Summer Outfit

I’ve made a goal recently to make Ellie all her summer attire this year. I have banned myself from the outlet mall in Park City because it’s always just too tempting and I always have buyers remorse immediately after any purchase. In addition I’m going to try to produce a few summer shirts for myself and not buy any. Although I would love to go get a new dress to wear to Gary’s 20th High School Reunion next month. Hmm…

The goal for Ellie is realistic though. It is my opinion that patterns for wee ones are more basic and simple for the most part. I made these shorts for her a few days ago.  It is vintage corduroy I picked up at a sweet little shop in Corning NY while visiting family last winter.  Gotta love those sweet little blooms.

My favorite thing about these are the little gathered pockets

Once I got the shorts finished I had to make a shirt. I wasn’t lovin’ any of the patterns on hand so I traced my own pattern from one of the dresses I purchased for Ellie when we visited Leslie in Germany. I just made it shorter. I had fun with it because is was essentially from scratch and a big experiment to see if I could produce something without a pattern.

Re-Purposed T-Shirts

Last week Ellie needed a pair of red shorts to go with her Butterfly Onsie of course. I didn’t really want to go out and buy her a pair. First, because when you have a certain clothing item you want such as red shorts it’s a known fact that once you are out hunting for them they are no where to be found. Two, I also knew if I went out there into “Adorable Clothes for Girls Land” I would end up coming back with outfits we don’t need. So, I took the scissors to an old red T-Shirt I had in the closet that I never wear. Here is the result…

I was so very pleased to see that the seam in the arms matched up quiet well for a stylish yolk at the waist. That wasn’t planned at all but it worked.

I also made four sweet little skirts from the trunk of old pitted out T-Shirts. These were shirts that I haven’t been able to let go of because I still like them but I knew their time was up. So I’m enjoying them on Ellie now. Haven’t had much oportunnity for photos of these. Here is one my Mom took.

They are so simple just cut the length you want and sew a waist and put in an elastic. Easy…

Last but not least. We have found that Ellie really really likes Reggae. So much that she can even bust out the moves first thing in the morning before breakfast and such. Notice we are all still in our PaJamies… uhumm

[flickrvideo]http://www.flickr.com/photos/17005385@N04/3567632731/[/flickrvideo]

Opening a Shop

So I took a step forward with the Sweater Pants and opened a little shop on Etsy. It’s kind of a big deal for me since one of my personality flaws is being overly self conscious. I’ve been threatening to do this ever since I first discovered Etsy well over a year ago. I love the idea of Etsy I love handmade stuff, I love the artistry, and I love that they have created avenues for people to buy and sell goods that are made straight from the heart wrapped with good intentions. So here I am taking a leap and trying it out. I think it’s a good thing to help nudge me to be more creative and make time for more creativity. I have definitely let myself fall into a bit of a slump up here in Timbucktoo. So, take a looks see at the wee shop of mine. I’m planning to add more inventory soon. I see sweater skirts, pillows, and hats in the near future. I just might try making wee pants out of men’s or women’s dress shirts as well. There are many possibilities…

www.peasandloveshop.etsy.com

New Neighbors

A new development is going in up here in “Timbucktoo”. It’s rumored that there is going to be a whole slew of them popping up. Ellie and I have decided to welcome them with open arms. I think Gary likes them too he’s just afraid to admit it. I must confess their little homes are quite adorable and have a cheerful sort of flair. You can’t help but smile when you see them. They definitely help rid those February blues.

Ellie was so excited to hear about the new friends in the neighborhood she decided to do a little dance and give away some kisses in celebration…

[flickrvideo]http://www.flickr.com/photos/17005385@N04/3260411151/[/flickrvideo]

Recycled Sweaters

So I’ve been meaning to make some new pillows for our couch since the day we brought it home 6 months ago.  I could never get motivated or decided on what exactly I wanted. A few months ago I sorted out our pile of sweaters in the closet for good will. There were two sweaters Gary and I never wear that my mom gave to us when we moved up here to Timbucktoo (aka Timberlakes) I couldn’t bring myself to give them away because they are beautiful but just a little too bulky to wear. So the light bulb went off and I figured I would find a way to use them as couch pillows and then I found a great sweater of Garys that matched pretty well and figured I’d use that as well. So today I broke out the needle and thread and here are the results…

Here’s the thing I’m proud of I didn’t even cut them up. The sweaters from my mom that is. I just turned in the arms and collars. Then tucked it to the size I wanted. Then I stitched the open ends with some crochet thread.

Gary’s sweater on the other hand, well I chopped that one up and used a blanket stitch with the crochet thread to stitch up the open ends and I stitched on a few buttons in necessary places as well like the neck.

I took the arms from that sweater and made the “Wee One” some pants. Sweater Pants. They actually turned out quiet well. I wouldn’t mind a pair myself if it were at all possible but I can’t really imagine fitting my legs into what is meant for arms. Anyway its great lounge wear for the babe. I found some instructions for making some sweater pants here.

Soaking up the Last of the Sunshine

It is a beautiful day today so Ellie and I took advantage of the nice weather and played on the back deck for a bit today. Gary finished up painting yesterday and it looks sooo good. It’s a perfect place for Ellie to practice her walk. Obstacle free and wide open space.

I also took the time this morning to finish up a sewing project. Skirts, one for Ellie and one for McKenna who is celebrating her Birthday this month. I got my inspiration from here, who got her inspiration from here.  This is an easy one so I encourage anyone with any spark of interest to try it out. Seriously so simple…and you can download the pattern for free.