My First Coat

This isn't the best picture of the coat, but we are dealing with my silly niece here. Brooke can't take a picture without striking a pose, plus I think I was interrupting an important texting session. So, I will take what I can get.

I was utterly thrilled with how the coat turned out. IT...IS...ADORABLE!!!! If only I was as skinny as her, then I could borrow it. Plus, I couldn't resist making the hat to match. It actually might be my favorite thing I made out of all of her Christmas gifts. Yes, that's right...I said Christmas gifts. I know, I know, It's February. But, in my defense...I tend to bite off more than I can chew and she did get a lot of handmade gifts from me. Just a little later than everyone else.

Now that I know I can do it, I am off to make myself a new coat. Hopefully, it will be as cute as hers...if I ever get it done.

The Drama Queen and her new outfit!

This year I have decided that I am going to master the art of making clothes. Luckily I have this wonderful niece who is willing to humor me and let me use her as a guinea pig. She is tall, skinny and gorgeous...who could ask for a better model? For Christmas, I made her a skirt and crop sweatshirt. I thought the skirt turned out really cute. The sweatshirt was another story. She went to try it on and could barely get it to fit. It was almost too tight to get her arms in it and WAAAAY too short. So, I reworked the outfit and made this crop vest to go with it. I know you can't tell from the picture, but it is lined with a floral turquoise knit. It was so easy to make and I like it even better than the original sweatshirt...so I guess that worked out for the best. Now on to the next outfit...

Also, I made her a coat and hat, but you will have to check back for those pictures. I had a minor disagreement with my sewing machine over the button holes and thought it would be best if we spent a day apart before trying it again. Hopefully I will have it done before the end of the week.

Let's Eat! No, Let's Color! No, Let's Eat!

A few years ago I discovered chalkboard fabric...what a brilliant invention. In case you haven't heard of it, this is actually a fabric you can sew with and has the texture of a chalkboard so you can write on it with chalk. It comes in green and black and all I can wonder is...why didn't someone think of this sooner? I created these fun placemats for my niece and nephews and the reverse side is made of chalkboard fabric...unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to get a picture of that side. Trust me though, they were so excited to not only have the chalkboard side, but to have the personalized placemat with a design that is unique to each of them. Something they like, and not just the run of the mill kid's placemat you find at the store. For the cups, I found these plastic cups at Hobby Lobby that have paper inserts for kids to color. I just tossed the paper insert and embroidered a matching piece of fabric with each of their names. Now it's a set....and they each got one for their birthdays!!