Crochet: Sweet Summer Tank Dress for Audrey

Sometimes the impulse projects turn out the cutest! I have a long list of beautiful knit and crochet apparel to make for Audrey and Scarlett--lots of Debbie Bliss, some Erika Knight, some Sublime--think classic, tiny needles and gorgeous natural fiber yarns... But then I saw this pattern in an older Crochet Today magazine and thought I'd bump it to the top of the list. It seemed it would be relatively quick and so perfect for the summer. I selected this beautiful mercenized yarn, Paton's Grace yarn in Sky.

I love the way it turned out! I had Audrey try it on and even her Dad couldn't help but comment on the cuteness. It's such a simple design and so feminine and perfect for a little girl.

So now it has snowballed a bit... I have to sew a little slip dress for Audrey to wear underneath. AND, I think it is so cute that I want to make a coordinating dress for Scarlett, quickly, and have them wear them for family pictures! So much for my original list...

Sewing: Felt Birthday Crowns for Audrey and Kate

I first saw these little felt crown's on my friend Amy's blog, Our Scoop, and so went to Juicy Bits to get the tutorial. I had no time to make them for Audrey's and Kate's birthday, but did it anyway and finished right before everyone arrived.

Because this was a bit of a last minute project I got the felt at a local fabric store and wasn't thrilled with the selection of wool felt. I ended up with some poly and not the perfect colors. But I am really happy with the substitution of some Heather Bailey Pop Garden fabric. The perfect tie in for their birthday dresses!

As I was so short on time I skipped the fabric cover for the elastic. Not as cute, but it still works.

Audrey's cousin, Kate, loves all things princess so she really had fun with hers.

Party: Audrey's and Kate's Third Birthday Party

This was the invitation for Audrey's and Kate's third birthday party. I love all the cute appliques I'm seeing on t-shirts lately and wanted to try cupcakes, with three candles of course. I was hoping for some standard dies I could use at the local scrapbooking store but I ended up cutting everything out myself. Really made me wish for a Cricut or some such diecutting machine to save time!


The activity at this part was decorating big cardboard playhouses. These are the greatest things ever in my opinion! What fun. Plus I love the idea that they can be painted white again and you can start all over. A bit dicey with new party dresses however, but we did get the girls to wear smocks most of the time.

We did cupcakes this year instead of cake. I made vanilla cupcakes with fresh strawberry icing and my sister, Christine, made chocolate fudge cupcakes with cream cheese filling. It was really hard to decide which I wanted to eat more! (This great table cloth is Orla Kiely for Target. Love that stuff! I bought two of these and one of her pears but the napkins were always sold out...)

The girls seemed to enjoy wearing the felt birthday crowns I'd made them--phew!


And, theys all looked so darling in the dresses we made them.

It was a really happy afternoon! So fun to celebrate with a backyard full of family.

Sewing: Portabello Pixie Pop Garden Dresses for Audrey's Birthday

My sister, Christy, and I decided to do a shared birthday party this year (like last year, and the year before that) for our daughters, Kate and Audrey. (They were born on the same day, two hours apart and two rooms apart in the same hospital! And no, it wasn't planned. Evidently it was interesting enough, and without much else going on, qualified as a news story that evening.) Which, of course, meant matching dresses!! And not just for the birthday girls, but for their sisters as well. (We stopped there...no matching mommy outfits--my mental jury is still out of that one...)


They started with Heather Bailey's gorgeous Pop Garden fabric. Perfect for energetic three year olds! Also a bit similar to the colors in Audrey's room, but that's just a coincidence...



We used Sandi Henderson's Claire pattern for all the dresses. This is Audrey's: View A, the Apron Dress. I LOVE it! Audrey's grandmother dressed her in it for the first time, for church last Sunday morning, and when I saw her I just gasped! She looked so darling in it. The dress is even better "on."

I love the details in the pattern: the contrast seam binding and applique on the apron, and the cute petal apron ties.

For little Scarlett I did the apron dress sans apron. I wanted it a bit simpler for her as it's a crawling dress. Which is precisely why she has ruffle pants to wear underneath. Her little ruffle pants may be my favorite in the bunch--I love the fabric. Had to alter the pattern with a big insert in the rise however to accommodate the diaper a bit better.

My sister, Christy, sewed her girls' peasant dresses (View B of Claire).

Can't wait to see these on the girls!