Pink Sequin Dress

Here's another beautiful dress that I am quite proud of (made Sept. 2018). I found the sparkle fabric as a remnant at Joanns, that was (surprisingly) over a yards worth. It was $15 for the remnant; sequin fabric is typically more pricey, but I didn't mind spending that much because the sequin fabric is gorgeous! My favorite part? It had a beautiful finished edge already, so I didn't have to hem the dress. I used a combination of patterns--VFT patterns, as is typical--Harlow, Penelope, and Maisie.  I added my own back sash, and I never use the given pattern measurements for skirts in any of my dresses, as I think they are all too short. You can't see it too well in the pictures, but I covered KAM snaps in the sparkle fabric for the back enclosure, and I love that extra touch of sparkle. If that weren't enough sparkle, I also made a hair bow to match the dress. Here are the pics, I just love it when she wears her pettiskirt under the dress, it really make her look like a princess!

Fall Peasant Dress + Ava Felt Flower Headband.

Well, this dress had virtually no interest in my Etsy shop nor the Boutique, go figure since I think it is pretty dang cute.  I didn't use any of my own fabric for this dress and it was fairly quick and easy to make (just your basic peasant top with ruffles and a sash) so I didn't loose out too much, at least I got some cute pictures of Elisa! 
The headband I made from felt using the Violette Field Threads Ava Felt Flower pattern.  I got it in the free stash of patterns I won.  I love love this head band, but I'm thinking Elisa needs more browns and tans in her closet because this headband hardly ever gets worn.  I have to say, this felt flower is pretty involved and time consuming considering it is just a felt flower.  It even requires sewing!  Well, maybe not requires...the glue gun can replace the sewing...I've already tried it with another one of these flowers and it turned out just fine!  My fingers begged to differ, but skin heals--time on the other hand, is something you can never get back, haha. I also like that it is very cheap to make. 

Elisa's Pioneer Dress

 I bought this light maroon colored fabric at Joanns on super-duper clearance (like $1.50/yd) and I after working with it, I can see why it was on clearance.  Cheap, cheap fabric! Thin, wrinkly, and stiff.  Oh well.  A costume is about all it was good for.
When I went to cut this fabric, I didn't really have any plans; I just started making a dress and paired it with some lace and trim I thought looked good with it.  When I finished the dress, I thought it looked plain and old-fashioned, so I decided it definitely needed a little bonnet to complete the pioneer look!  I found a free, easy pattern here.  I have fun dressing her up in her little dress and bonnet, but alas, she is not quite ready for the dress up/imagination stage yet.  At the very least we have a back-up costume for Halloween!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tea Party Hat

I loOoooOOove this fancy hat on Elisa.  I also love that it goes with lots of different outfits.   I bought the little "hat" and headband at Hobby Lobby. I decorated it with random scrap material & lace that I had on hand already.  Then I added a button bling, feathers, and pearls for that extra touch of adorableness!   She looks so dressed up in her little hat!

 

 

 

Rainbow Satin Hairbow

This fun hairbow was inspired by one I saw on Etsy (I can't seem to find it right now--but there are plenty of similar one floating around out there).  I love the shiny bright colors.  It's almost like a crown! It took awhile to make--I used polyester fabric---and come to think of it, it would have taken less time and looked less bulky if I had used ribbon instead.  Oh well.  On the other hand, it probably would have been a lot more expensive to make (although I would have had a lot of ribbon left over for other projects!).  Anywho, here it is:

I paid a couple of bucks for the fabric, and I guess I'll add another dollar for the sparkly and other stuff.  So, $3 for this awesome hairbow!

Laced-Trim Skirt

 I found this fabric at Joannes in their red-tag clearance aisle, and I couldn't pass it up because it was so pretty! Actually, I used most of it to make ME a shirt (turned out quite well--but I'll save that for another post if I ever get around to taking pictures of it!).   I used the leftovers to make Elisa this cute skirt.  I love that it is both casual and fancy at the same time, thanks to the lace.  I even made her a hair bow to match!  It is a little big now so it should last her a long time.

I spent $8 on the fabric, but I got 2 projects + a hair bow out of it!  I'll round up, since I did use some lace (it was mostly leftovers though).  So, $5 for a cute skirt AND a hairbow!

Ruffle-Back Dress

 Let me just start off by stating that I love Hobby Lobby.   Okay, now we can continue...


