Easter dresses (Celeste & Annie CKC)

Hey!!!  Today I wanted to take the time to share a few beautiful dresses with you!  CKC has really been bringing us some gorgeous dresses as of late, the last one I got to test I didn't have time to blog for you all but OMG...do you want to see???

I knew you would, that one is Annie's Cascade Ruffle dress!  I actually made it AFTER the one I came here to show you today and now she has 2 Easter dresses as Celeste had already been tagged!  Who can choose when there are soooo many pretty dresses to pick from!  I even have another to make with pretty bunny fabric...Hattie's, just haven't made it yet! She will wear them all through spring and summer though so that makes it ok...right?!?

Oh well, I always love to share her pictures with you so drumroll....

Celeste

(Celeste's Classic Boat Neck Dress) comes in a few different versions, with 3 different sleeve lengths and then you can even mix and match them to make it super unique, oh and I think it comes in top length as well!  It's a must have for your pattern collection I promise!  I tested the sweet little ruffle bodice with short sleeves first go round and I just adore it! 

It's not hard to do at all and the boat neck makes it modest for sure. 

I purposely left her hair down for this so I don't have a great back photo for you, because as sometimes happens in testing a tweak here or there is needed and this was just the first round...but I wanted to show you that the fun addition to the bodice does continue all the way around, the ruffle doesn't but the bodice piece does and it has 4 buttons for closure.

AND

I also tested (Celeste) in a different version...cold day...mad girl...crazy life

EQUALS

Never getting a good photo of her in it, but alas, I do have these!

This was just the simple version, sleeveless ofcourse.

My serger and I had a fight that day and I ended up accidentally hacking off a bit too much of the waistband...I would suggest to use your sewing machine first and then serge under your sewn line to make sure this doesn't happen, can ruin a pretty dress FAST! 

Here you can see the pretty boat neck on the back too!  So lovely and modest!

The other version, which I didn't do, has a ruffle on the neck and the hem, beautiful, I promise...then there's the top length, I didnt do ti either, but AMAZING!

So, don't forget to grab (Celeste's) while it's on sale for its release today, 30% off as always for the first 24 hours.

Gracie, I think is already set for Easter thanks to CKC!

Annie's Cascade Ruffle Dress, 

which you can BTW do without the apron front and skirt and ruffle if you want, we NEED frill though, you can even add more ruffles if you want, how amazing is this dress?!?

(Celeste's Classic Boat Neck Dress)

Here, I have pictured just 2 of the versions, there's a 3rd and more then one sleeve length, plus the top length!  You need it!

So, I think that sums it up, until they tempt me with another pretty...3 dresses should be enough for 1 girl for 1 Easter, right?!? Maybe I should just start calling them spring dresses, but there will be Hattie in our future too because that amazing fabric has to be used!  Anyway, as always if you have any trouble with a CKC pattern or you just want to browse other lovely CKC creations, make sure you are a part of the CKC Pattern Group, best group ever!

Have fun creating your sweet girls Easter dresses...hopefully I've given you a little inspiration with these!

Happy Sewing!

My sweet little cowgirl! (Octavia's CKC)

Hello all my fellow sewing friends!  

Today I get to share with you one of the most gorgeous dresses EVER, the designer is fairly new to designing for CKC and I just LOVE her patterns, they are so unique and all of them just have a cowgirl flair to them...with the right fabric choice that is, and that just rocks our world!  While Gracie has LOTS of shoes, her cowboy boots happen to be her favorite.  I'm talking about Ms. Kristi by the way...she's done the super cute blazer and the crochet (which I'm still trying to learn) as well as the one I'm about to show you... which I believe it is her first little girl's dress!  She knocked it outta the park!

This is Octavia's Ruched Bodice Top and Dress I ofcourse did the dress version!  Gracie right now is at the very tip top of CKC's girl size chart for the 3T size so the dress fits her just PERFECT hitting right at her knee.  There's usually an approximate finished dress length on the patterns so you can determine if you need to size up or down length wise for your liking by looking at that as it's always been accurate for me!  For instance, with this particular dress since I am testing I stayed true to her size. However while in January it's the PERFECT fit, by the time we start to wear it a lot...April/May...she may have grown a few inches. She still falls well within 3T chest measurements though, so if this hadn't been a test I would have just used the 3t width and 4T length to make sure it's still going to fit her well in the warmer months!  It's very easy to do that with CKC patterns!

