George.

My sweet little Georgie. She is kinda... really... un-photogenic. Typically she has a painful look on her face, forehead scrunched up, eyes half open. (I looked for a photo example, but I have deleted them). This is why when I take pictures of my sewing I usually use Elizabeth. So I decided she NEEDED a nice picture, no matter how many shots it took. I was happily surprised when I put them on the computer and not one, not two, but three turned out well!


Not too bad, compared to what I normally get.




I like this one because it shows her personality.

And this is my favorite. I am going to have to get this one framed:)

I have wanted to get an Oliver+S pattern for a while now... like a year... but the price always stopped me. They are paper patterns and not available anywhere in S. Utah, so not only would I have to pay more than I would ideally like, but then I would have to pay shipping too. Well, I recently discovered they have started to digitize some of their out-of-print patterns, and they are less than the paper version, so I ordered one. Oh.My.Gosh. The detail is ah-mazing. I can see why they are priced the way they are, and why so many people buy them. ( they are all over flickr ). So... I got three of their digitals, and saw they were having a sale on their paper patterns that would make it the same price as the digital patterns, so I got two of those that were still in print aaaaaand later that day I decided to get their book... Happy birthday to me. Luckily I have a huge fabric stash so I wont need any of that since I spent all my birthday budget on patterns.




Well, I got the book yesterday and by last night had this little number sewn up. So. Cute.







The hat is adorable, but I think the model just makes it that much more;)

I may or may not have four more cut out and ready to be sewn... Okay, I do... But one for each of my kids and a gift for a friend... That is how easy it is, five cut and one sewn in about 2 1/2 hours.

Then there was some selfish sewing done this weekend. I had this bag pinned for a while and always meant to get around to it, oh I am so glad I did!! When we go to church we spilt the girls during RS & Elders Quorum, so I usually send Ben with the diaper bag because he typically takes Iz who will take a bottle if needed. So I wanted a bag that I could stuff a diaper and some wipes in... and whatever else. So, this is my new diaper bag/purse. Ben says it is awfully girly- yeah, it is. It has a nice big pleat ( a little too big, the tutorial has you pleat before you cut your fabric, and doesn't give any measurements for it, so I guesstimated and was a little dissappointed. And I have been hoarding this fabric, so I didn't want to cut another front because I want to use it for something else, too. So , the pleat ended up a little crooked. ) , cute girly bow and nice big pockets inside. EEEK! I am so excited to go... anywhere! I just want to take it out, haha.

Then, I tested another pattern from shwinandshwin.blogspot.com. Love, love love it!! I have been loving all the plaid I have seen on pinterest and the blogging craft world, so after I made Jack those pants I knew I wanted to do something for Abby.

Nice deep pockets in a contrasting black. The plaid is so soft, I love it. (have I said love enough yet?)

It closes with big buttons on each shoulder. It is such a unique take on the a-line, it isn't something I have seen before as far as patterns go, so it was fun to try something new.

And, a little more model love. Because, like I said, I have the cutest models around.

Because he requested more.

For a while Jack has been asking when I would make him clothes. Poor kid. He even picked out a nice pink and white and orange flower print he wanted me to make into a shirt. Well, I tested a pants pattern earlier in the week (the orange/white/blue plaid ones in the previous post) and he started naming off all kinds of color combinations he wanted next. I had some of this nice suiting fabric in my stash I meant to make him pants with ages ago that I never got around to so that is what I went with. We were rushing out the door to church (hate 9am!!), sat him down in primary and looked back at him only to notice a GIANT hole in his pants just above the hem. Not fixable at all. Eh, I got them at a garage sale a while ago for a dollar so it wasn't that big of a deal (I <3 garage sales, $1 for Children's Place dress pants?!) But I was mortified and just hoped no one else noticed. I am sure they did.


The thread is grey but it reeeeally shows up. Luckily my stitching, while still not perfect, has gotten a lot better. I was just not in the mood to take 3 kids to Joanns for darker thread. I may be crazy, but I am not nuts.
Plus I did most of my sewing from 10pm-midnight... But I kinda like it, makes 'em pop.

Ben thought the pants were for Abby because of the buttons. "boys pants don't have big buttons". They do when I make them, silly. And I "let" Jack pick the buttons. More like I gave him two choices but nudged... convinced him these were the best ones. Since these are church pants he now wants "Grandma pants". What are those, you might ask? Pants to wear to Grandma's house. We'll see buddy, though I did let him wear these to her house yesterday. I have a stack of projects in different stages of completion because if I don't finish it within one sitting/burst of sewing want-to they get put aside for something else that popped into my head. I am working on the twins' summer wardrobe and I am reaaaallly excited about it! I have been major stash busting and it has been fun.

