Roly-Poly Pinafore by Imagine Gnats || Review || Giveaway

Hello!  Today is my stop on the Roly-Poly blog hop.  `

This little girl had enough before I was able to shoot the reversible side.  I was one of the lucky ones to receive this pattern from Imagine Gnats to review.   This is my fourth article of clothing I have ever made.  You can see one, two, and three here.  I am not sure why I do not make more clothes!!

The Roly Poly Pinafore is an easy pattern and perfect for a beginner who can sew a straight line and understand basic sewing terminology and instructions. I could easily see a mother and daughter team sewing this up together.  It's a pattern that can teach sewing skills to younger children.  I LOVE that this dress is reversible.  As someone who has little storage in her home, I love clothes that can double duty.

I also love that I can customize this pattern.  Pockets, no pockets, or add a decorative detail like I did with the placket.  (The placket is an original design I did and is not included in the pattern.)  Two looks, one dress.  My kind of a pattern!

Do note:  The pattern instructs you to sew a pleat in the front, which I changed a bit because I wanted to add a placket.  I made my pleat open a little wider and did not stitch it down the front.  I also used regular Steam a Seam, the only  fusible webbing I had on hand.  This did not allow me to press around the neck area resulting in a slight bib like look for the the front, but I really like how it turned out, even with a peek of my reversible fabric on the front!  It did not affect the integrity of the dress, but if you want to make a placket without a little bit of the reversible fabric showing, I think a light fusible webbing will do the trick. 

Want to see what the others made?  Here's the roundup.

5.13 Jill Made with Moxie / Stephanie The Crafty Kitty

5.14 Stephanie NeurosesGalore / Cherie you & mie

5.15 Ari Max California / Caila Caila Made

5.16 Veronica SewVery / Tara Girl like the sea

5.17 Nancy owen's olivia / Adrianna Crafterhours

5.20 Ajaire Call ajaire / Sarah EmmylouBeeDoo

5.21 Laura Craftstorming / Jessica a little gray

5.22 Frances Miss Matatabi / Nicke kiss kiss quilt

5.23 Amy formwork design / Kat Sew Chibi

5.24 Joanne Rose & Dahlia / Amanda Kitschy Coo

5.27 Celina Petit a Petit and family / Delia Delia Creates

5.28 Christy a.Amelia handmade / Carolyn Fake It While You Make It

5.29 Bonnie Fishsticks Designs / Maria La Inglesita

5.30 Jane Buzzmills / Kate Things for Charlie

5.31 Polly Jack & GeeGee / Molly Rose & Odin

Would you like to try this pattern out for yourself?  Rachael is graciously giving away her pattern to one lucky owen's olivia reader.

Leave me a comment below telling me something you have planned for the summer.  My little family and I packed our bags and drove from North Carolina to California to live there for the summer!   I'll pick a winner on Monday.

You can purchase a pattern here.

Dress -  Pattern by Imagine Gnats.  Original design made by me.  Quilt designed and made by me.

moving

It's so weird to say that I am moving.  It feels rather like a soon-to-be long vacation, which in a way will be for Owen and I.  Not so much for Matt who will be working as an intern for Qualcomm.  He's officially an electrical engineer!  Woo hoo!

We are packing our bags and heading out West for the summer.  This will change a few things here on the blog during our stay in San Diego, CA.   I see my time being mostly spent with Owen showing him the dolphins at Sea World, the monkeys at the San Diego zoo, or the meth labs in Tijuana.  I plan on sharing my adventures here on the blog.  We are only taking with us whatever will fit into our car.  This makes me sad seeing there won't be space for thrift store finds while I'm out there.  In the evenings, my time will be preoccupied with sewing since Matt and I will need to stay indoors due to having a little one with an early bedtime.  I'm ready for this adventure, but I am dreading packing up the house and our belongings!

If you follow along via GFC, consider choosing another way to follow my adventures over the summer.  GFC will no longer be providing its services in the summer.  Other ways to follow: RSS, enter your email in the box located in the upper left hand side of this blog, Bloglovin',  or Facebook.

Things will return back to normal once we return from our move  vacation.

Puffy Goose Completion || The Project that turned to Sewing Machine Cover that turned to Hanging Wall Art ||Sewing Post

I titled this post "Puffy Goose" because my friend who doesn't sew said, "I don't know what a puffy goose is, but I love it!"

