I have actually sewn A LOT more than this for Roark.  However, when I went to post the pictures of his stuff, I only had these pictures of the outfits I’d appliqued.  I have made him a handful of Jon Jon’s, but for some reason, never took a  picture of any of them.  Maybe if I’m really on top of things one day, I’ll have them washed and ironed and can find a minute to snap a few pictures.  But if I’m being honest, I’m hardly ever on top of things.

I made the shorts and then appliqued the shirt.  The shorts pattern is from one of my favorite patterns from Maja’s Heirlooms called Sophie.  Yes, it’s a girl’s pattern, but it’s shorts.  So it really doesn’t matter.  I think I have made this pattern about a zillion times, but they go together so quick I find myself saying, “Oh, I’ll just whip up a pair of pants to go with that!”  I always felt like this outfit had a “Kelly’s Kids” feel, but without having to shell out a lot of $$.  I think I have about $4.00 in the whole thing, and about 90% of the expense is in the t-shirt.  I love making shorts for a two year old because he’s so small that I don’t need much fabric.  And I can normally just use something out of the scrap pile.

This outfit is the same situation with the shorts above.  They were totally made from scrap fabric left over from something I’d made Edie years ago.  Roarkie calls this his “R” shirt.  I think that sounds about right.  However, I always felt that it had a “Superman” feel…sort of.  I have a hard time trying to decide what to put on these striped t-shirts, but for some reason I still buy them.  I was pleased with how the R turned out, so he’ll probably be seeing this design again on another striped shirt.

Next up, the pirate t-shirt.  I found this applique design at Planet Applique.  You can find the website here.  It is by far my favorite applique site.  Not only are her designs super cute, they are also relatively cheap compared to other sites.  Then she also gives away free designs with your orders.  I bought these shorts at Wal-mart on the clearance table for $1.  Then I bought a matching shirt and a design from Planet Applique to make an outfit.  So there was really very little sewing in this project.

I really struggle with buying white t-shirts for Roark.  I like to applique on white shirts so much more than the colored shirts.  I don’t know why exactly.  Maybe the designs show up better?  However, Roark can stain a white t-shirt within five minutes of putting it on him.  I don’t know how he does it.  It’s one of the secret powers boys possess.  I can tell him to sit on the couch and not get dirty, and by the time I’m ready to leave he’s got something smudged across his chest.  So I really try not to by him too many white shirts because he just doesn’t get a lot of use out of them before they’re in the “Play Clothes Only” pile.  All that being said, we have somehow managed to keep this outfit out of that pile which makes me very happy because it’s definitely my favorite outfit I appliqued for him.  I bought these shorts at the same time as the ones above and purchased the dump truck from Planet Applique.

That’s all I’ve got for Roark.  Again I sewed a lot more, but just didn’t get any pictures.  I really would like to continue to post pictures of my sewing.  So I will try and do a better job on the back end with snapping some pictures.  I started gathering ideas this week for their fall/winter wardrobes.  So I will start working on those soon.  If I bored you, I’m sorry, but don’t worry.  It will be awhile before I’m posting more sewing pictures because it takes me a while to make this stuff.

Ok, let’s just get it out there.  I don’t for a minute think I have missed my calling as a fashion photographer.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that I stink at it.  However, I am still posting these pictures of my sewing because I have worked hard on these outfits, and I want to show them off.   But just imagine them looking better in real life.

You gotta love the pillowcase dress.  Not only can it be whipped together in about half an hour, Edie can wear them until she’s headed to college.  Ok…so maybe she can’t get that much use out of them, but it does seem like it takes several years before she has outgrown one.  I’ve had this fabric forever and always loved it, but I just never knew what to do with it.  Finally, I just excepted doing something simple and making a pillowcase dress.  I was pleased with how it turned out.

This dress was made using the pattern “Molly” from the Handmade Dress.  You can find it here.  I was really please with how it turned out, but I’m not sure I could really recommend it to someone.  The pattern is not intuitive at all.  In fact, I even called the girl who wrote it because I just did not understand how it was suppose to be put together.  And although, I’m not your most experienced seamstress, I also didn’t start sewing yesterday.  But now that I have figured it out, this dress can be sewn together in less than an hour.  So chances are, Edie will be seeing a similar dress with different fabric in her future wardrobes.

Can you tell Edie’s really in a dress and skirt phase?  I don’t know that I would describe her as a “girly girl.” I think she’s just a normal 5 year old girl and they’re just  really into dresses at that age.  So I tried to be accommodating.   I found this free pattern for a “twirly skirt” here.  I love this skirt, but when I make it again, I want it to be much fuller…think shorter poodle skirt.  If we are being honest, I messed up by not adding enough material, but it was still wearable. And pretty cute on Edie, if I do say so myself.  I appliqued the matching E on a t-shirt from Wal-mart to pull it all together.

Even though I know to make a new pattern from beginning to end before making it again, I broke this rule and made this skirt at the same time as the one before.  So when I finished, I had two skirts that I really wished were “twirly-er.”   Here’s a close-up of the flower:

I really wish I could point you to a website for this little flower, but unfortunately, there’s not a site for it.  My friend, Maja, of Maja’s Heirlooms designed it and then brought it over one day.  I had envisioned something similar for this shirt.  So when she randomly showed up with it, I was super excited.  She’s a great resource to have around my sewing room and has spent many hours making me believe that there is nothing I can’t sew (without her help, of course).

