dress up days for a 3 year old

Someone turns three today.  And it's kind of killing me!  Her birthday always make me feel so nostalgic for some reason.  Partly because her birth coincided with our last move and by her turning 3 it signals that it's time for us to pick up and leave again.  Ugh.  Leaving is always the hardest part - yes, I am excited for our new home and another adventure.  But it breaks my heart every time I have to say good bye to friends and a place I've come to love.  But more on that later...

Look who's three!!

I don't know what it is about her, but she breaks the tension, makes me laugh and smile and soothes my frazzled self when I need it. I don't know if that comes with being #3 or being doted on as the baby or what. But she's been a bright spot in the past year full of deployment stress and all of that fun stuff.

Shari from Doohikey Designs for Riley Blake sent me some of her darling Dress Up Days fabric to make babylouwho a dress. I love this pattern so much (Simplicity 5695) that this is the 3rd dress I've made with it!  It comes together so easily and is so comfortable to wear!  And easy to adapt to whatever fabric you might have on hand!

I just love the bicycles and the flowers and the chevrons and the tiles!  It was the perfect fit for this pattern.

I left the elastic out of the sleeves on this one, just for a change and I really like the way it looks!

I told her a few weeks ago that she wasn't allowed to turn 3. She looked at me very seriously and said, "OK mommy. I won't turn 3". A week or so later one of my friends asked her how old she would be on her birthday and straight faced replied, "I'm not allowed to turn 3."

So excuse me while I mourn the loss of my newborn and celebrate her spunky 3 year old self!

pop up sew & tell v1.1: i have actually been sewing

I've decided I'm going to sew & tell in a pop quiz sort of way!  If I blog on a Friday, I'll put up a linky so you can share some of your finishes too!

I actually have gotten a lot of projects completed in the last several months.  For some reason or another I just haven't been motivated to blog about them.  In all honesty, Instagram has replaced blogging for me quite a bit.  It's so easy and fast to snap a picture of a WIP, get a quick opinion on fabric choices, or just a quick sew and tell share!

I do like the format of blogging and the friendships I have here.  I'm going to make a more concerted effort to get blog posts up.  They might be short, but hopefully they'll be interesting!

I wanted to share a dress I made for sisterlouwho.  I finished it back in November, but it's been a little busy around here the last few months!

I bought this fabric (A 3 Sisters print by Moda) over 4 years ago mostly because it was on sale.  It's pretty - I love a classic Jacobean Paisley floral, but it's not really my normal color palette.  I had initially intended it for a bag - but then it just sat unused in my closet.  I had the inspiration to use it for a dress a couple of months ago!

I've used a similar pattern to make her some dresses when she was more toddler sized, and was happy to find a girl's sized pattern that was similar.  But of course I had to tweak it.  Partly because I didn't have the right amounts of fabric and partly because I like to complicate things all the time. :)

I lengthened the middle panel to make the bottom more of a ruffle and less of a skirt.  If that makes any sense at all.  I also lengthened the sleeves and used elastic thread for the shirring instead of a casing and elastic.  I like how it creates a little ruffle.

Of course it has to pass the twirl-a-bility test.  I think it did!

I'm really happy with it and so is she!  I will be making more of these soon.  So easy and fast!

Have you been sewing anything fun lately?  I would love to see!

Linky Rules.  Please follow along for a fun party!

1. Please be courteous when linking up.  This is a forum for sharing, motivating and making friends - not self promotion :0) (i.e. Tutorials or links to shops/sales/etc.)

2. One linky per person.

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button (HTML on my sidebar).

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

Please put your (blog)name instead of your project name, it helps us get to know each other better!

to market, but not really

I know it's been a few weeks since Quilt Market.  I've wanted to go ever since I heard there was even such a thing.  Fabric heaven where fabric designers go and hang out with the mortals!  Every six months I drool over post market recaps and twitter and Instagram feeds from people who are there!  This year a part of me went to market. Sort of.  I should have sent a flat Amy with Kim and Sara (their links go to all of their market recaps! excellent posts!), but I'm not that organized.

Instead, I was very lucky to have been able to help Vanessa with her booth.  I made several samples to help display her new fabric line Simply Color.  I just love the simplicity of her designs and the bright vibrant colors!

This polka dot border print is adorable! And her request for pillowcase dresses was a perfect way to showcase them!

She also asked me to make a skirt for her to wear and I was so nervous that it wouldn't fit right, since we don't live close enough for me to have her try it on while I was making it! And the angle of this picture is terrible, but it was the only one I took!

I was happy to see a picture of her wearing it - so it must have not have been a completely horrible fit!  And loved seeing her whole happy booth!  And her being her usual funny self -  I love her 'sassy' face! haha!!

photo courtesy V. and Co.  Check out her post HERE.

And it was a little surreal to see the pillowcase dresses hanging up there too!

thanks for the photo Kim!

I'm planning a {not a} tutorial post for the dresses and skirt soon.  Stay tuned!

flashback, retro, vintage... whatever you want to call it

My mom made me this dress when I was about the same age as my oldest is now.

I didn't know she had held onto it but it found it's way to my house a year or so ago.

My oldest found it in the closet and wants to wear it every day!

It's true, we might look a little bit alike. I really think it's that dress that inspired me to make this one for her earlier this year.

Although in true amylouwho fashion, the one I made has an elastic neck and no zippers or bias tape finishing.  The one my mom made? Zippers, trim, bias finished edge, ruffle, you get the idea.

And I really ought to get a picture of her in the new one before she outgrows it, no?