YOUR creations!

I love seeing the things you create using my tutorials! It really does make my day when I get sweet comments, questions, or pictures from you with the things you've done. You guys are the reason I blog. On those days I really don't feel like writing, I get a really nice email or picture from one of my bloggy friends and it totally makes my day.

I just have to take a minute and give a shout out to Nichole at Barilla Fab 4 who sewed along with me and totally rocked The Haley Dress this past week!

She braved my 4-day instructions and made 2 adorable dresses for her girls!

I love the fabric she chose in the top picture! Aren't all those patterns so cute? And check out her adorable girls:

I mean really, it's not fair to have 2 children that adorable. This picture of her girls in the dresses she made from my Haley Dress Sew-Along was definitely a pick-me-up when I saw it in my inbox. And it gave me an idea.

 I've started a tab on my blog dedicated to your creations!

If you've made something using one of my tutorials, notify me or email a picture to me at myownroad@yahoo.com and I might include it in my "Your Creations" tab! While I would love to show off all of your creations, it has to be something you made from one of my tutorials. I can't wait to see your hard work!

And again, thank you for reading :)

Connor - 5 months

Today, my little stinker is 5 months old.

The time I spent in the hospital on bed rest while I was pregnant with him drug on forever....probably because my days were so predictable. 

But now, where did these last 5 months go??

It seems like he's grown up entirely too fast. I know probably every mother says that, but it really is true. I love watching him grow and learn. He found his toes a couple of days ago, and it's so cute to watch him try to get them to his mouth.

This is the most smiley little boy you'll ever see. He gives me these big grins that melt my heart.

Should I be worried this early that he's going to be the mack daddy of the pre-school?

Some Simple Skirts

In between a million other projects, I've been attempting to make some spring clothes for Haley. Luckily, skirts take little time to throw together - pending injury. I sewed through my finger a few nights ago - not my finest moment. I would like to say this is my first time, but unfortunately it's actually the second time I've sewed my finger. The drone of the sewing machine made me zone out in la la land for a minute and all the sudden the pointer finger on my left hand found its way under the needle. No major damage, just added another tick mark next to the number of clumsy things I've done.

Anyway, since Dana from MADE posted her tutorial for The Simple Skirt, I knew I wanted to make a few for Haley. I've had 1/2 yard of Michael Miller's Tweet Tweet fabric waiting to be made into something, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I made a pattern from a skirt Haley already has and then cut 2 different lengths from the fabric to create a double-tiered skirt. I made the skirt more flared than Dana's version - I love it!

This second one was made with The Simple Skirt tutorial as well. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm obsessed with turquoise and brown so of course there had to be at least one turquoise and brown skirt.

This one is a single tier skirt lined with bias tape for the binding on the bottom. It was so easy to make. Between cutting out the fabric and sewing together, I don't think this took more than 30 minutes to put together. That's my kind of project! It's nice to be able to run upstairs while both kids are napping and sew something real quick.

Please ignore my daughter's crazy hair, she inherited her Mama's curls and they can't be contained :)

I've also been sewing a few pairs of shorts for Haley - both play shorts and pj shorts since the summer heat is starting early here in Tennessee. I'll have to post those soon, and possibly a tutorial with them!



Linking up!

Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design

Easter with friends

Happy Easter

He is risen!

"I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly."

John 10:10

The Haley Dress Sew-Along part 4: Finishing Touches

Thanks for joining me on the last day of The Haley Dress sew-along! Today's the day we finish your dress! Today is going to be easy street compared to all you've done over the past 3 days.

For the previous days' tutorials, go here: DAY 1, DAY 2, DAY 3.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finishing Touches

Step 1: Sew your front piece to your back piece.

Pretty self-explanatory :) Line up your edges and lay your assembled front piece and back piece on top of each other with the right sides together. Pin your edges from the bottom of the armhole to the bottom of the dress.

Ew, very yellow picture - sorry for the bad lighting..

Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, set your machine to zig-zag stitch and sew down the side of your dress from the bottom of the armhole to the bottom of your dress, backstitching at the beginning and end to secure. Repeat on the other side.

Turn your dress right side out.

You 2 pieces are now joined together

Step 2: Attach your straps.

Take one of your finished (or purchased) straps you made yesterday and line up the seam of your strap with the armpit seam on your dress. Pin your strap around your dress, enclosing the raw edges of your armhole, bias tape on the back piece, and yoke inside your strap.

Sewing close to the edge of your strap, sew a zig-zag stitch the entire way around the strap starting at the bottom of your armhole. Make sure to catch the other side of your strap as you sew. Repeat with the other arm. The folds on your strap should be closed now and the raw edges of your dress enclosed within the tape.

Step 3: Attach your button.

Use a needle and thread to hand sew your button to the back of your dress directly across from where you sewed your elastic.

If you don't want to add the flower, your dress is done!

But you know you want the flower...

Step 4: Make your flower.

Trace 4 large circles from your main fabric, 1 large circle from your accent fabric, and 4 slightly smaller ones from your accent fabric. I used a couple of bottles of fabric paint to trace around for this. Cut out. I would recommend applying Fray Check to the perimeter of each of your circles so the ends don't fray.

The one large circle you cut from your accent fabric will be your base that you attach the other circles to (mine is the one large gold one), set that one aside.

Take the circles you just cut from your main fabric, fold them each in half, wrong sides together...

...then fold in half again...

...and pin each of your little triangles on top of your base circle (which should be right side up). Stitch the points of the triangles down in a kind of a "square" formation, removing the pins as you go. (See picture below where I've demonstrated how you should stitch in white.)

Fold the rest of your circles like you did with the ones above. Place them on top of your stitched circles in the same fashion and sew down the same way.

Now, hand-sew a small button on top to hide your stitches, and hand sew to your dress!

And you're done!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you all so much for your wonderful feedback during this series! Your comments and questions have made all the hard work I put into this tutorial worth it.

I would LOVE to see your finished dresses and feature them on my blog! Send your pictures of this project (or any others you've made with my tutorials) to the email below.


Please email me at myownroad(at)yahoo.com with any questions you may have.