Hello Amigos!

This is what our nights look like lately...

Emma and Macie playing together while Emma sings "Hello amigos! Hola! Wanna have a tea party? Amigos!" I love how well these girls play together!

{sweet sisters}

LOVE THIS!

{Emma is teaching Macie how to count}

"Sixteen... four... five... twenty... sixteen... twenty... one... one... one..."

Branching out

I finally decided on a name for my craft blog, Happy to Craft because that's why I do it. It just makes me happy. Come on over if you want to check it out!

sewhappytocraft.blogspot.com

{growing up}

I have been talking with Emma about potty training for... nine months? She just flat out said "I no want to do that" and you can't argue with that. We came back from our trip to Utah, and suggested panties and her potty, and success! She potty trained herself in two days. Seriously. I don't have to remind her, just make sure her potty is accessible, and I am done for the day! Okay, I do have to empty it multiple times, but I am LOVING this! My big girl is just getting bigger and bigger!

Good Morning

Good Morning, Macie. It's going to be a long couple years.

... pic is blurry because she is dancing...

lessons learned

I have been very inspired recently by Alexis at My Mama Made it. Everything she does is just amazing! I decided to take a chance at it myself, and this is my inspiration top, a woman's summer tank from Anthropologie:

What I ended up with is a lot of knowledge... I would construct this so differently if I did it again. Wow, I learned a lot.

1 - think through the steps... attach ruffles before you bind the arms
2 - cut the arms at a curve, not a 'v' - for comfort and easier sewing
3 - bias tape is a must for armholes. Already knew that one, but learned the lesson again anyway.
4 - remember that you lose 1/2" of length when you turn something under twice... ruffles are a lot smaller than I anticipated

5 - use a larger elastic for the 'bubble' effect at the bottom of the dress

6 - sew in a color my child will wear HAPPILY

All that being said, I am happy with the end result, and Emma thinks it's okay if she can wear tights with it. No objections here. I am really loving sewing with no patterns, not sure why, but it's sort of liberating in a way.

LOVING the little model pose!

I also love the color for the fall... now I just need to find a nice long sleeve shirt she can wear under it that matches the tights...

Also... thinking about separating family blog and crafts... I guess my holdup is what to name the darn thing. Any ideas? I am at a total loss!