well, that pretty much bombed

I told myself I was only going to buy something

if I really liked it.

No more plain T's for awhile.

I've run out of places to store my meager stash.

When I saw this dress, though

I had to buy it.

50 cents

and perfect Lexi colors

You can see Lexi isn't wearing this refashion.

and

it isn't a dress.

My 1/8" elastic wasn't nearly as stretchy as it needed to be.

I didn't get all worked up about it;

I figured I'd just add a few rows of shirring and everything'd be fine.

Turns out the thinner the fabric

the more tightly it shirrs.

ah well

live and learn.

polkadot princesses

These are actually much cuter in person.

and swingy.

The dresses are oh-so-swingy.

which is really quite fitting

for such sweet little girls.

I smile every time at look at them

first

because they're so darn cute

and secondly

because they are wearing pant legs

how fun is that??

a sun-hat for Lexi

It all started last night

when I spotted my note

and just below it

the curtain topper I'd bought at a yard sale for 25 cents.

I picked it up

planning to make the girls sun-dresses

but then

I saw the reminder

that I'd put on my shelves

because I could never remember Lexi needed a sun hat

until we were in the pool

and she got all squinty.

I suppose a really good mom

would have hopped out and stitched one up immediately.

But alas,

I am not a really good mom

just a decent one.

I do

after all

try to hop in the pool every day with the kiddos.

~

I used Charity's bush hat tutorial as a very loose guide.

I used the same tute

last year

for an Indiana Jones hat for Lex'

I should have used interfacing on the brim

and if I ever make another

I'll be sure to add it.

It's a bit floppy

but it works okay as is

anyways

and I still have enough fabric left for a sun-dress

:-)

she's an American girl

I haven't sat at my machine in two weeks!

I just had to make a little something.

A new pair of panties was just the thing,

short and sweet

and practically free

since I used an old t-shirt of mine.

I still don't have the fit quite right.

Guess that means I'll just have to keep tryin', huh?

too bad

~

Momma sure loves you, my little American girl

good as new

My bag of clothespins got left out on the line

while we were on vacation last week.

Which left me with a bunch of nasty clothespins.

It just so happened that my dryer went out

two days after we returned home.

And me

with mildew-y clothespins!

Yuck!

I figured

that before I tossed them

I should at least try to clean them

so I poured 'em all in a bucket

and added a squirt of dish-soap

and a glug of bleach.

They tried floating to the top

so I grabbed a quart size zip bag, filled it with water

and set it on top of my pins.

An hour or so later

I poured off the now-brown bleach water

and wiped down each pin as I rinsed them under running water.

I clipped them along the top edge of a box to dry

and viola

good as new!

Lexi's quilt

Every time Lexi wears this shirt I say

to anyone within earshot

"Those colors are just begging to be made into a quilt!"

Then I remembered - I have the perfect back already

for a Lexi quilt!

Yes, I know, she already has one

but this is more her.

Though made with lots of love,

this won't go down in history as one of my best pieces of work.

My quilting was less than impressive...

I was pleased, however,

with how well my seams matched up

'specially considering how poorly I did last time on that.

I had some extra blocks

so I made a little doll quilt so I could practice my quilting.

I really wanted to do flowers all over,

but my skills are sorely lacking...

Ya'll know I like adding in a word or two

so I added 'dream baby'

sort of a positive reinforcement

subliminal message kind of thing...

Still had blocks left

so I made 2 tiny blankets

for the girl's little 4 inch dolls.

~

In looking at this quilting again

I think

if I would have just slowed down more and taken my time

I could have done the flowers like I wanted.

I just love the back!

both of 'em - actually

It may not be my best work work

but I think it'll still be quite loved.

This girl sure is!