Lots of Wonky-ness

Please excuse the mess while my blog is under construction. Hopefully all will be back to normal once my kids go down for their afternoon nap :)

-Sarah-

A Mystery No More

A few days ago I posted a 'mystery project' that involved chiffon and dye... Well, since I gave my MIL her gift Thursday I figured it was safe to go ahead and post the finished project!!! I am thrilled with the way that it turned out and despite the beading thread difficulties and all of the dropped beads, I have 3 more in the works... one of them will be a huge surprise and I cannot wait to announce it on here... so Stay Tuned!!

Without further ado, here is my first ever hand-dyed, hand beaded scarf!

-Sarah-

Every woman needs an apron, or two....

I finally finished up these two apron gifts - They've only been in the works for a year now *hanging my head in shame* At any rate, they are still super cute... Hope the receiver adores them as much as I do.

-Sarah-


Emmeline Apron by Sew Liberated
*This is one apron, it's completely reversible!*




Four Corners Apron by Vanilla House Designs

Another mystery project...

These are fun posts to make but to be honest, I'm only making it a mystery because at the rate I'm going, it'll be another year before these are finished! At any rate, I've been having fun (even if I did splash dye on my favorite pair of ratty jeans). I've been sewing like crazy this weekend trying to finish up last-minute Christmas gifts. I'll have to wait until after December 25th to show any pictures though - I'm not sure if the recipients read this blog!!

-Sarah-

Started with this.....


Added a little bit of that....



What could they possibly be???

Like Mother, like daughter?

Once upon a time my mom was very crafty. She and our neighbor Cheryl always made the cutest Christmas shirts. I can remember watching them iron them on then paint like crazy. Our kitchen was full of paint and cardboard. Of course all 3 of us had coordinating shirts and we usually had pictures made in them. I guess it's no surprise that I've been working on my own kid's Christmas shirts. It doesn't matter that they'll only get to wear them 2 or 3 times - I've still enjoyed making them. I guess I get that honestly. Only I've traded my mom's fabric paints for sewing machines! I did use just a smidge of paint to glue on buttons to Aiden's shirt and I need to put a mouth on his gingerbread man later tonight. They will wear these to have their pictures taken with Santa this week and on Christmas day!

-Sarah-


Aiden's shirt in progress. I imagine that my mom's work space looked similiar to this... well, maybe the 1/2 eaten pan of brownies wasn't there.... haha


Aiden's shirt - minus a mouth


Madeline's outfit. She also has an adorable gingerbread bow to match. Well, she will when ever I get it finished :)


This picture is circa 1994 or so.... Yes, we are sporting some of the awesome shirt that my mom made us :)

Polish Pottery - I want it!

My friend Allison is stationed in Germany with her military hubby and in celebration of passing 50 blog followers, she is giving away this beautiful piece of polish pottery!!



I'm anxiously awaiting December 18th to see if I won!! You can read about her give away here

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Just wanted to share a small peak at Miss Madeline's Christmas outfit....

-Sarah-

CPSIA - this will affect YOU!

This is really important. No, this is not a hoax; I have researched the dickens out of this, and as you can read in the sources below it is true ... and frightening. New legislation is slated to take effect in February that will dangerously affect all small businesses in this country that make and/or sell handmade toys, children's clothing, blankets, cloth diapers, and more. It will even have an impact on any of you that prefer to buy handmade items and support craftspeople - simply because those items will mostly no longer be available. I heard someone from the ACLU on NPR this morning (talking about a different topic -- homeland security) and he said something like "The biggest threat to Americans is Congress" They like to do things that make it look like they are concerned for our safety, but it's all for show and has disastrous consequences. I am fairly certain that a pig flew by my window because I whole-heartedly agree with him - and there isn't much that comes from the ACLU that doesn't make me want to vomit.


As of February 10, 2009, ALL items sold in the United States that are meant for children 12 years and younger will be required to have third-party lead testing done by the manufacturer. This sounds great in theory, since we all want to protect our children. This law will only force small businesses to close (or operate illegally), when the problem lies with large companies making cheap items in foreign countries.


DO YOU BUY THESE ITEMS, OR VALUE THE ABILITY TO BUY THEM?
Then you need to e-mail or write your representatives today. If this legislation is not changed to offer some sort of clarification regarding handcrafting businesses in the US, then many if not most of the items I've discussed will no longer be available. No more wood cars crafted by a retired grandpa; no more children's handmade clothing and cloth diapers on Hyena Cart; not to mention Etsy and other sites that encourage us to buy handmade. I don't know if you feel the same way, but if I had to choose between a handmade item made by a work-at-home mom versus a "certified lead-free" item made in China and sold at Target, I'd choose the former.

