and I still had a missing triangle on each side...I thought that maybe they inserted pictures from later on.  And this leads me to a MAJOR mistake all in all.  

I test a lot of patterns, and those patterns I read through before I sew, I'm not testing this, I bought the finished product and it's a good one but I didn't read it first.  There were a lot of things I was unfamiliar with, reading through it would've kept me from having the pocket dilemma I think. If it's not something you practice, most especially if it's something totally new to you, I would suggest from this experience, that you should give it a try!

I ran for help online...a general sewing group on FB was my first stop because I wasn't in the Greenstyle group, I would also highly suggest getting yourself added to the specific pattern group before you get started sewing as well as I got no immediate help in the general group, had I already been in the Greestyle group though I'm pretty sure I would have found some help pretty quickly. I sat down at the computer though so I could look things over on a bigger screen and when I checked out THAT pattern piece I found my mistake.  At this point, I cut new pieces to fill the gap and kept on because I didn't have enough fabric to recut 2 new pockets.  

I had, before I started, taken my measurements and was at the high end of an 8, I considered making a 10, but decided to keep with the 8.  Before adding the waist band it was suggested that you try the shorts on...those guys were huge.  By this point I had been added into the Greenstyle group so I posted a pic with my fat tummy hanging out to show all that I needed help...immediate answers.  I ended up taking the shorts in over 2 inches to get a good fit...did my pocket fix mess me up...is my printer wrong..those answers I will find out in a bit and share with you sometime soon with my NEW pair.

They really aren't bad...photography is...but it's the wrong time of day and my 8 year old took the pictures, lol!  I'm still wearing them proudly, out of my house too.  But I'm not sure what happened to the waist band...at this point I was so flustered over the other boo-boos and the kids were bugging every 5 minutes to go swimming that the instructions were starting to blur a little bit to me, but stubborn me kept on with it.  Somehow I did something upside down and had to stitch the top of the band closed and that was not supposed to have happened. The sewing machine...button holes...not my friends yesterday either.  The request has been placed for a new one so I hope it happens soon.

And there's the booty shot!  Quiet a big one to cover up and these shorts do so very comfortably. I think they are actually pretty flattering.  They fit so much better then store bought, I'm not running around pulling them down because they jacked up between my thunder thighs and I just love them!  The lumpy thing there at the pleat was just my shirt or something bunched up...the back worked perfectly! 

But back to my title...should I have cut the best fabric on my first go...NO...maybe not trash fabric, I don't have any of that...I still have a hard time wrapping my head around wasting ANY fabric, if I have it, I love it, but I definitely should have  used some cheaper something that I wouldn't have felt so bad about messing up. But still if I don't go running around telling that I messed up no will know!   

I love love love love love love...should I say it again LOVE these shorts and I think I'm about to go and give it another try!!! Wish me luck this time...I may need it.

Momma Duck is gonna do some Momma sewing again!

By the way,Greenstyle Taylor Shorts have a pleated front option as well, I just chose to use the flat and there are 3 different inseams.  I think mine fall somewhere between the 2" and the 5"...8" is the other included length.  I have a hard time finding shorts to buy anyway.  2 inch inseams are too short because that part of my body is on the larger side and the 5 inch seemed a little bit long to me, making these on my own gave me an easy fix...hem them where ever I wanted, I haven't measured, but I would guesstimante that it's about 4".

Thanks for spending a little time with today, I wish you all well in your sewing adventures. and go check these shorts out, you won't regret it.

UPDATE

July 24th, 2014

Take 2, I just made these pretties for the second time and I thought they warranted their own post, go check it out!  And as far as my mistakes on this pair, I think with help from the ladies in the Greenstyle sewing group on FB I determined that it was my pocket mistake that caused the sizing dilemma!  

A Little Summer Fun! (CKC Delilah's)

Hey guys, I mentioned a couple days ago that I had a couple little swim suits cut out and waiting, well guess what, I finished them!  Not that my serger was very much help and a random fuzzy thing fell out of my sewing machine...oh my...I kept using it...not sure if I should've!