And I am so behind on blogging and picture editing. I really need to get around to it sometime...

Lots of sewing.

These are the pictures I could find of what I have been up to sewing wise since mid-November... And, I still to this day don't know how to adjust the order of the pictures so they are up in random order...




I made the twins' tops (Abby's too, but that was a while ago). I wanted to make something for family pictures and of course, procrastinating, hadn't tried out the pattern before and ran out of time to test it out before I used my good fabric. Since I typically sew at night, luckily I only finished one of the tops. I tried it on Izzy's first... and her head was too big!! I was able to adjust the second top to fit my giant baby.

I made these today. I volunteered to test a pattern for shwinandshwin.blogspot.com and I am so glad I did! This pattern is awesome! Jack absolutely loves them.

Functioning pockets in the front, back and belt buckles. I am also making a pair of grey ones that will be his new church pants... Though he will also be wearing these cause they are just so cool:)

Originally this was to be the outfit for family pictures. This one and a maroon colored one... that still needs to have the neckline finished... but then I decided to go with a printed fabric instead.

Abby got a Lalaloopsy for Christmas, so I made her some clothes. The clothes cost 9$ a piece at the store!! Yeah, I don't think so. These were all made from scraps of other projects.

These were the fabrics of the babes shirts for family pictures, and one of them had the blue piping too. I really need to get a better picture of their shirts, they were really cute.

I made this for Avree for a Christmas outfit (the jacket and the skirt). Thank you pinterest for the idea.
*note to self: get other serger thread than just white...

And pinterest for the headbands...

... to go with the three skirts for my girls. That's right. I made four of these suckers. Lots.Of.Ruffles.

Again with pinterest. This one was for my sister-in-law.

Finally invested in some size labels. So excited!! This was for Avree for Christmas.

I love the piping and the ruffle hem. Let's face it, I could put piping and ruffles on EVERYTHING.

Pinterest again, giraffe softies for the girls' for Christmas. I put in an old wipe bag to make them crinkle.

For Avree for Christmas, felt food. Abs and Jack are begging me to make them some, I really need to get on that...

Pinterest ah-gain. Blocks for the twins Christmas. Two jingle, two crinkle and one is silent.

The hawk.

So Jack hadn't had a real haircut (no more than 1/8th of an inch) since... June, I think? I think his last real one was a few days before the bambinos were born. Ben said it was his Tom Brady hair. For any of you not in the know, Tom Brady is the quarterback for the New England Patriots. He is kinda a pretty boy, but he has one heck of an arm. Anywho, Ben wanted to give Jack a mohawk in November... right before Thanksgiving, but I said no because of family pictures (you're welcome Sherry;). So Christmas Eve we cut and dyed his hair. He sat so still.



His only requirement was a candy cane... and Frosty on t.v.

He was upset at first when he saw the ends were colored, but then Ben lied and said it will wash out. Ummm... it wont... but after I styled it he loved it. Though the next morning, and everytime he has had a bath since, he says "but the yellow hasn't washed out yet!"

I had MAJOR cabin fever yesterday!! So I escaped with the three youngest in between naptimes yesterday. I went to Target, not that big of a deal, but it was sooo nice to be out of the house! And best of all, all the kids were happy and no crying! So I saw a cute little skirt there that I needed... okay, just wanted. They wanted six dollars for it, but I knew I could make it for less, haha. It isn't quite the same, theirs had a bow and I did a flower (on this one, I will be making a silver one and plan on doing the bow) and the tulle behaved a little different, as in it lays down nicer. I picked out a shimmery tulle and I really like it.


Elizabeth is obsessed with her feet lately and loves feeling different textures... so this skirt may have to be worn later when she doesn't pick it apart, I am not sure yet if the tulle will fray if she picks on it.



I really like the button, but I couldn't get a good picture of it, it has a flowery design etched on it.

I had to take a break from my ruffley Christmas skirts or my head was going to explode! I wanted something quick and easy, something that could be finished in one naptime, and this fit the bill. Now I must go back to my frilly skirts, gotta make them in time for Santa's visit at the family Christmas party!! Good thing I have a "Grandma day" coming up!

When will I ever...

Get a good picture of all the kids at the same time? *disclaimer, I know these pictures are off on their focus and lighting:)* Abby and Jack were holding the babies so I decided to pull out the camera and take a cute picture. ha, right. This is what I got:

Typical, no one is looking.

She was trying to get their heads together.

Georgie just kept slipping down.

He was trying to get Iz to smile... while ignoring poor George.

...then the babies heads needed to be touching...

And this was the best I got. Perhaps I should just photoshop each child in individually, haha.