Sewing

Dresses and Decor

Posted in Sewing on October 2nd, 2011 by jen – Be the first to comment

If you've been following us the last few weeks, you'll recognize these alphabet dresses. I searched high and low for cute ABC fabric to make them for Leah's birthday party. Leah's is the Brynne dress from Brynnberlee Designs.

Birthday dress

Molly got double use of of hers and wore it on the first day of school too.

Big sister's ABC dress

I used the same Simplicity pattern as Molly's to make a dress for her friend, Caroline.

A dress for Caroline

I'm starting to transition the baby bedding out of Leah's room, so I made her a new window valance. It matches the twin quilt that my aunt is working on for Leah.

Leah's new valance

Christmas in Dixie stockings

Posted in Sewing on October 1st, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

Craft Hope's latest project was to partner with Christmas in Dixie for Tornado Survivors. The plan is to provide boxes filled with ornaments, lights, and handmade stockings to families that lost everything to the tornadoes.

For this project, I organized a sewing group to make stockings. 5 ladies and 1 middle schooler made these 10 stockings. Thanks Lisa, William, Josie, Diana and Susan for contributing!

Christmas in Dixie stockings

Did you know I sew?

Posted in Sewing on August 31st, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

Really, I do! And I enjoy it. A lot. :) To save on extra expenses, I've made an effort lately to make handmade gifts with the fabric I have on hand.

This reversible pinafore was a baby gift for Tom and Amy. They are expecting a girl in October. I didn't see the invitation until the day before the shower. It was a Project Runway kind of sewing night on this one. Start: 8:00 PM. 4 hours to complete. Make it work, Jen. I was on a roll until the darn elastic, which meant I didn't actually finish until the next morning.

Reversible pinafore

The top is completely reversible and criss-crosses in the back. Once the weather turns cooler, the top can also be worn paired with a long sleeve shirt and jeans to get more wear out of it.

The reverse and backside

I made my friend, Jen, a laptop sleeve for her birthday. When I made one for myself she really liked it, but that was back in January. So, I was making a huge assumption that she still had the same laptop. But she loved it saying it was "another birthday gift o' handmade awesomeness!" If you notice, I tried to be extra crafty on hers and match the fabric pattern. It was my first time trying that. Jen made me laugh when she said, "I can't even do that with wrapping paper!"

Laptop case

Making goodies and gifts

Posted in Food, Sewing on August 17th, 2011 by jen – Be the first to comment

These chocolate peanut butter cupcakes were for our Bible study. There is a debate in our house as to whether the peanut butter cream cheese icing plus the surprise peanut butter inside was ENOUGH peanut butter! And as a side note, chilled peanut butter cream cheese icing tastes extra yummy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Leah's friend, Rachel, turned 2. So, I made her a Lucy jumper for her birthday. She can wear it now, and layer it with a shirt when the weather becomes cooler.

Fall dress for Rachel

I just can't resist making these whale jon jons for baby boys. This one is for Camp, our friends Gabe and Helen's little boy.

Whale jon jon again

Dresses for (and on) little girls

Posted in Leah, Molly, Sewing on August 1st, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

When I asked Riley's mom what the birthday girl would like, the answer was, "Anything homemade by the very talented Jen Sellers would be very welcome and appreciated." Looks like Molly's friends are loving the dresses made by her Mommy!

A dress for Riley

I love the square neck, the ruffle sleeves, and the pleats in the front and back. I bought the pattern after seeing it on Mandy's blog. She's the cousin of my friend, Emily.

Back of the dress

I also made a dress for one of Molly's preschool friends, Maisie. All these dresses means that I am getting to try out a lot of different patterns.

Dress for Maisie

With this dress, I put my first zipper in a garment, and if you look hard you can see side pockets!

A dress of firsts

A couple months ago, my Aunt Jan asked if she could make the girls something because she had an itch to do some sewing for some little girls. When a package arrived in the mail, I opened it and responded, "Oh, I forgot she was making the girls something!" It was a fun surprise!

A surprise in the mail

The dresses definitely passed the playability test.