Anyway, with my choice of print, I realize it's a bit harder to tell in the photo, but the top band there is RUCHED and ahhh, it's AMAZING. 

Maybe you can see it a little bit better there, it's a brand new bodice style for CKC!  I see a few rodeo's in her future in this outfit ;)  I also used denim and just a touch of pearls and lace.  If you were wondering, I cut the flowers out of the lace print and appliqued them on just stitching around the edges, I didn't use heat and bond or anything I just carefully sewed them down.  Then I took some pearls from a 3 strand pearl necklace Miss Priss managed to break one of the strands on (it was mine BTW) and hand stitched them on as well and adorned the center of each of those little flowers with a swarovski crystal, just to give the dress that special POP!

This photo of her I love, I had changed the settings on the camera and forgot to change them back when we changed locations....so it was all bright light behind her!  I ruined a whole lot of good pictures from this session because of that error, but I played with this one until I was able to pull her back out of it and I just adore it!  

Here you can see that the dress is pleated instead of ruffled, pleats are NOT hard so never ever fear them, just jump in and do it!  It's also a welcome change to ruffling, a very welcome change for me on some days!  It also, IMO,  makes the dress a bit more friendly for those little girls that just don't like all the fluff.  AND another one of my favorite parts about Octavia's is that the bottom is banded and NOT hemmed, yup, super duper easy!

Then there's the back...there were a few rounds of testing for this one.  This version didn't seem to fit all sizes equally so the back got changed!  I did do the next version as well and it's equally gorgeous and fit for my cowgirl, I even used linen on it, BUT, my serger and I had a little tiff when I was connecting the skirt and then I went coo-coo with button placement trying to work out fit for her so it wasn't right and we were so involved with testing not only this dress but another awesome one as well, that I didn't torture her with a second round of photos...boo...it was pretty too!  I'll just have to work it over with the final back to show though!

So that left me with no pretty back photos for you :(

But here's a photo I stole from the sneak peek in CKC Pattern Group (if you aren't already a member you will need to request to join), told ya it was awesome. It has what is called a "french curve" on the back, fancy right!  I just love it!

Anyway I encourage you to get Octavia while it's HOT because it will be the perfect dress/top for when it IS hot, and it gets pretty hot in Texas! I honestly love it and so will you and your little darlings!

Also don't forget it's 30% off for the first 24 hours after release and that CKC runs a half-off sale EVERY weekend as well as having tiered pricing!!!

And while your at it I highly suggest joining the pattern group as well!  It's a great resource to have when sewing CKC patterns as there are plenty of helpful ladies there to get you through any little issue you might run into!

Octavia's Ruched Top and Dress

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

(as she breaks out into her singing voice)

Happy trails to you, until we meet again...

Happy Sewing!!!

And don't mind her pretty blue butterfly ;)

Day 1 of Sew Crazy Momma's Weight loss Journey!

Hey, it's been a little bit and a few sewing projects that I just didn't get around to sharing, sorry...holidays and kids getting back in school and being sick has just really gotten the best of me! 

