Just In The Nick of Time

I'll just apologize now for the crappy nature of these photos. I used the laptop to take pics of myself and it's after 1 in the morning...so this is what I get :)

I worked on this tonight while watching the Top Chef finale and just finished it up...the deadline is midnight PST. I was really inspired by the fabulous Shari of Soren Lorensen Design for my last entry in the Lil Blue Boo & Dharma Trading Co Design Challenge. I have a whole new appreciation for Shari for the patchwork dresses and shirts that she creates. Sewing all of those patches together and getting all the seams to line up is a lot of work!

I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I will definitely be keeping this for myself to wear this summer.

The Forgotten Dress

I made this dress a few weeks ago for the Lil Blue Boo / Dharma Trading Design Challenge and then promptly forgot about it and moved on to other projects. Thanks Mom for the reminder!!! I wanted to make a more summery sleeveless style for the coming summer.

I made this one with a drawstring neck so you can lengthen the straps as your child grows. This is also great layered over a long sleeve shirt. I'll have to try to get a picture of it styled like that tomorrow.

This idea for the applique has been floating around in my head since last year. I tried drawing it with a marker on a t-shirt but the marker ran all over the place. Then I thought to carve a stamp with the image.
I messed up carving the little details of the face so I just drew them on with a fabric marker afterward. After I stamped it I cut out the dress of the coordinating fabric and appliqued that on.

Carving stamps are really fun and SUPER easy if you have the right tools. I really like the Speedball Speedy-Stamp Blocks and the Speedball Linoleum Cutter Set from Dharma Trading Co. I've carved the harder linoleum blocks before but the Speedball Speedy-Stamp blocks are much easier to carve and I think you can get a crisper image. Try it, you'll like it!

At Least Someone Gets Excited About the Things I Make

I made this little smocked romper for August for the Lil Blue Boo / Dharma Trading Design Challenge that ends tonight. I made rompers similar to this last summer for Augie and for my niece. I did them a little different this time around.

For this year's version I did a braided strap that is knotted in the back.

When picking the embellishment I was really stumped but then I saw this super cute stamp over on one of my favorite blogs, Jezze Prints, that looked like cross stitch and a light bulb went off.
I freehand cross-stitched little hearts and the border around where the blue meets the floral print.