New Patterns

Today, I used my Christmas cash to buy some super cute patterns both for me and for little miss Cupcake Katie. I love Whimsy Couture, and right now they are 3 for 18.00, so I took advantage of the price and purchased her Ladies' Pillowcase Top, Ladies' Peasant Top, and Over Tops and Dresses pinafore. They were sent to me super fast via email. I also bought Sis Boom's Megan Peasant Top and Dress pattern. So excited to be making stuff for me to wear! I feel like I have been pregnant for 3 years straight and am really looking forward to being back in normal clothes. For Katie, I got Romeo and May's Lucia Halter dress and I broke down and bought Izzy and Ivy's Macy Giggles Dress. They were both too cute that I just had to have them. Now I am torn as to which dress I should make for Katie's birthday next month. Here's a few pics of these lovely patterns:

 

 

 

Izzy and Ivy

Just found the cutest patterns at one of my new favorite online shops, Fairy Tale Frocks and Lollipops . They are by Izzy and Ivy, and they are precious, frilly, and very girlie, which is totally my sewing style. The Izzy and Ivy blog is having a give-away of either a pack of 6 patterns or an adorable ruffled bag. Head on over and check them out! Yay for giveaways!!!

Here are just two of the patterns available:

 

Recent Projects

I am finally posting! It's been a crazy seven weeks complete with new baby boy and lot's of illness. However, I have managed to get a few little dresses done in my not so spare time thanks to my wonderful husband!

 

 

This was made with Whimsy Couture's Ruffled Neckline dress Pattern

 

Whimsy Couture's  Reversible A-line Tops and Sew Sensible's Boutique Bottoms patterns

 

 

 

Mani Mina's  reversible Kimono Wrap dress pattern (Notice she is wearing my sock pulled all the way up to her knee in a couple of these pics. Silly girl!)

I am Now a Mommy of Two

My baby boy is finally here! Baby Caleb was born on October 28, and after 3 days in the hospital for Mommy and a weekend spent in the NICU for Baby we have been spending the week getting settled and into somewhat of a routine around the Geater house. Katie is turning out to be a really sweet big sister. She just giggles when she sees her baby brother, and she loves to "help" me burp him and change his diaper. I am feeling so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and these two little precious babies of mine.

 

 

 

 

Who Doesn't Love Free Fabric

Jody at fabricshoppe on Etsy, one of my fave fabric suppliers, is giving away free fabric from her stash. Each 1/2 yard bundle includes a total of 5 1/2 yards of fabric. The project possibilities are endless! Check out her blog, Everyday Beautiful for details on how to enter. She will be doing a drawing for two winners next Monday, Nov. 2.  Here are the pics: So cute!

Pink and Purple Set

 Red and Blue Set

Refashioning My Clothes

My baby is scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday, if I do not go before that! My husband, Lou, and I are so excited to be bringing our little baby boy home this time next weekend! I am not only ecstatic about being mommy to a precious little girl and sweet baby boy, but I am also very happy to be getting back into my old clothes and, again, expressing my personal style. I lost thirty-five pounds on Weight Watchers between pregnancies, so I have all of these too big for me clothes that I kept "just in case" I got pregnant again that I will be able to wear for the next few weeks. However, after that, I may be at a loss for fashion just like now. I have been looking around on some of my fave and newly discovered crafty blogs to see if I can find instructions on upcycling some of my larger clothing instead of having to shop for all new stuff. (This makes my budget-conscious husband very happy.) Anyway, I found quite a few. A lot of them have ruffles and flowers, but what can I say, I'm a girly-girl. So, here is a short list of some of the coolest and easiest refashioning tutorials for womens' clothing that I have seen.
T-shirt/ Tank Dress
Flamenco Top
Ruffle Madness Top
Ruffle Top from Man's Shirt
Peasant Blouse from Man's shirt
Long Sleeve Shirt Refashion
Ruffle Tube Top
Ruffle Scarf
Women's Top
Jeans to Denim Skirt
Another Jeans to Denim Skirt
T-shirt with Flowers
Long Skirt to Cute Top
Swimsuit Cover-up or Long Top
Pillowcase Top
Ruffle Cardigan
Maternity Top to Wrap Tee
Heart Petals T-shirt
Maternity Top to Empire Top

Whimsy Couture Sewing Patterns Giveaway

One of my favorite pattern designers, Whimsy Couture, is giving away 3 free patterns of your choice! I love her patterns. They are so easy and always turn out to be precious. The giveaway is being hosted by Piece of Me blog, and Whimsy Couture patterns are available on Etsy. Even if you are a beginner, you will love these!

 Cupcake Katie in a couple of her dresses made with Whimsy patterns

Bobbityboo Giveaways

One of my favorite Etsy vendors, Bobbityboo, is doing 2 giveaways!
The first one is for one of her precious little skirts from her shop. This one is being hosted by the Whimsy Couture Sewing patterns blog. Click on this link for info on how to enter: Whimsy Couture- Bobbityboo Skirt Giveaway

The second one she is hosting for an Etsy shop called Giggly Monkey. Giggly Monkey is giving away a custom "Kissaboo Monkey" perfect for all of your little one's boo-boos. Go to Bobbityboo's blog at Bobbityboo Kissaboo Monkey giveaway for info on how to enter.

