I’ve been working on using up some of my “vintage” stash fabrics (aka…they’ve been in my stash for 2-3 years lol), and the middle fabric in particular was the one that NEEDED to be in this dress.  It’s a Michael Miller print from a few years ago.  The top fabric is also Michael Miller, it’s called Red Quarter Dot I think.  The bottom fabric is Amy Butler “Seeds” from either Belle or Lotus (I can never remember which is which!).

I didn’t use a pattern for this one, I just took a purchased tshirt (another stash I’m trying to work through since I now make myself almost all of the tshirts you see in my shop) and added tiers to it.  The little lobster dude just pulled this all together perfectly! Now tell me..are YOU hitting the beach this summer?

Then there are a couple of new alphabets I tested for Studio MCA as well, and since both Wyatt and Ree are growing out of all their clothes I made these shirts for them.  First is the cartoon alpha (great blocky style font for the boys!):

And then this one I just finished this afternoon for Ree, it’s the Simply Sweet alpha (super quick stitchout!).  She loves it and actually took off her previously favorite shirt I made her to put this one on!

Tomorrow, more more more!  I’ve been a busy little bee!  Be sure and follow me on Facebook to see everything first hand (because I forget to blog ALOT lol).

This is my serger.  A Brother 1034D.  I LOVE this serger.  It’s VERY reasonably priced and I definitely make it work for it’s dinner.  I had a Singer before, and it tended to hate the bulkier seams that come with ruffles, bias tape, etc. This one goes through them like butter!

This is what my serger settings normally are for a standard seam finishing.  I pretty much stick with what they came set at from the factory!  For ruffling though, you’ll want to change them to this:

If you can’t tell what changed, the little lever on the far right is pushed all the way to the top, and that middle dial is turned all the way to the right as well.  When that is done, and you leave your tension dials set at the regular settings (mine is set at 4 all the way across), you get a ruffle that looks like this:

It’s not gathered very much huh?  This is great for some things, but I personally tend to like things a bit more ruffled!  So I played around with the settings and found that if I set the tension dials like this:

Then you end up with a ruffle like this:

Much better!  I still make some adjustments by hand if something doesn’t gather quite enough but this is saving me SO much time!  I hope I’ve explained it well, and that someone gets brave enough to try it themselves now!  If you have any questions, please comment and I’ll answer as best as I can!

The last couple of months I’ve taken “off”, to mostly let things flow along and ‘recharge’ a bit.  But now I’m heading into massive crazy season that likely won’t let up until Christmas.  Awesome, but WOW!

Why so busy you ask?  Well, last year I told my husband that THIS year I would be focusing on growing Froggy Girl Designs.  That means doing more shows, teaching myself more about marketing so I can be more effective at it (SO hard!), working harder on improving everything about my online presence, getting my items into more brick and mortar stores, and..a biggie-a 3 day sales event with Zulily.  This one wasn’t even on my rader AT ALL, but when I got contacted, I said yes!  Well, before I said yes, I hyperventilated.  Then I had a LONG discussion with hubs and the kids about everything involved.  The event won’t be until late August/early September, but every picture you’re seeing in today’s post are items I’m working on for that event! SQUEE!!!

My first show of the season is next weekend, and it’s the Spirit of Women Mommy & Me Expo here in Greensburg (Indiana, not Pennsylvania! LOL!).  Then after that I’ll be setting up every Saturday morning from June until the end of September at the Columbus Farmers Market (again, in Indiana lol).  Then we’ll be into fall shows WOO-WEE!

And of course, I’ll still be here taking care of anything ya’ll need.  I’m going to try and remember to post pictures as I finish new items for the event, and I will definitely keep you posted as the date gets closer.  Do you shop at Zulily? What are your favorite things to shop for there?

So here’s a glimpse of what you’re missing if you’re reading this in a reader.  I simply adore how well Lisa saw my vision and helped make it happen!  I still have to work on the sidebar content a bit, and figure MY way around this place, but I am SO darn excited!  Now the links to the different categories are much easier to find, as are things like the links to my shop, how to contact me (please, feel free any time!), etc.  I’m going to be trying hard to BE back in this space, I love it, and I need to get over my hangups! LOL!  So tell me, what do you think?

First, how did this whole thing start?  Well, I decided to let my customers give me direction!  I feel the need to push outside my comfort zone I’ve settled into, and I thought a little added inspiration from my fans would be perfect!  So, each month, I’ll be running a little jazz over on my Facebook page asking for a one word inspiration (anything from “hope” to “cars”..abstract or concrete).  Then I run it through random.org and whoever that spits out, I use their word for that month’s inspiration.