But Christmas was really great to me!  Gracie had 3 awesome dresses, only one of which you actually saw...what was I thinking?!?  They were so worth sharing with you but photos just didn't happen!!! I'll try to remember to get photos next time :)  And back to my awesome Christmas, well, I didn't have anything GREAT under the tree or any crazy surprises Christmas morning, BUT, in the couple months leading up to my wonderful husband allowed me to get a new iPhone 6 PLUS, before it was time for me to upgrade...so it cost extra...sorta...we are on the NEXT plan so instead of spreading the $100 out over the next 4 or 5 months, we paid it all up front so I could get a new phone when he did and not have to be jealous!  He usually loves getting to flaunt his new phone in front of me, but this time without me even asking he said you get one too! Then our extra fridge went out!  Its not necessary for anyone to have 2, but as long as we have lived here we have...so for 6 years! I only asked for a small one to replace the extra, BUT, he let me replace our fridge and not with a basic one like we had, but a big huge double door, freezer on bottom with an ice maker, stainless steel one...he still needs to install that ice maker, but he plans on doing it...yay! And then there's the big ONE, it sits in my driveway!  I had a 2012 Chevrolet Traverse, brand new, we had had nothing but problems with it from the beginning, some of it was our fault, but most of it wasn't!  It had a double crack all the way across caused by the defroster...not a single ding before I turned it on that morning :( so it was just UGLY to me and if you follow me on FB you probably know the rest of the drama with it! Since I'm pretty certain no more little Ducks will be gracing our family in the NEAR future I really wanted to get back into a TRUCK, also it makes him happy as well!  So we traded in the old clunker and now have a pretty Dark Ruby 2014 Silverado Crew Cab...love love love love it!

But with all that greatness, Nicki hasn't been feeling very ok with herself at all.  This year has been rough on me with adding Pre-K to the mix...I did the math and if I only travel to and from the bus and pre-k, and this is without any sports going on...I am traveling 400 miles a week...so over 500 miles in my truck every week and that's just exhausting to me with 2 people in carseats!  We started the year off with football as well so that made for 2 late nights a week and access to McD...enough said there I think!  Then ofcourse there's the yummy coffee drinks I was getting EVERY Tue and Thur morning and making for myself at home all the others...I managed to gain 10 lbs and I already felt myself to be atleast 10 lbs too heavy!

I always was a tall skinny girl, 5'6" 120 lbs!  I even got back there after my first baby without any effort at all 6 weeks later and I had gone to 180 carrying him(weird referring to the 100 lb child as a baby now, lol) and then after I married Mr. Duck...the happy weight happened and I kinda settled at 140-150 lbs easily getting back there immediately after each pregnancy as well...there's something to be said for breastfeeding ;)!!! A long the way I tried out ACE and lost 10 lbs for a little bit, but it made me feel funny and I couldn't get the hang of water water water down so I only lost the 10 and didn't feel it was worth the odd feelings and gave up so ofcourse it came back!  Over the summer I decided to try Plexus and the pink drink, that was what started the weight gain for me...it made me HUNGRY, so I didn't do it for very long at all!!!

So here's where I've been...very sluggish, headaches daily, no energy, digestive issues...10 lbs heavier and getting into the double digits with my pants size...lazy and depressed with sewing being my only outlet!  I was always content as long as I could stay in a single digit pant size but I cant go into the doubles and I do not want to hit 30 in this slump!  The kiddos deserve a bit more from me and I deserve more from me soooo, I know it's cheating, but I don't have tons of will power and the want of sweets and junk has been so over powering here lately as well as no energy that I know I NEED a boost to get this going!

I went to Amazon to buy the Advocare 24 day challenge, but its expensive and I'm not sure it was for me as well as seeing a few friends start it on FB only never to see a positive end result??? So I decided to look for a cheaper cheat as you may and settled on the Garcinia Cambogia because each and every brand of it I found had rave reviews and it was natural!  I dont know if it will work, I actually ended up getting one of the more expensive ones with EXTREME in the title that tells me I can get EXTREME weight loss by taking 2 twice daily 30 minutes to an hour before eating with water!

Day 1!  The kids didn't have school today so I got up around 8 and took 2 with a full glass of ice water!  I don't like water or drinking a lot period so water ends up making me feel sick...1 glass led to 2 quickly!  I took a bath and around 9:30 scrambled 2 eggs with a little ham and cheese chopped into them...not healthy I know, but it's pretty much all that's here besides oatmeal or sugary cereal...Gracie got some of it so I probably had 1 1/2 of an egg with the extras along with another glass of ice water!  I'm still thirsty!  If atleast I can learn to drink water from this I might get some where anyway :)

Anyway, here's Day 1!  I earned my tiger stripes from my babies, so I feel better with a shirt on and I suck with selfies so I thought the side view was best :) 162 lbs, 35 inch waist, 42.5 inch hips, 27 inch thigh, 13.5 inch upper arm!  I plan on doing this weekly so I can try and stay on track!!!  Hopefully by June 14th 2015...the big one for me... I can atleast be down to 140....now to figure out a workout plan and stick to it as well! So I plan on LOTS of summer sewing for me!!!

