We're back...

from a wonderful week in BC for my brother's wedding!  What a beautiful place the Fraser Valley is at this time of year.  The earth is just bursting with life!!

Here's a picture of our family on the big day:

I made Lukas a tie last minute and he was very pleased :)

After two days of sinking back into reality here, catching up on laundry and many other housewifely things I am looking forward to sinking into my sewing chair again (well...I have already but for way to short of a time).

One more cute picture...

Thrifty Threads #13 - Summer Outfit for Melissa

It started with a skirt from the thrift store. For 50 cents it was a steal. Perfect for school.



I had just received an order from Above All Fabric and there were some fabrics that matched really well with the skirt.



I used Simplicity 5118 for the top. I've made it numerous times over the past few years. My pattern only goes up to size 4. I'm not sure if it is also available in larger sizes, but I just drew the pattern up larger and made it in about a 6X. It's a tad on the small side for Melissa but that's okay because Deanna is just a smidgen smaller than her. It's handy having three girls in a row.



Cost of outfit - around $6-7. Not super thrifty, but compared with new, very good. And of course, much more fun!

Flower Girl Dress

First off, I have to show you this photo of our five children. They were so excited to be a part of Tom and Yvonne's day. Our three oldest went to the reception with us and that was a new experience for them. They loved it!



Carolin and Vincent walking to the front. They walked straight to Uncle Tom to get their promised candy. What bribery! It worked. Gord took the photo. I was watching from the back.



Carolin walking out. Vincent fell fast asleep and had to be carried out. Very funny.



These next few photos I took on Sunday (after the wedding.) I hadn't taken any close-up photos of the dress on the wedding.



I made a little shrug for over the dress to keep her warm while we were hanging around getting photos taken. It was a good thing, as it was fairly cool and we did have to wait around a bit.



It was a simple pattern, but I did have to take it in quite a bit. Carolin is very slim and tall so I had to take in the width on the bodice. I was kind of nervous how it would turn out. Somehow a flower girl dress has to be 'perfect'. I was nervous for nothing. It fit her perfectly.



Isn't she beautiful?

We'll be back...

There isn't too much happening on this blog this week. Suzanne is here! In fact our whole family is here (all 37 of us!) Our little brother is getting married tomorrow, and we are so excited for him (and us - we are getting ourselves another wonderful s-i-l.)

Here's a photo my husband snapped at the rehearsal last night. That's my Carolin and my nephew Vincent. So cute. Hope they are that cute tomorrow.



We'll be back next week with some photos, including Carolin's flower girl dress. Have a good weekend!

So soft...

A baby quilt for friends! It's all flannel and it'll just get softer with time :)

I really love how it turned out and hope the new baby loves it too!  It was a pleasure to make!

These fabrics came from the same shopping trip as my bright quilt fabrics and were two sets of sample fabrics.  I'd call this a thrifty thread because on top of using all stash fabrics I even pieced together the batting! I also did just a single fold binding mostly because that's all the fabric I had left but I found because it is flannel it worked really nicely. I've once bound with flannel before and it ends up being pretty thick.

Sophie's dress

I used McCall's 3531 for this one but changed the sleeves to be like the other girls dresses and I added the tie.

I love the length but she needs to learn to walk on her feet (she's been walking on her knees the past 2 or 3 months) because she gets stuck in it as it is now.

Here's a close-up of my attempt at changing the sleeves. I think I did the first one three times and it turned out all right although the gathers on top aren't all that even...

I'm so happy to have these done! I need to make a flower for Tessa's yet and Lukas really wants a tie so I'll see if I have enough fabric for that...

The wedding is next week Friday (yea!!) so I'll post a picture from the day when we get back.

Popover Sundress

A couple of weeks ago I needed a gift for a 2 year old. Since sewing is more fun than shopping I made this little sundress.



It's the Popover Sundress by Oliver + S. Just look on the right hand side of their blog for the link (it's a freebie.) The pattern was super easy to follow and came together perfectly.



My photos aren't that great. It was raining like crazy that morning. Hopefully I'll see my friend's little girl wearing the sundress this summer. That would make me happy!

Dress number 2 is done!

Well almost... :-)  I just need to add the button or snap on the back of the belt.

This one came together much quicker and smoother except for the zipper - aargh!  I did an invisible zip on Anneke's but just had a regular one to work with for Tessa's and I couldn't remember how to put it in so I just went for it and now it's all wribbly.  So that may be taken out - we'll see how much it bugs me.  The floral fabric hides it pretty well but I still know how bad it looks.

Here you can see the pleat detail on the cap sleeve. I put these ones in before sewing up the side seams and it was much easier!

I'm hoping to make a flower or two for on the band or in their hair...

So much fun!

One dress done!

I finally finished Anneke's dress after two weeks of working on it off and on. I struggled with the zipper and setting in the sleeves but it did come together very well.  I think it turned out really cute and she loves it!

I used Burda 9545. The only thing I changed was I stitched down the "belt" on the front and used buttons to close it instead of velcro. 

Next time I'll be putting the sleeves in before I sew the side seam and I'll gather the skirt and underskirt together instead of putting it in later and having to hand stitch around the zipper.  It should go much faster.  My goal is to make two more for my other girls and a tie for my son before we head out to BC for my brother's wedding.

We are just finishing off a wonderful week of Spring/Easter break over here.  The weather was beautiful so the kids did lots of playing outside.  We went for walks and bike rides, did some reading from Little House on the Prairie, played some games etc...

Look what's coming in my garden!  (Keep in mind that this is over a month earlier than last year!)

Half Yard Bag

I just finished this bag for a friend.



I found the pattern on the DIY Bag Lover blog. (Have you ever visited that site? It's an amazing resource for all free bag tutorials/patterns online. If you haven't been there you should go.) The pattern is the Half Yard Bag by Molly Chicken.



I like the shape of this bag and I think I'll make it again. I will change the construction to make it a little bit easier though.

I hope you all have a blessed Easter. Remember what it's all about... the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? For our salvation. Don't know what I'm talking about? Read here, then continue here and finally here.