Flower Girl Pillowcase Dresses

I'm so in love with these toddler pillowcase dresses I made for my friend's wedding!  The fabric really makes the dress.  It is such a beautiful lace fabric.  The lighting in these pictures doesn't do justice to the real color, which is a beautiful and rich brown.  I followed this wonderful tutorial, Baby Rabies Pillowcase Dress Tutorial.  I made an under-dress out of speckled cotton so the dress wouldn't be see through, which is sewn to the lace overlay at the neck and arms.  I sewed on the bottom hem's lace before sewing the body into a tube.  I also made my own bias tape out of the lace to line the arm and serged the inside seams for a finished look.

Size 2 T (left) & size 4 T (right)

My wonderful and talented husband made the mirror many, many years ago :)

Awww...such beautiful girls :)

Baby Carrier Stretch Wrap

I feel super proud of myself.   I made this stretch wrap while the little guy I was babysitting was napping.  It feels really good to find such awesome ways to use my fabric stash up!

 

I made this out of some jersey knit fabric I had.  I always meant to make a skirt out of it.  Here is the Stretch Wrap Tutorial I used.  This is a quick and easy project!  I added a pocket in the front to help center it when you put it on, to add a little extra stability on baby, and to keep the mama hands free.  I'm curious to hear from the mama I gave it to how the stretch holds up.  I liked learning a new seam, the french seam.  Hopefully this will be a durable and useful wrap.

The project was inspired by my love for The Ultimate Baby Wrap by Parents of Invention.  That's what I used with my own little guy and I loved it sooooo much, but sadly I don't have it anymore.  It was made from sturdier, but perfectly stretchy fabric.  It was a much better fabric than the Moby Wrap.  I was bummed to discover that it is no longer made.  I loved my gray colored one.  It wasn't too hot, like I imagine the darker color would have been.  If I end up with another baby of my own, I'm possibly interested in purchasing an Anaju Wrap in the natural color.  It might be a better material and more breathable, which is a must when living with the Texas heat and humidity.

 

Here I figured out how to wear the wrap a little better.  In the first picture it's a bit bunched up.  It's been 7 years since I had a baby of my own to wear and I was out of practice.  I'm proud of myself for even remembering how to wrap it.  I love how stretch wraps really spread the weight of the baby out evenly.  So much less back pain compared to all the other wraps I've tried!

Pillows

I feel a nice sense of accomplishment.  Our living room had a couple pretty bad eyesores that are finally improved.  Our couch has really come a long way with a slipcover and some new pillows.  The before and after pics below say it all.  Additionally, my hubby and I slapped some black paint on the kitchen cabinets with a nice distressed flare and touched up one of the living room walls that had bits of wallpaper exposed from when we removed the built-in entertainment center cabinets.  That wall is now a solid tan color, thank goodness!  

I'm so happy I finally made these brown pillows.  I've been saving this fabric for years with the intention of making it into pillows for my bed.  But I'm happy with them living on the couch.  I'm also happy that I got to use some really special buttons.  Some were passed onto me from my husband's grandma, Grandma Jean.  I love that they are vintage buttons from her, because she is such a special lady to our family!  I also had a few vintage buttons I had ordered from Etsy and I finally found a worthwhile enough project to use them on.

I had been saving this green corduroy fabric to make braided purse straps out of.  There may still be enough left, we'll see.  I really like the combo of all the pillows together in my living room.  They add a nice variety of color and texture.

Here is the BEFORE picture.  Old sad couch and old sad pillows.

Here is the AFTER picture.  Happy couch with comfy down alternative pillows that make sitting and snuggling a more cozy thing.  The red pillows I bought with a gift card I was given on the Ellen DeGeneres 12 Days of Christmas show.  That's right!  I was on the Day 10 show and was blessed beyond measure!  Well, technically it can be measured...in dollar amounts...but you get my meaning.

A Brown Bedspread for My Love

Here is a bedspread and throw pillow I made ages ago, but never photographed.  It was a fun experience.  My friend Wendy Anne has a sewing shop and she let me have some sample fabric she didn't need.  She also let me use her wonderful industrial sewing machine to sew up this enormous king size bedspread.  Side note:  I absolutely loved using the industrial sewing machine!  I produced a higher quality product more quickly than I can on my little sewing machine at home.  It was a delightful experience!  Thanks Wendy!  I wanted to make something nice that my hubby would enjoy too.  The backing is a soft and cozy cotton fabric that enhances the snuggle factor.  I plan to add a few little fabric flowers to the pillow one of these days.

Sweater Dress Refashion

I received this cute sweater dress for Christmas, but alas, it was not flattering on me at all.

So I did what I do...

...and now I have a super cute pillow to brighten up our guest room!

Here's one side with its envelope opening to be able to take it off to wash it

and here is the other side,

and here is our little friend in action.  Yay!

Birthday Purse

A couple years ago I let my Mom pick out fabric so I could make her a purse for her birthday. It took me awhile to get it all finished. You can find the pattern in Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol.

Puppet Theater for Ben

I only made one present this Christmas, and my little Ben was the lucky recipient. For years I've wanted to make the puppet theater in Bend The Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. I think that was the main reason I bought the book. I thought the project was going to take all of my Christmas break. I was so surprised that I finished it in less that one day. What surprised me even more was that I thought the project was going to be tedious, but I found that I simply enjoyed making it. I bought a whole bunch of puppets from Ikea and both my boys have already spent so much time playing with it and letting their imaginations run wild. I love watching them play together and truly enjoy each other.

How great that the pattern includes a case! I love that this just rolls right up when it's clean up time.

