FO Ryenn's Easter Dress

I decided a while ago that I wanted to make Ryenn's dress for Easter like last year. This time, however, I wanted it to be a little more formal. I picked up the fabric about two weeks ago and couldn't find a pattern I was in love with.

I have made numerous of Ryenn's dresses previously without patterns, but decided that I don't really have the thinking capacity right now to create something on my own. I instead searched the internet for patterns for dresses.

FO Pocahontas Dress

My sister, Kelli, is a brave soul. She was a part of the Polar Plunge again this year. Her work, Buffalo Wild Wings, dresses in a theme every year. This year they went as Disney Princesses and won best costume! The best part? I get to say that I helped make that possible!

Pocahontas jumping into Reed's Lake

FO Throw Pillows and Tutorial

Although I can't share all of my Christmas gifts on here, I am sharing a few. I decided not to knit everything this year, and this has proven to be a lot easier to handle. Some of the gifts I am making actually called for my sewing machine. Last night I put my machine to work!

 

FO Baby Doll Bed and Tutorial

The little miss that I babysit, Scarlet, while her mom is in school is one of the cutest little things ever. She has amazing hair and such a feisty personality. She loves being the mommy and would spend a lot of the time at my house either playing with Ryenn's babies or playing mommy to Ryenn.

Birthday Shirt

When I was putting together Nolan's birthday party, I was very particular on the theme. Everything, and I mean everything, had to be cars related. I decided that instead of spending a ton of money for someone else to make him his birthday shirt, I would enlist some help from my mother-in-law. She is great with a sewing machine and knew she could accomplish what I wanted.

Hard at work!

Independence Day

I am the queen of procrastination and I wait until the last minute for everything (anyone who knows me can attest to this). I attempted to rid myself of this procrastination with at least one holiday. I was hoping this would be the 4th of  July. Of course, this was not the case. I bought a red, white, and blue plaid fabric in order to make Ryenn a festive pillowcase dress. I also bought red, white, and blue striped ribbon for the ties. I thought I would make this dress weeks in advance. With Nolan and Ryenn's birthday parties, I was tied up with other crafting projects. And then I woke up on Wednesday morning, still not feeling well and still needing her dress finished.

stars, stripes and plaid!

 When Ryenn went to take her nap at around 11am, I rushed to get my sewing machine, fabric, and ribbon. Nolan was excited to help (he wouldn't stop trying to push the pedal). I also found an easy tutorial on making a pillowcase dress at Aesthetic Nest, which is also loaded with numerous other dresses and DIY projects. It made the process a lot easier. When I finished the dress itself, it still didn't look much like a holiday dress. I remembered that I had also bought felt stars for my 4th of July scrapbook pages in the dollar section at Joann's. I decided to add one of each of the colors: red, white, and blue. This made the dress exactly what I wanted it to be!

Without her little capris

I didn't take her measurements before she went for her nap so the dress ended up a bit shorter than I was hoping for. Instead of pairing it with the white diaper cover I had hoped to, I put on her white legging/capris. This looked great! I was pleased with the outcome and I thinking about making many more of these very soon!

Alterations

After learning to sew, I feel that I look at everything wondering if I can recreate it. I have been doing this with knits for a while now, but I have broadened my curiosity to sewing. I was searching my closet for something to wear to Ryenn's baptism and I couldn't help feeling discouraged. Granted this was for good reason. I seriously could not find anything to wear that still fit. Everything was way too big! I was excited yet not at the same time. I didn't have the time or desire to find a new dress for her baptism in a less than a week (I did mention that I like to wait until the last minute, right?).


25 weeks pregnant with Ryenn, WAY too busy of a print and wearing the black long-sleeve!

I found a few things in my "garage sale/donate" boxes down in my basement that would fit, if altered a bit. Most were maternity items that wouldn't be missed for a while, way too busy in print, or had tears in them. I have this black long sleeve t-shirt that I absolutely love. I haven't been able to bring myself to get rid of it, even after I tore an amazingly huge hole n the elbow. It fit so perfectly!