January was the first month trying this and I have to say, I’m SO SO SO into this!  January’s chosen word was “horses”.  My goal is to make these sets more intricate and detailed than some of the other things I do, to really push my own creativity.  So after mulling it over, I settled on these items for the set:

Once I had the items put together, it was time to decide on exactly what I wanted to do.  First I was going to go in more of a “rodeo” direction, but after looking at rodeo outfits online I just couldn’t get inspired.  Then I was thinking about how skirts in days gone by included a bustle so they could do things like ride a horse more comfortably without their skirts trailing.  Inspiration struck!  I ran to my massive pattern stash and started digging, I knew exactly what the starting point needed to be…and I found it:

Photo Source

Never one to follow a pattern exactly as written, I had to add my own spin.  So I took the same method she used for the drawstring bustle as shown, and continued it around the entire skirt, resulting in 4 bustles total.  Using a coordinating ribbon for the ties, the look was complete.  I cinched my bustles higher because I wanted the bottom fabric to peek through more as well.

Next up, was the shirt.  Like I said, when I started this I was thinking of going in more of a “rodeo” direction, and initially picked out an embroidery design that said something along the lines of “This ain’t my first rodeo”.  Then I thought that didn’t really fit with what I was wanting.  So I stumbled on this horse applique that had the flowers in it’s hair like the horses on the fabric.  Perfect!  I used the shirt pattern I talked about the other day for this as well.  It still seemed a little blah, so I added the ruffled elastic for a little bit of flair.  Done!

Put it together, and you have a look perfect for ANY horse loving little girl!

So there you have it!  The first ever Facebook Fan inspired set by Froggy Girl Designs!  This is a full custom set, currently purchasing info is available on my Facebook page, but I hope to get this listed in my shop in the next few days.  Now I’m neck deep in the boys horse themed set…and I’m LOVING IT!!!  Hopefully I’ll have that ready to show you sometime this weekend!

First up I want to review the Practically Perfect Tee by Muse of the Morning.  Full disclaimer…I was one of the pattern testers on this back before it was released, so any issues I have with it now are my own fault for not catching it then lol.  This pattern is pretty close to perfect though honestly.  I use it ALL the time, it sews up super quick-about 30 minutes from beginning cutting to finished.  This is definitely a more “girly” type of shirt as the fit is more slim than a traditional tshirt.

This is the gathered short sleeve option .  As you can see, there is a very thin cuff that runs along the sleeve.  I like that feature, but it is a VERY thin cuff so it can be a challenge to get it sewed on evenly.  This is probably my favorite option on this pattern, she really makes the poufy sleeve very easy to do.  I’ve even morphed the poufy sleeve with the long sleeve to do this:

This pattern also includes options for a cuffed long sleeve (which I have not done), and for a basic short sleeve.  For that option, the sleeve is very much like a cap sleeve. I can’t find a picture of the ones I’ve made using that option to show you, but with a rolled hem on it, it turns into such a cute “flutter” sleeve.  The neckband piece also tends to be a bit thinner than I like, so I’ve gradually increased the width of my neckband pieces by about 1/4″ and that seems perfect.

This one is an example of the traditional long sleeve.  Love the simplicity!  This really is a great pattern, and since it goes from size 18 months up to size 8 you can get a TON of use out of it!  I’ve even used it to make tshirt dresses for Ree (which I no longer have pictures of since my hard drive crash)! If you do any sewing for girls, this is one I really recommend adding to your pattern arsenal, and at only $6, it won’t break the bank!  You can get it here (disclosure: this is an affiliate link, if you buy through this link I think I’ll make a nickel..thank you!)

I’m a girl who likes things laid out for me plain, so I know exactly what I’m expected to do…so as soon as I saw the theme I went “Oh crap”.  Have to use my imagination from the get go!  So I hemmed around for a few days formulating an idea for a block..then set out to put it on fabric.  This is what I ended up with:

Quit laughing.  Seriously. It’s not THAT funny.  Ok, maybe it is..it makes me giggle when I look at it too.  Suffice to say this is NOT what it looked like in my head LOL!  I call it the genetically modified tree because we all know how genetically  modified seeds do their own thing, and this tree is obviously doing his own thing.

I sent the picture to the girl it’s supposed to be for so she could get a giggle out of it (I’ll be remaking this block tomorrow, I wouldn’t feel right sending this as my contribution!  No matter how laughter inducing it is.), and she said it actually looks like the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter:

She’s totally right! LOL!  I may try and play with it a bit to improve it, but it may end up being a wadder (aka..headed to trashcan central).  I do have another idea for a block that I think (hope?) would be super cute too, so we’ll see!

Are you playing along busting scraps?  Share a link to what you’ve been working on so we can cheer you on!

I pinned this tutorial ages ago, and today I just had to try it!  Here’s my first pair:

Keep in mind, these are child length shoelaces in my shoes just to show you what they look like all tied up and everything.  I couldn’t find a pair of my kids shoes that lace up and looks decent (seriously, these boys and their shoes!).  How cute is that?  I’ll be making a longer pair for my shoes for sure!  One thing I definitely learned though, is you probably want to make the fabric strips a smidge thinner than they recommend.  They say 2″, but I really had a hard time getting them into the tubing, and even lacing them was a pretty tight fit in the shoe holes.  Subsequent pairs I’ll probably make 1 3/4″ wide and see how that works.

Are you playing along with busting your own scraps?  Show me your projects!  Leave a linkie in the comments for me (and everyone else!) to ogle your goodies (wait, that sounds bad..you know what I meant).