Aren't they cute?  You see we bought season passes for Seaworld and we have only been ONCE!  The kids are begging to go back, my husband's dad has an apartment down there for work sew we stayed there last time...double duty...a little Big Mac time and Seaworld.  We have sew got to go again.  Last time we only watched most of the shows, the kids were begging to play in the water sew we promised we would center the next trip around that. I had been looking for cute "fish" fabric, I even ended up with a remnant from somewhere, but one day when browsing the fabric selection at Wal-mart guess what I found...this adorable octopus seersucker.  I'm not really sure they have octopi at Sea World, but it's sea life, whatever works right? Oh and get this, it was less then $4, that's right...Wal-mart can hold some hidden gems, sometimes their fabric is thin and whatnot, but I have even scored Tutti Frutti there and then found it at Hancocks for double what I paid and 60" Cowboys print in the remnant bin...enough to make 2 peasant dresses! Sew, my point is to definitely take a gander when you have time!

Anyway, I'm sure your all dying to know what pattern this is, right?  CKC Delilah's Cotton Swimsuit.  I thought this in particular would be awesome for something like Seaworld, she can wear it there and play in the water and since it is made from seer sucker she should dry off pretty quickly in the sun and hopefully not have to change to go back to the hotel or Big Mac's apartment...where ever we end up staying.  It's also perfect for all the little splash pads around! It is made from woven type fabric so being in the chlorinated pool all summer may not be the best idea for it...so I've heard...but I think it's ideal for playing in parks.

She sure is cute, but she was NOT being cooperative yesterday about photos...do you think that has ANYTHING to do with the fact that she's 2...on the porch AKA Daddy's lumber storage...that's as far as she would go.  The kids love that though, they build all sorts of things with the pieces they can pick up. If you look at the pattern, you will see that mine with the long ruffle and the pictures are different...my fault...you can't just look at a photo and think that's what your going to get, although that's what I always do.  I checked the measurement for the finished length of the top and it is 8.5" for the 3T and ours is about 8.75", ofcourse I didn't think to check that and measure BEFORE I made the top sew we have a pretty little bellybutton shining.  That's actually probably not that huge of a deal for Gracie, but you saw that I made 2, she has a cousin that is 3 weeks younger then her named Emma, that is another of my embroidery fails...the pink didn't shine as much as I had hoped on the blue, still learning, but the other little outfit says her name.  She is 4 or 5 inches shorter then Gracie, she's not short, Gracie is TALL, I made her the 2T, but I don't think her mom will be very fond of her bellybutton showing, so I'm going to have to rethink that one a little bit..another ruffle...maybe...I'm not sure yet!

That's probably the best photo I got of the back, it has 2 button holes that the straps go through, I had to tie ours in the middle because it was a little bit big on her, but once again that's my fault.  I learned a little while back that her chest measures for an 18 mo or 2T.  I had never looked at that either and I applied to test for Foo Foo Threads, ofcourse sending Gracie's measurements and she advised me where she measured at on the charts, I follow the measurement now for knit tops but I keep with the 3T for woven things so that nothing is too tight, sometimes with elastic in the back especially they can be too tight for Miss Gracie's liking.  There was no measurement chart for the child on this pattern but measurements for the finished garment which I didn't check, lol, but tying in the middle makes it fit just fine.  I have to admit I was unhappy with the length when I finished but the more I look at it the cuter it becomes and I learned a lesson, simply because the photograph shows it fitting a certain way that does not mean it will fit your child that way...pay attention to those measurements! 

Have we talked about the button holes.  OH how I despise button holes.  I remember when I first got the cheap little Brother machine, one of the first things I did was make a button hole...easy as pie.  But I wasn't very easy on that machine, rag quilt after rag quilt after rag quilt...don't worry...I have a couple baby cousins to make for, you'll be seeing some of those in the near future.  Anyway I don't think that little machine was meant for all that, it was just giving me fits and then the light went out.  My mom, now, my mom knows how to sew, I didn't learn from her though, I remember she tried to teach me once when I was a child, but no sirree, I was not into that, so I learned at 25 or 26 years old.  She had a Brother machine, but it hadn't been touched in sew many years that when she decided to make my little sister's wedding dress last year she just went to Wal-mart and bought a new Singer...why in the world she ever chose a Singer without talking to me first I do NOT know, I am a part of enough sewing groups to know that Singers aren't what they used to be.  But when my light went out, my Daddy told me to go and get her new machine because she would never touch it again, and then she ended up giving it to me.  I haven't for the life of me been able to figure out a button hole on that thing.  I get the manual out everytime and end up just doing it my own way.  the foot sits on it crooked so if you are not VERY careful, you have a crooked hole...good thing all the extra stitches I didn't wanna pick out don't really show on that top.  On the second suit it finally decided to go over and over and over on one side and then barely zig zag the other side and it barely zig zagged the second hole.  I think from now on I'll have to get that old Brother out to do my button holes with.