DO YOU MAKE OR SELL THESE ITEMS?
If you own a small home-based business crafting these items, these requirements fall on YOU. You will be required to test each and every component of your items for sale, and label them with a batch number and date of manufacture. This includes thread, buttons, fabric, etc. If you do not comply, you will be in violation of federal law and could be subject to fines up to $100,000 PER ITEM - and even jail time. Any children's items made before this date that are not tested and certified lead-free are considered banned hazardous waste and cannot be sold after February 10, 2009. Even if you use materials such as fabric that were tested by their manufacturer not to contain lead, you must still have third-party testing done. This is obviously not an option for most artisan businesses!

Please call or write your representatives regarding the new CPSIA legislation *that has already passed* and will be put into effect in February without any thought for the 'little guys'.


We must act soon and get some changes made, or February 10 could mean the end of the "Buy Handmade" movement! Stand up for small businesses everywhere as this legislation affects each and every one of us, our businesses, our children and even our economy. Let your representatives know that as much as we value keeping our children safe by testing items for lead, this is the WRONG way to accomplish that.


I encourage you to read over the links below.

Contact your local representative via this link:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

You can read more about the CPSIA legislation at:

http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.html
http://nationalbankruptcyday.com/
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/cpsia-what-must-be-tested/

http://www.toyassociation.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=CPSIA&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=290&ContentID=6275

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Doesn't miss MJ look adorable with her turkey clip? Someday she'll have hair but for now all I can do is the headbands. Her JoeJoe can't stand all the frilly bows, but he thought this was okay :) Of course, she's already cute enough, but that lil turkey just made the day!

-Sarah-

Go LHS!!

I finally finished up the Lubbock high outfit I was making for a friend. I've been anxiously holding off on showing the whole thing until I had given it to her. So for those who enjoyed the sneak peak... here it is in all it's black and gold glory!!!

-Sarah-




This is what the undershirt looks like... it is not the cutest lil cheerleader ever?

She loves me Knot!

I have fallen in love with the new knot dresses. I especially like the ones made from hodge podge fabrics. This one was extra special - It was made with love for a super cute Texas Tech Fan! I can't wait to see pictures of the little princess sporting this at the games! It's pefect to wear in cold weather with a turtle neck and leggings or as-is during the summer months! The pattern was very simple and I look forward to making many more as Madeline gets bigger!

-Sarah-

Boobie Bibs :)

I've finally begun working on my nursing cover stash and hope to get them listed in my Etsy store soon, very soon! Until then, here's a few of my favorites!

Crayon Apron

I made this crayon apron for a dear friends little girl - I thought it'd make a great 2nd birthday present since she loves to color! I'm always nervous when giving anyone homemade gifts - I just never know how they will be received. It's hard to put a lot of time, effort and love into a project just to have the recipient put it away. Well, I'm pretty sure this mama loved it! In fact, so did big sis. Good thing the fabric requirements were so generous - I have enough to make another one. That will have to wait until after Thanksgiving though :) So, I think that's about it for my marathon blogging - Off to sew some more!!

-Sarah-

And yes, her name is hand embroidered on to the waist band.

Gonna be warm and cozy!

Last week a cold spell passed through and I realized that Miss Madeline doesn't have a jacket or sweater, not that you need them much in Houston. We're going to Perryton for Thanksgiving and it's been known to snow! I browsed some of the local consignment shops, but of course they were all empty - seems I wasn't the only mama missing warm outer wear!! Aiden is set - Gigi picked him up a light jacket and coat on an end-of-season clearance but Miss Madeline was left to be cold :) I had seen the Cute As A Button Jacket Patternbefore at my local quilt shop but never thought much about it until I needed a coat! Oh my gosh, that had to have been the easiest thing I've ever sewn!! I highly recommend this pattern and have no doubt that even a beginner sewer could figure it out! I would suggest adding length - it's really short. Not going to make a huge difference on an infant, but when I make it again in the bigger size, I will be making it MUCH longer. The buttons I got this week at JoAnn's are too big, so I'll have to exchange them this weekend. But how it this??? I used baby corduroy and some snuggly flannel in pink damask! Brown and pink is so shabby chic.



