Pinspiration- Bow Ties for Easter

I have a cute little dress (actually two) for my daughter for Easter, but the boys have fewer options. My hubby vetoed sweater vests, so I was trying to think of something fun they could wear besides a button up shirt and kakkis. Then I remembered I had pinned a few different tutorials for little bow ties on pinterest.

bow ties for my boys

After clearing the idea with R and K, I let them pick from a few different scraps I had in my sewing box. The tutorial was straight forward, I made both in about an hour. The hardest part was turning the long skinny strap inside out. It took forever. I still have to add the fasteners (velcro or hook and eyes) but that requires the boys actually wearing their shirts in order to measure.

tutorial from Papernstitch

Oh and I didn't use interfacing. I wanted to make them right away and I couldn't find any interfacing in my stash, so I went rogue. Just call me the Sarah Palin of sewing. And don't tell my friends who actually know how to sew!

Chevron Pillows

Not long ago I saw these amazing pillows on a trip to the grocery store. As an aside I love all the other junk that they sell at the grocery store. It is a great reward during the chore of picking out cereal and toilet paper to be able to browse cheap clothes, housewares and books.

Initially the pillows I saw were only in a taupe/brown colour which I am trying to phase out of my house. But I couldn't stop thinking about the reasonable price and the on trend pattern so the next shopping trip was to the Superstore on the other side of the hill. And there they were. Turquoise, embroidered, and beautiful.

It's little details like this that make the whole house feel fresh and bright.

IKEA is copying me!

Look at what I found at IKEA.com when I was browsing the other day...

Hmm. Remind you of anything???

Yep. They must have seen my post and then went and found a round, curvy legged coffee table to paint grey.

Tricky, tricky IKEA.

InstaUpdate

Making the most of the proD day by geocaching in the snow!

Just K posing, nothing new.

I guess that umbrella is done.

R 's early morning reading with Mummy.

All dressed up to get the boys from school.

Just today, a date at Starbucks. She did text Daddy and ask him to leave work and join us, so I guess it wasn't too exciting. Yes, she's wearing a veil. And leg warmers. And she coloured robots to pass the time. Crazy monkey.

Science Party

My creative energy for the last two or three weeks has been focused on throwing the best 6 year old science birthday possible. You can click over to my other blog to check out more pictures!

Pinspiration- Altered T shirt

I saw a great grey t shirt on pinterest quite a while ago. I loved its shape and detail but the fact that it was totally casual at the same time. It was perfect for me so I looked up the link. I could buy it, it's by Marc Jacobs for just $535 canadian. So, uh, NO I will not be buying a five hundred dollar casual t shirt.

Plan B. In my PJ drawer I have a grey t shirt that has been there forever, soft and worn in and the perfect grey. No before picture because honestly I didn't expect much. I sat down at the sewing machine after the kids were in bed and while my hubby was working evening shift and just tried a few things. If the shirt is old and free you can't really lose right?

So a snip here and a pintuck there with left over thread while I watched a little nostalgic netflix (Seaquest anyone, ha). I cut the bottom off, cut the neck and arms, then sewed up the armholes so they wouldn't gape. I sewed a few lines then tried it on then continued on like that. When the thread ran out I stopped. And this is what it looked like:

Awesome instagram photos I took while shopping by myself- a rare occasion.

But you get the idea.

Next time, yes there will definitely be a next time, I will do before and after proper pics so you get the idea. It was just so much fun to finish a project and have it work like I pictured!

Pillowcase dress

I (finally) made a pillowcase dress for L. I got the idea a long time ago and took her to Value Village to get a practice pillowcase.

She was this big.

Oh so squeezable, look at that face.

This particular pillowcase had polka dot fabric in all our favourite colours, and it was cheap! Perfect.

Except I didn't get back to it for a long long time. Like a few years. Cough, procrastination, cough.

But I recently had the urge to sew and this project had everything I needed, bias tape, thread, some contrasting scraps for the ribbon at the shoulders. It took no time at all! Not perfect but easy enough that I plan to try again. In the mean time I have to convince her to wear a shirt underneath if she insists on wearing this dress in January!