The First Day Of Third Grade Dress

Today is the first day of third grade.

And Ahnalin had definite ideas of how she wanted to look.

The first item in building her look

was the saddle shoes.

You see, my father loves saddle shoes.

So when Ahnalin saw these in a store window,

she told me to take a picture of them 

and send it to her grandpa.

Minutes later, a text came saying

Grandpa John John would buy them for her.

Ahnalin was ecstatic!

So the decision was made that 

she must have a black and white outfit

for the first day.

My friend Janet had sent me

this fabric from her stash

and Ahnalin had been eyeing it

since it's arrival.

I had already made the "Vintage Natalie"

dress pattern that Janet Gilbert

designed for

Sew Beautiful

earlier this month for Ahnalin's birthday dress.

Have I mentioned that I love this pattern?

Well I do!!!!!

So Ahnalin negotiated for what she wanted,

and the design was sketched up!.

She wanted puffy sleeves,

so of course she got those.

And she wanted the collar to be in black

with red trim.

I had this red whipstich piping

already in my stash.

She also wanted one of my 

Mary Engelbreit scottie dog

buttons on a belt style sash,

instead of a bow this time.

I liked the whipstitch piping for the whole

dress, especially the panel down the front.

She thinks it looks like candy canes.

This photo is blurry,

because she was swinging the skirt.

But I made a banded hem 

and added the piping at the top and bottom

of the band.

I cut the skirt at the "knee" length of the pattern.

And I cut the dress a size 6, 

which is perfect for her.

She is 8 years old and very thin.

I adore the back on this dress.

It is so classic!

Ahnalin is crazy about it.

She said she feels like a 

"50's diner girl".

We have to have a "Classic Ahnalin" pose

every time.

Ahnalin bought this black and white

polka dot trench coat at "Forever 21" with her

birthday money from Grandma Barbara and 

Grandpa John John. 

She definitely had a theme in mind.

Happy First Day of Third Grade

Ahnalin.

This is going to be an exciting year.

I pray that my darling girl 

grows and learns wonderful things.

I am so proud of her.

Happy Sewing!

Ahnalin Was A Flower Girl

Actually, both of my girls were in the wedding party.

The bride was a beautiful girl named Ashlee,

whom we have loved since she and India met

in the 7th grade.

India was honored to be Ashlee's Maid Of Honor

and she was so thrilled to be there for her.
Thankfully, I didn't have to make the bridesmaid
dresses for this wedding.

And Ahnalin was asked to be Ashlee's Flower Girl!

So this gave mama the opportunity 

to make a special dress for her to wear.

Ahnalin refuses to wear anything that scratches or itches

or is slippery or makes noise when she moves.

And the temperature was to be around 100 degrees

at the wedding.

So, that meant that I needed to make something 

that was comfortable for Ahnalin,

yet beautiful and "wedding appropriate".

I chose to make the bodice out

of one of Ahnalin's favorite styles.

As usual, I didn't use a pattern,

because I just measure her chest and 

waist and cut it out.

I had to made this dress in a short amount of time

(due to a crazy packed sewing schedule!)

and a very limited budget.

So, I grabbed my bolt of white Imperial Broadcloth

out of my stash, and started creating.

The vintage cotton lace had been in my stash 

for a while too.

I had purchased it about a year ago from 

a local crafting thrift store in Sebastopol

called"Legacy".

Ahnalin did not want a slip or any tulle

under her dress,

so I decided to make the skirt with an overskirt.

She wanted it to overlap like a tulip.

I added the lace at the hem as well.

Ahnalin felt that it made the dress

look more like a dress from

"Thoroughly Modern Millie".

She said she felt like a real bride in this dress.

I had these clear lacy buttons in my 

button jar just waiting for the perfect dress.

The bride had chosen silver accents

for the bridesmaids dresses she chose for her girls.

So the silver dots on the buttons were just right!

I also added sash carriers

so that the green ribbon 

would stay somewhat in place,

even with my active Ahnalin.

Ashlee had chosen silver shoes for herself

and her bridesmaids.

So I was very excited to find these

"Cinderella" shoes at the Disney Store

for a very reasonable price.

How very princess-like!

Ahnalin wanted me to take a picture with the 

lilies in our backyard.

Both of my girls looked lovely at the wedding

and had a wonderful time celebrating 

Ashlee and her new husband Jeremy.

Eventually, India tried to teach

Ahnalin a little line dancing.