Since it's unsafe, not to mention uncomfortable to have in infant in a coat while strapped in their car seat, I made a Cozie Car Seat Cover to keep in MJ's bucket seat. It's the coolest thing... just snaps in and doesn't interfere with the safety but will keep her warm in the biting panhandle wind!



(How cute is my model?? Would you believe me if I told you that is an original Cabbage Patch?! - yup, that lil lady is 25 years old!!!)

Marathon Sewing for the awesome MG!

So, my good friend Misty Green from MG Studios asked me to make her girls matching (coordinating)outfits for their family pictures. We started this project in JULY!!! Just about the time we finally picked out a fabric and patterns, IKE decided to pay us a visit. Once we were settled back into life I was swamped. Well, I procrastinated a bit too :) The photographer who was supposed to take their family picture had to cancel due to an ill husband - so that bought me another week or two! Well, I FINALLY got them finished up and mailed. Misty called me while she was opening the package and I was a nervous wreck... She lOVED them... until she got to Emmy's skirt... *sigh* it's only about 9000 inches too long *sigh* and it's the one I worked the hardest on :( I guess I'll rip out all my beautiful ruffles and shorten it. Seems that Misty did tell me that I was going to have to cut a bit off - but sheesh, that was in August and I didn't even starting working on them till November - I slept a bit since then :) Again, I waited till the last minute, so I don't even have good pictures - no sweat - Misty's a photographer so I know she'll hook me up *wink wink*

Anyway, here are 3 of the 4 outfits!!

-Sarah-

Miss Abby


Miss Mandy


Miss Emmy


Miss Tori's is missing but it was a super cute a-line top with ruffle decoupage jeans! I even used my automatic buttonholer for the first time - go me! :)

Birdie Sling! by Amy Butler

I fell IN LOVE with the Amy Butler Birdie Sling the moment I saw it. I purchased the pattern with some of my birthday money but have not had a minute to make one! Well, at least one for myself. Aunt Karen commissioned me to make one for her daughter-in-law's baby shower! It's a great diaper bag - holds a ton but doesn't SCREAM diaper bag. Super cute and very stylish! It was difficult to pick fabric for someone that I barely know, but I went with an ultra-modern home decorator print - Chocolate brown with turquoise stripes. It turned out stunning - even if I did get very friendly with my seam ripper! I am mad at myself to procrastinating so long with this project. I finished it less than 1 hour before I was to be at the shower so the pictures were very rushed and do NOT do this beautiful bag justice. The good news? Since decorator fabric is so wide, I have enough to make myself one!!!! Yeah! Now the bad news? I can't seem to find the time!!! *sigh* someday....

-Sarah-

Adjustable Double Ruffle Headband

I was a tester again for YCMT and was give the adjustable double ruffle headband to try out. It's super easy and adorable -so you mama's with little girls need to check it out once the directions are released. My test isn't completely finished, but I had gotten far enough that I could take pictures and give a review for the author. Madeline was helping me sew tonight and Aiden wanted his picture taken every time I got my camera out. Funny from a little guy that usually runs when he sees the camera! See that doll that Madeline is teething on? I thought I’d try my hand at a Little Whimsy Mae Doll - it seemed easy enough - I even had intended on trying the John Doll Well, I think I’d better just stick with sewing clothing – we’ll leave the doll making to people who are actually good at it! One pig tail was put on upside down and her face is totally not round. I didn’t do so hot in geometry, but I’m pretty sure her face isn’t even a recognized shape!! Alas, Madeline enjoys sucking on it – so I guess not all is lost!!

-Sarah-

Miss Madeline Dress

I found this pattern on my favorite websiteand of course, I just had to make it! The pattern is called Miss Madeline and it's as easy as it is cute! I wanted MJ to have a cute dress to wear to a baby shower and it took me less than 2 hours from start to finish - that includes the "http://www.ericas.com/sewing/patterns/38296b.jpg">bloomers :)

-Sarah-

A sneak peek

A dear friend of mine asked me to make her daughter some new clothes - she wanted something for LHS Westerners and Texas Tech but left it completely up to me to come up with something! I love having that kind of freedom! Here's a sneak peek at what I've done so far! I'll revel the final products after I give them to Hannah at Thanksgiving!

-Sarah-

This is a sneak of what's to come with the TT outfit...


A little bit of LHS tease :)

Going sew crazy!

Wow! Has it really been 2 months since I've posted??? Keeping up with two small kiddos, a husband and a home doesn't leave much time to craft and edit, much less blog about everything I'm doing! I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water. I did take a few minutes tonight to get caught up on my project pictures, so I'll try to get a few of them posted!

