Keeping It Real ~ Isaiah

I want to introduce you to Isaiah.  I often talk about my children as a group, a pair, a set even.  They are truly unique little individuals and sometimes it is just the coincidence of birth that identifies them as brothers and twins.  Last week I talked about Cameron.  Today is all about Isaiah.

Isaiah is:

kind

friendly

outgoing

adventurous

second born

Mommy's helper

tempermental

fearless

Daddy's snuggle buddy

curious

wiry

a daredevil

stubborn

Isaiah has:

gorgeous almond shaped eyes

thick brown hair

shark teeth

brown eyes

chubby little toes

Isaiah loves:

monkey

animals

meat

sticks

plain hamburgers

the colors white, black and brown

Spiderman

Batman

Lord, I love this precious little angel that you have sent to us.  With every fiber and morsel of my being.  

"I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living,

my baby you'll be."

Robert Munsch 

Shirred Summer Dress Tutorial

 Hey peeps!

I am really excited to share this Shirred Summer Dress tutorial with you.  

It is truly the easiest dress to make!  

My Mom and I created over twenty of these ~ check out more variations here.  
And for my original post on UCreate go here.

   This is my adorable niece, B.She's wearing a size 4 {I have instructions for a size 4 and a size 6 dress}.

Ready to sew?
 

1.  Choose your fabric. 

Lightweight cotton blends work best.  You will need about 1/2 yard to 1 yard depending on the size of dress you are making.  Be sure to wash and dry your fabric ahead of time to pre-shrink it. 

For a size 4 {21 inch circumference at the chest}, use the following measurements:

Main fabric ~ 31 inches x 17 inches

Accent fabric ~ 31 inches x 5 inches

Ties/straps {cut four pieces} ~ 8 inches x 2 1/2 inches

For a size 6 {23 inch circumference at the chest}, use the following measurements:

Main fabric ~ 33 inches x 22 inches

Accent fabric ~ 33 inches x 6 inches

Ties {cut four pieces} ~ 8 inches x 2 1/2 inches 

For other sizes, measure the child's circumference at the chest and add 10 inches.  Then create it as long as you want.

 

2. Cut the fabric to size. 

At this point you may want to serge all of the edges of the fabric.  You can also double fold and sew the fabric or use a zig zag stitch on the edges to prevent them from fraying.

 
3.  Place the main fabric and accent fabric right sides together.   Pin.  
4.  Sew the two pieces together using a 1/4" seam allowance.
  

5.  Fold and iron the top of the main fabric using a 1/4" fold.  Pin.  Sew into place.  Fold and iron the bottom of the accent piece of fabric using a 1/2" fold.  Pin.  Sew into place. 

6.  Line up the raw edges of the fabric, right sides facing.  Pin into place.  Be sure to line up the seam where your main and accent fabric meets. 

 
7.  Sew together using a 1/4" seam allowance.  I alternate between using a zig zag stitch and folding my material to prevent it from fraying.  No need for a serger!  

8.  Turn the material right sides out.  Now you have a tube of fabric.  For an even easier version, cut a longer piece of fabric, skip adding the accent piece and simply sew together a tube of fabric.

9.   Now the fun part.  Shirring!  Begin by hand winding elastic thread around a bobbin.  I found elastic thread in the notions section of our local fabric store.  Using a machine to wind the bobbin will cause the elastic thread to be stretched too tightly and it will just rebound out of the bobbin.  Place the bobbin into the sewing machine as usual and thread the all purpose thread through the top of the sewing machine as usual.
  
10.  Begin sewing at the seam of the tube and a little over 1/4" from the top of the tube.  Sew all the way around the tube of fabric in a straight line.  Use a regular straight stitch.  Sew from the right side of the fabric so that the elastic thread is on the wrong side of the fabric  
11.  Repeat these rows of shirring, about 1/2" apart, 8 to 10 times depending on how long you want the bodice to be. 

    

12.  When the shirring is complete hit it with some steam from an iron.  This causes the elastic thread to shrink.  
 
13.  Now you will need four pieces of coordinating fabric to create shoulder ties.  Having the dress tie at the top makes it super adjustable!
  
14.  Right sides facing, sew the fabric together lengthwise using a 1/4" seam allowance.  Sew one end of each strap closed as well.   Use a Quick Turn kit to quickly invert each strap so that right sides are out.  
15.  Iron the straps flat.

16.  Pin the straps into place {about 4" apart}.      

17.  Sew the straps to the top of the dress.

Ta da!

Easy right?!

Would you let me know if you make one?  

