July 30, 2010

DIY: Fairytale Gardens Bubble Dress

The balloon dress has got to be one of my very favorite dress styles. It eludes to a shape while completely disguising any less than perfect parts. And in a stretchy knit material its beyond comfy - no shifting, smoothing, adjusting - all while maintaining the chic. The only way I can think to make this dress any more fun is to put a little girl in it. And so that's what I set out to do, with a big oversized bow on top.

Ready to make your own?

Supplies:
1/2 yard stretchy lightweight knit fabric
1/8 yard contrasting fabric of similar weight
colored thread to match
Iron
Ironing board
pins
scissors
rotary cutter
ruler
cutting mat

Note: I am making a size 2T dress, adjust your sizing accordingly. Also sorry in advance about the photos - I got up very early this morning to make this dress with interruption. It was dark and the flash was too bright on almost every time.

1. Prepare to cut out the pattern pieces by first pressing your material at the correct temperature setting to remove all the crinkles and creases.

2. Cut out the following pieces from your large piece of material to form the dress:
(2) 12" x 18" rectangles (measure your gal for the shorter length- the lower band should fall above the knee for maximum ease of movement) for body
(1) 5" x 36" strip for bow
1 front pattern
1 back pattern (download them both here)


3. From your contrasting material, cut the following sizes:
(1) 3.5"x7" for the bow center
(1) 2.5" x 60" strip for bias tape (you can sew the mateial together to come up with the length)
(2) 4.5" x 12" strips for lower hem


4. Make your bias tape - I have a step by step here but there is a much, much better one here. If you really don't want to do the work, store bought will get the job done too.


5. Next take the strips for the lower hem. Press each long side back 1/2 inch and then press in half. The ironing segment of this tutorial is now complete!


6. Using a basting stitch, sew along the long edges of the large rectangle to gather the fabric. Do not back stitch at the beginning or end of your hem. Cut the strings, leaving about 6 inches left over. You need to pull on the top string to gather the fabric further or if the gather is too tight, straighten the fabric back out. The gathered fabric should be as wide as the bodice on the top and as wide as the hem on the bottom.



7. With right sides facing, pin the strap edges of the bodice together. Pin the gathered fabric to the bottom of the bodice.

8. Open the lower hem piece and lay the gathered fabric right along the hem that you ironed over earlier. Fold the hem over so the gathered fabric is enclosed within it. Pin in place.


9. Starting with the shoulder straps, sew all the hems together using a zig zag stitch with a 1/4 inch hem. Sew the lower hem so that the bottom thread will be on the inside of the fabric.


Remember when the cast of Gossip Girl starting casually drinking Dr Pepper on every episode? In case you were wondering, they're not a sponsor. :)


10. All pieces of the dress should now be together. The next step is to sew the sides together. Make sure the right sides are facing.

11. Turn the dress right side out. You're almost done!


12. Next we pin the bias tape around the armholes and neckline. If you have a serger you could use that and skip this step or just fold over the hem and sew down. Pin the armholes first and sew with a straight stitch right along the edge that meets the dress strap. Then pin the neck and do the same. This will help avoid getting stuck with a pin.



13. Now that the dress is together, find the 5x36 inch strip and sew the raw edges, right sides facing toward one another. Turn right side out keeping the seam at the center of the back. Fold the edges in at an angle and sew along that line. Form the strip into a bow shape and pin.






14. Similar to the last step, sew together the 3.5x7 inch contrasting fabric and turn right side out. Fold the edges in and hem. Now wrap the strip around the center of the bow. Pin and sew down.



15. Next pin the bow to the center of the dress and sew down. This is the last step so don't get overexcited like I did and sew right through the entire dress.


16. The dress is finished! Now go surprise some special little gal!


In the garden of imagination...









Care to kiss a toad?

July 28, 2010

Happy Birthday to my mom!

My mother and I haven't always had the best relationship but I can happily say today that she is one of my closest friends. And today is her birthday - I won't reveal her age but can say that she is 21 years older than mwah. She is feisty and mouthy and loves Harley's and black leather. She has the same hairstyle she did when I was born - the Farrah. I have learned a lot from her mistakes and wouldn't change a thing about her. Here is her card:




This card was inspired by both Michelle Jacknicke, and Jeanette Almgren, two of the talented Lipstick Girls at XOXO. It's a scraplifting challenge blog, and the winner this month will receive an awesome Summer Vacation kit from Lucky Girl Crafts. I believe the challenge is open until the 31st so there is still time to enter!

Both of the girls had a great card and since I am terrible at making decisions I chose to combine the two - part dark and edgy, part sweet and feminine - just like mom.

July 27, 2010

Willow

Since the project I am working on today won't be posted here until Thursday, I thought I'd share the willow garden furniture the hubby has been working on. He's been building it since he was a little boy and is really quite good at it - now if only he would build a patio set for us!


If you're in the area, you can visit his work in person at The Atlas Exhibit in Valley Junction - 411 Railroad Place.

July 26, 2010

Sugar Cookie Cutie


One of the best ways to spend time together is baking cookies. It's educational, messy and yummy all rolled into one.

