In case you were curious...

We had our ultrasound this morning, and lo and behold, we're going to have our THIRD baby girl! Everything looked wonderful and all was normal. She was doing so much 'gymnastics' that the tech could barely keep the right parts on the screen. :) Very healthy, very active little girl. Now I just can't wait to meet her! <3


Thanks for all the well wishes! 

Scrap & Sew Weekend

First of all, THIS amazing house in Deep Creek, Maryland is where I spent the weekend with a fantastic bunch of ladies for our annual Scrap &Sew Weekend. 

Amazing, right? This is the second year we've rented the same house, which comfortably sleeps 12 (although there were only 9 of us this year) simply because it's gorgeous. And there's plenty of comfy couch room and table space to spread out.

It's a weekend away for us ladies to do whatever crafty thing we want. Some of us scrapbook, some quilt, some cross-stitch, some read, some sew, and some just sit around and enjoy the view, the hot tub and the conversation. 

Since I'm rather limited in what I can sew for myself, currently (although I'm working on a few things to remedy that!) I chose to spend my weekend sewing for my girls. And since Easter is quickly approaching, I seized the opportunity. I had this Simplicity pattern - 7113 - in my stash, thanks to a good friend's generosity. When I showed it to Lilly, she immediately gravitated to the pink and white polka dot line drawing. "I want that one!" she told me. I asked her what colors she would like, and she just looked at me like I was crazy and repeated that she wanted that dress. 

So, I headed to our local Joann Fabrics (my only real choice for fabrics on the fly) with my fingers crossed that I could come up with something close enough. To my astonishment, I found a white Swiss dot cotton with pink polka dots for the top and washed the crap out of some pink with white polka dot quilting cotton for the bottom. A little pink ribbon for the sash trim et viola!

I arrived at the cottage on Friday evening at about 8 PM and by Saturday around noon I'd finished the first dress (albeit unhemmed). I finished the second one by that night. It definitely helped that I had cut all my pattern pieces a few days before the trip, to speed up the process.

Pardon my less than perfect photography - I was using my phone's camera. I still have to hem both of them, but after I got home Sunday evening the littlest girl woke up sick, and her big sister followed suit this morning. Both are feeling much better now, and I'm just praying I don't get whatever it was.

No matter what chaos I returned home to, it was a lovely and productive weekend away. I'm already looking forward to next March when I get to do it again. :)

Better Late Than Never

Well, it seems I have a bit of sewing-for-myself downtime.  It happens when you're pregnant and can't fit into anything you might want to make. *sigh*  So, I thought that in the meantime, I could get caught up on some of the posts I should have already written.

I made these dresses for my girls as Christmas gifts. Each of my daughters has a very different personality, so I wanted to choose something that they would love and know was made especially for them.

I made Lilly's dress first. It's made out of a really cute lightweight cotton print I found at Joann Fabrics. The bottom band is just a matching color broadcloth. Only the bodice is lined and I finished the seams just by pinking.

New Look 6927

I made Evie's out of an adorable narrow wale corduroy that I found it two contrasting colorways. I may make another dress for her out of the other color after she outgrows this one. I don't think she needs two dresses in such a distinct print at the same time. But I loved how this turned out.

New Look 6016

There is a very plain knit shirt pattern included with NL 6016, so I made one to go under each of the dresses.  Both were made out of a super soft rayon knit jersey; Lilly's was made in ivory and Evie's in chocolate brown. 

Christmas day action shot. :)

I have a few more things to post, which hopefully I'll get to this week. I'm going away for the weekend for an annual "Scrap & Sew" getaway weekend in Deep Creek Lake, MD. I went last year and made two dresses - one of which I wore constantly BB (Before Bump) and one that was a horrible wadder. I'll share them both and hopefully have some cute new things to show from this weekend. I have big plans for Simplicity 7113 in pink and white polka dots, for the girls' Easter dresses.

I'm going to try and take a few lessons from Miriam over at Mad Mim. She did some amazing things in her 'Sewing for a Belly' posts last year. I shall study hard and make you proud! Also, I won an amazing vintage maternity pattern giveaway from Mikhaela over at Polka Dot Overload a month or so ago. I might give one of those a try while I'm away this weekend, if I have the extra time. * fingers crossed *

And as a parting shot - here's me, about three weeks ago.

Baby Belly at 15 weeks, 6 days. Trust me, it's bigger now!