It's a wrap

I have been sewing like crazy the last couple weeks, and would love to share some of what I've been working on.  Sadly, they're all Christmas presents and I'm going to have to try to keep the secret for 3 more weeks!
However, there are a few things that I can share now.
Here are the little hair bows that my sister and I made for our little niece's 1st birthday.

We had so much fun making these after the kids were safely in bed one chilly evening a few weeks ago.  We just spread ribbons and beads and scraps all over the kitchen, made ourselves some hot tea, turned on the music, and went at it!



I love the way they turned out!

 This one's my favorite!

 Have to have a Clemson tiger paw!

Isn't this the cutest Christmas poinsettia?

I made a couple headbands out of super soft fold-over-elastic (pink, white, and brown ones!) and attached snaps.    All the bows have the other side of the snap on them, so they can be attached to any of the bands!  Sure saved a lot of time making dozens of headbands!  We also made a couple little clips with snaps, so that when she gets a little more hair, she can still wear all her adorable bows!

 

 Note:  Gluing a piece of non-stick shelf liner to the inside of the clip really helps to keep it in place in that baby-fine hair!

 Here are a few more photos, modeled by Ailidh and Joy, since I haven't seen little M since her birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY M.!

home again

We made it back from Steve's sister's wedding Sunday night.  The wedding was beautiful and we really enjoyed spending time with family and friends.
I promised some photos of the kid's outfits, but it was a lot harder to get any that I ever imagined!  Trying to coax JL into being the ring bearer (and keep his white suit clean!), chasing A, and of course J just disappeared.  She's such a little doll baby that everyone wants to hold her.

Always busy!

 

 Look at those handsome men!

Here's our little doll baby!

 

  

 

JL was a little reluctant and shy about all those people, but he loosened up toward the end of the night. Here he is in the middle of the dance floor during the toasts!

So, we're home again now, and playing catch-up on the garden and laundry and sleep and everything else.   It's good to be home!

Finishing touches

I spent my weekend working on a few finishing touches for everyone's outfits for my sister-in-law's wedding. I had to take the ring bearer's white suit in by quite a bit, unfortunately it's still much too big! The vest and pants look pretty good, and the shirt is fine, but there was nothing I could do with that jacket! Oh well, maybe the bride won't mind if he leaves it off. The little white vest and tie look kinda cute.
The girl's outfits were much more fun! I could do anything I wanted with them, since they're not in the wedding party. I made the cutest little dress for A while we were in Alaska (3 actually, I got a little carried away. I just kept thinking of so many cute ideas!) and finally put the finishing touches on them. I'm still not sure which she'll wear for the wedding... Maybe one for the rehearsal?

Sewing on the buttons:Aren't these the cutest little buttons? I designed the whole dress around the buttons!

A pretty belt is a must!

A few little pins:


And can't forget hair accessories!





J's dress was easy -- she's wearing the one her sister wore to her Daddy's ordination as a deacon. It's still rather big on her (even though it's a 6m size!) so I had to take in the sides quite a bit, but that was uncomplicated. I used a basting stitch so it will be easy to take out as she grows in to it. Then I had so much fun with her little hair band!

I love the way it looks on her little fuzzy head!

Then there were the little details on my dress: I made it a few months ago, and I'm happy to say I'm really pleased with the way it turned out! It deserves it's own post though; I'll just show you the little things I worked on this weekend.

Finishing the embellishments:


A few matching hair ornaments:



In case you can't tell, I'm a little carried away with flowers right now! I thought it would look sweet -- not really all matchy-matchy, but the same sort of theme for the three of us? Or maybe it's just overkill? Or maybe I'm just disappointed that I'm too far away to do the flowers for the wedding and I'm taking out my "frustrated floral-designer" urges like this?

Anyway, that was my weekend! It's a good thing Steve's tux is a rental and I don't have to do anything with that!

Can't wait to post pictures of everyone in their outfits!