I made several other things for Edie’s summer wardrobe, but I’m not posting either because I didn’t take a picture or the picture was so bad that it was shameful.  Next up, Roarkie’s summer clothes…

I don’t know if you know this about me or not, but I really like to sew.  It’s kind of a hobby of mine, and even though I take pictures of most of my creations, for some reason they never seem to make it to the blog.  I worry that a picture of an outfit doesn’t make for good reading.  Since I have such a small handful of faithful readers, I really hate to bore them with pillowcase dresses and appliques.  Something else you might not know about me: I worry over stupid stuff.

Last week, I made this little creation for Edie to wear to our church’s summer cook-out.

The theme was 1950’s, and so of course, she needed a poodle skirt.  I went to the internet to find ideas, and within a few hours, wallah, she had one.  Boy, was she proud of her costume.  The whole time she was getting dressed for the cook-out she kept saying, “I think I’m going to win the dress-up contest!” or “Don’t you think I’m going to win, Mommy?”  And then every few minutes, she would twirl around real fast so her skirt would fly up and whirl around her in the air.   I even let her watch the school dance scene in Grease and taught her the motions to hand-jive.

I love that my sewing hobby can give her the gift of  handmade clothes and costumes.  And I love when there are moments like this weekend when she really appreciates my hobby as well. I know this because between all the twirling and talk of costume contests, she thanked me a hundred times for making her skirt.  But I don’t deserve all the credit because my mother gave me this gift.  She sewed for me when I was Edie’s age, and then later, taught me to do the same for my little girl.

So the little trophy that Edie earned when she did, in fact, win the costume contest really belongs to all three of us…but we’ll let her keep it in her room.

I have decided that dressing a little boy isn’t near as much fun as dressing my little girl, but it doesn’t have to be a complete loss.  There are SOME cute patterns for boys out there, and maybe one day, Roark will have a wife that appreciates what I have sewn when I hand them down to her. 

Here are some of the projects I have been working on since Roark’s been born.  There is no way that I would have been able to sew all of these outfits if it wasn’t for my sweet friend, Maja, the mother of all seamstresses.  She opens up her house every week and lets me use her children as babysitters while I sew.    It is just understood that every Wednesday before church we meet in her sewing room along with several other sweet friends.  I know one day these will be memories that I will cherish.  

This white bubble was Roark’s first Easter outfit (as seen in the previous Easter post).  Truth be told, I totally copied it out of a sewing magazine. When I decided to make it, Roark was only weeks old, and I barely had the energy to sew…being creative and selecting my own patterns and fabric would have left poor Roark naked on Easter morning.  So, I found this in Australian Smocking and decided to duplicate it.

On a side note, when I got him dressed that Sunday morning, I cried a little because he was just so sweet in it.  I get great satisfaction out of seeing my children in clothes that I have made for them…especially this one because it was a booger to make.

Here is another bishop dress I made Edie last month.  Again, totally copied it out of a magazine.  I happened to notice it one day while flipping through a Creative Needle, when I thought, “Hey, I already own that fabric! I can just make that!”

I love making bishops for so many reasons.  One because I can make them in my sleep now, and two because Edie can get at least two years of wear out of them which means there is more pay off for my hard work.  And three because they are just sweet dresses on little girls, and it is impossible to smock Hannah Montana’s face  on one.  Not that we watch that in our house…it just seems she’s everywhere these days.

Anyway, here is a close up of the smocking:

I know what you are thinking, “Not another post about a dress…BOR-RING!” At least, I know that’s what Ken is thinking!

When I show him something I am working on, he gives me the standard issued response of “Yeah, that’s really nice,” with a little bit of a nod showing that he has at least acknowledged me. But in all fairness, I have been known to give him the same response when he has shown me some of the less interesting stuff he’s been working on…such as when he’s trying to explain how his flight simulator works.

Anyway, this is just a plain ‘ole bishop dress. I have now sewn this pattern close to a zillion times, but this dress is one of my favorites. I think it was the color of the material on my girl more than anything…who knew that aqua-marine was her signature color?

Since I am at a loss of stories to post about the adventures at the McKibben house, I thought I would post another dress. I washed and ironed Edie’s entire wardrobe this weekend, so I took advantage of all her dresses in their pristine condition and pulled out my camera.  All of that to say, there are more to come…hope it is not too boring. I like having a place to record what I have made before it gets outgrown, packed up in a box somewhere, and forgotten about.

Anyway, this pattern is “Hillary” by Children’s Corner. Pretty easy pattern, but a lot of hand stitching for my taste. The smocking plate is a simple little tulip pattern that I copied from somewhere.

Don’t be fooled. I just started sewing again last week. Since I found out I was pregnant, I haven’t felt much like working in my sewing room. However, I am way behind on recording dresses that I’ve already sewn. So, here is an outfit I made for Edie last winter.

The top is just a basic Bishop dress that has been cut short,  and the bottoms are a simple pants pattern that I have made about a zillion times now. The smocking plate is by Ellen McCarn.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the fabric the top is made out of. Seriously, I think it one of my favorites ever…it is so delicate and timeless. Who knows? Maybe my grandbaby will be wearing it one day…