Easter 2014

If you follow me on Instagram, you were inundated with pictures of a suit in progress the week before Easter. 

The dang sleeves got to me.  Well, the lapels got to me, but I managed to wrestle them into an acceptable state.  The sleeves, well, it took three tries and cutting them down a good bit.  I finally got them in, only to try the jacket on Sam and find it was too big all over.  So we decided to finish it up for next year and just make him a shirt instead. 

After a belated birthday party for Will and setting up for Easter at my grandma's, I started cutting up this thrifted shirt about 9:45 Saturday night. 

By 12:45 (with a couple small breaks in between), I had a finished shirt.  I cut the front using the existing placket/buttons/buttonholes.  Only someone who sews lots of kids clothes would ever notice. 

My family didn't even realize I made his shirt, and they know about my sewing obsession, so I took that as a compliment. 

These are the best pictures I could get - perhaps I'm not bribing them properly?

Hopefully that suit fits next Easter.  But for now, I'm happy to pack it away and work on something else!

Sam's Easter Outfit

This post is a bit late, but that's what happens when you're without a computer for long stretches of time . . .

Pattern: Simplicity 2671

Size: 18mos

The suit is made out of navy and white seersucker from fabric.com and trimmed with blue satin ribbon from Michaels (I couldn’t find any grosgrain that matched at the last minute).  The jacket actually fit him really well straight off the pattern, but the shorts were way too wide (he’s got skinny little hips and a tiny tushie).  I took the sides in, and they still were too big and kept falling down.  And of course there were no white dress shoes or cute dress sandals to be found, so Carter’s flip flops it was.

I had the shirt that I had bought at a yard sale or consignment shop, and since he has another white shirt I figured I could use one.  I thought I would have to shorten the sleeves, but I didn’t need to.  So I just added the snaps for the tie, and that was one less piece to sew and worry about.  I could even make more ties for use with other outfits.

He didn’t seem to mind the outfit at all, which meant it wasn’t uncomfortable . . . don’t mind the picking of the belly button; he’s fascinated with that thing. 

Isn’t he adorable?

Faux Egg Vase Filler

Everyone seems to be doing it this spring - making Pottery Barn Knockoff egg vase filler.  Here is my version.

I started off with some Dollar Tree foam eggs - the glittery ones with ribbons for hanging.  I got two dozen ($2).

 

Then I went through a very scientific process involving dipping the eggs into sample jars of paint and hanging them on unbent wire clothes hangers across our step ladder (with cardboard underneath to catch drips).  I bought the blue but had the cream and brown/tan on hand already.

Two coats later, I cut off the ribbons, put all the eggs in a box, and flicked some brown craft paint on them (using a little paint brush and my finger - it was messy).  

Voila!  Faux egg vase filler.  Not too bad for $5 in supplies.  I think they go just fine with my larger Kroger eggs and my thrift store apothecary jars and bunny.