Maxi Dress for Me

I don't generally like sewing for myself because I haven't figured out how to make clothes fit like I want them to. But I've been pining over this adorable maxi dresses on pinterest and today I decided to go for it.
So I followed this easy tutorial with a few changes. The fabric that I decided to use for the skirt happened to be knit. Truthfully, I was nervous about sewing with knits. I've made attempted to make a few things in knit in the past and it wasn't pretty. But a while back I had bought a ball point needle and I'm telling you it made all the difference. Sewing this dress was a breeze. Honestly.
I LOVE the results.

 

Hubby only agreed to take pictures for me if I included some of his handiwork. So please note the birdhouse bench and the new fence in the background.

Off the needles

Last night this beauty came off my needles.

the Milo vest

The yarn is hand-spun and dyed by a friend from her alpaca. The pattern is called Milo, found on Ravelry. Generally I like quick and easy projects since I'm pretty much an instant gratification type of person. But I've been trying to challenge myself more and more with each new project. This was my first attempt at cables. I'm not sure why I waited quite so long because truthfully, they were not as hard as I had made them out to be in my head.

While we are looking at this pretty purple vest for my sweet Sage, I'm reminded of another recent project of sorts. I love kids in white but really it's so silly. Every single white shirt that Sage has is stained. Chocolate milk, tomato sauce... So I decided to dye all those stained white shirts. I picked up a cheap box of purple RIT dye, tossed all those stained shirts in the wash, turned my machine on and hoped all would turn out well. I''m super pleased with the results. Sage now has a handful of shirts that can be worn again!

Custom Orders

These are my all-time favorite pants for babies. A friend requested a pair for her sweet little boy and so I put these cute combos together. The one on the left is some yummy Anna Maria Horner flannel and cute little grey dots. The one on the right is grey /white seersucker and solid green - these are super light weight and perfect for summer. If you or anyone you know is looking for the perfect baby gift, consider a custom order for these awesome pants. I can make them in sizes 0-3 months through 24 months. Let me know and I'll whip up a pair for you!

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Harper Happenings...

I'm not as great as I'd like to be about updating my blog. So this post is dedicated to some recent happenings around here. We had Easter, complete with a visit from the Easter bunny! Sage wore the t-shirt dress I made for her a while back, which made my day. Wyatt on the other hand.... well we couldn't get him to wear anything that we wanted him to. Stubborn that boy is!

 

We celebrated Dennis' birthday and instead of a cake, I made him a pie per his request. His request was a berry pie and since, well, it's spring I thought strawberry of course. And then I saw this recipe for a strawberry cream pie somewhere - probably pinterest (where else???) and it was settled. I think what made me love this pie the most was the crumb topping. I mean how can you go wrong with brown sugar and butter??? YUM!

And I leave you with this picture.

Spring top for Sage

I sewed up this super quick and easy peasant top for Sage this week. It's made from some lightweight seersucker from my stash. That girl does not like getting her picture taken. She is a sassy little thing and starts swatting at the camera and pouting most of the time. My point is that I usually have a really short window of opportunity for pictures with her. This time I distracted her by telling her to touch her head. put her hands out and this is what I got:

4 New Babies!

We brought home 4 baby chicks this week! The kids are loving them and so am I. Since it was Spring Break this week, we took a trip out to a local chicken farm. The owner was very informative on all the different breeds that she had and it was fun for the kids. I was forbidden from bringing home any more that 4 (this year) and so it was a tough decision. I went with 2 Welsummers, 1 Barred Rock and 1 Black Star. The Welsummers lay dark brown eggs and I can't wait to see them. I'm just hoping that I don't have any roosters... we'll see.

Bow Tie for the Boy

The kids were invited to a Fancy Nancy birthday party and asked to wear their fanciest attire. I had Sage covered but wondered what on earth Wyatt would wear. Then I remembered one of my favorite outfits of his from several years back. It was the outfit he wore to my brother and sister-in-laws wedding. The suspenders are adjustable, so I simply cut the buttons off the pants and sewed them on to a pair of pants he already had. Then I found this super cute (and easy) pattern for a bow tie, asked Wyatt to pick some fabric for his new bow tie (to ensure that he liked it!) and got to work. Then I bribed him to put it all on and go outside for some pictures. Yes, I bribed him with a jar full of gummies... I'm not proud, but I did get some super cute pictures of him. The jar is like his prop for the photo shoot!