Make it! Wear it! Challenge and a busy weekend

I was recently alerted by a friend, we'll call her DC Chic (you know who you are), that I am not putting enough photos of the little bear cubs on here. So forgive me but this post is more gushing about family and less about sewing.

For starters, Little Sister Bear loved her Simple Sundress. Everyone at the wedding loved it too! So much so that I've entered it in the Make it! Wear it! Challenge Sew, Mama, Sew! is having this month.

Speaking of the wedding...Congratulations to the newlyweds! The wedding was beautiful and we had a blast. The Bride was radiant, the Groom was handsome, and the family was all together (almost). It was the happiest I've seen my Grandfather in a long time. Papa Bear said he caught a glimpse of Grandpa looking at our family celebrating with a look of pride and satisfaction on his face (which is very rare).

The happy couple also had a lovely tribute to my Daddy who would have celebrated his 50th birthday this month, but was taken from us at the very young age of 48. We all danced and cried to celebrate my hero. It was very bittersweet. Happy Birthday Daddy!

On a happier note, this weekend Nana Bear put up a fenced play area for the girls complete with a pool. I was also informed by Nana Bear that very soon a sandbox will be added to this area! Naturally we had to bring the cubs over and check it out. Big Sister Bear had a blast swimming, or should I say "float surfing", with Papa Bear. This Mama Bear and Little Sister Bear hung out poolside and took photos.

This week I'm working on a few things to take along with us on our mini-vacation 4th of July weekend. More on that later.

Sundress

This past weekend we celebrated Father's Day cooking out over Binky's. Big Sister Bear got to play in Nonni's garden with her cousin. Papa Bear had a great day with his girls. And we got to catch up with family we don't see often enough.

This weekend my Aunt and Uncle are finally tying the knot after being a couple for over a decade! I finished Big Sister Bear's dress for the wedding this Saturday. I used the Simple Sundress pattern by Habitual. It was very easy to make and the instructions were clear. The fabric is Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey and the bow is Kona Lime. I am pretty pleased with this one and I will be making another. Photos on my next post of the dress in action.

I am now working on a gift for my adorable neighbor who is turning 5. She's a glam girly girl and a bit of a fashionista so I'm thinking a purse stuffed with pretty goodies. And I'm starting mini play quilts for both my cubs.

You're My Obsession

I have completely become obsessed with sewing. The fabrics, techniques and countless applications. I'm constantly jotting ideas in my sketchbook and talking Papa Bear's ear off about my many plans.

Since my last post I have sewn a few things. I made Little Sister Bear some bibs. I up-cycled some old bath towels for the backing.

Sewing up the bibs was a great learning experience. The front fabric was very cheap, I will not make that mistake again. From now on it's only good quality fabric for this Mama Bear.

Speaking of fabric...my lovely piles of prettiness arrived...

Moda, Sandi Henderson, Amy Butler, Anna Griffin and a few others (above)

Heather Bailey and Michael Miller (below)

I also made myself a drawstring bag for my scraps and a patchwork pincushion for travel sewing. This was my first attempt at patchwork and I was very pleased with the outcome.

The bag pattern came from Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts. I really like this book. The day it was delivered I sat down and flipped through cover to cover. It is a great reference book for an individual new to sewing (such as myself).

Featured in the photo above along with my bag and pincushion are some Kona solids.

Now I begin my adventure of making a dress for Big Sister Bear for a wedding that is a week away. Hopefully there will be a minimum of cursing and seam ripping involved. More about that on my next post.

Addicted

It's official. I have a serious designer fabric addiction. Over the weekend I made purchases from fabric.com , fabricdepot.com , and etsy. I am very much obsessed with Michael Miller, Heather Bailey, Sandi Henderson and Amy Butler prints. I rounded out all my gorgeous prints with some Kona solids.

Since ordering these fabrics I have had dozens of projects dancing around my head. I cannot wait to receive my packages and get started. My first project is going to be a dress for Big Sister Bear to wear to a wedding in a couple weeks. I am also going to be sewing a wedding present for the happy couple. Just in case they follow I won't be posting about their gift until after they receive it.

I've also sewed some stuff since my last post. Introducing Ollie and Allie...

After hours of searching online for a plushie pattern for both Big Sister Bear and Little Sister Bear I came across owl plushies. I finally decided on how I wanted mine to look and sewed up these lovely ladies. Since Little Sister Bear is only 4 months and doesn't quite play with much, Big Sister Bear has been having all the fun with these two. She's loves them, she's always hugging them and kissing them, so cute. I am quite pleased. I am planning on making a more in depth one with crinkly wings, differently patterned/textured fabrics and maybe a rattle inside to hook Little Sister Bear's attention.

Looking forward to showing off my sweet fabric stash and it's uses very soon. Also feel free to share projects that are inspired by mine in my flickr pool .

uncanny crafts

Over the holiday weekend I did some crafting, some sewing and had a whole lot of summer fun. We had a small cookout at our place and went to a birthday party for a very sweet 6 year old. Nice weather, good food and good company. Plus, Papa Bear had a long weekend so I had extra time to create.

I up-cycled a few mason jars and used them to make pincushions. I found a helpful tutorial here.


I filled them with some wooden thread spools that I found in my Memere's sewing kit to give them some decorative appeal.





I made my first apron which was also my first sewing project! I think it came out pretty good for my first time. It was a great learning experience and I can't wait to get going on one of the many sewing projects swirling around in my brain right now.


And here's a picture of Big Sister Bear enjoying her first slip n' slide experience. Ahhh summer has arrived in New England.