This layout is inspired by Ilaria Gianquinto, one of the Lipstick Girls at XOXO. It's a scraplifing challenge blog, and the winner this month will receive an awesome Summer Vacation from Lucky Girl Crafts. I spy some of the Starlight collection in there, which would be perfect for Independence Day photos, hint, hint!

I chose Ilaria's layout to scraplift because I loved her misting (a technique I have yet to master) and paint splatters, as well as the embellishments that draw the focus to the one main photo. Plus doilies!

The spoon and fork were printed and cut out from an online image for misting and my favorite recipe for sugar cookies is tucked behind the photo of my daughter. Maybe she'll use it one day when she's older. See the recipe here at Allrecipes if you like falling apart, tender sugar cookies.


Supplies: Basic Grey, Webster's Pages, Hambly Screen Prints, October Aftenoon, American Crafts, The Paper Studio, Maya Road

Wish me luck!

completed quilt and a giveaway!

After several nights of handstitching til my hand cramped, my step-daughters quilt is bound and completed! I intended to post this last night but was so exhausted from spending the day at the beach that I fell asleep as soon as I sat down on the couch.



We took some modeling shots today in the backyard.



On another note, my blog has reached 1000 views! And to thank everyone who has stopped by, I am giving away a pattern for a tablecloth, runner and placemat set from McCall's. We have at least 2-3 spills per day, so our table will have to remain bare until all the kids are much older.


Here is a picture of the pretty possibilities you can make - visit the McCall's website here for more info.

Leave a comment by Friday for a chance to win! Good luck!

July 23, 2010

brought to you by the number 5


Family Photo 2009.

This is my first ever entry into a scrap challenge. That challenge being at the SYC blog - use the number 5 on your layout. My first thought was family of 5 and then our last name, also 5 letters. It actually turned out quite similar to one of their designers pages but what can I say, I'm a copycat.

5 strips of patterned paper
5 misted butterflies (don't tease, its my first time masking)
5 peeps in the photo
5 on the ribbon ruler
5 on the journaling spot
5 embellies around the photo
5 letters in the title

Love my family. You can enter the challenge here, there's a prize for the winner!

Also, just wanted to say how ecstatic I am that the butterfly rainbow tutorial I posted yesterday was on today's Daily DIY at One Pretty Thing! Woot!

July 22, 2010

DIY: A Rainbow of Butterflies

\When you start to look for it, inspiration is everywhere. Like when I was reading Winnie the Pooh to the kids and a drawing of butterflies suddenly brought to mind a pretty paper rainbow of the fluttery creatures. As soon as the kids took a nap, I got to work and came up with this embellishment, which I saved forever to put on a page for the month of April.




I adore it so much and decided it couldn't be tucked away in the pages of a scrapbook - why not make one to hang on the wall as well? And photograph the process so you can make one too! After all, I can't be the only one who loves butterflies and rainbows.

So to begin, you'll need..


Supplies:
plain black frame (12x12)
cutting mat
circle cutting template
craft knife
butterfly punch
2 sheets white card stock
5 solid color card stock papers - red, orange, yellow, green, blue
5 patterned papers - red, orange, yellow, green, blue
3 cloud die cuts (or make your own freehand)
glue
dimensional foam adhesive
old newspaper or cardboard

Instructions:
1. Cut a 5.5" circle from one sheet of the white card stock.
2. Using your solid red paper, use your template to cut a 4.5" circle and without moving the papers, cut a  5.5" circle around the smaller one. You will end up with 2 circles that look like this:


3. Now cut the remaining solid colored papers as above. The finished sizes should be red - 5.5, orange - 4.5, yellow - 3.5, green - 2.5, blue 1.5.


4. Lay down some old newspaper or cardboard to protect your work surface, then spray or spread glue over the first white circle. Now adhere the red circle around the white card stock and fill in the center with the remaining colored circles to make the rainbow.


5. Using a piece of even scrap paper, cut the rainbow in half a little below the center. Then cut out the remaining white center of your half rainbow. The outlines of my circle are a bit uneven, but that's okay - we will cover it up in the next step.



6. Next we punch out the butterflies from the patterned paper. I used 12 red, 9 orange, 7 yellow, 5 green and 3 blue. You may need more of less, depending on the placement. Bend them in half so they appear to be fluttering ;)



7. Arrange the butterflies on the rainbow starting with red and working toward the center. On each color layer, I raised one butterfly above the pack with the dimensional foam adhesive. The inside of foam letter stickers that you normally throw away works for this.



8. Next glue the other piece of white card stock to the cardboard back piece of your frame. Glue it to the side you want showing through the frame.


9. Now figure out the placement of the rainbow and clouds on the background paper. Put one piece of dimensional adhesive behind two of the clouds and adhere them to the background. Double up the adhesive behind the rainbow and glue that down so it is higher than the clouds. Stick the third cloud behind the right side of the rainbow with a single adhesive.


10. Pop your picture into the frame - I had to remove the glass because it was too tall. If you'd like, add a few extra butterflies flying down towards the rainbow and maybe even some inspirational words.



11. Hang and admire!

 Supplies: DCWV cardstockMMEOctober Afternoon patterned paper, Martha Stewart butterfly punch and circle cutter, Dear Lizzy for AC rub-on

If you make one, I'd love to see! Please post a link to your creation in the comments or if you have any ideas on what to do with the leftover cutouts.

Goodnight!