Easter Sewing (3)

The next piece of the babies outfit is an "Easter Bonnet."

I'm not sure what this generation of moms thinks of such an item, but a bonnet traditionally had to be part of an Easter ensemble because any female's head had to be covered while worshipping in church, so I thought I'd make up a cute quick one.
I found this rectangular shaped easy one to make on the "Sew Beautiful" blog and it whipped up as easy as  meringue (which is way easier than making a pie I might add).
All there is to it is:
 Cut out 2 different fabrics in rectangular shape (I think this size was 9" x 14") and sewing them together right sides together with ties on each side of one long edge about 1 1/2 inches into the piece. (Use any ribbon, fabric, or anything that'll make a cute little bow.)
 Last step is sewing a 1/4 - 1/2"casing on the other long edge to pull a ribbon or small piping/cording through so that it can gather up into a small 2" circle at the back of the child's head. Sorry, no picture of the back.

My model moved away so next time the teddybear will have to suffice.
Boo Hoo Hoo

The 2 fabrics make it reversible and I added a plain white cotton lining so the fashion fabric wouldn't show through to each side. I also added a little trim fabric, but you can use lace or ribbon or nothing at all if you desire and make it uniquely yours.
Fold the top 1 1/2 inch section back for a brim and tie it on.
SEW CUTE!!

Kenneth C. Hodgman (1923-2011)

I'm not great with sentimental words or expressing my emotions, but here goes.
My sweet father in law passed into his next estate this morning and I wanted to pay a short tribute to him and his life.

He was a humble man of humble means and leaves behind a wife who adored him and 2 children that revered him and what he stood for. His son, My Hubby, in talking about him yesterday said, "He was a man of high integrity and honesty, and he didn't back down on his principles no matter what."

His little nervous laugh was always with him in conversation, even when the Alzheimer's had taken his train of thought away. It was just such a cute habit coming from a naturally happy man, that he never let it or his pleasant demeanor go.

We will all miss his kind heart and ready smile and look forward to seeing him whole again.

Love Ya Grandpa Hodgman

Easter Sewing (2)

Here is the next installment of my "Bliss" fabric items.
I posted about a cushy baby blanket here, and now I'll show off my little shoes and panty/bloomers for the wee one.

 These little under dress panties will contrast with the actual dress when all finished. I used bias binding on the right side of the pants for a casing to run the elastic through. I used this same fabric bias binding for the trim on the shoes.

 The top of the shoes is the bloomer fabric, while the bottom of the shoes is out of the dress fabric (to come later)

I had the red ribbon with white polka dots laying around, and the cute buttons were repurposed from an older purse that will never miss them.
The bloomers took about 30 minutes, but those shoes were at least 3 hours in the making.
I sure hope they look cute on the cubby cheeker.

Easter Sewing (1)

I bought several different fabrics in a line called "Bliss", designed by Camille Roskelly and her mother Bonnie for Moda Fabric.

I love the turquoise and red colors together, and they have included sage green, off white, brown, and pink into the mix to really make a color combination that I love. I also like that her name so resembles my sister Camille Kelly (Swenson) so I had to buy it.
So this is what I chose to use for Easter/Spring dresses for the 4 cute little girls in my life.
I started with a blanket for the baby spotted on another cool blog I read, and I used a flower print on one side and chenille(d) the other side with 3 thicknesses of flannel.

After laying all 4 layers down flat and with right sides showing, I sewed straight lines on the diagonal of the 45" square blanket every 1/2 inch. This took a little bit of thread and time.

 Then I cut all 3 layers of flannel between the rows of stitching, being careful to not cut the fashion fabric on the front of the blanket. I used this handy dandy little tool that I got online cause I couldn't find it in the fabric stores. It is a slash cutter by Clover.

I used 2 different colors of green/blue for the chenille.

 I edged the blanket after all the cutting was completed with a cute red print from the line, and a really cool new bias tape attachment on my sewing machine that I'm not very good at using yet.

 Then I washed the blanket......

...... a few times for added fluffiness.

A unique new blanket. Fun!!

Coming soon:

3 dresses,
2 skirts,
baby bonnet,
bloomer pants,
hair bows,
fabric shoe booties  

all using this very adorable fabric line.

Family BBall

Our 2 youngest children were home for their respective spring breaks this past week. We enjoyed them a lot and ate, watched bball games, watched it rain cats and dogs, and tried to stay dry.
Finally on Saturday it stopped raining for a little while and so the little girls wanted Uncle Michael to teach them how to play a little ball. LK wanted to learn dribbling skills and LG was just going to make a few baskets.

Yea!!! You go girl!
Then the little guy had to get in on all the action (or his dad thought so).

What a cutie.
Thanks MM!

In My Arrogant Opinion

NCAA Mens Basketball has always been a part of my life. When I was 9 years old my brother, who is 9 years my senior, started playing college ball for BYU and so we traveled to many games in Provo as well as a few other places the next 4 years. Good memories.
My other brother coached at a small college for about 15 years until a few years ago, and most of the 15 nephews are into the game both physically and mentally, including my own Michael who has played on the U of U team this past year.
So, you would think that this family of mine would do well when it comes to predicting the winners of the big tournament at the end of the season which is dubbed March Madness.
Well, you would be wrong.
Out of 34 of us Kelly's participating in this years ESPN challenge, not one of us has a pick left in the final 4 that has a win predicted. So no more possible points to be added to anyones total.          
 Nada, Zero, Zip!
I have UConn in the mix but they aren't supposed to win, so I can't get any points for them.
However ..... I am the WINNER!!!!!!! Yes IMAO (in my arrogant opinion) is in 1st place.
Yes you heard correctly. I WON!   With the tournament not over for nearly a week I am the winner from all the other rounds.

So, I get the coveted prize. A basketball cut out to look like a helmet or something. I'll show you when I receive it from Kara my DIL, who was the winner last year. (We are keeping it in Nor Cal if we possibly can.)
Looks like I won the immediate family bracket as well. I actually get $ for this one from the Hubby.  Think I'll buy an ice cream machine.

Smilebox

I made this smilebox to send to MM and Katz.
Thought I'd share it here as well.

This greeting customized with Smilebox