Dear Mickey Mouse,

Dear Mickey Mouse, 

 This little boy loves you a lot. A LOT a lot.

But at barely 2 1/2, he's still a little unpredictable with his punches and tackles "love".

We're working on it, Mickey.

But I thought it best to warn you that we are on our way, so:

 If you see him coming, ready yourself! He's all boy after all!

Just remember, I've got your back. Because....... well, I love you too Mickey!

(Look Out Mickey Here I Come shirt: 

Mickey appliqued, letters freezer paper stenciled using Disney font.)

Linked here

More Sewing for Disney

Totally carried away?

Maybe....

Josiah is loving his pirate Mickey Mouse shirt!

And I made a matching one for Ethan!

A Minnie Mouse shirt for Sarah.

 Next I took the scraps from Anna's Minnie Mouse pillowcase dress, cut them into pieces,

 and made a fun Minnie!

 Also for Sarah!

Then I wanted to make some Minnie Mouse outfits for the little girls, but I couldn't find any girl's short sleeved shirts, so I bought these:

 clearance men's shirts from the Gap.

 I cut them WAY down and lettuce-edged the bottom and sleeves. Decorated the shirts and made matching skirts based on this idea!

For my totally uncooperative model, I made a little Minnie Mouse peasant dress!

And each girl has a Minnie Mouse hair pretty, also from here.

Phew!

Now I can pack! 

Linked Up:

Shwin & Shwin 

Sewing for Disney

Since the three little girls got princess dresses, I decided to make Anna a Minnie Mouse pillowcase dress!

I used multiple ideas I saw on the internet to put this together, so nothing specific followed!

I definitely could have made this smaller for my tiny girl, but I think it's still cute! I used jumbo ric-rac and appliqued a Minnie on the front.

 And of course no outfit is complete without a matching hair pretty! A hair bow from the same ribbon as the straps with a Minnie "button" in the middle. (I found this in the scrapbooking section of Jo-Ann's. It actually had foam sticky stuff on the back that I pulled off. Whatever works, right?)

 One more Disney dress done for my smallest princess! 



Linked Up:
Tatertots & Jello 

My Princesses Three

Although I got two of these dresses made in time for the Harvest Party (third girly was the octopus), the real reason for these dresses happens in 2 weeks when we will be partying in the Happiest Place on Earth. 

 Yep! Packing up these silly princesses and taking them to Disneyland! 

 So, of course they needed some comfy-to-play-in dresses. I decided cotton would be comfortable for long days of walking and going on rides.

 

I started with a basic peasant dress pattern, like this free one, but decided to shirr the bodice pieces for a better "princess-y" fit. This required some inches added to the width of the pattern and some figuring of lengths to get them right. I also made the sleeves more cap sleeve length for poofy princess sleeves.

Next came all the important details:

For Snow White's sleeves, I did inverted pleats with red ribbon peeking out,

 gold braided trim down the front,

 and of course a signature red bow headband!

For Belle's dress I made a red ribbon rose to adorn the front of the shoulder piece,

and a ruched skirt adorned with little ribbon roses!

 Cinderella's dress has a front panel with braided trim,

signature sparkly hip poofs,

 and matching headband. (Followed this tutorial)

Are the princesses three counting the days until we leave?

Definitely! 


Linked at:
Shwin & Shwin 
Tatertots & Jello 

For My Octo-girl, Again

OK, I have to be honest. Our family doesn't really "do" Halloween. We usually just watch a movie and devour a huge bowl of candy. But after I saw the perfect costume for Abby to wear to the AWANA Harvest Party tonight, I just had to make it for her!

 The DIY octopus costume idea isn't a new one. It can be found all over the internet (my fave here.) Abby wanted a purple octopus, so I picked up 4 pairs of knee socks when they were on sale at Target.

I did round each sock to look more like a tentacle and less like, well, a sock. I made a skirt out of the socks by sewing them together about 6" down.

The hat was made from the bottom of a toddler's size t-shirt. A simple beanie design with appliqued eyeballs.

My octo-girl is super excited to sport her costume tonight!

 

Upcycled Sister Skirts

(I know! A sewing post! It's only been for-ev-er!)

 Soooo, a while ago, I bought this skirt figuring it would fit one of my older daughters.

It didn't.

But I still liked the cute fabric and the ruffle around the bottom,

so I decided to cut it apart, just below the zipper.

After serging around the top (to save length), I sewed a casing, threaded some elastic through and then sewed the top closed.

Little girl's skirt done!

It fits Leah great!

That left me with this awkward zippered top piece. I got out my seam ripper and unstitched the top bias edge on both sides of the zipper.

Which left it looking like this.

Next I cut out the zipper, carefully folding the bias edges back. Then I sewed up the back seam where the zipper used to be.

I stitched the bias back over the top edge, leaving a hole to thread some elastic in, and then sewed that closed too. A simple hem around the bottom edge and:

Ta-da! Baby skirt!

Leah and Anna were happy to model,

and Leah's thrilled to have matching skirts!

So cute together!

Leggings For Anna

I love a baby girl in a dress, and after having 7 daughters, I have a lot to choose from!

But I hate messing with baby tights! And while Babylegs are adorable, I don't like trying to keep them up either!

 So, to solve this problem, I made Anna some leggings!

I used this pattern and then made some changes. Not only did I cut them longer, but also wider by placing the pattern about an inch from the fold. Then I folded up the foot portion of the pattern to make leggings instead of tights.

 I decided to ruffle the bottom edge by pulling the fabric super tight while running a close zig-zag stitch at the edge of the fabric. I stitched around each twice. This leaves a nice girly look!

I also added a gusset to help make enough room for my daughter's cloth diapered heinie!

They fit great,

 and keep her covered and warm!

 That makes us both happy!