My Top 6 Visitors...

Who are you six people? You six people that regularly check my blog? There are six people that have read my blog 15-25+ times in the last month. It makes me feel loved :-) I'd like to know who you are. Hopefully no psychos! Hopefully I'm clicking you as much as you're clicking me. I like checking my google analytics. I like to see where my traffic is coming from. I think it's cool that people in Malaysia and Austrailia (and 8 other countries) have visited me this month. So... you six people... who are you? Leave me a comment! Don't feel like a psycho... I have blogs that I check a few times a week too!

I have had a little business lately. Finally! I posted the skulls and crossbones outfit on ebay. It went for a whopping $13. Whipptee... not. Oh well... it's money I NEED. I posted the AB hair clips on ebay yesterday for $4. My ebay id is coachlover930, if you feel inclined to check me out. 100% positive feedback :-). I just keep telling myself that you've got to start somewhere. I sold a custom order for two shirred purple gingham check tops... a mommy daughter set. I'm just about done. I was trying to finish them before I went out of town on Thursday but I ran out of elastic thread Wednesday night and there was NO WAY I was going to Wally world at 11:00 pm for more when I had to get up for work at 5:30 am.

I made two things for myself!! Here's pics of one (mind the unkept lady with no makeup and frizzy hair... lol). It was my first time working with jersey knit fabric. Talk about a PITA!




I also made dresses for Kaytlin and I to wear to my cousins wedding Saturday. Kaytlin's was made of a satin fabric (similar to what's used for prom dresses and such... that weight). That was a lot easier than I thought it would be. But it had a zipper... so you know that was all jacked up. I'll get it one day. It was only my second time trying to do a zipper. I'm a little shy when it comes to people complementing the clothes I make. Usually I don't even mention the fact that I made it. My mother and aunt made it quite clear a few times that I made both of our dresses. Mine, in my opinion, was awesome. It was super easy to make, I love the fabric, and I got a couple of complements myself :-). I'll post pics soon. It was a lilac and blue hyacinth print fabric, shirred at the bust, halter straps, just-below-the-knee length. It fit perfect. It hid my flaws VERY well, it accentuated top and blended in the curves. I'm going to start making shirred dresses and tops for moms to go in my shop (as soon as I find time, I'm still working on that to do list!). They truly are awesome. I'm not just trying to sell my stuff here lol. My bust looked good, it was modestly covered, it was very comfortable, and very figure flattering. I'm going to do a few different fabrics for moms because the style itself is very versatle. I'd wear that dress to church, a wedding, or some other formal event... but if a different fabric were used, say a vintage cotton, it would be great for hanging out with friends.

I took some gorgeous pics of Kaytlin at the wedding location, it was beautiful. It was at this bed and breakfast in Nc. Gorgeous scenery. I took some shots of her sitting by the lake, in a gazebo, in an arbour type thing, playing in the garden, it was awesome. Too bad they're all on my moms camera because mine died!! And she's got a 2mp p&s camera... so the quality won't quite be the same... not that my camera is anything amazing, but for a p&s (point and shoot) it's pretty darn good! Especially with outdoors/well lit shots! Hopefully I'll be able to find someone who's good at paint.net or photoshop to edit the pics... she's got a nasty boo boo on the bottom of her chin. Plus, by the time we actually got a chance to sneak off to take pics her dress was already dirty. I think I can edit out the dirt and food on the dress, but I don't think I'm talented enough to get rid of the big boo boo.

Anyhoo... I'm going to post another pair of button clips in my shop, hopefully tonight. I actually made them for myself to wear with my dress but I forgot them sitting on my sewing table. How me. Adios!

A weekend ALL TO MYSELF?! HELL YEAH!!

My daughter likes cupcake stuff.... earrings, necklaces, shirts with a screenprinted cupcake, etc. Lately I've been shopping a lot for this kind of stuff. Lots of cupcake love in my house.

I finished my moms curtains. I also made a pot holder with some scraps. I'm going to write a tutorial for making it because it was pretty simple. I'm also making some really easy aprons with the scraps... one for my daughter and one for my mom. Both will stay at her house. They'll be so cute! I usually don't sell tutorials, I just give them away, but I could really use the $$. I thought about maybe charging just a couple/few bucks for a tutorial of both the pot holder and the apron.

Kaytlin is going to my moms all weekend and hubby is going to be out of town tonight, back tomorrow evening, then gone all day Sunday. So I'm going to have LOTS of fun being able to just SEW without interruption. It is going to be AWESOME! I'll be working on a dress for K to wear to my cousins wedding next weekend.

*NEWS FLASH* This just popped in my head. I got SO ANGRY the other day because Kaytlin climbed up the entertainment center (it's a good 5' tall) grabbed her Hannah Montana fabric, then went to the little basket of goodies on my sewing table and grabbed my FABRIC scissors that are super sharp, then she persued to chop her Hannah Montana fabric into shreds. Who was supposed to be supervising her? Daddy!

K was digging through my pattern drawer last night and pulled out this one that appears to be a flower girl dress... it's really dressy. She's BEGGING me to make it for her. It's beautiful, don't get me wrong, but do I really want to spend all that $$ to make her something that she'll never really get to wear anywhere other than home? Casa fabrics are on deep sale this weekend at Joanns... maybe if I feel like wasting some $$ I'll make it for her. Geez, I'm such a sucker.

