Signed, Sealed, Delivered!

Like I promised, the dress is finished!  It is the biggest project I have ever done, and I really, really like it.

Before

After

To recap this adventure:

The stained and lacy bib collar and princess poofy sleeves that 

are cute, but not my style, were removed.

See? Not a bad dress, but I had to do something fun with all

of that potential!

So Mommy let me pick a dye.

They didn't have the green I wanted, so I picked a pretty blue.

Salting the water!

Prepared dye concentrate!

At first, I thought it would dye the dress purple.

I was ok with that possibility. :-)

This was lots of fun!

In goes the detached bib collar.

Add the dress!

And the pieces are dyed, washed, and ready to sew!

Mommy pinned it to fit me better.

Then she pinned sections of the bib collar according

to my request for lacy cap sleeves.

All ready for the machine!

It's coming together!

I took in the sides.  Mommy did the sleeves.

Just follow the basting stitches, Mommy said!

Then we chopped the excess.

(Don't mind the washed out look.  It's the lighting.)

I'm so happy with how it turned out!  I'm ready for the next big project!

What I'm working on learning now:

Crocheting!

Once Mommy and I put together the time to really do this, it happened pretty quickly.  I'm so glad we did it, even though it took us so long to find the time to finally do it.  I have more "project clothes" set aside for later refashions, including a few no-sew projects that will be posted in the coming days.

I learned that dye, Mommy's help, and a little imagination can give clothes a whole new look, purpose, and life.  As soon as the weather warms up, this dress is going to get worn A LOT! 

Big Reveal Tomorrow!

Mommy and I are putting the final touches on the refashioned dress that we started last fall.  It has taken FOR-EV-ER, but a few final stitches tonight, and we will post the reveal tomorrow!

A look back:

Poofy sleeves, breezy cotton, and some serious lace on a bib collar.

Don't let my face fool you, I didn't hate it.  I just wanted it to be more "me."

I also wanted it to fit better.

Lace and stains!

I can't wait to show you what we've done with it!  I can't wait for the weather to warm up enough to put it into a regular outfit rotation!  

I'm so EXCITED!!!

See you back here tomorrow!

Has It Really Been Four Months?!

I can't believe I haven't posted in so long!  So much has happened since then!

My soon-to-be-blue dress is still unfinished.  Once Mommy's sewing machine was fixed, the holidays hit and everything became a blur of homemade gifts, promised projects, and my Christmas dress!

First things first: My Christmas dress.

Mommy likes this pattern.  This was the first dress she made

from it, back in 2011.  It was for Christmas, of course. :-) 

So, naturally, she went with it again, leaving the fabric and color choice up to me.

Red satin, of course! 

Because of misplaced sleeve pieces, Mommy decided we could

do without.  I agreed, but with the insistence that we

add some sparkle to it.  Literally.

Sparkle achieved!  I saw this sweater at Target and could not

live without it!  There are rhinestones on the pockets

and silvery thread in the edging.  It took the dress from ho-hum...

...to being worthy of Christmas cheer!

I also found this easy, elegant hairstyle on Pinterest. 

(Mommy isn't the only Pinterest addict!)

But that's not all!  Daddy's cousin is getting married in February and Nana asked Mommy to help with the 1950's themed bridal shower.  With that, Mommy and I set out to make a fun vintage-style apron for the bride-to-be: 

It's so fun!  I learned a lot about the importance of ironing and

pinning with this project.  Mommy did most of the sewing, since we were in a bit of a hurry, but I'm seriously considering forging one on my own for when I help cook and clean.  Red, polka dots, and lace trim!

What's not to love?!

However, mine will have pockets. :-)

Trending.

I have the dress from the previous post pinned and ready to sew, but Mommy's sewing machine has taken a vacation.  Mommy was nice enough to do some hand sewing around the collar.  I gave it a try, but quickly found out that I'm not very good at the hidden whip stitch.  Looks like it's back to practice remnants for me!

We also took a break to enjoy a visit from Nana, one of my grandmothers.  When family visits, projects take a back seat to all the time and memories we need to have!

We made a decision on the dye, and I'm pretty excited about it!  After long and tiresome internal debate over pink vs. blue (they didn't have the green I wanted, which was my first pick), I went with Ocean Blue by Dylon.  I have plenty of pink dresses, so I felt comfortable switching it up.

We'll see how it goes!  In the meantime, I took a no-sew refashion out on the town, namely to Longwood Gardens.  It's one of my favorite places ever!  I paired my cupcake shirt with white pedal pushers and glittery pink shoes.

I am the queen bee!

I am so happy to be getting every last mile out of that shirt.  What could possibly top cupcakes, polka dots, and bright pink?

