The Von Trapp Family Zombies

Happy Halloween!  

The plan for this year's Halloween costume, according to Facebook was made 37 weeks ago.

I had a friend getting rid of curtains and I was basically dared to make them into costumes.

They probably all forgot.  I did not.

The Von Trapp Family Zombies from @lliE on Vimeo.

My plan was to make straight up, real Von Trapp costumes from this fabric...but my kiddos weren't really going for it.

So someone mentioned...was it me?  That we should be The Von Trapp Family Zombies...and suddenly, everyone was interested!

We don't really watch scary movies and I wasn't even sure what zombies looked like, but after a quick google search I declared, "Ahh, zombies are scary and super gross!"

So, whereas, yes, we are "zombies", we don't have any blood around our faces -- yuck, and we like brains...but we eat grass and leaves.  Alternative names: Ghouls, The un-dead, you get the point.

There, now everyone's happy.

The Hills are ALIVE with the sound of BRAINS!

I self drafted my dress, just by making it up as I went.  The girl's dresses were loosely based off Oliver + S dresses and using the Building Block drafting book. 

The boys are wearing Oliver + S sunny side shorts with pretend lederhosen.

And J gets to be captain and just wear a suit with a $1 whistle.

J and the kids all agreed the scariest part of my costume was my pretend bangs. (Which is my bottom hair tucked on top).

Total cost for costumes:
$1 = Whistle
$6 = Face Paint
$1 = Fire starter to burn holes in the fabric
FREE = curtains + brown fabric + everything else.

Last night we had our Ward Trunk-or-Treat Party and I'm happy to report our family won the "Best Family Costume" Award. 

Happy Halloween, ghouls and boys!

Birthday Girl's New Dress

A few weeks ago this big girl had her birthday, which in our book, means a new dress is in order!

The only direction she gave me was she wanted a comfy black dress.  I knew just what to do when she asked for comfy: Oliver + S's new Girl on the Go Dress.  It is a pattern made for bigger girls out of super comfortable, knit material. 

Technically speaking, this fabric is not black...but a really dark navy blue.  Luckily, she still loves it!  She actually REALLY loves it and wanted to wear it all day, even when it was time for bed.  Ha, ha. 

The only modification I made was to add 6" of length.  These kiddies grow so fast, I don't want these darling dresses to last only one year, so I typically add lots of length. 

Oh, but that's not all I sewed.  I surprised my girl by also sewing her the Double Dutch Jacket to go on top.  Ever since she saw her sister's jacket she has wanted her own. 

It is fully reversible, so with a quick switcher-oo, she has another jacket. 

She always says she can't decide which jacket she likes better.

 Happy Birthday, sweet girl! 

The Perfect Scripture Case.

I did it!  I finally released my Perfect Scripture Case pattern for sale on my Etsy shop.

This project has been FOUR (!) years in the making.  I began with my first scripture bag for my son when he turned eight.  Then I tried again with my next son's eighth birthday, this time I wrote down some directions and took a few pictures.  When I made it for the third time for my daughter I decided to take serious notes and turn this into a pattern to sell for others.  

At home I playfully referred to this project as, "My Mount Everest of Sewing".  It was very complicated and I was 100% starting from scratch with loose ideas in my head.

I knew exactly what I wanted -- a zipper case, thick with padding and of course, LOTS of pockets. After checking the market I couldn't find anything like what I had envisioned in my head.  So I made my own.

The Perfect Scripture Case is made to fit one regular sized Bible and Book of Mormon, a Bible and a Triple Combination, or a regular sized scripture Quad.

This advanced sewing pattern includes: A fully padded scripture case- using flex-foam, two soft perfect-fit handles, two zippers, three fully lined pockets, and all finished seams!  This part I was very passionate about!  All finished seams!  -- which of course, made this pattern a bit tricky to figure out.

But figure it out, I did!  I hope you have lots of fun sewing your own perfect scripture case.

And because the 4th of July is around the corner.  PS-- I love the fourth of July!  I've added a HUGE coupon.  I almost never offer coupons. 

 This coupon is for 50% ANYTHING in my shop:

Including my brand new The Perfect Scripture Case.  Please use the code: JULY4.
This offer is good for one month.

Happy Shopping.

Double Dutch Jacket + Skirt

Olive + S released their new Spring Patterns.

I was lucky enough to pattern test for their new Double Dutch Jacket + Skirt.

The timing was perfect, since it was in December right before this cute girl's birthday.

The jacket is fully reversible and color blocked, which makes it so fun.

The skirt is supposed to be made from knit material, but I missed that when picking out fabric, so I picked out cotton.  I'm excited to try this pattern again and sew up a quick skirt in knit, which my girls love.

When picking out fabrics, I was thinking spring colors and something bright and probably picked bolder colors than I usually would.  But they turned out really fun together.

For more on this cute pattern check our Oliver + S here.

Cute girl!

The Perfect Scripture Case-- CLOSED

Hello, after years (FOUR YEARS!) of pattern developing I have finally completed The Perfect Scripture Case. 

The Perfect Scripture Case— this ideal scripture case sewn with love, is made to fit one regular size Bible and Book of Mormon or a regular sized scripture Quad.

I have had countless requests for a full sized Scripture case, after people 

see "My First Scripture Bag" pattern on Etsy.

Well, I finally got it to a level where it's ready to be tested.

This scripture case is fully lined with three different pockets for storage. 

Pattern includes: flex-foam for a fully padded case, two soft perfect-fit handles, two zippers, three fully lined pockets, and all finished seams!

If you are interested in being a pattern tester please fill out THIS FORM. 
Now CLOSED.  Thanks for all who showed interest!
All work should be done by April 5th.

Thanks!!