Lazy Days Skirt

Here is another wonderful free pattern from Oliver + S! It's the Lazy Days Skirt and you can find it here on their blog. Just click on "lazy days skirt" under free patterns on the right side of the screen. These little skirts are so easy to make and are finished so nicely with the ribbon at the bottom. I think Robin is already outgrowing hers!

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Jerome

When I was a little girl, we lived in New Jersey, and my dad worked for Parents Magazine. (He was in the data processing end of things.) Maybe once or twice a month, my dad would bring home a storybook for us. "Jerome" was one of our favorites. It now resides on Ellie and Robin's bookshelf, and it's one their favorites. A witch pretends to turn Jerome into a prince, and Jerome helps the townspeople solve problems by talking to the troublemakers in a simple and clever way.











You can find "Jerome" by Philip Ressner and Jerome Snyder here on Amazon! The illustrations are funky and fantastic.

I'm so glad my mom saved our favorite childhood books. 

Handmade Art Work in the Girls' Room

First, I"m sorry I've been away for so long! Wow, I missed the whole month of June. The good news is that I haven't been attending to my blog because I am once again busy with freelance writing work, which is a wonderful thing. I am definitely having a hard time juggling kids, cooking, cleaning, paying the bills, grocery shopping, work, crafting, kids, did I mention kids? I can't keep up!

I thought I would share with you a little corner of our home. This corner is in the girls' room just above Ellie's bed. The large needlepoint work of the pansies and the oval shaped painting on fabric came from our thrift shop down the street and cost $1 or $2 each. They are both handmade--I wish the creators could know that their work is still being appreciated! And, the lovely little needlework piece in the ornate frame was made by Ellie and Robin's grandma in Australia many years ago. We brought it back with us on our trip this past spring, and I'm so glad this little treasure is with Ellie and Robin.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to be back here sooner rather than later.

More Tea Towels

It's funny because last year right around this time, I posted about some tea towels that I embellished for my Aunt Patti. And today I just wanted to share some more tea towels. These are a couple of dish towels that I got at Savers or Goodwill a while back, and I finally got inspired to decorate them with patchwork made from my scrap collection. A quick project with a cute result! And they really brighten up the kitchen. Another prototype for my someday Etsy shop...

Thanks for stopping by!

Popover Sundress

 

I absolutely adore Oliver + S! Their blog, which you can find here, has amazing free patterns and fantastic sewing tutorials. They also sell patterns and have a line of fabric. And, they have a new book "Little Things to Sew," which I cannot wait to read.

I made these sundresses with the Popover Sundress pattern--it was free on the Oliver + S blog--just look at the right hand side of the blog. These dresses were pretty easy to make and came together so beautifully. I can't wait to try more of their patterns. I made the dresses a little big so that the girls can wear them next year, too. The pattern for the doll dress was free, too, so I made matching dresses for our favorite dolls.

 

Robes

Ellie had been asking me for a bathrobe for a long time. I couldn't find one at the children's consignment shop or even at Target, so I decided to make robes for both Ellie and Robin. I took the girls to Joann and let them each pick out their own fabric. Ellie picked flannel with purple butterflies, and Robin picked pink flannel with sparkly stars. I used Simplicity pattern 2826, which, thankfully, was on sale for $1.99. I had to buy two patterns--one for each size. I haven't sewn clothing in a long time. The hardest parts were pinning the sleeves to the armholes and turning the belt. Otherwise, not too hard, and the whole process didn't take very long.

Thrift Shop Finds

I've scaled back on my thrift shopping these days. One because I don't need anything (we are trying to be minimal) and two, because we're on a tight budget. However, I did have a couple of affordable finds on a recent trip to Goodwill with my friend Marian. I got this atomic coffee pot (I don't drink coffee, so it's decorative) for $3 and this red vintage fabric for $2.There were at least four yards of fabric! Some of it has been transformed, and I'll share the project with you in an upcoming post.