Wish this Momma Duck a little love and luck!!!

Greenstyle Finnley's

Wow, 2 posts in one day!  I'm on fire...no really I've been a TESTING machine...I didn't even blog all of them...oopsy! Maybe I will make it up later!  Anyway little did I know that another one of favorite from all this recent testing was being released today!  

This is the Greenstyle Finnley Pants!  Aren't they Super cute!  This is like the very first version so my rings are a little bit different then the final version ended up being but SERIOUSLY I love this pair of pants!!!  They are already fading I have worn and washed them so much!  

The fabric I got from Purple Seamstress Fabric on Facebook!  She is where I find all my favorite knits at...love her stuff! 

But these pants are to die for! I chose to line the top of my pair with a white knit!  My husband always fusses if he sees any panty lines!  I even have a black pair of Under Armour pants and he claims when I bent over he could see my panties and I do promise I wasnt wearing any sort of grannyish panties....he must stare real hard, lol!  So to solve that little dilemma, I lined them, he happened to think it was funny when I turned them inside out to show him ;)  How I did it you might ask...I cut the pattern off at booty short length and basted it to the top of the pants and then carried on with regular construction...I did serge the bottom edge to discourage rolling!  Simple right? And no see through pants and no panty lines!

My 8 year old son took these photos and I really barely edited them!  He did good!

The pants have a couple different rises and instructions on lengthening and shortening them.  They are seriously comfy and a new staple to my wardrobe...sooooo much better then jeans!!!

So do yourself a favor and go check out Greenstyle Finnley Pants , also be sure to join the Greenstyle pattern group to see other tester photos and get help if you need it!!!

And BTW, your booty will look SUPER DUPER cute in these, lol, mine is just big and I think kiddos being shorter then me added to that in these photos, so not happening :)

Happy Sewing!

 

Nicole's Perfect Party Dress (CKC)

Today is finally the day, the long awaited release day of Nicole's Party Dress by Create Kids Couture.  I usually don't start a post off with just a picture but this time I had to, this particular picture is one of my FAVORITE's of my girl, and she's a beauty so I have a hard time picking usually...this one is actually framed and on display :)

The day we took this picture it was really windy and an icy cold wind at that, she's like her Mommy, grumpy in the cold so I wasn't dare going to torture her and make her go outside, it was during that Polar thing, I think that's what it was called! I know that lots of others had worse, but the Texas cold is just COLD for us because we aren't used to it, it's also different then the cold elsewhere.  We went skiing once (not that I did very good at it) and I was able to go without a jacket some and I know the temp was crazy cold, here...no way...when it's cold, it's cold. 

Point is, we had a pretty awkward set-up!  A fishing line strung from the bunk bed to the curtain rod with a piece of fabric clipped on it, the door wide open, me out IN the cold and her right in front of the door with the little cabinet heater pointed right at her!  She thought it was hilarious and gave me the prettiest smiles I coulda ever asked for!  I know I should've already re-done pictures in this dress, but I haven't...no excuses, just haven't done it, probably because I don't think I could ever beat the ones I have! 

Anywho, back to our dress!!!  I had a few different fabric choices, what you see, a red and green plaid, and our red velvet even came in time, but I wanted the blue.  It ended up being more of a WINTER dress, I was working on her "Christmas" dress at the time and looking for embroidery and came across these gorgeous scenes done in blue and designed for blue and I just couldn't help myself!  If you can't see it well, it's just a little wintery scene of a carriage and Christmas trees, probably not at all designed for a dress, but I sure got away with using it for one! 

