pretty print blouse & puff pocket shorts {a refashioned wardrobe}

This is the last outfit in my little girl's refashioned wardrobe, and it's definitely my favorite. Her top is made from a blouse I bought for myself at the thrift store - I absolutely loved the print and the fact that it was so light and flowy. But I got home and realized a large portion of the neckline had frayed away from the seam and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. And so it went into the pile to refashion, along with a tan twill skirt that fit fine a few summers ago but is (alas) too tight now. (Keep reading for more photos and tutorial)

Click to read more ...

summer shortie and simple shrug {refashioned wardrobe}

I just have two more outfits to show you in my daughter's refasioned wardrobe, and this summer shortie is one of them. This outfit started with a gray blouse that I really loved because of the cute pleat details down the front, but that was just too short for me. It would have been simplest to turn the blouse into a dress for my little girl, but she has lots of dresses so I wanted something a little more practical for spring/summer playtime. (Keep reading for tutorial and more photos.)

Click to read more ...

winter white sweater dress upcycle

I love sweater dresses on little girls. They just look comfy and cozy and sweet. I made this winter white sweater dress last week using a women's sweater from the thrift store. It wasn't much to look at to begin with, but it transformed into a cute little winter white dress for my almost 2 year old baby girl.

The construction is very simple, which is nice because simple = quick, but I added an oversized peter pan collar for a bit of extra sweetness. Here's the boring before:

Click to read more ...

little girl skinny jeans using a leggings pattern

Well, since I jumped on the skinny jean bandwagon I figured my daughter ought to as well. She already has a pair of little boots that she loves, so she just needed some skinnies to go with them. 

But I'm cheap. Really very cheap. So I didn't run to Target and drop $15 on baby girl skinny jeans. I made my own our of a pair of clearance shorts I bought a few summers ago, back when I thought I'd magically loose two pants sizes. Ok, I didn't actually think I'd loose that much weight, and the shorts were only $1, so I bought them even though I knew they'd probably never fit. Turns out that was a good decision, because now I had plenty of stretch denim for a pair of baby girl skinnies.

Of course, as well as being cheap, I'm kind of lazy. I've seen people who make their own jeans and I'm always impressed that someone would go to that much work - pockets and zippers and button flys, oh my! Jeans are not a simple sewing project. But these little skinnies are. They're basically leggings, with a few details thrown in to make them look more like real jeans. But again, they're basically just leggings, so if you can make leggings, you can make these! Here's how.

Click to read more ...

baby girl wrap front pajamas

My husband brought our daughter to me the other day and said: "She needs new pajamas." There were holes in the feet of her jammies and her toes were sticking right out. That was Friday night, and Saturday I was more in the mood to sew than to shop, so I made her a new pair of pj's. 

I cut up a men's XXXL sweater I'd purchased on clearance at Walmart for $1 and went to town. My baby girl was pretty pleased with the result (and BTW, I have four boys and NONE OF THEM cared AT ALL what they were wearing at her age - but she wants to pick out her own clothes and her own shoes already - what's up with that?) 

It was a pretty quick project because I used the existing hem and sleeve cuff for all my pieces, so I didn't even have to hem anything! I finished up the top with bias trim (cut off an old t-shirt) and added an easy yoga waistband to the paint (same old tee), so I was easily done by the time naptime was over.

Here's what I did:

Click to read more ...

sew: the runway shortie {free pattern download!}

*This post originally appeared at the Ribbon Retreat blog*

I love the look of jumpers/rompers/shorties that I keep seeing on the runway, but there is no way I could ever pull one off, even if I wanted to. You know who can? My baby girl. She can pull off just about anything, so I decided to create a Runway Shortie just for her. It has the cuteness of a dress with the versatility of shorts, so she can run and play to her heart's content.

Do you like it? If you do - get ready to make one for your own little girl! I'll show you how to make your own pattern below, but I'm also offering a FREE pattern download. It's sized at 12-18 months, and fits my little girl (who is a small/average 16 month old) perfectly, so it would probably be best for a baby right around a year old. If your little girl is a different size, just use the instructions below to make your own pattern!

Click to read more ...

photograph: take great photos of your newborn baby {pt 5: get this shot}

I hope you've been following along with this five part newborn photography series geared toward teaching you how to take great photos of your newborn. In case you're just joining us now, here's my photography disclaimer and links to each blog post in the series:

I don't claim to be a pro, and following the steps I'm outlining here isn't going to make you a pro either. There's a lot more to photography than props and poses. If you want amazing portraits of your newborn, your best bet is to invest in professional photos.

However, if you don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on a newborn photo session, there are things YOU can do to get great photos of your newborn, and that's the point of this blog series. Here's what you can look forward to in the next few weeks:

Part 1: the basics | Part 2: posing | Part 3: posing baby with family members | Part 4: editing | Part 5: how to get this shot (setup to post processing)

How to get this shot

Do you ever see a photograph and wish you knew exactly how to get that shot?

Click to read more ...

Photograph: take great photos of your newborn {Pt 4: editing}

I hope you've been enjoying the first three parts of this newborn photography series. If you've missed them, here's the rundown:

I don't claim to be a pro, and following the steps I'm outlining here isn't going to make you a pro either. There's a lot more to photography than props and poses. If you want amazing portraits of your newborn, your best bet is to invest in professional photos.

However, if you don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on a newborn photo session, there are things YOU can do to get great photos of your newborn, and that's the point of this blog series. Here's what you can look forward to in the next few weeks:

Part 1: the basics | Part 2: posing | Part 3: posing baby with family members | Part 4: editing | Part 5: how to get this shot (setup to post processing)

Today I just thought I'd show you how I usually edit newborn photos. Newborn photos can usually use a fair bit of editing because it's normal to see scratches, red splotches, dry skin, etc., on those new babies' little faces. What sort of editing and how much editing to do is really a matter of preference - my goal is generally to remove distractions and help the baby's skin look it's best while maintaining a realistic photo that doesn't "look photoshopped." I generally edit using Photoshop Elements.

I've made a screencast for you today taking you through my usual process.

Click to read more ...