I stalk Etsy to the point of obsession, but I justify it because once in awhile I'll come across a few gems now and again.  Of course I am too poor to buy them so I just make them instead.  One of these gems includes this fabulous dress:

Adorable, right??  It's from here. Too bad it's $79 + shipping.  Yikes.  Well, going back to Hobby Lobby (a store that I LOVE), they have the most amazing selection of fabrics.  And not badly priced either.  They have a permanent 30% off sale on most printed fabric, and I cannot resist buying it!! So a month or so ago I spoiled myself  Elisa and bought some very striking and cute fabric.   Here is my version of the above dress in the Hobby Lobby fabric:

SUPER CUTE.  It came together fairly easily, the ruffles did take some time but all in all it wasn't too bad.  It's a tie-back dress with an elastic casing in the back bodice.  I love the colors, and the ruffles make it all the more striking.  Total cost?  Let's see: I paid $3 each for the lime and pink fabric (with about 3/4 of a yard left over), the black was already in my stash, and I got 1/2 yard of the print fabric so it was about $2.50! Okay so less than $10 for this dress, even less if I would have bought just 1/4 yard for the ruffles.  So one could make this dress for as low as $6. Awesome.  Oh and I got a hair bow as well!  I love Hobby Lobby.

Elisa's Birthday Outfit

 Here is Elisa's birthday outfit.  I can't believe she's already a year!! (Now that I've gotten around to posting this, over a year!).  Her party theme was cupcakes with bright colors.  I really like a lot of ruffle and wanted it casual so I came up with this.  I was going to buy her a hair bow that matched her outfit because I SUCK and making hairbows, but I couldn't find on that I liked.  So I gave up my search and made her this one, and it actually turned out pretty cute!  Too bad it was flipping up in the pics! Flippin' hair bow.
You may be wondering why there are two different cupcakes-and I was pretty upset about this-the first cupcake flaked off so badly that I had to take it all off and put on a different one.  I guess the glue on the back of the rhinestones was defective (or I didn't iron it on properly?) but who knows.  It didn't help that the photographer kept tickling her belly to make her smile during her photo shoot. I found another iron-on applique at Hobby Lobby (I love that place!) and it has stayed on much better.  Not to mention it was lots cheaper ($3 as opposed to $8!).
Speaking (or typing, rather) of cheap, excluding the iron-ons, this outfit cost under $5 to make.  I had the poor lady behind the cutting counter cut strips of colorful fabric about 3" or 4 " wide, and they ended up costing 30-some-odd cents each by cutting them like that.  Not to mention pre-cut already, saves time! 
The hair bow was used with ribbon I had already, but I did purchase a couple of colors, including a cute little plastic-y cupcake button and a crochet head band, totaling to around $6.

All in all, her fabulous birthday outfit cost around $20 to make. Would have been cheaper if I didn't have to buy two iron-ons!! She gets lots of compliments when she wears this.  Yes, I still have her wear it; its too cute to wear on only on occasion!

Butterfly Tutu Onesie

  I don't have too much to say about this outfit other than it's adorable and was pretty easy to make.  It is an embellished onesie with a butterfly iron-on and sewn-in tutu. She looks super cute in it and gets lots of compliments whenever she wears it.  I made the hair bow to go with it.  I love all the sparkle and puffiness of this outfit! It is so girly.

 

 

 

 

Total cost: around $10 for the everything, and lots of leftover tulle!

Easter Dress

Here is Elisa's Easter dress! I actually made it a month or two ago.  I bought the fabric at Joannes and used the same pattern as he Christmas dress.  Which, speaking of, I am SO DONE with that pattern.  Too many pieces to sew together.  Yuck. But I think it turned out super cute.  I love the glittery swirl fabric, but I do not love that the glitter comes off easily.  Will NOT buy that fabric again.  I make sure to hand-wash it so the glitter doesn't all come off at once, but all I have to do is touch it and it comes off! Bummer.  I also made her a hair bow to match, which stars the glitter ribbon I got at Michaels.  I think I paid no more than $10 for this dress.  Cheap for a dress this cute!  She wore it for her Easter portraits:       

Total price: abt $10

Instant Hair!

 Have you ever heard baby pigtail headbands?  They're made by "Bebe Doos Perfect Ponies" and I came across one while at the swap meet in CA.  It looked SO SO cute on Elisa and I wanted to buy it but it was $21!! Too much for my broke self.  I should have taken a picture but I didn't have my camera with me. So you know me, I just had to make one for Elisa.

Here is what it is supposed to look like:

Here is how mine turned out:

   

 

 

 

 

I know, right?!  Silly! It just looks silly.  In fact, these pictures make it look better than it does in real life.  The color was too white and I think I made it too thick.  I would try again, but the color is just so wrong that I won't even bother.  Good thing the hair was only $2.  Meh.  Hopefully I'll get some good use out of the leftover hair some other time.

Total Cost: $2, 30 minutes, some ribbon, and a nice stretchy lacy hairband.