Notice the hole the ripped in my elbow!

33.5 weeks pregnant and it was still on of my favorites!

Well I combined the extremely busy maternity shirt and my favorite black long-sleeve shirt that I couldn't part with, to make a "dress" for Ryenn's baptism! I cut the sleeves from the long sleeve shirt and cut some of the length from the body of the shirt. I then detached the bottom "skirt" from the maternity shirt and attached it to the black shirt at the waist. I the paired the "dress" I made with a chunky black belt at my natural waist and black leggings. It was a great compromise; something I can wear again, worked for the occasion, and FREE!

The dress! Not the greatest photo of the dress, but you get the idea.

Mellow Yellow Maxi

I love to spend time on Pinterest! It's like an addiction that I cannot seem to conquer. I have been looking for the perfect maxi dress, but can't find the right color or the right style. It's always one or the other. One day while getting my fix, I stumbled upon a tutorial for a maxi dress. It was perfect!!!

I bought a bright yellow, light jersey material from Joanns and I can't wait to get it done. I also found a maxi skirt DIY that I may just have to make as well. One thing at a time though. Check back soon for the progress made on this dress.

FO Ryenn's Baptism Gown

Beaded neckline

I am notorious for waiting until the last minute to whip things together. However, with Ryenn's baptism gown, I decided to get an early start. This meaning I started the dress 2 days before rather than the night before. I bought white, satin fabric from Hobby Lobby on a quick trip in which I was looking for wooden blocks for a gift.



White Satin

I also bought some pearl and lace edging detail that would accomplish the look I was going for. Of course, I made this dress without a pattern (as I usually do) which was a lot more difficult than usual. Satin is very hard to sew with. My sewing machine kept catching on the fabric and I was unable to achieve the fullness I wanted. It turned out great, but I wanted a fuller skirt.

Traditionally long

I also was kind of a dummy and didn't make the zipper area long enough! This made for some real difficulties getting her in and out of the dang thing. And being a baby, she wasn't very patient or cooperative. Nonetheless, she looked so cute! I got so many compliments on her dress.



Check out the length!!!



Hoppy Easter!

My husband works on Sundays so any holiday that may fall on a Sunday is rescheduled. It worked out great this year to celebrate Easter on a Saturday with our family seeing as my mother-in-law didn't have to work that day either. That gave me one less day to get Ryenn's dress done. I am a huge procrastinator and waited until Friday night around 10 or 11 to actually cut the fabric! Why would I do that to myself? I never know. I did the same thing with her Christmas dress. I bought the fabric earlier this week (along with a bunch of other fabric for some other projects). The choices were very slim at the Hobby Lobby I went to. However, it was fine because I fell in love with a pastel yellow, floral print! It was exactly what I was looking for. I paired it with a pastel pink fabric for the bodice of her dress.

Floral and pink!

I decided to make her dress without a pattern because they can get super expensive. I decided to make a simple skirt with an even simpler bodice. When I finished, I felt it needed straps to make it look more like a baby's dress. I cut and sewed on two strips of the floral fabric I used for the skirt and decided to make them cross in the back.

Finished dress

I got the dress done around 1am and then Ryenn woke up to play. It worked out kind of nice because I was then able to try the dress on her! It fit better than I expected. The straps were a bit big but the fabric didn't have much give to it so it was a bit difficult to get her in and out of it.

Pretty girl in her dress

Loving the grass

It was a great Easter! The kids got completely spoiled by the Easter bunny and my mother-in-law. When we saw the Easter baskets all put together, it looked more like Christmas morning than it did Easter. We spent all Saturday at the in-laws, playing outside, playing with the new toys, and eating a great meal. Now we are spending the actual day of Easter resting after such a busy day.

Kid's Easter baskets

Nolan playing with some of his new toys

He loves it outside

In her bunny ears