Well, hopefully the dress that's in the works. ;-)

Mommy's note: We were fortunate enough to use Nana's camera to snap a few pictures while she was here.  We are now camera-less again for a few more weeks.  Once I have the funds amassed, a camera will be the first purchase! :-)

Big Plans In The Works!

A dear friend of mine gave me this dress when she outgrew it:

I love her.  I don't love the dress.  It's pretty, it's modest, it's girly, and it's sweet, but it's not at all my style.  It's 100% cotton, weathered to perfect comfort, and has loads of potential.

It has a bib collar, which is stained.  There is also a big chocolate stain under one of the arms (not pictured).

Do you see the lovely lace?  I am a sucker for lace!  But the whole look just doesn't suit me.  It doesn't suit me one bit.

I'll have a "reveal" post in the next few days.  Mommy ran out of white thread and she and I are juggling the idea of dyeing it.  Let's face it, all-white clothing is a bad idea for kids, as these stains clearly show.

As a teaser, I will tell you that the sleeves and bib have been removed.  The lace from the bib will be used on the refashion.  It's on the fast track to being my new favorite dress!

Stay tuned...

No Sew Cool.

I was emphatic that Mommy hold on to three pieces she had set aside among a pile of other clothes to donate.  "They're my favorites!" I pleaded.

Forgive the crummy picture quality.  Just think "Ah...  Instagram..."

The specimens:

Cupcakes, polka dots, and magenta!  What's not to love?
The sleeves.  In summer.  That's what.

I don't wear this much because it's too low cut for ANY girl.

But the navy blue and pretty coral pinks and orange are so cute!

This one is also too low cut.  Mommy used to pin up the straps with a safety pin,

and even then, I'd have to wear a sweater over it and the blue one.
Those pinks and lavenders... I can't get enough!

Out came Mommy's big sewing scissors.

I'm busy snipping at a seam, carefully cutting the top away from the skirt.

Ta-daaaaaa!

For the cupcake top: After rolling up the short sleeves, I cut away the longer sleeves.

Yep, pretty adorable!

Instagram effects courtesy of my brother's 3MP Lego camera and less-than-ideal kitchen lighting!

So there it is!  I got to keep these girly, cute skirts and I extended the life of my favorite shirt, all without a single stitch sewn.  Life is good!

Author's note: Mommy helped type.  I narrated as best I could between shouting orders at my brothers.

Round 1... Ding!

As I mentioned yesterday, we stopped at a consignment store a few blocks from our house and picked up four tops for $10.  It's a rather upscale dive for a consignment store, with lots of notable brands, a super classy selection, and everything in stellar shape.  But what hooked us was the 4-for-$10 rack outside.  Sold!  

Her face says it all!

The first specimen Maria wanted to use as her "sewing guinea pig" was a size 3X slinky top with stretchy lace sleeves.  I think it may be a night shirt?  I wasn't sure, but the ideas and brainstorming began without a hitch.  The shirt part "feels like swimsuit material," she said.  So we discussed making it a swimsuit, or maybe a dress with a lace sash, but all of these were a little daunting for a beginner's project.  

She LOVES dresses, but she also loves keeping up with her rough-and-tumble brothers.  From that, the idea was born: leggings.  How better to allow her to climb, jump, wrestle, and play with three very active boys and still maintain modesty with a particularly girly streak?

So we got to work:

Snippity snippity!

The arms were chopped off!

Pinning the armpits together to make the crotch of the leggings.

The "panty" area of the leggings, pinned and ready for stitching!

Did I mention that this is HER sewing project?  Well, she did a great job focusing on pinning (we used safety pins since the lace was so "slippy slidey"), but when it came time to actually sew, she climbed into my lap, put her head on my shoulder, and asked me to start while she rested.  In her defense, it was bedtime at that point.

So the crotch was stitched and we then pinned the inseams to where they'd fit snugly, like leggings should, rather than billow about her scrawny legs the way these things were.  I didn't get a picture of that part, but I did get a post-sewn picture:

You can't really see the stitching, but we took it in about 4 inches on each leg.

Then we chopped the excess.

We left the waist as-is.  She said she liked how comfortable it was without an elastic waistband.  It was snug enough, but still stretchy enough, that I was fine to leave it that way.  After all, it is her project, and elastic waistbands might be a bit much for someone who is still learning.

What do you think?

She sure likes them!

The "dress" she is wearing is one of the other shirts we picked up yesterday.  It's a v-neck cotton shirt that she's wearing backwards.  It is part of her brainstorming process for the fate of that shirt.  It will likely be a post in the near future.

She's wearing the leggings this morning with an adorable vintage dress of yellow linen that my mother gave to her (another thrift store find, which is awesome!), and the whole outfit is a girly explosion of cuteness.  I'll try and get a picture of it later.  I'm without a properly functioning camera for the time being and must await my husband's return from work so that I might hijack his camera phone (as was necessary for this post).