Cottage Life

I have to say, minus the plane ride here (as suspected Kate is not a happy flyer), spending the last 5 days at the cottage has been so nice! I've gorged myself on lobster, deep fried clams, fried scallops, and relaxed with the family on the beach. We've built sand castles, skipped stones, built damns, relaxed in the sun and roasted marshmallows over the

I don't think I have ever laughed so hard or played so many board games in a very long time. Everyone but us left today, and while I miss all the kids, having a couple peaceful days alone before we head to my parent's house is nice.

We packed light, so I won't be posting any non-iPad photos until we return home.

The Summer of Dresses

Today marks the monumental moment of Tasha's 10th dress! As mentioned before she requested 10 dresses some time ago and since I had a ton of patterns and lots of fabric, I decided, why not? I thought after it was done I'd get a huge hug, there'd be excitement and such, but she was pretty non phased by it. She told me it was beautiful and asked if she could put it in her closet with her other dresses. I have a feeling I've created a collector. :P

Anywho, without further ado, the final dress;







Next to go under the presser foot will be a couple of outfits for K. I'm hoping to get a couple done before we head of for vacation.

Sneak Peek - Family Photos

For another year, we used Shelley and Jeff Weber of As I See It Photography to take some photos. :0) Like last year, weather caused a couple of cancellations, but we finally made it out. This year we headed off to Big Hill Springs Park. The weather was beautiful, the flies were out in full force and my kids as per usual were a bit crazy. hah

She put a couple on her facebook page, and we'll see our gallery at the end of August. She's super busy with weddings and we are leaving soon for vacation, and I'm in no rush for them, so I told her she could wait and not edit ours until the end of the month. Plus, I plan to buy some canvas wraps from her this time around and finally do our family photo wall. :0)



I kid you not, as they were snapping this photo, Kate almost took a tumble in the water. Now those that know here are probably not surprised, but I was soo ready for her to fall in head first. heh



It was soo hard to get Tasha to actually look at the camera. I think perhaps that I may have taken just one too many photos of her. hah

Dress #9

About a month ago or so when I started making dresses for the girls, Tash declared that she needed 10 dresses. I've asked her several times since she tossed this arbitrary number out there, why 10, but she has no concrete reason for wanting 10. Lucky for her, I have a lot of dress patterns and fabric.

This is another dress that as soon as I saw it, I wanted to make it, but for some reason I waited forever to buy the pattern and make the dress. And like Analise, it proved to be an easy pattern to follow and I sewed it up fairly quickly. :0)

Since summers seem to be so short here, I decided to make it 1 size bigger than what she is currently wearing and long sleeve. So hopefully it will last her through the fall/winter. :0)

I have plans to make a 2nd one using Patty Young's Playdate Collection for Kate in a size 2.







Pattern: Kyoko by Patty Young/ModKid
Fabric: Lotus Collection (Morning Glory in Linen, Full Moon Polka Dot in Cherry) - Amy Butler

Vacation Sewing Part 2

Earlier in the week I went to Value Village and bought several Men's XL button down shirts to make dresses for the girls. Dana of MADE had posted a tutorial (almost 2 yrs ago now!) on how to turn an old Men's shirt into a dress. Owen did not have any old shirts that could be re-purposed (we actually cleaned out his closet in the spring and I completely forgot about this tutorial!) so that left VV.

I managed to find 4 or 5 shirts I liked the pattern/colour of for 4.99 a piece. So far I've sewn up 3 for the girls for our vacation;




I made Kate's a bit bigger so that it would still fit in the fall. I think it will look really cute as a tunic with leggings or skinny jeans. :0)

Vacation Sewing Part 1

In August we are all heading to the cottage in NB. We'll be there for a week and I want some nice breathable, cute clothes for the girls. I don't want to pack a lot of separates. The perfect solution to this is Dana of MADE's awesome Summer Vacation Dress + 1 Shortie Pattern.

I'll admit I was pretty intimidated by the whole "make your own pattern' concept, but really, what's easier then raiding your husband's closet for a cotton tee (or in my case getting it on sale for $10 - I checked the thirft store and all the ones I liked had some gaudy logo or what not on the front), measuring the length you want it to be on your kid and then making a crotch? Easy Peasy right? :D

I will say that it definitely was. The one thing though that I'll do different next time though is probably only use a size L shirt, not an XL. I did about 11 rows of shirring and I steamed/ironed it to make it shrink up, but it still wish it was a bit less loose. I'm going to through it in the washer/dryer and see if that shrinks the elastic up a bit more.

Dontcha just love the pink crocs? She picked them out. Kate is quite the fashionita for a 1.5yr old

No more photos!! hah

Next up, using another one of Dana's tutorials to make a dress for Tasha out of an XL Men's button down shirt. This one I did cheat on, just a teeny bit.

GAP Poster Children

Every year I have family photos done and every year my child(ren) always look like an advertisement for GAP. Now, I did work there for almost 4 yrs, but still, with just a teeny bit of sewing skill(which I do have), it's not that hard to make something in a fabric/pattern that not every single kid on the street is wearing.

