Easter Dress

I made Elanor an Easter dress! Let me say that again, I made Elanor an Easter dress!! I am surprising myself just as much as most of family members are surprised by my new found sewing abilities (they really aren't much). I have mentioned several times on here, just how bad of a seamstress I used to be. My Young Women's leaders can attest to this! I was so bad at sewing and understanding what I was supposed to do, they would often have to sew a lot of my project for me. Oh, and cutting straight lines. Yeah, I am pretty much the worst cutter in the world (that might not be entirely true).

I have sewn Elanor a few little shift type dresses, a skirt (so easy!) and her halloween costume, but this was the first time I gathered a skirt and attached it to a bodice. It was quite easy actually. This was also the first time I made a peter pan collar, and it went pretty well, but next time I will do it much better. My next dress I do want to try sleeves out, but for some reason I have been a bit nervous to try.

I also made a little bow for her hair.

Also, this whole dress did not cost me anything to make! My friend, Becky, gave me some fabric that her Grandma has given her. So, this was a cheap project for me!

I also took way too many pictures of Elanor in her dress (I knew I would not get much of a chance to on Sunday morning), so enjoy if you have not seen Elanor in awhile!

Pase!

This picture cracks me up!

She also really loves her dress, which make me happy!

Since it is Easter this week, we have been reading about Jesus' life and watching the corresponding Bible videos . It has been wonderful and great prep for this weekend. If you feel the need to get into the Easter spirit, then watch this beautiful little video. It will do your heart and soul good.

Happy Easter!

Finally Finished!

I started this quilt for Elanor's bed way back in July or possibly earlier. It took me awhile to cut everything out, sew, iron and then sew all together. I finished it all in September and then trying to work out our different schedules I got it to my friend, Megan, in October so she could quilt it.  However, since this is my first ever quilt, my backing and batting were not quite big enough, so I bought more fabric, sewed some more and gave it back to Megan. She finished quilting it super fast and I got it back last week. The very last thing I had to do was put the binding on the quilt and I finished last night! I have learned so much about quilts and sewing from this project and I know what to do/not do the next time around. I love how it turned out, but don't look to too closely.

 Yes, the lighting it pretty much terrible, but I am impatient. I wanted to take pictures and then get the quilt washed and put on Elanor's bed as soon as possible.

Again, sorry about the brightness.

The backing is a green and white striped flannel, for extra coziness.

Megan did this swirly, loopy quilting, which I love!

I am so glad this is done and I am quite pleased with how it turned out! Next time I make a quilt, it will not be quite so large though...

Have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! We are so excited for it! We are having it at our house with several friends and it should be a lot of fun and such a delicious meal (I have been making pies, and prepping for tomorrow already!)

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing

I have been doing quite a bit of sewing this summer, which is a lot  considering I usually never sew. Strangely enough, I have enjoyed it--something I thought was not possible. As I have said before, listening to an audio book while sewing is the trick. It makes the whole experience so enjoyable. Plus, I am not quite as horrible as I thought. It is true that everything needs to be explained to me in a toddler-like fashion but once I get it, I can do it! 

So without further ado, here are some of my creations:

A wee mouse in a tin house, complete with a pillow and bedding! I saw it here and tried to recreate it to the best of my abilities. Elanor loves it and that is what is important.

The owl costume, which I have already blogged about.

This cute little skirt, which now that I have made a skirt I will do it much better next time!

Finally, here is the quilt top that I have been working on all summer. It is my first quilt and not perfect by any means. I went with an all squares quilt and I stitched the squares together without a set pattern. I like the way it turned out and will look so pretty in Elanor's room.

My friend, Megan at Bauer Handcrafted, is going to be quilting it and I'm excited to see how it will turn out!

I made Elanor a simple little autumn dress as well, but I am not quite finished with it. I also need to get started on Elanor's Little Red Riding Hood costume soon--because that is what she is going to be for Halloween and it is going to be adorable!

All this sewing is a big step for me. I can now put thread on a bobbin (there is probably a technical name for that action), load the bobbin in the machine and get the thread up and out, I can put in a needle, problem solve and untangle thread in the machine, clean and oil a sewing machine, etc. You might laugh (which is fine, I am laughing at myself too), but these are serious accomplishments for me. 

Wish me luck on the Red Riding Hood Costume!