Peasant dress!

Yes, I know I am supposed to be writing about and putting up more pictures from Christmas, but right now I want to show you the new dress I just finished. This is a peasant dress, made from fabric I bought in Maui, and I really love how it turned out. However, I fought with my sewing machine for awhile until I could get it to shir correctly. Has anyone out there shirred before? I tried it first with my mother-in-law's machine, and it did not work. I worked at it for a long time before giving up and using my own method of sewing with the elastic and then pulling it so the fabric would gather. Same results but took a lot longer than shirring. With my new machine, I discovered that it can shir! However, the thread kept breaking and getting stuck every 2 seconds and I was getting very frustrated. Finally, I took a break. When I came back to my machine, I adjusted the tension again, and it went smoothly. So a lot of work went into this dress, but it was worth it. I at least know that next time it shouldn't take nearly as long.

Anyway, so here is the dress. I have it in my shop has a 2T ready to ship, but I can definitely make it in any size...I just don't have enough of the same fabric for anything bigger than 12-18 months, and can't find the exact fabric online. Oh, well!

I'm back!

And although it's not the New Year yet, I am ready to begin my new line of spring clothing. For Christmas, my mom got me some new patterns and fabric...and I am very excited to do something new! I also plan to add more knot dresses, since those are my favorite :). For now, I will show you a series of Christmas pictures from the last week or so...starting with our own Christmas, which we did before we left. The kids didn't get much, but it was fun to see their excitement! Over the next week, I'll show you the rest, including our trip. Thanks for looking! In the meantime, I'll be sewing every day...

Christmas dress

I made a Christmas dress for Ally, which is also in the shop. It turned out exactly as I envisioned and I got to use some cute Michael Miller Christmas fabric. I also made my first dress sale on etsy, so that was exciting! Another new item is the peasant top, which is also available as a dress. I am wanting to keep everything for Ally, but I need to make some sales, too!

Dresses for sale...

Well, I decided to do it. A lot of people have asked if I sell the clothes I make...at first I was just doing it for fun, but I enjoy it so much I thought I would try to sell some. "Try" being the operative word here. Sometimes I feel I am taking too much on- MOPS, playgroup, writing, my cards, and now sewing. Not to mention raising two kids, being a wife, spending time with God...you get the picture. So is it too much? Not sure. In fact, I might eventually stop doing the cards (except for friends and family who ask) and just focus on other things. To be honest, designing cards is not going well. I suppose I could put more effort into advertising- but who has time for that? This clothing venture might turn out the same way, and I'm ok with that. If God puts the breaks on it, I'll continue sewing just for fun. And all those clothes in my shop? Stuff for Ally and gifts for friends :). I'll stick to my writing though...that is something I feel I really SHOULD be doing, and maybe the other stuff is just for me. As far as playgroup and MOPS, those are important for my sanity and for my kids to make some friends until they begin school. They always have their cousins, of course, but it's good to make other friends too.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my honesty. This is where I am right now. Life is good, and I have learned recently that I don't need to do everything- not supposed to! I should be focusing on whatever God wants me to do. Now, here are some pics of clothes I am planning to sell- the skirt is a personal favorite and will probably remain in Ally's closet :D.