So with that in mind, this year (photos are next week!) I decided to make the girls their own dresses instead of trying to coordinate them both in GAP clothes. To be honest, I did start out with GAP dresses for them, but both of them had a bit of a growth spurt and outgrew them before the photo shoot. hah

Tasha will be wearing the Analise Dress I posted yesterday, and this is what I made for Kate, from the same fabric line by Sandi Henderson, Ginger Blossom. Instead of the "typical" pillowcase dress I folded it down 2" at the top, made a 1" casing for elastic and then added a cute yo yo flower with a sweet button.

I debated going with pink ribbon for the straps, but I think the blue really makes it "pop". I can't wait to see how the photos will turn out of both girls together in the dresses. I tried to bribe errr have N come outside to play with Kate but she declared it was too hot for such nonsense, like getting her photo taken.

Of course I can ride big sister's bike!

Are you done with that camera yet?

And this is how our little photo session ended, with her stripping down to her diaper and taking a dip in the pool. I swear this kid spends 90% of her time naked.

Next, I'll be taking a couple Men's XL tees I bought on sale (Owen is only a Medium, I needed a bigger shirt hehe) for a whopping $10 and making Miss Kate a few pairs of Shorties and Tasha a few "Vacation Dresses" (from fabric in my stash) from the very talented Dana of MADE fame pattern. I'm also going to try and upcycle some button down men's shirts I got at Value Village for $4 each and make some Shirt dresses for them both. :0)

We are going to be heading to the in-laws' cottage in August for a week and I want to pack some items that are light weight, do not take up a lot of space in the suitcase and that I don't have to worry about getting ruined at the beach. :0)

The Analise Dress.

My little Twirler. Well worth the time to piece together that super full skirt

Over a year ago at least, I fell in love with this dress pattern by one of my favourite designers - Sandi Henderson. I was just starting out sewing children clothing and will admit I was still learning. It did not stop me from ordering the pattern, but when it arrived I was intimidated enough that it was not until a couple of months ago that I finally pulled it out, traced the pattern pieces, cut the fabric and finally made it for my oldest daughter.

I'd like to think it was worth the wait, as the dress is as gorgeous once made as it was in all the pictures I saw of it online and on the pattern book itself. And thankfully, Tash loved it and it's become one of her favourite dresses in her closet. I think it's one of my favourites to date as well.

As for the difficulty of the dress? I'd say it's of intermediate level and more time consuming sewing the patchwork part of the skirt together and the ruffle along the bottom then any real difficulty. As always, Sandi Henderson's patterns are well written, concise and even include "mini" tutorials on any stitches or techniques you might not have done before.

The dress was created using Sandi Henderson's now discontinued and long gone from the fabric shop shelves Ginger Blossom and Farmer's Market. One of my all time favourite fabric lines.

Soccer Girl

After Gymnastics ended a couple of months ago, I told Tash that we were going to take a break for the summer and that I had signed her up for soccer. She was SUPER excited and it's all she talked about for weeks. She constantly asked me what day it was, how many days until soccer and on and on it went.

Wellllllllllllll...soccer started 2w ago and it's been rather hit and miss. The first game she would not budge from the side lines beside Owen. Game 2 she actually participated in practice, but then a kid took the ball from her (which is part of the game lol) and she got super upset, cried and would not go back out for practice. Game 3 she refused 100% to play. sigh.

I'm still holding out hope that she will play more. We signed her up, paid $60 for this activity and I'd rather not just let her 'drop out'. The above picture was taken after 15m of crying. She did not like the jersey because she said it was scary. When I asked her to elaborate on how it was scary, she informed me because it was #6 and she wanted #4, which Owen said was not an option.

Hopefully, she'll start to participate more soon.

Early Morning Rays..

Tasha slept in this morning, so to amuse Kate while we waited for her to wake up, I took her outside before the Sun got too high in the sky and snapped some pics. Something I've been seriously lacking in doing when it comes to Katers. Tasha constantly had a lens in her face for the first 3yrs of her life, which might explain why she steers clear of me when she sees my camera in my hands. hah

These are a few of my favourites that I captured. She picked out her sun hat, quite a fashion statement with her sun dress I think. :p

Don't let that look of sweetness fool you, there's trouble and mischief brewing behind those eyes.

Ballerina Girl

During spring break Tashi enjoyed attending dance camp with one of her best buddies at Absolute Dance. I was concerned she'd not enjoy it, as the last time we put her in Dance it was an absymal failure, but this time around she loved it. She declared on Friday after her 'recital' that she wanted to take Dance Classes with M and Gymnastics with her friend E. hehe I told her we'd see. :0)

I asked her to stand at the bar but she much preferred to twirl, so this is her mid twirl. :0)

Kate's One Year Photos.

click on the image to see the gallery

Last month (Feb 1) Kate and I visited the very talented Shelley Weber in her home studio for some photos to celebrate Kate turning 1 (just a couple of months late!). She was quite the handful for both of us and I'm surprised we were able to get as many cute captures as we did. Kate has been on the move for a couple of months now and sitting still or staying in front of the backdrop was not something she was all that keen to do. hah

Rainbow of Fruit Flavours

Tasha surprised me today by knowing the proper colours of a rainbow. Apparently no anyone else though. When I excitedly texted the husband to let him know, his reply was "Maybe she sings the rainbow song at JK".

Sisters

It's not often I'm able to get a picture of both the girls together. And an even rarer moment when I get one and they are both looking at the camera and smiling. Tash has a bit of a crazy eye look, but I still think it's a cute capture.