A Quilt For Me

It's one of those rare Saturdays that I'm doing something for myself...making a snuggly quilt just for me out of all my favorite fabrics. Here's a preview of what I've done so far. Although I'm sure it will be a rare moment indeed when I won't have little snuggle bugs cozying up to me.

All I did to make this was cut a whole bunch of 10" strips and 6" strips. Then I layed them out on the kitchen floor until I liked what I saw and sewed it all up, one piece at a time.

A Summer Day Headband for Me

So I'm just sitting around waiting for my husband to get home early so I can visit my dear friend in the hospital who just had a sweet little baby boy...but what to do. My younger son is napping and I decided to make myself a headband. Three tries later and I had this cute little thing that happens to match my outfit today. The decorative fabric bit encases the elastic, so it stays on, and is cute. I can hide the fabric bit on the bottom for a simpler look as well. Yay for a cute accessory!

Baby Goodies

Two dear friends each had their sweet little baby boy yesterday. What a surprise that they both came on the same day! Here are the goodies I made for them.

Burp Clothes

Nursing Cover

Binky/Pacifier Clips

Mini Snuggly Blankie

The back view of the Nursing Cover

See the matching bit of burp cloth in the corner :)

Announcing the Grand Opening of my Etsy Shop

I finally, finally, finally opened my etsy shop. Last year I set myself the goal to open up for business sometime this year. I hoped to do it earlier in the year, but due to a very full school year with homeschooling my oldest, I knew it would have to wait until summer. But I did it! Yay! I'm very excited and proud of myself. People are always telling me "Oh, you should sell those," when I make them gifts. I've never been inclined to because of the cost & time of sewing homemade. It's a labor of love. But...I guess I wondered if anyone out there in the big big world would like what I make. So here it goes. Wish me well.

Buckets Of Blue's Etsy Shop

A Dress For Me

I made a dress for myself. Yay! I wanted to wear it to a baby shower I was throwing at my house, but I hadn't put the straps on yet. Thankfully my friend arrived early and hand sewed them on before guests arrived. I didn't use a pattern and I just held the fabric around myself to wing the measurements. Then I sewed the jersey into a tube and shirred it at the top and at the waist. I really like it. It's cute and comfy and looks better when I'm not hunched over explaining the fondue food to baby shower guests. Maybe I'll get a more flattering shot next time I wear the dress. I left the bottom unhemmed because I like the way it drapes now. When I made that jersey skirt for Valentine's Day it draped great until I hemmed the bottom. It's okay now, but hopefully it will drape a little better after a few washes.

Buckets of Blue gets a Logo

Welcome to the unveiling of my new Buckets of Blue logo! I got the cute little bird that's at the top of my webpage onto my cozies. It will be on one side of each coffee cozy I make.

Also, here is my new laced method to close up my coffee cozies. I really love them. The pretty brown cord sparkles just a tiny bit and adds a teeny bit of pizzazz. This also makes the cozy better for being reversible because it lays just as flat no matter what side you have it on. With the button & elastic coffee cozies you get a lump when you reverse it. I don't mind that so much myself, but some might. I put together these coffee cozy/coaster gifts sets this last week for party prizes at a lovely baby shower we had at my house. The prizes were a hit. I made three reversible cozies and three reversible coasters. I wanted to show both sides of each, which is why there are so many pictures. I plan to make more to sell this summer when I'm done homeschooling my kiddo for the school year. Then I'll finally get to open my etsy shop!

Happy Valentine's Day Refashion for Me

My endeavor was to make myself a new outfit for Valentine's Day. My budget...$0. And I did it! Yay!

The Before Picture

The Fabric Stash

Now I have a cardigan, of sorts, that I will likely wear, instead of a turtleneck I won't. It made me a little nervous to think of cutting up a wonderfully cozy and soft Express sweater, but I live in Southern California and we just don't get many chances to wear heavy turtleneck sweaters. Besides, I have the same sweater in blue. They were hand me downs from a friend. So, after searching the Internet, I found my inspiration from anemone on livejournal. All I did was cut up the sweater to the neck and then cut off the turtleneck. Next, I cut a strip of the jersey fabric leftover from my skirt. Finally, I sewed the jersey on like you would bias tape. I added some hooks on the inside of the jersey to be able to close the cardigan. The new neckline lays better on me than it does on the flat table. I'm excited to wear it on Sunday.

Technically I paid less than $3 for this jersey fabric at a fabric discount store, but I did that months ago. So this skirt cost me nothing today, which is what matters, because it is today that I don't have extra money. This skirt tutorial from Altered Cloth was super easy to follow and it sewed up very quickly (even for me and I'm usually really slow). I've had plans to make this skirt forever and just hadn't gotten around to it until now. Yay! I'm very excited to have an outfit I made to wear on Valentine's Day. I've never made myself a whole outfit.

Magnets

Last Christmas I made these little assorted magnets for gifts. They are so cute and I packaged them in a variety of fun metal tins. They're about the size of a penny and they brighten up my fridge. I just love them. Here is the tutorial from Knitting Betty.

Colored Pencil Rolls

This Christmas I made these adorable colored pencil rolls for for my two boys and my niece. They all love drawing and I thought how perfect this gift would be for them all. They have already come in handy on our road trip to Texas. I hope they'll be a favorite for years to come. I used the cut dimensions from You Go Girl's colored pencil roll tutorial. I did my interfacing different, replaced the button/elastic closure with ties, and added top stitching instead of binding. I'm very pleased with the results. I bought the kids each a drawing book that just gives you the beginning of a picture and prompts you to add something imaginative, The Boys Doodle Book by Andrew Pinder, Do You Doodle by Nikalas Catlow, and Squiggles by La Zoo.

Outside

Inside

Matching Pencil Sharpener Drawstring Bag

I made one set of the Ninja Turtle rolls for each of my boys.