Hey everyone!  Sorry, but there's no FFF today because I'M DRIVING TO VIRGINIA TODAY!  See y'all next week.

So yesterday, I showed off some new shorts. What are new shorts without a new shirt?

This is Simplicity 1805.

There are a couple of shirt options and they're all cute, but obviously I went with the flirty one. None of my t-shirts are fitting since I've lost so much weight so I figured a cute knit top would do the trick. I think I should have made it a size smaller, because the XL that I made is kind of big. Hence the belt. I do love that it's long though. I don't like shirts that barely cover your midriff. Even though I've been working on shrinking the damage done by children and  not taking care of myself, I still don't  want to show it off. Length is a good thing (sometimes).

This shirt went together in about 2 hours after getting it cut out. I love how easy it was and really the only thing I'd change is the facing on the sleeve. You see  where the sleeve is cut open to expose your shoulder, well there's a 1" facing on either side of that. Its not stitched down or secured in any way except at the top, and when you first put on the shirt it requires some adjustment. Other than that small nuisance, the top is terrific.

So there's my new outfit. Next week I'll be back with some cute new dresses that I made myself, plus a quick and easy fix to a shoe problem I had. :)

I thought I didn't have anything to post, but low and behold I never posted up the shorts and shirt I made myself a few weeks ago. I'm such a bubble head sometimes.

Right now I'm only going to focus on the shorts. Tomorrow I'll share the shirt. I apologize for the pictures. I am horrible at taking pictures of myself.

So it all started with Simplicity 3768 (which is now out of print)
I liked the details on  these shorts, and since I haven't worn 'shorts' for quite some time I figured the length would ease me back into wearing shorter shorts.

I had some peach linen (with some stretch in it!) lying around, so after I washed it up I whipped up some shorts. :)

The length of these is nice, and I like the pocket and hem detail, but my biggest problem is the hook closure. I feel like a button (or two) would add a lot to the waistband area. I cut out these shorts at a 22 and the waist is quite baggy. They're not as sleek as I had hoped they would be, but they are super comfortable.



So there are my new shorts, and as you can see in some of the pictures; the shirt I'm wearing with it is the shirt I'm going to show off tomorrow. I love that these shorts are comfortable, but I think for my next pair of shorts, I'm going to go with something a little sleeker.

I'm working on Harrison's 1st year scrapbook. I know he'll be turning 3 in October. I'm only a little behind. :)

So while I was going through pictures and getting ideas and trying to organize photos, I came across the photos from our vacation last summer to OBX.

I found this picture of the boys.

How adorable is that pose? We were on a dolphin cruise and Harrison just came up behind Devlin and they stayed in this pose for several minutes. Steve was quick with the camera and snapped several of these photos.

So I picked my favorite shot, and printed it out on some 4x6 photo paper I had lying around. Then I had to find a frame for it. Nothing like planning this out!

After locating an 8x10 frame that I had hidden (between fabric totes), I cleaned it up and then tried to figure how the best way to showcase this photo. Enter poster board and my 1974 dictionary.

I cut out a mat from my poster board, and arranged the photo in a museum gallery kind of way. Then pulled out the dictionary and went straight for the b's. I found the entry for brothers and ripped the page out. Then I laid the page out the way I wanted, I had to rip out another page (found the beach page) to finish covering my mat. With Mod Podge in hand I glued the dictionary pages down and folded the edges over the edge of the poster board. After I got the picture taped to the poster board. I took a sharpie and added some arrows and things to the definitions I wanted people to notice.

Then I centered my picture in the opening and put my picture together. I hung this picture up in our gallery wall on the stairs.

So there's my favorite photo from our vacation last year and the boys have a nice spot together on our gallery wall. Not bad for a 5 minute project.

Have you guys ever had a lot of projects and not enough time to document them all? Yea, me too.

So this dress has been done for little over a week, and I'm just now getting around to sharing it with you guys. I'm bad, I know. I'm sure I'll console myself with this cup of coffee I found. :)

So anyways, our grandmother's 50th wedding anniversary is coming up, and while I'm sure Dana  had grand plans for what she was going to wear; I had different plans. I called her up and told her that I was making her something for said fun event, and then realized how that sounded and asked if she had a dress, to which she replied yes, but I still informed her I was making this dress. :)

Enter Simplicity 1913.
Cute dress, right?

Well I had this lovely tangerine fabric just lying around. Its a sportswear type (gabardine or twill or something) and completely washable, and I knew that it'd look awesome on my baby sister. Her coloring and mine are very similar and oranges just look lovely on us. Not to mention orange is happy! So I got busy on making this dress for Dae.

The construction of the dress is nice, and I like most of it. I love the details though!
 There are 8 buttons on this dress and not a single one does anything but look pretty. :) The belt material is just some sheer fabric I had lying around. You'll be seeing it again soon. :)


 This is the only part of this pattern that I dislike. There should not be exposed seam selvage on the dress. I tried doing this up like a proper collar and enclosing it inside the collar, but the  curve on the color is just to great to accommodate it. My grandmother said to hide the seams with a bias tape made out of the material, and I may still do that, but there are other things to sew up. One thing I did really like about this pattern is the fully lined bodice. It creates a nice edge on the neckline and arm holes. The bodice lining also encases the seam between the skirt and bodice. Looks so nice!

So there's the the dress for my sister. I hope she likes  it!



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