I would love to see it!!

Thanks for visiting!

 I'm linking to these fab parties.

Gardening 101 ~ a Salsa Garden

Welcome back to Gardening 101 ~ where I share my attempts to grow stuff.  

One day I will have to give you a tour of my garden then show you my moms and grandmas gardens.  They are truly amazing!  Gorgeous!!  They must water their plants a lot.  Mom is always trying to give me extra plants that she has but I usually decline because that would mean having to plant them at our house and water them.  I am a terrible plant owner.  I hate watering.. it's just so time consuming!!  ha ha

Anyway today I'm sharing my little Salsa Garden.  You can see that it is downsized from last years vegetable garden.  I figured that we didn't need a million Cherry Tomatoes again!  I plan on doing a lot of canning again this year so here are a few goodies that should come in handy for salsa:

Cilantro

I'm hoping they do better than last year.

Habanero Pepper

Because what is salsa without a little heat?

Fourth of July Tomatoes.

I gather gardening advice wherever I can.  An older lady standing beside me {while I was contemplating tomato plants} told me that this was a good variety because they had a fast growing cycle.  Works for me!  I bought eight plants.

Early Girl Tomatoes.

She said that these were good ones too.

Garlic Onion.

This plant seems not to mind having a neglectful owner and comes back every year.

Celery.

My good friend Amy {at Momma Bee's} gave us these little celery plants.  And I was thrilled because as long as I searched and wondered up and down the aisles of the Greenery I couldn't, for the life of me, find celery.  So Woo Hoo!! Thank you Ames!

Swiss Chard.

This isn't for salsa but I thought that it might be fun to throw into a Green Smoothie or try making chips with.

And now for a view of the backyard for fun.  In the distance we have a great view of the city and mountains.  You can see Max, our loyal Cocker Spaniel, on the deck.  My dad made the arbor as a gift for Darcy and I, for our wedding.  It moved with us from Prince George.  Those are the bushes that the boys said that they threw my iPhone in.  Massive right?!?  There is probably all sorts of buried treasure in those things.  Most of our energy has been put into laying bark mulch on the gardens and pathways all over the yard.  To the right is the kids swing set which Darcy framed in and we filled with bark mulch too.  My goal is to seed and water this entire level so that the grass to dirt ratio becomes 9:1.  I'm tired of dirt being tracked into the house and found.... everywhere.

And here's our little Salsa Garden again.  The two lattice screens are for peas to climb up {I hope}.  I have laid down a bunch of soaker hose {the aqua thing} in the hopes of keeping the garden well watered this year when we go on holidays.  I tried to companion plant again and rotated my plants so that everything is all mixed up.  I also amended the soil with manure {cow poo to the preschool crowd} and potting soil.  

Oh and remember how I planted mint last year?  Ya, bad idea.  It spreads everywhere!  See the plant poking through the brick?  That's mint!  So I transplanted a bunch of it onto some rustic stairs that we have.  I will let you know how it goes...

Next week I'll be sharing some fabulous photos of my favorite perennials.  Until then...

Featured in Parenting Magazine and Crafting on Facebook...

I have a whole pile of random crafts for you today!

Anytime I'm working on something that might be an epic fail ~ I post it on Facebook.

When I have quick photos of works in progress ~ I post them on Facebook.

A fun magazine feature? ~ Posted on Facebook!

I would love for you to join the party on Facebook!!! :D

Anyway, I was hoping to have a copy of Parenting Magazine {May 2012} in my hot little hands. But it doesn't look like it's going to happen.  So here it is, my Parachute Men Invitations, right there on the screen. :P  Whoop! Whoop! 

Here's a little cutie trying on her Mermaid Party Dress ~ the party is this weekend!  Should be fun!!

My friend also asked me to make t-shirts {from my Camping T-shirt tutorial} for her little campers.

Adorable right?!

This was the prototype for my slipper pattern.

We went out for my sis's birthday a while ago.  I made her that crochet hat that she's wearing and we were supposed to wear something florescent ~ that's a florescent green t-shirt necklace I'm sporting.

A baby crocheted cap that I sold before taking any more pictures.

A beanie for me.

I taught a few Cupcake Creations classes recently.  Here are a few of the student's finished cupcakes.

Love it!

And finally, a more recent craft, this bleach design beach cover up / summer dress.  Turned out decent.  I am SO not trusting my 4 year olds with the camera so this photo is as good as it gets.  Plus, fun sandals right?!?!  Walmart.  

That's all for now.  I hope to see you on Facebook soon!