I just love reflection photos, she was kissing herself.  Anyway thank you all for spending a little time with me today.  I hope this precious fabric and adorable little pattern gave you some inspiration.  CKC Delilah's is a cute little addition for every little girls summer wardrobe, I would just advise you to pay attention to those measurements and add some length to either your ruffle or your bodice if you don't want a pretty little button poking out there for the world to see and I never did mention, the pattern includes measurements for a shorter ruffle as well and you can do elastic casings on the legs instead of shirring, I know alot of people fear the shirr, but it's always been easy for me...I think you should all just try it.

Now I'm off to work on my linen shorts and learn about zippers before my testing duties call again, we all deserve selfish sewing, if you haven't given it a shot I wold advise you to do so.  Momma Duck is sewing for herself today!

July 14th, 2014

I wanted to come back and add this photo for you all, to show that the 2T did in fact fit the way I had imagined from the pattern's photo that they should fit.  There wasn't a thing in the world wrong with this pattern, I just have a super tall little darling on my hands and this is the first little top we made that didn't have enough length to make up for her long torso....pay attention to the finished measurements.  This is our sweet little niece looking precious in her CKC Delilah's Cotton Swim Suit

Our Family Photos! (Scientific Seamstress Ethan/Marco & CKC Cora's)

Hi!  Do you all remember when I did my intro post and didn't have a current family photo?  Well turns out if I would've waited actually just a few hours a would've had a handful of them! Miss Jenny from Jenny Steven Photography came though! Don't you love when your able to trade talents, I made her a couple dresses for her beautiful little ladies and she helped me out with some family photography!  I got so excited, because I did sew it all, that I had to go ahead and do a post about the clothes!

I made them all for Easter, it was my first sew for my husband...he likes to grunt a lot...doesn't he look like that type of guy, I never can tell if he likes what I make or not, lol, but he wore it for the photos anyway. 

The guys were all wearing Scientific Seamstress/Sis Boom Marco and Ethan and Gracie and I were wearing Create Kids Couture Cora's Girls Tiered Dress and Cora's Women's Tiered Dress.  I just love that I got us all to match EXACTLY, I'm pretty sure those days are limited and I know to some of you it might seem cheesy, but I like it and pretty much, I've decided that's all that matters!

The guy's shirts...wow...this was actually the first pattern aside from CKC that I ever tried.  I bought it at Christmas and ended up just chickening out until March.  CKC patterns taught me to sew clothing!  I knew the basics of my sewing machine and how to put together a simple pillowcase dress, but not much more...I tried the free Pinterest patterns...I was actually excited and said "Look, I can sew only free things and never buy a pattern".  And it was cute, but whoever drafted it, ofcourse, drafted only the size to fit their kiddo and for a beginner resizing was a little hard!  Which led to an Etsy search where CKC was one of the first to catch my eye (And BTW if you check out CKC blog, I think they have around 100 free things and tuts for US..skirts, shorts, a dress...worth a look). I stayed loyally there for a year and learned ALOT, I learned enough that I call myself a confident seamstress.  When I decided that it was time to make something for these boys I turned to the ladies in CKC pattern group and this was the first shirt suggested and with rave reviews! When I bought and downloaded the pattern it was overwhelming because of the amount of pages, I was NOT used to that, but upon looking, that was just because each size has it's own section of pattern pieces and they take the time to tell you exactly what pages you will find what you need on.  Then came the taping...I will admit...I had decided after the taping ordeal that trying new pattern designers was not for me, BUT THEN, I made the shirt.  It has to all have it's own piece to work...it can't be a lot of rectangles, that's just how it is and now I am ok with that. Proof being, that I then purchased the Marco and made the 2XL...piecing a 12 had nothing on that one, let me assure you ;) And I still loved the outcome!

And look at this guy...he can take a cute picture when he wants.  This was my first effort at the SS Ethan.  I made it for his birthday!  I think I used the size 12 with one of the shortest lengths and instead of buttons (I hate trying to make button holes with this Singer I have) I used pearl snaps...the guys all seem to like those around here anyway! The length option is one of the things I LOVE about this pattern...there are several options for sleeve and shirt length on each size.  Aiden here is 8 years old, I MAY have made this one a little bit short, but for the most part, when I buy shirts from the store for him, because of his shoulders and what not we go to the 12/14 and they are generally just too long.  I can customize that here so it fits through the shoulders and buttons nicely and he doesn't look as if he's in a dress and he doesn't have to stay tucked in!