Baby Boy Guitar Layette

Well, I guess my nesting has been kicked into high gear, because today I busted a move and completed the last of my custom orders two days before I expected to. (Maybe this means I will be able to get Katie's Christmas skirt done before baby Caleb comes. I was not planning on making one, but since I have enough fabric leftover from the overalls I thought why not.) Anyway, I am so pleased at how insanely cute this little ensemble turned out to be, and my friend who ordered it for her new baby nephew was pretty excited too. She came by my house to pick it up not two hours after I told her it was done. I am planning on offering the burp cloths as a set on my Etsy site after the first of the year when I get myself back into my normal energetic and super crafty mommy mode.

 

(For some reason this pic wanted to be side-ways. Hopefully I will figure out how to fix that soon)

Cute Bag Giveaway

Jen, the creator of the totally awesome sewing blog "Red Instead" is celebrating her 4 year blogiversary. In honor of this, she is giving away one of her really cute handmade bags. You can go to her blog at http://www.jenleheny.com/ for info on how to enter!

Getting Fabric in the Mail

I'm sure my fellow crafty mommies will agree with me when I say that I love getting fabric in the mail. It's like a mini-Christmas! I am busy finishing up the very last of my custom orders before I have baby Caleb, and I was so excited to get the fabric for my last project. I am working on a custom layette set for my sweet friend and neighbor, Bethany, who is going to be an auntie again soon. I have been waiting all week in anticipation, both because I love getting stuff in the mail (well, maybe not bills and junk mail) and because I couldn't wait to see this really cute fabric in person. I ordered from one of my new favorite online fabric stores, fabricworm.com, and was totally amazed how quickly it was mailed to me. The guitar fabric is called "Groovy Guitars" by Michael Miller, the dots is called "Dot Stripe" by Anna Griffin, and the green lattice is called "Lanterns" also by Anna Griffin. The guitars will be used to make a monogrammed burpie and a baby blanket with the green minky dot. The other two prints will be used for monogrammed burpies as well. I plan on posting pics when I get done!

Christmas Outfits

I finished my babies' Christmas outfits today, for now anyway. You never know what may happen when my nesting kicks in sometime in the next couple of weeks. Anyway, I did two jumpers for my little girl last month and then today I completed little baby Caleb's overalls. For the overalls, I used Baby Kay's Boutique Boys' Romper pattern (available on Etsy and You Can Make This), which was super duper easy until I got to the sewing in the snap tape part. I was so excited to find a cute boys' pattern with an option for easy diaper changing, however, the actual execution of it was extremely frustrating. I hate sewing in zippers and single fold bias tape. They are two things I refuse to do unless it is absolutely necessary and not at 8 1/2 months pregnant. Today, snap tape was added to that list. So, when I did do the second outfit, I used my snap pliers that I use to make paci-clips, and I was so much happier! I plan on making lots of overalls with this pattern, and will definitely use the snap pliers on all future attempts. The pink jumper is made from the Vivienne Jumper pattern that I found for free on Burdastyle a few months ago, and the red one is from a New Look pattern that I have used so much it is about to fall apart. I could sew that thing in my sleep I have done it so many times!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girly Clothes Tutorials

Okay, so I love making feminine and fun clothing for my little girl, especially anything that has a ruffle or a twirl or any combo of the two. If it was not so impractical, I would dress Katie up to the nines everyday. I just love having a little girl! I also love free stuff, especially free patterns and/or instructions on how to make cutesy girly clothing. So, I decided that today I would share a few links to some of my favorite free tutorials and patterns available online. These are all pretty easy to make, and very practical for playtime. This is by far not even a comprehensive list, and I hope you will visit again in the future for my lists of even more girly stuff, boy stuff, and baby stuff.

Girls Twirl Dress                                                  
T-shirt Dress
Ruffled Skirt
The Market Skirt by MADE
Another Ruffled Skirt
Twirl Skirt
Pillowcase Dress
No Sew Tutu
Another No Sew Tutu
Hairbows
Itty Bitty Baby Dress
Toddler Sleeveless Top
Bitty Booties by Heather Bailey

I love this little outfit!

We are finally experiencing cooler autumn temperatures! Yay!!! Because of this, yesterday I decided to make some ruffle pants to go under Katie's knot dress that I made a couple of weeks ago. She wore it to church this morning with a white peasant top (also mommy-made), and the total outfit turned out to be adorable! I found the fabric for this at one of my fave brick and mortar fabric places, Hobby Lobby. They have about 4 racks of some of the cutest fabric, and by the time it's all said and done, Katie will probably have a closet to match.

 

 

Pattern info for the separate pieces of this outfit can be found at these blogs:
Lori Lynn Design , The Scientific Seamstress, and Sew Sensible