Modified Pillowcase Dress DIY

I love simple sewing projects.  Ones that look SO cute, but don't require a lot of know-how or time, because I'm short on both!  The pillowcase dress is a natural for someone with those requirements, but there's just something about that ribbon through the neck collar that I'm just not super crazy about.  That's why I was thrilled to find a simple modification using simple tank top style straps and a straight gathered neck-line.

We made this little cutie for a friend's birthday party.  Below my middle cutie models it and the t-shirt headband and flower we made to match.

Birthday BOWquet! DIY

So what do you get for a sweet soon-to-be five year old that tells you, "Mommy, just get me whatever YOU think I would like" for her birthday?  Pinterest to the rescue!  I'm a little obsessed.  Can you tell?  I knew there just had to be something fun and special for my "Sweet T".  And I found the cutest bow bouquets and the price was AH-mazing.  The only problem was, there weren't any available - poor girl probably figured out she couldn't make money with the great price she was charging.  So, with a little MORE help from Pinterest - I found tutorials and wah-lah.  Here's the birthday BOWquet.

OK, so my presentation needs work - there was no tutorial for presentation, but I've got to say - the individual bows were overall, pretty easy.  You can find tutorials for them on my pinterest fabric crafts board.  Here's a few close-ups so you can admire my handiwork one by one.

 This peach one is SO easy and looks amazing - NO sewing, just a little hot glue and felt.

 These boutique-style bows were definitely the hardest.  I'm not sure why, but they just aren't as crisp or stiff as the real thing.  It took a couple of tries to get the twisting and turning right and I'm pretty good with bows having grown up in a flower shop.

I just HAVE to share the tutorial for the one above.  This lady has a bunch of girls and she's not afraid to go BIG with her clips and her tutorial is just so great and her pictures are so beautiful that you really should check out her blog.

 The felt ones were all made by my kiddos.

Now, while Pinterest IS an awesome tool for inspiration, just a little reminder to be careful what you search for.  Let's just say that trying to find a homemade, washable face paint for my toddler, turned into a rather x-rated adventure, when I was a little too vague with my search terms.

Maternity Gown DIY

So, when you find out you're having your fifth girl, you kinda start to wonder what you're going to do to set this one apart.  Well, I found a little help on pinterest - here, here, here, and here.  In fact, I probably found and pinned these maternity gowns before I even knew I was having another girl, but I was certain I wanted to sew one of these babies once I knew it was a girl.  It just seemed like an appropriate way to make this baby doll's entrance into the world a little more special, and well, let's face it - why not look good (or at least BETTER) by trying to spruce myself up with a bit of color for those post labor pictures. So here's the finished product.

It seemed that all of the pictures I found sported a sash around the waist and while I never wore it during labor, it's pretty essential for pictures to help define that baby bump.

  I decided to go for a sleeveless version after I followed the free pattern for a hospital gown found at Lazy Girl Designs and found that it pretty much looked like a big sack - which is just what hospital gowns look like, but certainly not the look I was going for.  So I used their pattern - did I mention it's free? and then... I took my scissors to it.  And I basically cut it down to the size of the dress shown in the picture below with an allowance for the seem.  Yes, it was bold.  No, it was not perfect.  But hey, most people don't sew these days, so most people were easily distracted by the matching headband and flower sash. 

Here's a picture of it "in action", actually at the hospital.  Couple of things you should know if you undertake this feat.  It cost me about $35 by the time it was all said and done.  Yes, I used coupons.  Yes, I got nearly everything on sale, that's just how much it was.  No, you still cannot buy one for that, but for a hospital gown that's still pretty pricey for Miss Thrifty.  I'm still considering cutting it up and making dresses for the girls out of it.