Off to Banquet

Junior/Senior Banquet is tonight! Emily gets to wear her finished dress!

Beautiful!

And we even got a headband decorated for her.

Not to be left out, Josh found a great deal on what was originally a very expensive suit.

(Of course I had to fix a hole, mend the waistband, and uncuff and re-hem the pants....) :)

And no, they aren't going together. Well, they are going together, but with their dates.

Here's a just-because-we're-that-kind-of-family picture. :)

Hope they have a great time!

Friday Focus

Another Friday = meeting another mini Mack! :)

This week, Sarah is in the spotlight.

• Sarah is the 6th mini Mack
• She is the third daughter

Here's Sarah as a bitty baby:

Look at that hair!! :)

• Sarah was born 3 days early
• She weighed 7 lbs 7 oz
• She had a head full of very dark curls (which the nurses at the hospital teased into a baby Afro. hehe!)

• Sarah was the EASIEST baby
• She was always happy!

• Sarah slept through the night at a very early age (so nice!)
• She was so content that she never bothered to crawl

Here's Sarah on her 2nd birthday:

Rocking horse made by Daddy

• She loved playing outside

• Sarah has been home schooled since preschool
• Now she's almost done with the fourth grade

• Sarah LOVES taking care of her younger siblings
• She's a great big sister!

Sarah and baby Molly

• Sarah started taking ballet when she was three

and still LOVES it! :)

She does ballet beautifully!!!

• Sarah is quick to smile
• She has a quiet, easy-going, mellow personality
• She gets along great with everybody
• Sarah loves Disneyland

and has met most of the characters!

• Sarah has a beautiful spirit
• She deserves everything wonderful!

A Sarah story:

Sarah has always loved being in the water! When she was 2 years old, her 5 brothers and sisters were playing in a pool in our backyard. When left unattended for a split second, she decided to join them! She quickly sank to the bottom and had to be rescued by her daddy. She came up coughing and sputtering, but not a tear was shed. As soon as she caught her breath, she said, "Me fishie!!" :)

The Big Reveal

So what was I working on when I wrote this post?

Well, let me start off by saying that my daughter is going to the Junior/Senior Banquet for their school this Saturday. It's a formal event, so she needed a dress to wear. Her bestest friend gave her a strapless dress that she had previously worn in a wedding. Strapless?? Not in this house! :) So, I had to make this prom type dress modest!

I am happy to reveal my latest project today!

Let's start with some before pictures!

A red strapless dress (sorry for the blurry pic!)

A red wrap was included.

OK, this dress needed straps! I knew that matching red satin could be very difficult, so I thought of other options. How about black? Red and black look great together! Just adding black straps wouldn't look right though. So I had to find a way to tie the whole look together!

I started with some black satin ribbon

and added it to the edge of the wrap.

I also added black satin ribbon to the top of the dress, sewn by machine except for the last few inches on both sides of the zipper which I sewed by hand.

The front.

The back.

Then I added straps!

The straps are made from black satin, 3" wide,

with two pleats at back and front. I sewed them carefully under the folded piece.

Next, I made flowers from the leftover black satin,

and had them cascade down the front, smaller to bigger.

Each flower is hand sewn on with 3 Swarovski crystal beads, to add a little sparkle!

Here's the dress finished.

 I'm really happy with how it turned out! I spent less than $10 with the modifications and it looks beautiful on my daughter! I will post pictures of her wearing it later. :)

P.S. Modeling pictures can be found HERE.

Linked at:

Creative Itch
Blue Cricket Design
Sew Much Ado
The Shabby Nest
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Tatertots and Jello

Brother and Sister Outfits

I love making my kids clothes for hardly any money!  And it's even better when they can match!

I found a super cute striped rugby shirt at the thrift store and knew it had a future for a couple of my littles! First, I used the sleeves to make Leah some striped leggings. Then, I threw together a simple two layered skirt to go over them from a scrap of navy fabric. Next, I made Josiah a raglan shirt. I cut the sleeves from the striped shirt and the body from a navy shirt I had laying around. Finally, I cut the number off the striped rugby shirt and appliqued it to the front of the new raglan!

And there you have it! Brother and sister outfits!

Tutorial Tuesday

Here's how to make the ruffle shirt to match the heart skirt from last week!

Interested in the ruffle heart skirt? You can find it HERE.

First, I started with the pattern for this project.

I cut out the front 1 1/2" from the fold to make room for 6 front pleats:

I also cut the neck about 1/2" higher so I could trim it cleanly after I made the pleats.

I cut out the back yoke pieces not on the fold, cutting 2 and adding 2" on the center edges:

and then cut out the lower back 1 1/2" from the fold to make back pleats for ease:

I also cut one strip of 1 3/4" wide on the bias (not shown) to make bias tape, a piece of white 2" wide by about 6" long (for the fake front button placket), and ruffle pieces about 15 1/2" by 3 1/2" with the ends tapered for the last few inches:

Next, I marked my pleats. I marked center, then 3/4", 1 1/4", 1 3/4", 2 1/4" 2 3/4", and 3 1/4" from center on both sides and extending 5" down the front. Then met up the marks on both sides of center and pinned them:

Then I took my fake button placket to the ironing board and ironed the sides and bottom in 1/2":

ironed in the bottom corners:

and then ironed the bottom up to make a nice edge:

Centered this on the front with the bottom 5" down, stitched it on, and stitched down the pleats:

then folded the shirt front in half and trimmed the neckline using the pattern:

I turned the center edges of the back yoke under 1/2" then 1" and ironed them:

and pinned the opening together, overlapping 1":

I marked where I wanted the back pleats, 1 1/2" and 3" from the arm edge on both sides:

pinned them:

and sewed the back yoke to the lower back piece, finishing the seam and topstitching it:

Then sewed the shoulder seams:

I ironed the ruffle pieces in half and ran a gathering stitch 1/4" and 1/8" from the cut edge:

Gathered them up, pinned them to the armholes ending about 3 1/2" from the shoulder seams on both sides, then basted them on:

I used some single fold bias tape to finish the armholes by lining up the edges and sewing 1/4" in:

then ironed it to the inside and stitched it down, covering all the raw edges:

After both sides were done, I sewed up the side seams:

and then finished the neck with the bias tape I made:

I finished the back opening with two buttons and buttonholes:

Finally, I hemmed the bottom and added little heart buttons to the fake front placket.

Ruffle shirt done!

Here's my happy-to-model-if-it-means-I-can-go-outside Leah! :)

With her favorite chicken!

Close-up of back

Close-up of front

My happy girl! :)

Let me know if you have any questions!

Linked at:

Creative Itch

Running with Glitter

Funky Polkadot Giraffe

Ladybug Blessings

Blue Cricket Design

Sew Much Ado

Tatertots and Jello