Forget Dick and Jane! It's Bill and Minnie that do it all!

See the old man? See the old man run?

And pull wagons, loaded with four squirming and squealing children.
Oh, yes, they were delighted!!

See the old man? See the old man garden?
See the old man climb up a play set tower and hoist a 2-year old to the top?
That there is 75-years worth of bumbling energy.
He has the stamina of a toddler, I'm telling you!

We had a relaxingly fabulous day at the park last week. Just sunshine, cousins, and a great-grandpa to play with. Ahhhh, summer days. (well, it felt like summer that day!)

This evening we went to my folks' house to eat supper with Mimi and Papaw. Fred had to give the doggies some extra attention while their loving masters are away on a brief business excursion.

Gotta love a great-grandma who will wear googly eyes and pose for pictures!! She's always had a great sense of humor. And, really, Mimi looks great in anything!

Love the pic below. Just love it. Dash's personality shines bright & bold!

My dirty little man posing ever-so-sweetly.

Little Lad is rather wary of the doggies that are larger than he is, so he stayed safely caged up on the deck with his Mimi!

It's supposed to be good for the skin

Mud baths are relaxing. Being cocooned and buoyed up in the warm, soft mixture simply sucks all the stress out. The temperature makes you perspire, which cleans the pores. Mud baths have been claimed to improve the complexion, relieve joint and muscle pain and remove toxins.

Yeah, that's what he was thinking.

Dressy Inspiration

Wow, I still can't believe she gives this stuff away! I love all things 50-ish and this could fit in that category! Crossing my fingers!Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I recently found an old white dress/ nightie at a yard sale. It's my new project, inspired by this refashioned Grosgrain dress. And I finished a few other aprons (up too late again.) Pictures soon. :-)

I managed to go to a pizza party tonight, with my grandparents and other extended family in town, and I did NOT bring my camera!! Seriously, my forgetfulness is almost mind-boggling at times. Luckily, my Papaw got some good pics, and I'll post those eventually. :-)

THE polka dotted June Cleaver (Another blouse apron!)

The other day I made another blouse apron out of an adorable 50s polka dotted shirt. Yeah, I know I stay up too late.

Shirt before...

Apron after...

I like the way the first blouse conversion worked, but this time I decided to gather material under the bust, for a fancier, more feminine look. :-) It's a narrow apron, and I plan to adjust and make it wider next time. Still, I'm happy with the end result!

Happy sewing!

new flower fairy skirt for the artist

First, I have to announce that my Mimi and Papaw are in town! YEAH!!

Mimi made The Artist the most darling dress, but the photos of her wearing it re on my Mom and Papaw's cameras (yes, we're just a family of camera-toters!) I'll post pics soon, because it's darling, just like all of Mimi's creations.

Yesterday evening (or maybe the one before; I lose track...?) I decided to repurpose an old prom dress. I bought this a year ago at a yard sale for a quarter. Yes, I said a QUARTER. Can you imagine how much it would have cost to buy all that fabric?? First, I volunteered to let our homeschool group use it for prom. There were no takers, so I finally worked up the courage to cut it apart.

Before

So I cut the top part clear off. Then cut the bottom section in two.

Take in the waist, so it is the right size for the little recipient. Or you can just measure her waist using elastic, and sew the skirt, gathered, to the elastic. That's what I did.

Then sew. Yep, just sew. Sew that bottom part under the upper part...over and over, around and around. (So, you will turn it inside out, bring the top of the bottom half to the elastic and start sewing around and around, layering up the skirt.) This skirt had three layers, so it was a lot to sew through each wrap around. Actually, I think it looks BEST to NOT measure, and just start cutting and sewing. After all, I've never met a perfectionist flower fairy. I think they prefer the rather unkempt, beautiful and romantic look. Let the layers be uneven!

The fun part is to let your little girl help chose and sew flowers all over the skirt!!
My artist chose white flowers and tiny purple ones.

Here's the skirt, just hanging out, waiting for more garden romping fun

I think she likes it. :-)

dress fix and a skirt apron

I got this dress used, cheap for the material. It's only about 3 sizes too big. But then I decided, HEY I like this. I want to wear it. Hmmmm....

Sleeveless shirts and dresses are the easiest thing in the world to take in.

Put dress/ shirt on. Pin along sides, to make it fit right. Now, good luck taking it off.
(Seriously, think about that. You will have to get this baby off and on!)

Turn it inside-out and sew up the sides, where you pinned. Cut off excess fabric. Voila! New dress that fits perfectly!
(Sorry for the crummy pics. The camera timer isn't always my friend.)

Before -formless and void ----> After- fitted and comfy!

Next, this is so easy that it doesn't even get it's own post.

The polka dotted skirt Apron

I took a skirt of mine that the Artist likes. It's too short for me, so I never wore it even though I hung on to those polka dots! Cut skirt along seams on sides (so there's not even a need to hem!) Sew ribbon on for ties. She chose her ribbons.
As an extra touch, we took a belt that was coming apart at one end. I trimmed it to the right size (belted it in front, and cut the ends off, so it would "fit" along the front of the half-skirt/ apron), then we tacky glued it in place and stitched around the edges.
From the front, it looks like she's wearing a cute belted skirt! She liked it. We created it together. Win, win.

I am making progress of the other apron. It needs a name. How about "classic blouse apron?" It's sewn together, but still needs the pockets and ties. And lace. I would like lace.

Hope you are happily crafting, sewing, or otherwise enjoying your summery days!

blouse apron tutorial

Okay, I've now discovered the joy in creating my own designs and patterns! I started pulling things out of the yard sale box, thinking,

"my, this could be the cutest apron/skirt/wrap if I only..."

Then the kids got in on it. They embroidered with me outside, and came up with some of the cutest designs!! I'll post those when they get done.

I came across this old blouse. Love it. But it didn't fit me right....as a blouse anyway.
So, I got my "plan" in place (visual picture, that is,) and I went to work.

Try it on and see how wide you want the upper "bib" part to be, when it's buttoned. Then cut two strips up the front.

Lucky me, I didn't have to measure, because my shirt has lines and pleats. So I just cut with four pleats on each side, straight down the line.

This is what it should look like now.

Set that aside, and pick up your back-sleeves part. Cut off a sleeve. These will be pockets. Just cut as much as you want, depending on the depth you desire for your pockets.

See where I'm going with this?

It's all laid out, ready to sew, but I need to do my laundry first! And I have a lot of laundry to fold, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish this tonight. I'd also like to put eyelet lace along the bottom, but that will have to wait for a store-run. I'll post this again when it's completely finished.

I think this would be especially nice if you have old blouses from a great-grandma that you can't wear. What better way to use them daily, remember someone you love, and give new memories to something special?

Go ahead-- check out the other Metamorphosis projects!