My puffy flying geese are completed, and I am in love.  Are you too?

My first intentions were to make a mini project that I will just have to do again in the future.  This time with the only intention of sewing that mini project!!  And then I began to love my fabric pull so much that I opted to make a larger project - a sewing machine cover.  And then I loved my geese so much that I decided they needed to be displayed.  Hmm, have you ever experienced anything like this before?

My first time sewing real flying geese.  My first mini quilt/wall hanging.  All unintentional of course.

The fabrics used in this piece are:
Stamped by Ellen Luckett Baker
Skinny laMinx
Essex Linen in Bleach White
Jessica Jones Wildflower


Sharing with: Live a Colorful Life, Plum and June, Lily's Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts

25+ sharpie projects || roundup

 

1. Faux Malachite Knobs from Teal and Lime ||  2. Eggs from Dream Catcher
3. Wallpaper from Sharpie Blog ||  4. Mugs from A Beautiful Mess
5. Catchalls by Stephanie Lynn ||  6 .Lampshade from A Little Glass Box
7. TOMS from LDC Designs  ||  8. Chair Seat from Emily via Little Green Notebook
9. Rocks from Sweet Paul Magazine

1. Pumpkins from Paper and Stitch ||  2. Dress via Honey Kennedy
3. Ornament from Jazzy Chalks ||  4.  Garden Markers from Shine Your Light
5. Onesies from Delia Creates ||  6. Wall Frames from Better Homes and Gardens
7. iPhone Cover from Expect the Unexpected with Denise
8. Anthro Inspired Mugs from Home Heart Craft || 9.  Flooring from  Heike Weber

1. Santa Art from Bower Power ||  2. Lamp from Vintage Revivals
3. Pillow from dear Lillie  ||  4.  Clutch from P.S. I made this
5. Keychain from How About Orange ||  6.  Coasters from Sharpie Blog
7. Nails from the Beauty Department || 8.  Campaign Shelves from Our Fifth House


Here are two projects I did using Sharpie markers.

Sharpie Art

Sharpie Wall 


Are you going to jump on the Sharpie bandwagon?

My Buffet's Life Story

If my buffet area could talk, it would tell you that has lived through many different phases and styles.  It has also experienced claustrophobia and loneliness on many occasions.   If you are on Facebook, I shared with you this photo awhile back stating I was warming up the little spot.

And then there was the whole debate about my ampersand, and we went back and forth about it.  BUT I replaced the ampersand (still have it though) with a Kokka ladybug.  Kokka as in fabric manufacturer not as in type of species.  :)

So let's see how this space has evolved over the years.   You like before and afters, right?!

This is the photo I took when we were looking at our house to buy.  It had just been flipped, so everything looks really nice.  Pretty, huh?

This is what it looked like the first year we lived there.  (Furniture is placed so because I was using them as markers for a possible kitchen expansion. What?  You don't do that too?)

This photo was taken right after Owen was born 3 years ago.  (We've been in the house for five.)  I HAD to whiteout the person in the photo because that person would have KILLED me for sharing this, but it was the only photo I could find with this buffet.

Can you see that large square picture frame and tiny two door buffet behind that white mess?
Wrong scale of art?  Check.
Really small furniture?  Check.

So I switched those out with wider art from World Market and placed a longer dresser below it.  Recognize that dresser?

I eventually switched out the white dresser with this dark one I found at a flea market (<-- I still like that post).  I put my pear light on top.

And then I painted the walls gray.

Overtime, I decided all of that was looking a little too dark.  I moved the artwork into my craft room and moved the pear into hall bath.  I created some new artwork, and this is where I am at now.  (I finally replaced my card table with a tripod leg kitchen table.  You can read more about that here.)

The basket holds my vegetables and fruits.  I would like to quilt a runner for the buffet.

ART (left to right)

Skinny laMinx
Sharpie Art, made by me
Sugarloop
Picnic table paper from Target that I moved from my kitchen to this area
Kokka ladybug from Stamped

So far I am enjoying it.  I do like change, so it won't be a surprise to me if I mix it up again in the future.

Isn't interesting to see how tastes change and your style evolves over time?  This post was a little bit of an eye opener for me.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  I will be spending my weekend at High Point Market.  I've got my friend, Sarah, tagging along with me this time, so I'm super excited to have someone join me!