Maybe I should make a new year's resolution now?? Here's to keeping up better!

-Sarah-

Mystery project....

What could this be? You'll have to wait to see :) Want to know why on earth I'd even bother to ask? I'm hoping that some one will nag me enough about the answer that I get on the ball and get it FINISHED! Oct 31 will be here before I know it *hint hint*


:)

Sarah

Ranger Pride Never Dies!

A friend of mine from high school asked me to make her 2 daughter's "Ranger Bows" so they could wear them to support their Uncle Chance at the big games on Friday night! I got the 1st one finished up tonight so I just had to show it off! Not sure if bow #2 will be a copy cat or something totally different but I did have fun doing this one! The bottle cap was an experiment and thankfully, wasn't a total disaster! Got it *mostly* right on the first try! So Berkley, I hope you like your bow! It'll be the cutest one in Kindergarden, by far!!

-Sarah-
(by the way, I specialize in people pictures, not product photography; however, I was very proud of myself for thinking about putting it on a real football!!)

Monkey See, Monkey Do

After my main blog, Maddie Dean Photography under went some major cosmetic changes this month, I decided it's time to re-vamp Sew Cute Babe!! Things may look super wonky from time-to-time, but just hang tight; it'll all be "normal" again soon!

-sarah-

Matchy Matchy 1 hour skirt

I finished up the One Hour Skirt test pattern and finally got around to having Mike take pictures of Miss Maddie and I together! Our first Mother/Daughter outfit!!

-Sarah-

Llama Song

This has to be one of the most obnoxious videos on the internet, but desperate times call for desperate measures! I needed to sew (well, more like wanted, but oh well) and Aiden didn't want a nap, didn't want to watch Veggie Tales or Hermie - I needed him to do *something* So I pulled up the Llama song on You Tube and he watched it for an hour while I finished my project! I feel slightly suicidal now, but I got to SEW in peace!

-Sarah-



I don't want the Llama to get all of Aiden's attention - these are equally obnoxious videos he'll watch while I'm surfing the net or sewing...

The ONE HOUR Skirt

I received another pattern to test this past week and I'm just finishing it up. It's the "One Hour Skirt" - a super cute A-line skirt with elastic waist and several darts. It's available in EVERY SIZE IMAGINABLE!! I drug my projcet out to 1.5 hours and made two skirts - one for myself and one for Madeline! I made her a pink top as well. I bought a shirt for me tonight from from Old Navy. I have to submit photographs as part of my review, so hopefully Mike can get those for me tomorrow. Until then, here's a quick snap of Miss Maddie!

-Sarah-

Old Red Barn Co quilt giveaway

ORBC is giving away the most AMAZING quilt I've ever seen! To enter I had to leave a comment then link back to my blog. To earn extra entries, I've added a graphic to the sidebar. Too bad I don't have time to do a video cause that'd get me an extra 50 entries! Oh well.... I never win but maybe this time luck will be on my side!!

-sarah-


ps - feel free to enter then pass the quilt along to me if you win!!!!


Old Red Barn Company Quilt Giveaway

Pinata Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

Pinata Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

Is this not the cutest?(click the link above to see what's cute) I think Maddie would look adorable wearing it and but me actually making it is another story!! Instead I'm Hoping to win it by linking to her give away! Wish me Luck!

-Sarah-

From her head to her toes

I made another outfit for Miss Madeline today. This one will match some gaucho pants I'm making for myself. I think the fabric is cute - but Michael wasn't impressed! I was so excited to finally figure out how to shirr her top that I shirred her pant legs as well!! I even learned how to make a korker bow to match! See her booties even match! She'll be the cutest dressed babe on the airplane!!

-Sarah-



Close up of booties - see the pretty bow detail!



Madeline's 1st Hairbow!

PTSD - Post Traumatic Shirring Disorder

Ok, I'm typing this one handed as I nurse Maddie, so please ignore all typos!!

Shirrin... ohhh shirring... that word might as well be 4 letters as it has caused me to say a few tonight!! I recently purchased a book called "Shirring Made Easy" yah right!! If you have patience like Job! I turns out that all I needed was my manual... then I would have known that my tension ran 9 to 0 and not the other way around. Putting it a 2 was NOT the answer!! If you're reading this and have ever attempted shirring, then you'll understand why I was only a few stitches shy of going to a looney farm!! Even though I finally figured things out (& had fun) I still may need therapy for my PTSD -

Here's a sneak peek at what I'm up to!!

-Sarah-