You see, none of them tuck in!  The biggest issue I have when making these shirts are the plackets, I asked for help in the Scientific Seamstress pattern group when I started on the matching ones and was directed to their albums! That was incredibly exciting for me...they seem to have an album with photos of each step for each pattern so that if the words and the pattern photos aren't enough you can go there and get even more detailed help.  These still were not completely perfect, but for my very OWN boys it's ok, I'm sure the next time they will be even better.  Daddy here decided that this shirt was to be tailor made to fit him on my very first attempt ever.  I think it fit rather good, it didn't have the issues most of his store bought shirts have, but I put it on him before I sewed the side seams to pin and adjust and much to his surprise, because he just KNEW the tummy was gonna be huge we just didn't have to do any adjusting!  He also thinks Mr. Remington's shirt is too BIG, it is NOT if he would just learn to use another button, lol.  You see Remington is a Daddy's boy and makes him do for him when he is home...woo-hoo...I just LOVE it...so he helps him get dressed!

All of the Sceintific Seamstress/SisBoom patterns get rave reviews from me.  After these I went on and gave some of their dresses a go, and LOVE LOVE LOVE them just as much!  Easy to understand and I learned a lot of new things...gluing down tiny hems with a glue stick, I love that!

And now on to CKC's Cora's, doesn't she just look like she is floating!  She really is in a size 3, but I made a 4 in length for her.  She's been growing so fast that things weren't lasting and she is wearing a 4T in store bought clothing, she is 2 years old, what's the deal with all that!?! Anyway what I discovered is a 2 year old probably shouldn't have a maxi dress that is this long, I WANT mine like that, but she has a hard time getting around. I also discovered that for us CKC is right on the money for sizes, she wears a 3T, I have stopped doing the 3 width 4 length, she didn't need it! It's ok though, she can wear this dress for a while. She was so pretty in it.  It can be made in 3 different lengths, the top, just a dress, or the maxi dress like I chose.  You see Cora's in women's was the first adult dress pattern I ever bought, I feared it too for some reason, I think because I thought frumpy old me would never do it justice, but I just LOVED the look of it, I kept it for way over a year before I decided to make it and ofcourse Miss Prissy needed the match. Do you know how much fabric it took to make the 2, I ordered 9 yards from The Fabric Outlet and got it for less the $50 shipped!!!  Can't beat that with pretty, good quality fabric like this!

I think that if my husband ever marries me again that the CKC Cora's might be the dress that I make for myself! What I learned is that a dress like this that takes so much fabric should definitely be made in an apparel weight!  I wish I had a good quality photo to show you all of the way mine fits me!  But it's just the same as the fit on my girl!  Wouldn't it be an AMAZING wedding dress! I really and truly think I may ask him to marry me again just so I can make this dress for myself, lol!!! I ended up adding a little more shirring in the bust area because I am on the smaller side up there and I think I possibly could've gone for a size small atleast in the top area, but all in all I love the dress.  And our necklaces, aren't they cute, I have to give a shout out to Miss Farrah from It's All About The Beads for working with me to help me match this print!  She makes such pretty necklaces, good quality as well!!!

I'm was happy with these outfits and I love these designers so much, Cora's big and little didn't give me a bit of trouble, it was a lot of ruffling, but since, I have learned a little trick that helps me a lot!  I think it was from one of Tiffany's CKC pattern's where I first noticed it...you pull both ends of the string at the same time and DOUBLE the ruffling power...I had been pulling one end/one string...you have no idea the joy that overwhelmed me when I read the directions closely enough that I figured that out...sadly these were ruffled pulling only one string, lol!!!  And Ethan's and Marco's...these were a big step out of my comfort zone and I was absolutely amazed that I was able to make them with such ease!  The help over at Scientific Seamstress as amazing...never think you can't do something...I bet you can...did you know I made the shirts, cutting and all, in 3 days time...that was a pretty awesome feat for me!

There's a few more photos for you all, I just love them! Thanks Jenny Steven's Photography.  I hope you all have a blessed day, this Momma Duck has a few little Duck's to tend to.