Dublin Dolman

Terra from New Horizons has done it again!!!  This time it's a Girls Dublin Dolman that has sooo many options you'll have a different one for every day of the week and then some!  Plus...we talked her into making a matching 18" doll one that includes ALL the same options!  

This first one is the banded shirt length with short sleeves.  There are also options for a tall gathered band and bands for the sleeves, long sleeves, 3/4 sleeves, tunics, high low, gathered waist (shirt and tunic lengths) and it comes in sizes 6-12 months all the way through size 16!  

Marie Grace is sporting a simple tunic length version.

 (the sleeves were lengthened in the pattern after I made this one) 

  

 Grace was feeling a little crazy when we took pictures....

This version I think will be a huge part of Grace's fall/winter wardrobe.  (She prefers "dresses" to shirts and pants.)

This is the gathered waist tunic length version with a slight high low hem.  It's so cute and easy to make and because the bodice is so small you can use scraps or fabric you spend big bucks on and want to use sparingly for it!  

So, there you have a picture overload of my crazy kid and mini me!!  Go buy the Girls Dublin Dolman from New Horizons!!!  

Perfect Layering Tee

Have you seen the little adorable new Wellie Wisher Dolls from American Girl?  Kessa got one from my husband's family for her birthday and her first request was for me to make the doll more clothes.  When Nicole said she was making some patterns the Wellie Wishers I was all over it!  The Perfect Layering tee for girls and dolls was first up on the list.  It comes in tank, short, 3/4, and long sleeves, has regular and tunic lengths with options for hems or bands and it looks great!  

This shirt is tight fitting and perfect for laying under things...or wearing alone if that floats your boat!  The black one is the tunic length with 3/4 length sleeves (and I added some fun heat transfer of course!)

There are also two different options for finishing the neck.  You can do a traditional neck band (as I did on the black tunic) or you can do a binding like I did on the aztec print shirt.  

 
This is the hemmed length with short sleeves.  It's very easy to mash sizes too!  Since it's such a tight fitting shirt I made sure to take new measurements of Kessa and make the shirt accordingly.  I did a 7 chest graded out to an 8 hips and an 8 length (for my 10 year old.  :p )

and how about some bottoms???  Cole's Corner also released a basic bottom pattern for Wellie Wishers that included pant, capri, short, and shorty short lengths.  They're SUUUUPer fast to make too.  I cut and sewed 4 pairs (one in each length) in probably 30 minutes the other day.

So, what are you waiting for???  Go buy them!  :p  I'm ready to make the girls more of these in waffle knit to wear under their t-shirts this winter.

Avonlea Dress

I was so thrilled to be able to test Cole's Creations new Avonlea dress and matching dolly dress last week!  Now, if you're like me, the first you'll want to know is why should I buy this pattern, right?  I mean, there are multiple out there with knit bodices and woven skirts already right?  Right.  

Well Cole's Creations Avonlea dress comes in sizes 1/2 - size 14 so that's a big selling point!  The biggest selling point for me though would be that it has a lot more options than most of the other dresses.  Because there were so many options not all of them are going to look different from the other patterns.  I did the basic long sleeve version with a ruched sash and ruffled skirt.  There are also options for basic short sleeves, puffed sleeves, puffed sleeves layered over long sleeves and the skirt can be done with or without the ruffle.  The pattern is designed to be much shorter but I made the skirt a size longer and added the ruffle.  Kessa loved this length and was very excited about the "twirl factor!"  

The patterns are on sale through tomorrow (Thursday 2/26)!  The girl dress is just $6 and the doll dress is only $2!!

(how 'bout them zebras?!?!  In case you haven't figured it out yet Kessa has a thing for zebras.  She LOVES this dress.)

I'm getting a lot better at tying those sash bows too!  lol.  I'm pretty sure Kessa would wear these every day if I made her enough.  

I'm also itching to start making the girls' Easter dresses with this pattern.  It's SOOO cute with special occasion fabric!

So what are you waiting for?!?!  Go grab the pattern while it's still on sale and whip up some matching dresses for your girly and her daughter so you can get a smile like this from her too!!  