But then Ahnalin got tired 

and asked if she could play games on my iPad

to chill out for a while.

The wedding was beautiful.

Ashlee and Jeremy are now "man and wife".

And we are back home in time

for school to start this week!

I am back to work sewing,

and have openings for customs again.

But tonight,

I must make a "First day of school" dress

for the little bridesmaid. 

Happy Sewing!

Sivje

Happy Birthday To My Hot Rockin' Hubby!

Happy Birthday my darling Don!

You are still my favorite!!

I love you forever.

Sivje

Ahnalin Is Now 8 Years Old!!!

Today my precious baby Ahnalin turned 8.

I can hardly believe it. 

In my mind, she is still this yummy little dumpling.

And I am so grateful that she is mine.

Ahnalin decided she wanted a tea party with a sewing lesson

for her birthday party.

This is a very blurry photo,

but Ahnalin designed, cut out, and created these invitations herself.

And India created the banner to celebrate her baby sister.

I have quite a large stash of scrapbooking supplies

from the days when I actually still made scrapbooks.

So the girls went shopping for supplies in my 

stash of papers.

She chose Janet Gilbert's pattern

"Vintage Natalie".

You can order the pattern here:

Martha Pullen Company

I didn't get great photos this time because 

Ahnalin was so excited about the party that she 

was jumping around like a frog!

But I adore this pattern!

Ahnalin chose the fabrics from my stash

and it had to be polka dots.

This dress twirls well!

I had originally added the band of larger dots

so that I could enclose the hem.

But Ahnalin wanted the dress long,

so I just made the teeniest rolled hem.

 

I love how the piping frames the center panel

of the dress. 

Ahnalin has already requested another dress

from this pattern for the first day of school.

And it must be polka dots as well.

Well, yes, of course!

But let's get back to the details of the party, 

shall we?

The birthday princess requested

strawberries and Nutella sandwiches.

The tea server belonged to my grandmother.

And she wanted her favorite mango oolong tea 

served in my Alice In Wonderland tea pot.

And the sugar and creamer set belonged 

to my aunt.

 

I made honey cupcakes

from scratch.

(Don told me they were too dry, 

so I am glad I didn't eat one.)

India picked some flowers for the table.

Ahnalin was so excited because she wanted

a Barbie Doll very much and her friend

Mikayla gave her one!

She also requested Top Ramen!

I am NOT KIDDING!

Her friend Julia made her the sock monkey

and the card and we loved them.

Brynn gave her a little pink caddy

filled with goodies for doing her nails!

Oh the joy and excitement!!

 And Annette gave her a bead craft kit,

sticker, and sparkly shoes!!!!

After Ahnalin opened her presents 

from her friends,

we had a little sewing lesson.

Ahnalin thought it would be fun for her friends to sew

their own "goody bags" using the leftover

fabric from her dress.

Some of the girls chose to sew theirs 

by hand and some chose to try out my sewing machine.

After they finished sewing their 

goody bags, they got to fill them with 

Hershey Kisses!

After the party, Ahnalin thanked me

and hugged me so tightly.

She told me that this was the perfect birthday

party and she said it was exactly what she wanted.

She loved all of her gifts and was

so grateful that all of her friends were so kind and generous.

This is the first
"friend" birthday that Ahnalin has had in many years.

She was always nervous about birthday parties

and never wanted to have one.

She is usually nervous about attending parties as well.

But she really wanted a party this year,

so we threw it together 

just a few days ago.

And my girl handled it beautifully.

I am so proud of her 

and so grateful of the progress she has made.

Happy birthday my precious girl.

I love you and am so grateful that

God gave you to me.

My Math Skirt Featured On The Sew Beautiful Blog!

Oh My Goodness!

My Math Skirt Tutorial is featured today on the

Sew Beautiful Blog!

I am so very excited!!!!!!

(Can you tell from the extreme abuse of my exclamation points?)

The post explains how to make

a simple skirt using just math!

Ahnalin loves math so much

that she insisted this skirt must be named as such.

This is the same way I made her corduroy skirt

shown above.

So, go check out the 

Sew Beautiful Blog

and make a Math Skirt for 

"Back To School".

And I want to wish a very wonderful
birthday to my darling mother
Barbara Jean The Teenage Queen!!!!
(hint, she has been out of her teens for 50 years. Shhhhhhhh.)
I love you Mom!

Happy Sewing!