I made the size 3 with flutter sleeves.  The Nicole comes with 3 different sleeve options, none, fitted and flutter.  The petti on this dress is also attached so that we aren't having to layer to get the fullness, which is great!  It's actually the first dress I ever made that way and I love it!  One thing I may personally do different next time for us is to add another strip of tulle above the one your instructed to do, and it may not even work.... With a heavier fabric it may not be an issue, but this was a lightweight woven so if she touches her skirt it indents and BOTHERS me, I'm sure as a 3 year old it's very high on her list of worries :) 

She's even already worn it out!  Remington's Pre-K class went to choose a tree at a local tree farm so ofcourse our "Party" dress was the most obvious to wear and play in because it had a tree on it!  This was by the way the tree she chose, Remington was lucky enough that out of 30 little kids, his teacher took HIS tree back to the church, so she decided she could tell his teacher she wanted this one too...she was quickly instructed that she would have to ask her Daddy...pictured there in the tan shirt, and he said NO!  We aren't happy with him because he wont let us have a real tree...darn allergies!!!  And no, we never have found a white sweater we liked this year and she's a goof that makes me button anything that has a button so you couldn't see her scene!  Regardless she had a ball and played in the Nicole with ease and looked beautiful while she was at it!

The front of the dress if you haven't noticed has 2 beautiful pleats that gives it a distinctive look, and the back...I just LOVE the back...

Isn't it gorgeous?!?  I love how deep the neckline is, I think that might be one of my favorite parts of the dress.  Nicole has 3 buttons,  if you can't tell, and ofcourse a sewn in sash so that you have that beautiful bow to adorn the back of your dress as well!  

And you all may look at this dress and think that it took a super long time to make...well if so your WRONG.  I was pleasantly surprised myself at how quickly this one went together.  I never try and time myself and I always have 2 little people needing this and that or fighting or "helping" me and I have to stop to go get this one or that one from school, but I know that even after I sewed the bottom skirt on wrong side out...so that the tulle touched her skin, which is a big no-no...and then fixed it, that this one still probably only took me 3 hours if that!  Kristen, the most wonderful, fabulous designer of this dress, timed herself and she got under 4 hours as well, and if I'm correct she has, not 3 like me, but 5 kiddos!  She made a post in the CKC Pattern group (which you will have to request to join) and had everyone guessing!  It's so much fun over there...if you aren't a part of it you should consider joining.  You will find some more fabulous versions of the Nicole and be able to get help on anything you may ever get stumped on!

I love this picture too, not sure why, but it's pretty to me!

Anyway, thank you all for stopping by and taking the time to read about my version of the Nicole.  I'm not sure what else there is that I can say about this dress since I have already professed my love for it!  Kristen and CKC have once again hit it out of the ballpark with this one as always so be sure you grab it while it is 30% off...they also always have tiered pricing over there too so take a look around and see what else you can find :)

Nicole's Party Dress

Happy Sewing!

Maggie....Our Fall Dress (CKC)

Hi Ladies!  It's been a WHILE since I have shared anything...I'm so terrible!  But school, sick kids, LIFE!  It's just been crazy busy!  Anyway I have been sewing still, not quiet as much, but still sewing!  I was privileged to get to test a GORGEOUS new dress from Create Kids Couture...I've been waiting and waiting to get to share and today is finally the day!

This is the Maggie's Color Block Dress!  It's been a big buzz in the CKC Pattern Group(you'll have to join that one) since Morgan has been teasing everyone with it ;)  Her patterns are all so cute and I swear this one is no exception...I love it! 

It's different then any of the other CKC dresses that I have made thus far and not in a BAD way by any means!  It's fitted and closes with a button back that has a super cute keyhole opening!  It's adorable not layered as well and she's worn it that way already...I just never snapped a picture!  Here in TX, although it finally is actually cooling off for the whole day it's been 50 degrees in the morning to warm up to 90 by the afternoon, quiet annoying when you have to dress your kiddos at 6AM!

Her first trip out in her Maggie!  She wore it to the Pre-K's trip to the Pumpkin Patch, and yes that is a Pumpkin crown on her head!  To be able to spend the whole day in a tiara and believe that you are a Princess...wouldn't that be awesome!  She won Miss Personality at a local Fall Frolic pageant so when she asked to wear her Pumpkin crown and be a Pumpkin Princess, I ofcourse obliged willingly! That's her cute brother with her too...my middle son...he's so sweet...it was his trip, but little sis just had to tag along!!!

