I have started cutting out the pattern pieces for the purse/totes. I hope to finish them in the next seven days. I went to my sewing group this past Friday night. Delicious food and great friends while we sewed equals a terrific night!
I went to Hancock Fabric today and bought enough fabric for all my upcoming sewing projects. Thanks, Mom, for watching the children while I escaped to fabric land! 
Here is my ribbon that I ordered.
One of my daughters has teacher appreciation week in May. She has three teachers so I decided to make them each a purse. This is what I will use. The flip flop will be main and the other will be the lining and the purse handle.
Now this print fabric actually coordinates with the flip flop fabric so this will be the reverse of the top/dress. The solid print is actually more pink. This picture does not show the correct color. This will be the pants that will match both sides of the reversible dress! Cute, cute! And then I will make some bows to match.
Here are a few pics I am putting here for MorningSong. These are some outfits I made two years ago for Grace.
I am part of a sewing group that meets twice a month. We are the new and hip sewing Mommas!! I love our group. It's not a big group. Ours only consists of about 5 hip and cool Mommas and we vary in age from mid twenties to the fifties! Sewing's not just for the happy grandmothers anymore, it's for all girls, daughters, mommies, sisters, aunts, cousins, and friends! It's for the young and the young at heart! It's an activity to build wholesome relationships. It creates special memories with lots of fun and laughs. I cherish these sewing moments.
The fabric you see above is what I will be using to sew another purse/diaperbag for me. I got this fabric at fabric .com (link to the right). You can find it by putting pink/brown in their keyword search or look at their coordinating fabric. I hope to take pics as I sew so that you can sew one at home too! And fabric .com has free shipping for first orders and this fabric is 54" so you can actually make two purses.....one for you and one to share!
I found another free shipping site that I will definitely be using! Click on You Can Make This banner above or to the right and then from that site click on Think Spring Challenge then there will be 4 fabric stores highlighted. Each one has a coupon. Yummy Fabric has free shipping. The other 3 have a 10% off order coupon which will cover shipping costs as well. And the fabrics are so cute!
Qicktip: before buying any fabric online make sure you find out if the price you see is for 1/2 yard or whole yard.
Everything I sew seems to happen in threes. Here are my three youngest girls and one of my younger sons. This particular dress is the Annette dress pattern I talked about in an earlier post. You will see alot of this dress this season! It is easy, cute, and reversible! If any of you are interested in purchasing it just let me know. My friend, Nanette, created this dress pattern. I don't make any money on it, I just think it should be in every busy sewing mom's reach. I hope to add an applique to my next one and a ruffle as well. I found Kay Wood Television and was so happy to see the Chelsea Tote being made from start to finish. Check it out!
I was recently asked where is the best place to buy fabric. For me, the internet has become my shopping preference only because the nearest fabric store is 30 minutes away and with eight children I can't just get up and go anymore. Walmart is close by but their selection is not my taste. Now I will purchase their polka dot prints for coordinating and some of their children prints at times because they do have good prices but my internet choice right now is fabric. com (link to the side). Your first order ships free. Their selection is awesome. You can also sign up for their eNewsletter and receive specials via email. They have a great selection of Amy Butler fabric, Moda, and cute trendy coordinating fabric in the pink/brown and blue/brown colors. Another way to save money is at Hobby Lobby. They have a 40% off coupon on their website twice a month. You can print their coupon and save on fabric at their store (thanks, Nanette, for this info!). Of course, you can find specialty fabric stores around your area and my advice is to ask them about their specials and sign up for their mail outs or email eNewsletters. They will always have some sort of special.
Now for my patterns, I love to go to eBay, apparel, Toddler, custom handmade section to get ideas to sew and ideas about fabric. These outfits go for big bucks!! Custom applique overalls for over $100, custom twirl skirts and top up to $100, bows and bottlecap necklaces. However, if you love sewing and want to save money then go to You Can Make This (link above or on side bar). They have an awesome collection of ePatterns, eBooks, and How-To material that you can purchase and instantly receive your order. These patterns are the ones you see on eBay (what I just described above: the applique overalls, twirl skirts, gaucho pants, bottlecap necklaces and much more!) Simple intructions with lots of photos!! No more figuring out what the pattern is saying without pics. I think this is one of the great things about these ePatterns, it's all about the pics!!
These are my latest dresses for my daughters. This pattern was created by my friend Nanette. It is her Annette sundress. It is the easiest, cutest little dress to make and the best thing is that it is reversible so I actually have two dresses in one! The pattern will be available soon at You Can Make This! This is an ePattern, eBook, How-to site that has some awesome ePatterns that you see on Ebay.
The first picture is the Easter outfit I made for my daughters. That particular picture is actually a gift but I did make my children this as well. I used Nanette's dress pattern and my pant pattern. They look so cute on them. I know I need to post a picture with the girls in the dresses but the dresses don't move around when the girls aren't in them! Ha
I said earlier that sewing can be a great way to save money and have your children in custom one of a kind outfits however what I failed to tell you is that shopping for fabric can be addictive. I can visit our local fabric store and if my youngest son is a happy baby then before I know it I have spent a couple of hours looking at fabric and thinking of the different outfits I can make. All while my buggy is piled with bolts and bolts. With that said, I have had to learn to control myself. Ha It is hard for me to hit all the fabric sales that I receive in the mail because I have so many children so for me internet shopping has become my preference but the shipping costs can drive your fabric budget up alot. What I have found is that there are fabric stores out there that have free shipping from time to time. One of the stores is fabric. com. They have free shipping on your first order. They have a great fabric selection on trendy designer fabric from Moda and Amy Butler (I love her fabric!). They have a great children's fabric selection and an awesome selection of coordinate fabric for the quilters out there. This is the time to think about all your neices and nephews and friend's children that you will be buying for during the year (Christmas, Birthday gifts). I usually decide what outfit I will be making for them and buy all the fabric from the store that has free shipping. And there you have it, you save money and you already are on your way to having your Christmas and Birthday gifts done!
This is an overall that I customized by adding a simple ruffle at the bottom with a matching bow. Now pictures of clothes always look better on a child than just a picture of the outfit. And they especially look cuter when you have two of your girls wearing the same outfit. I only made two of these so my two youngest daughters each have one.
I love to sew. I really didn't get hooked on sewing until I had my three daughters to sew for. They are close in age (2,3,5) and I just love to dress them alike. Not only do I love sewing but I love the money it saves me. I have eight children, four girls and four boys. Sewing has allowed me to save money while creating one of a kind clothes for my girls to look so cute and trendy! I hope to also sew for my two younger sons (13 weeks old and 4) this year.
At first I would only sew the most easiest dress patterns from my local store but did not always like the way they would fit my girls. Soon I found a wonderful bloomer pattern that I use now to do all of my girls' pants. I customized this bloomer pattern and I just love it! I am able to do so much with it. I can add ruffles if I want to, I can make them into pants or make them into gauchos with or without ruffles.
The dress above is the first "hard looking" pattern I sewed as a gift. However, this was one of the simplest dresses to sew and it is lined.
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