Princess Ariel Costume

The day after Halloween 2015 Savannah decided she wanted to be Princess Ariel for the next Halloween. It has to be the pink dress Ariel and it has to look like this one on her book.
I'm doing my best but we have to be practical. I found a Simplicity pattern on eBay for this dress, bought the fabric at Joann's since I needed a ton. The dress is so full, I have never done gather's this tight.
 It's going together well but it is going to need a petticoat underneath.
The dress is obviously not done but Savannah is very happy with it so far. She has had to compromise on a few things.
The detail along the overdress is just pinned on for now, as well as a few tiny blue beads on the overskirt and bodice. The sash is not completed, I was just deciding if I was going to use it at all (I think the dress needs it.) The overdress is tucked up temporarily to add more fullness also. I have not made the gauntlets yet either, I am thinking of adding the puff sleeves to the gauntlets and they can just slide on. I'm trying to find a few shell beads to add but no luck so far.
Nolan's costume is a secret. I'm trying to find some used things for his costume online or at thrift stores and I don't want competition.

1950's style pinafore dress.

I have been working so hard on creating my own line of children's clothing. This is a very exciting and stressful time in my life. On one hand I want to create and start selling children's clothing, and on the other hand I know I am in this by myself with 2 little needy munchkins and I don't know if I have the time to keep up with this.

I saw a vintage style pinafore dress on Instagram and immediately all these thoughts came into my head about how to create something similar and create different variations based off of one pattern.

Here is the first result. This is Savannah's Easter dress. Since my daughter takes after my husband, she is very skinny and very tall in the torso, making it very difficult to dress her. She is 3 1/2 years old, a 5t in shirt length but only a 3t in width. I had to take this dress in several times. It buttons in the back on the waistline with 2 covered buttons. It is adorable on her. Unfortunately I don't have pictures with it on because of course she was sick for Easter.

I tried a second time and it went so much faster, to deal with the size issue I added elastic to the back waistline. I made this one for my niece Stella. 

I blended a few different patterns together and hand drafted my own pattern for this dress. 

I would love some honest opinions about the dress.

I'm hoping to base all the dresses off of the original Abby Cadabby dress pattern. I am currently working on a 1 shoulder dress also drafted from this pattern.

So we have finally defrosted from Winter. We were lucky that we didn't get as much snow as some other states but this late storm threw us for a loop. Savannah took her first solo tube ride. She is growing up and getting so much more brave.

She also learned to roller skate. I never thought these were things she would do. She has always been very cautious and nervous.

Here are both my munchins after a trip to the Bucks County Discovery Museum. The museum was quite small but it had everything just the right size for these 2. 

Nolan got some new sunglasses and likes showing off. His sister accessorized.

The kids have both been sick for over a week now. Savannah is on a round of antibiotics. No hospital visits or blood work this time, but it is apparent that their little bodies can't keep up with all the extra work destroying blood cells and making new ones. It seems now whenever they get sick their bodies just give up. 

I am still going strong with my fitness goals. I really don't have any goals but I am keeping steady at 10 lbs lost in 4 months. Exercising for 30 minutes per day, 6 days a week. I am feeling great, just super stressed.

Jake and I started teaching a morning Sunday school class at church. We are teaching 4 and 5 year old's. I love all the kids, they are super sweet, but some are not so happy to have another new teacher and some like to be boys and wrestle the whole time. Needless to say it is very exhausting and Saturday nights are no longer something I enjoy. Preparing for class is pretty difficult with getting the supplies ready, lesson plans and making sure everyone is ready to leave the house Sunday morning. 

Homemade Halloween Costumes

  Halloween is long past, Thanksgiving is only 2 days away and we are expecting our first big snowfall of the season tomorrow, but I've been busy being a mom. Nolan had his first birthday on Halloween. We went tick or treating as usual with my sister in law's family. The kids had a great time, Nolan did so well.

I finished Savannah's costume before the end of September, I was so proud I actually finished something more that 2 hours before it was due. She was Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street. I started with a shiny blue poly/acetate fabric then added ruffles to the waist and neckline. I gathered strips of tulle and sewed that along with the skirt. The inside is lined and hand sewn over the seam so there is no itchy/irritating seam at the waist. She wore a pink shirt and leggings as pink fur body. I am very happy with the results.
For the hair I used a dollar store headband and folded strings of yarn in half then took one long string of yarn and wrapped it around the base of the gathered hair and the headband. The headband wouldn't stay so I used curler clips that I had from cosmetology school and they fit perfectly over the band to hold it in place.
She also got to wear glittery blue eye shadow, and my sister bought the awesome wand at the Sesame Street live show we went to in Baltimore. The wings were from the dollar store!

Nolan's costume is not nearly as complicated and I was finishing it the night before Halloween as usual. He was Curious George as per Savannah's request. He wore dark brown corduroy pants, tan shoes, a hooded sweatshirt that was grey and dyed it brown, and a white shirt that I dyed red. 

The ears I sewed from muslin and then added onto the sweatshirt. The tail was a long tube made from brown fabric that I put a hanger inside of and connected to his pants. He was comfortable and this was a very inexpensive costume.

I realized just last week that Curious George doesn't even have a tail but it was cuter with it.

 I found this awesome salad on Pinterest. It is a Kale salad with curry roasted butternut squash and white beans, candied pecans and Sesame Tahini dressing. Recipe here. I had never had Tahini before, it is so good.

Princess photo props, Abby Cadabby Costume.

It's been so long since I've posted so I'm going to try and do a couple in 1 night.

Jake and I (mostly Jake) have been working on the addition on our house just about every single night. It is a lot of work for 2 people especially with the kids. My dad has been an awesome help also.

Since last time, Savannah had her 3rd birthday and Nolan has started taking steps.

I created these photo props for Savannah's party. They are made out of thin craft foam. I hand drew the templates then cut them out, glued together and added a stick. I have the templates for Cinderella, Ariel, and Snow White so hopefully I will have time to get some made for selling.

This is where I got the idea from, it was a pin from an Etsy site.

 Savannah is going to be Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street for Halloween. Of course I had to make the costume myself. I used a somewhat simple dress pattern and added the ruffles to the bodice. I hand gathered strips of tulle and connected it with the skirt. There is a zipper up the back and I plan on having her wear a pink shirt and pink leggings under since it is always cold here for Halloween, and I made yarn hair that I will connect to a headband.
Nolan is going to be Curious George. His costume is much less complicated. He is wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt with brown corduroy's  I'm going to make a tail and ears.

Almost Walking

 Due to the hurricane Halloween was on a Monday this year. Because I work Monday nights I wasn't able to take Savannah trick or treating but Jake was. I made this costume for her to look like a peacock. I made a classic tutu and hot glued real peacock feathers into the slip knots that make up the tutu.

 This is the headband that went with it. I folded up some pieces of tulle and glued them to a ribbon. Added a couple scraps of peacock feathers and sewed the ribbon around a stretchy hair tie.

 There are photos out there of her in the costume I just don't have them yet.

Savannah got to play in the leaves. She didn't like it very much.

She is finally learning to walk! For about 2 weeks now she has been pushing everything around that moves. She loves cruising through the kitchen with her walker. We are practicing standing on her own and she seems to enjoy the effort.

Loves pushing her shopping cart.
She still only has 2 teeth and is getting very picky about food. I am not making much anymore because she will like it once then never again.

I have been working on Christmas presents so I don't have any current projects to show.