It's a Bird, It's a Plane,

no, it's my Crazy Crew in their Superhero sets from EYMM!!!

 Now, if you've been following the blog tour you might remember reading about Clara and her...ahemm...lack of interest in modeling.  Reading that made me chuckle and also gave me a little push to give you a behind the scenes look at the making of EIGHT full (or nearly full) Super Hero sets just days before my blog post was due.  Ya ready?  (also, prepare for picture overload!)

 

First off, let me tell you about my crafty OCD.  I'm pretty sure that's a real thing.  I get these ideas in my head and decide it's going to be totally awesome and from that point on it doesn't really matter what everyone else wants because, let's be honest, the pictures are going to freaking rock!

So, my crafty OCD set in and I decided that the kids all having coordinating satin capes with one side being "their" color and one side being black was going to be A.MAZE.ING.  AMAZING.  (With four kids we do a lot of color coding and it goes like this Kessa's color is purple, Zeke's is orange, Grace's is pink and Zane's is green.)

Next, you need to understand that going to the fabric store consists of an hour drive one way for me, and it's in the same town as Sam's Club so if I'm making the drive I have to stop there too.  So, last Thursday we went on a field trip with Grace and Zane's pre school to a pumpkin patch (goodbye morning!) and then I decide it would be a good idea to make that hour drive and hit up Joann's and Sam's.  We get to Joann's...we find the satin...purple - check.  pink - check.  green - check.  orange - no.  No orange.  BAH!  So now my Crafty OCD is freaking out and I don't have a back up plan.  Kessa is saying she wants a Frozen cape (that's NOT happening today..) and everyone else is asking for something crazy and it's naptime and I'm tired and I HAVE to get fabric for these because they have to be done ASAP.

And then it dawned on me.  These pictures are going to be fine no matter what we make the capes out of.  The kids are going to wear them and love them, and honestly...they're FOR them...not me.  Soo...I made a deal with the Crafty OCD that was going crazy and said, "Here's what we're going to do.  We'll use quilter's cotton in their colors for the back and they can all pick their own lining."  And we did.  And (as you can see) it works.  lol  

The kids all picked flannel for the lining fabric of their capes and last night Zeke had his on and was watching TV when he realized if he turned it around and wore it backwards it doubled as a cozy blanket!  lol!  That made him love it even more.

Ok, so let's talk about this pattern, because, honestly, there are TONS of free patterns out there right?  Why buy this one?  Well the instructions are great and having the pattern for everything together, all in one place, makes it WAY easier IMO.  The pattern includes sizing for 15-18" dolls all the way through size 10.  There are three different mask shapes to choose from and tons of applique patterns and letters and the cuffs are super cute too.  Oh, and the belts!  No worries if you don't have a kid around to try it on because measurements are included.

So, here's what I think about buying it, sure, you could probably figure out something and make your own, but with the code HEROSET you can get the whole kit and kaboodle for $2.97 instead of $4.95.  That's a $3 well spent in my book.  I always try to weigh costs vs. my time spent and in this case $3 makes my life so much easier than spending hours finding the right sizes or making my own or trying to guess which would be best or what length to make something and on and on.

 (Kessa always makes getting good shots so easy.  She's turned into quite the natural in front of the camera.)

The girls both love having matching outfits with their dolls so that being included rocks too!  

Obviously Pirate Kitty couldn't be left out of the fun either so I printed the doll size mask at 60% and it fit him pretty well.  I just free handed the cape for him by looking at the others and then drawing it smaller.  

(Laser Cat??!?!)

And some more "behind the scenes" shots just for laughs.  

The kids have been wearing these close to non-stop since I finished them up.  I think it's safe to say that they approve!

So, be sure and use the code HEROSET for 40% off through 11:59pm PDT on 10/21/2014 and if you need some more inspiration check out these other blogs on the tour!

Bigg Stitches, Little Stitches

Friends Stitched Together

Just Another Sewing Mama

Lulu & Celeste

This & That & Craft

Just Joshin'