A Pretty for My Neck

I adore things handmade. I cannot explain how much joy it is to receive something that is handmade. So, my excitement to receive this in the mail just put me through the roof!

Isn't is lovely? It is a gorgeous necklace from one of my sponsors, Paige of Pink Lemonade.

She's an awesome girl she is. I know I said it before in her intro post, but I'm just so super proud of her for going for her dream at such a young age! What an inspiration!

If you can't tell from the pics, we spent our Thanksgiving in the Outer Banks and I was able to sport my new necklace for all to see! I love the little gold detail piece.

You can grab one for yourself, or a gift, in her shop. She also has a super blog where she hosts all kinds of giveaways and has great tutorials. If you buy handmade, I highly recommend her products.

The Mini Me Cardigan

What do you do when you have a cute little dress, for a cute little girl, but it needs a cute little cardigan to go with it, and you cannot find one in her size to match? (take a breath here).

Well, you can always can a bigger one that matches and resize it! And it doesn't take long at all and probably saves money.

PS: This is the dress I made from a dish towel, using the As You Like it Pattern with some of the optional changes.

To get started, grab a cardigan sweater you want to resize. Try to grab one that doesn't have a super large neck or that doesn't dip too much.

Then grab a shirt that fits the little one, or use shirt pattern. Then place it right on the top of the cardigan and cut around it, making sure to leave seam allowances. Try to make it a little bigger if you want it to go over bulkier clothing.

Then it looks like this.

Turn inside out and pin the sides. Then sew 1/4" down the bottom of the sleeves and sides of the cardigan.

Cut the ribbing from the bottom of the sleeves and bottom of the cardigan. Cut enough, plus seam allowance, to go around each part: 2 for the sleeves and a long piece for the bottom. I sewed the sleeve pieces together, then put them on the sleeves to sew. But the bottom isn't connected, so I turned the front sides in and sewed it down so the edge wasn't raw.

This completed made for a fun matching Thanksgiving outfit. I hope everyone had a great holiday or just took some time to think about the good things in life, even if they seem few.

The Straight A Skirt Pattern Release & Giveaway (Closed)

And yet another thing crossed off of my list! The pattern testing is all done and now I get to release this pattern! The Straight A Skirt Pattern is another pattern that came into being because I wanted to make these for my little girl. I figured others would too, so why not just do a pattern? Plus, I have all these other sizes ready for when my little one grows.

The Straight A Skirt pattern is for a fun and comfy skirt that is made completely out of fabric. No elastic needed. The pattern shares how to re-purpose t-shirts, other knit material shirts, and regular yardage to create a skirt.

The main pattern is a basic one, like the first picture, with the first instructions on how to construct it like that. Then there are instructions on how to create one with all different pieces.

The skirt was created to give enough room for those little girls to be able to run around and have fun! It also was designed to come to the knee on most, for modesty and general comfort.

(Seeing all the girls makes me miss my friends in Jacksonville. Hi everyone :) We Miss You!)

The pattern testers blew me away with their super cute skirts they created. Here are a few from them:

From Alida at I Make Stuff:

From Nicole at Cole's Corner and Creations:

From Trisha:

From Kelly-Jo at Happy Homemaker and Momma:

From Beth at From the Hive:

From Corey at Living and Loving Every Moment of It:

Now that you have seen a ton of cuteness, read up on the specifics below.

The Straight A Skirt Pattern:

-Is available in the shop in PDF format and emailed within 48 hours of being purchased.

-Written for use of a regular sewing machine.

-Contains ready to print pattern pieces (no resizing necessary) for sizes 12 months to 12.

Size Waist
12-18 Months 18
18-24 Months 19
2 20
3 21
4 23
5 24
6 25
7 26
8 27
9 28
10 29
12 30

-Comes with 11 pages of instructions on how to sew together with lots of pictures to help.

- The first instructions given are for a basic skirt. Then instructions are given on how to create a multi-panel skirt, how to make ruffles, and resizing the skirt.

-Also comes with a Sewing Reference Guide for the sewing terms used in Happy Together Patterns.

The Straight A Skirt © Copyright 2010 Jessica Fediw. http://www.ohsohappytogether.blogspot.com.

All rights reserved. Reproduction of Pattern and Instructions
Not Allowed. No Sharing.

Products may be made to sell, but not mass-produced.
************************************************************************************

Giveaway is now CLOSED.

The End

Crossing Off on My List

About 3 weeks I began working on Christmas gifts. I love making gifts. Unfortunately, I usually do not give myself enough time to do everything I want. I tried to give myself more time this year, but I won't sweat it much if I still don't finish because I feel like I've done so much this year compared to other years. So, first up to share are these four dresses I made for some adorable little girls in my family. I used the As You Like it Pattern.

Once I finished the dresses, I felt like adding some embellishments to two. I went to my trusty box of little crocheted and fabric flowers that I make every now and then. I was pretty happy when I had matching things for the dresses!

I added two loops of mini pompom trim to look like leaves.

This one got a few yo-yo's on it. This one was one of my favorites color wise.

The last two I left plain. Mostly because they are for little ones and I wouldn't want them to be tempted to pull the accessory off.

I am also super proud to say that I didn't have to buy a single thing to make these. I scrounged through my fabric and had a make it work moment!!!! It was a very fulfilling moment might I add.