Oh I almost forgot... I got another sale! Well, it wasn't an etsy sale, but a sale is a sale and that makes me happy!! Two purple shirred tops, one for mommy and one for daughter. I'll be working on that this weekend too! I've never made anything for a baby, wish me luck!

I FINISHED SOMETHING!!!!

Well... almost. I started my moms curtains last night and I have one looooong stitch left and I'm FINISHED! YAY! Those curtains gave me sewers block... I knew I needed to do them before I went on to other things, and I just really didn't want to do them so I stalled until the night before my mom was coming and I'm still not quite finished. I'm going to make a matching pot holder too... I'll post pics of it all when I'm done. The ones for the guest room are pretty plain, but the ones for the kitchen are so cute. She lives in the mountains and her kitchen is done in roosters.... I can't wait to share pics of the curtains and pot holders.

This weekend I'll be having a yard sale. YAY! And what shall I sew after that??? Hmm.... it depends on how much $$$$ we make at the yard sale. I'm hoping hubby will let me keep the $$ and buy a surger!! I think I'll fix the embroidered linen shirt.... that's going to be cute. Here are some shots of how jacked up it is... The bodice actually looks fine, this is just a bad shot. The skirted part opens up much higher than I wanted it to. It starts opening right around the navel and I want it just below the button of her jeans. Wow this is a really crappy picture... I shouldn't even post it! The denim is much prettier than this, so is the fabric. The bottom shot gives a good idea of what the material really looks like.

A zillion hobbies

It's official... I have hobby ADD. I just want to try it all!!! The more I shop on etsy the more I'm like "I want to learn how to do THAT!".

I haven't even mastered the hairbow thing yet and I'm already ready to move on to something else. I'm going to stick with the bows for now though... because I want to make some to match the outfits I sell. I want to learn how to crochet/knit... mainly because I want to make us a couple of those adorable hats with the flowers on them. I'm having a custom handbag made for myself. I'm really excited. The bag is knitted and lined. She's already knitted it and it's ready to be lined.

I think I might hold off on adding any new items to my shop until after I get my surger. I think I have just about convinced my husband to let me use our yard sale earnings (this weekend!!!) to buy one. If not then DEFINATELY by my birthday in June... or there WILL be HELL to pay! lol. The SSSF did good until I found my paypal debit card. My paypal account is now at $0.00. Addicts will do anything.... I'm going to keep making new things... just hold off to start adding them.

Oh geez I JUST remembered that I have to make my mothers curtains BY this Friday or she is going to kill me. AAAAHHH! When am I supposed to find time to do that?! I'm still trying to finish that top I started over a week ago!

I did manage to knock a few things off my loooong to do list though... I made the fabric covered button clips (as you can see), finished the Amy Butler dress, I stocked up on some hair bow making supplies.... and well that's it. I suck.

Here's todays to do list (it helps me remember if I write it down)-
* Clean out closets in search of more yard sale goodies
* Start moms curtains
THAT'S IT!!! I must do these two things and cannot cloud my thoughts with other tasks.

Tutorial: How to make fabric covered button hair pins

I have seen a lot of these on etsy lately and have fallen in LOVE! Being the crafty mama I am, I had to find out how to do it! Honestly, finding a tutorial wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. In the end, I just combined a few different tutorials to get what I was looking for.


Supplies needed:
Buttons to cover AND the kit used to cover them (comes in most packs of buttons, I paid a little over $2 for a 4 pack with the kit)
Fabric scraps
E6000 Craft Glue ($3)
Hair pins designed to be decorated (I had to look in the wedding section with all the veils and stuff to find these at Michaels, I got an 8 pack for about $2)


Bobby Pins- Buttons-

Tools needed:

Pliers (If you don't have pliers, a pair of utility scissors will work, that's what I used. DON'T use your fabric scissors lol)

Spool of thread (you don't use the thread so color doesn't matter)

Scissors for cutting fabric

Ink pen (or fabric marking pencil if you're a pro like that... but the edges are completely covered so perfection on the edges is not crucial)

Step 1) See how big your fabric needs to be. The button kit says cut the fabric double the width of the button... but that (for me) left a lot of excess fabric, so doing a little less won't hurt. Draw a circle on your fabric using the spool of thread as a guide. Go farther out or closer to the spool depending on size needed.

Step 2) Remove the button shank (the shank is the little metal loop that pokes out and would be threaded if you were applying it to a garment) Follow directions on button kit to cover the button with the fabric circle you cut.

Step 3) Awe those little buttons are so cute! I was worried my fabric wouldn't be tight around the button but they were just perfect! Now take your glue, the hair pins, and the buttons outside or to a very ventilated place because this glue will stink up your house and probably give you brain damage or something. Lay the button over the little disc to see about where you should put it once you whip out the glue. When I looked at the button and the pin I didn't think it would lay right because of the way the button dips down where the fabric goes, but it worked perfectly fine. Put a little glue on the hair pin (on the little circular disc part) and press the button onto it, making sure it is centered. Let the glue cure... the E6000 packaging says it takes 24-48 hours but my button was stuck after a couple of minutes.... I still let it cure though.

Voila you're done! I probably made it look more complicated than it really is. It's super easy. I wish I had taken pics of the process.... but I was a little distracted :P I did this while I was playing cards with some friends last Friday night.

Total expense for supplies: $7; Cost per clip- $.85 approx. Time to complete: 15 Minutes

~Available for purchase in my Etsy Shop~