Fun dresses

Leah is now the fifth little girl to wear this dress. G'mom made it for Aunt 'Chelle over 30 years ago. Here is Molly wearing it.

Wearing a G'mom original

Pool playtime

Posted in Leah, Molly, Sewing on July 3rd, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

The girls have really enjoyed their pool playtime every week. We've already been more times this summer than the entire summer last year. Thank goodness for a single afternoon naptime!

Pouring water with cups and buckets is certainly the favorite activity.

Pool playtime

It can be serious business.

The anticipation

And anything can be a bucket, even an upside down boat!

Anything can be a bucket

Molly has not been interested in actually swimming, but she does enjoy splashing around.

Splashing around

Jumping in is fun too!

Jumping in is fun too

Is it good luck to dump water out of a cup behind you like it is to throw salt over your shoulder?

Good luck?

Who knew you could have so much fun with a cup?!

More fun with a cup

Though, sometimes you have to take a break from the action to survey the landscape and plan your next move.

Surveying

After our first trip to the pool, I decided that the girls needed some cover-ups. So, I made them these matching terry cloth cover-ups. They have been perfect for keeping them warm and dry while eating our picnic lunches.

The great coverup

A dress just makes a girl happy

Posted in Molly, Sewing on June 27th, 2011 by jen – 5 Comments

I made Molly a new A-line dress. I love the little ruffle sleeves and the contrasting border! Molly wore it on Father's Day, because as you might recall, "Yellow is Daddy's favorite color."

New A-line dress

I was not pleased with the back construction of her dress, so I bought a new A-line dress pattern from Lily Bird Studio. I recreated the contrasting ruffle sleeve and border and made another one for Molly's friend, Allison. This pattern sewed together beautifully, so I went back and corrected the first one. Everyone ended up with pretty little dresses!

A-line dress, take 2

During our photo shoot, Molly was having such fun, so here's a few more happy girl photos.

Happy girl photos

Smiling at Mommy

What a cutie

Such a funny girl

Ok, we'll stop now

Ok, I'll stop now.

Mom, Wife, Craftaholic

Posted in Crafts, Food, Sewing on June 26th, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

That should be my title! Here are some of my latest projects.

The theme for my MOMS Club End of the Year Banquet was "If you give a Mom an M..." based of these books by Laura Numeroff. We had door prizes of movie tickets and a manicure gift certificate. I made these marshmallow pops as the party favor. They were a big hit!

Marshmallow pops

Molly saw me dipping the marshmallows in chocolate and asked if she could dip her pretzels in it too. Good idea, Molly (and a great way to use up the rest of the chocolate)!

Chocolate pretzels

My dad always has a book with him, so I made him these scrap fabric bookmarks for Father's Day.

Bookmarks for Grampa

And I sent a few more pillowcases to ConKerr Cancer. I had received the wrong fabric in an order, so they let me keep it and suggested donating it. So, that's what I did.

ConKerr Cancer pillowcases

Swaddling tiny survivors

Posted in Sewing on June 8th, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

As many of you know, I'm from the South. I went to school at Auburn and several of my family members live in the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa area. We had only returned home from our Easter visit to Birmingham the day before the tornado hit.

So, when Craft Hope announced their newest project, security blankets for tornado survivors, I knew I was in. They are asking for handmade/machine washable blankets to "wrap people up in love."

I had seen this tutorial for making a swaddling blanket out of two receiving blankets. I loved the idea and decided to upcycle a few of Leah's receiving blankets for the project.

Swaddling tiny survivors

If you'd like to send love through your blankets, sign up here. You have until the 15th.

Show and Tell Green

Summer surprises

Posted in Sewing on June 6th, 2011 by jen – 2 Comments

I have sewn for my girls and their friends recently, but I hadn't made anything for my niece. So, I whipped up a Market Skirt and a few bows and sent them off in the mail. I didn't tell my sister it was coming, and included a note saying, "Just a little summer surprise!" She was so excited to get it!

A skirt for Emmie

I also went to a surprise baby shower this weekend. My friend, Heather, is due in two weeks with a little boy. So, I made another whale jon jon, but in a 12 month size this time.

Another whale jon jon