Anyway, that day was no exception to our wonderful Texas weather, by noon we were in the bathroom taking off the top...we woulda lost the leggings too, but she's not ladylike EVER :) As we were killing our 3 hours between drop-off time and field trip time in the Dollar Store she got her first compliment on the (Maggie) as well and when I told the lady that sewing it up took no more then 2 hours, she didn't want to believe me, but I swear it's the truth!  One of MY favorite parts about the dress is that the bottom is a BAND which means it's NO HEMMING of any kind...YAY for that, big time saver!

And here is the Maggie paired with CKC's free Peasant Top Marilyn and their SUPER CUTE Clarissa's Belted Pants as well as her "hunting shoes"!  The top does have added length to the sleeves, I used measurements from another CKC pattern but if you don't have one with the sleeve length you want and you don't want the short sleeve, I'm sure you could manage to just measure your little ones arms!  I went back and added a few white buttons to bring the white of the top into the outfit since I didn't have any off white fabric and it works!  I think it looks precious and I plan on this being her Thanksgiving outfit and its great for any other day too...I have a hard time making a SPECIFIC outfit for ONE DAY so I try and do something like this so we can wear it all season, but it's still appropriate for the DAY!

Another option that this pretty little dress has is a sash...I meant to do it, I have it cut out, but her Daddy liked it without and so did I and then when I went back to fix the rest of the outfit I still meant to do it but I still liked this one without, lol!  But the way its made it would be very easy to wear both ways on different occasions!  You will love it and you'll have to go check it out elsewhere since I didn't get around to it so I could photograph it, sorry! CKC Pattern group will have a lot of shares I'm sure! And I think I might have forgotten to mention that this dress has an AWESOME twirl factor!!!

  

Anywho ladies thanks for spending a few with me today!  As always I give props to CKC, I love them!  Morgan knocked it out of the park with Maggie!!!  Go check it out, when they release new one's they are always 30% off for 24 hours and tomorrow half off week-end begins...they also have a special Monthly Mixup with a PACK of patterns that you def shouldn't miss!!!

And I'll send you away with a few more pics to make you love (Maggie) even more!

Happy Sewing!

Birthday girl! (CKC Skyler)

Isn't this darling girl beautiful!?!  She just turned 3 years old!  And as you can probably guess she is infatuated with FROZEN and Elsa & Anna, so ofcourse she had a Frozen themed party with a Frozen themed dress!  The Frozen fabric was a pre-order from Sew it Seams, you will have to ask to join the group, but I have gotten some great fabric from them without the crazy mad dash to a fabric store hoping to catch it before it sells out!  The coordinating fabric came from Mama Made and Beautiful another of my favorite fabric groups!  It is more of a green shade, but after it was all together I loved it, it has little snowflakes on it if you can't tell!

The pattern I used for this dress was CKC Skyler's .  It's so pretty, there is also an option for a patchwork skirt as well!

And then the BEST part, the BOWS!  Oh My Goodness, if they aren't just divine!  In this dress you will need to choose very wisely based on measurements since the bodice is fitted.  I made Miss Gracie a 3 and I had to pull those bows just as tight as I could, BUT I did it on purpose since it should start to cool off soon and I want it to fit her next spring and summer.  I'm usually pretty good with tying a pretty bow, I learned how from some random tutorial I found on Pinterest, but with these little bows it didn't work out.  CKC saved the day though with their wonderful tutorial, they are perfectly straight everytime now, even if you don't make THIS dress, be sure to go and read that!

There was no issues with this pattern really so I have no special tips, the only thing I did any differently was to make the ruffle a little wider then called for!  

Isn't her necklace pretty too?!?  I special ordered that from Jax & Jewels...I sent her photos of the fabric and she matched it perfectly.  She has beautiful necklaces!

Just wanted to share this pretty dress with you all, thanks for spending a few minutes with me!  And I would definitely advise adding this one to your collection!

CREATE KIDS COUTURE SKYLER'S