(mini-tut) ironing board holder

We had an old dresser that had a few broken drawers!  I was finally able to get my hands on a free replacement for our dresser, but couldn't bare to part with a few of the drawers!  This one especially because the face of the drawer had fallen off long ago.  It's destined project was an easy one to choose as I'd seen this idea at House of Smiths.

  ( i loved Shelley's vinyl idea on hers...I just didn't have room on mine.  This lady is a serious genius!)

(tutorial) Anthro Inspired Tee - Wandering Wake

As an Anthro stalker, when I saw this tank

I fell in love.  

It also was one I knew I could recreate with a tee refashion.

That is getting harder and harder to find.

SAD.

So I pulled out my tee stash, and got to work knocking off the original!

:)

If this knock-off appeals to you... here is how to make one for yourself! 

(It is really easy!)

(eyeCandy) Ombre Love

About a month ago, I found this amazing blog, 

Cotton & Curls

She has such great style, and her refashions are fabulous!

I LOVE what she did with this tank:

http://cottonandcurls.blogspot.com/2011/05/ombre-shirt-and-first-guess-post.html

(guest blogging) Sail Away With Me Dress

Today I am guest blogging in a seriously great series.
Jessica, at Me Sew Crazy is having a Pattern Remix Series, where you take an existing pattern or tutorial and change it up and make it your own.  

You NEED to go take a look at the many awesome projects that have been created.

And, if you want, while you are there, take a closer look at my remix and see what I did.

(sew what! skirts) and the winner is...

#45 Pam from PA

(who said)

I follow this blog. I commented before about how beautiful the skirt is, you are and your photos are. Very professional. I would love to see the book and attempt a skirt. I haven't sewn for myself since forever.

Pam, we're so excited for you to try this out!  Send us a pic with what you come up with!!!

Email us so we can get your information off to Storey Publishing!

Special thanks to them for hosting this giveaway!

(iCandy) unique charm baby quilt

 i have a good friend named Lauren.

every quilt she makes is amazing.  She has a knack for picking out the most fun materials, from random lines that I would never put together, but they always look uh-mazing.  So, when she showed me a stack of 'charm'-sized squares she had put together to make baby quilts.  I snatched one up...and she's selling them!

The beauty of Lauren's 'charm' packs is that they are completely unique. 

When you buy a regular charm pack, you almost always have a few squares that are really not your favorite...but they're just part of the line, and you have to deal with them.  

So, here's a stack of charms that no-body else has, already cut and ready to go, and all of the fabrics are top of the line fabulous.  get excited!

If you'd like to purchase one, or get more information, please contact Lauren at lauren_a_black@yahoo.com.  She only has 5 left...

I'm still practicing my quilting skills, and am always willing to practice on a baby-size quilt because they're quick and easier to handle.  i love this one!  Don't know anyone having a little girl any time soon, so this one's going in the 'to-be-gifted' stash..

(iCandy) Vintage Strawberry Skirt

Last chance to enter our giveaway!  read ahead to see how!

Winner will be announced tomorrow!

 After I had a successful attempt at making a skirt for myself out of a tablecloth, I thought I'd give it another go.  This time, I wanted a 50's style vintage tablecloth complete with strawberries or cherries, and pink...or of course, turquoise.  I found one on etsy for a very reasonable price, and could hardly wait to make the skirt again, using my preciously drafted pattern from Sew What! Skirts!

So, here's another example of what you can do with the fun book that we're giving away here.

 The book gives you a couple of options regarding how you lay out your pattern on the tablecloth.  Check out how the back looked like on my previous skirt here.  This time, I tried a little different variety, and love it!  sorry about the wrinkles...it was ironed before I sat in the car!

 I made this skirt 3-4 inches longer than the other one (the tablecloth was a little bit longer) and I love, love, love this one!  

Do you have any fabulous tablecloths you could make something pretty out of?  I'm aftaid I have 1 more coming that I can't resist!  (it's mustard...and it's double-sided!)  

Don't forget to enter our giveaway, here, to win the Sew What! Skirts book, provided by Storey Publishing. Leave your comments on this post!

**special thanks to Thacker Berry Farms, who sell the yummiest strawberries in Orange County!  They were kind enough to allow us to storm their stand in Huntington and take some really fun pictures! Click here for a list of locations or to find a stand near you!

(eyeCandy) Lemonade Stand

This Lemonade Stand had me at hello this week.  

Isn't it amazing?

Give it to the girls at Lolly Jane Boutique to create something fabulous from a $4 Garage Sale item!

every detail is my favorite! 

they did such a great job.

They're also involved in a contest on Naptime Crafters...go here to vote them on to the next level!  Really...how could you not vote for them with this?

Vote for My Spring Top!

Remember this top I made for the Spring Top Contest?

Well, it is a finalist.  I would LOVE if you would go vote for me! 

Just click on the button below!

(tutorial) The Ruffle Equation (Skirt)

Tired of seeing skirts yet???

I hope not. Cause we have another one for you today.

(Speaking of skirts, have you entered the giveaway for the Sew What Skirts book?)

You might be wondering what Equations have to do with Skirts.  Well, to my {dismay?} as I worked on this one, I discovered that they go hand in hand.  

Remember this skirt? I bought it at H&M a while back and wore it with the lace tee I made.

Well, I had a few of you lovely readers ask me if I would create a tutorial for it.  Here is how the replica turned out!

{I had just enough fabric for two skirts in my stash, so I cut one out for Autie.  This is the one she made...}

 {P.S. Don't mind the strange yellow circle over her fabulous cowboy boots.  No idea how that happened.}

...And here is mine...

Pretty good copy, heh?  Not bad...

So are you still wondering about the whole "equation" thing? Got you a bit nervous?  

It turns out, figuring out a pattern for this skirt that would work with every size, using body measurements, was quite a math feat.  I think had to use every math skill I could remember.
(Which wasn't much.  College was a long time ago!)

So if you want to tackle this skirt, put on your thinking cap (NERD ALERT), get your calculator out, and get ready to draft a pattern!

(Linked up to these)

(guest blogging) She Wears Flowers!

hey guys!

Today, I'm excited to be blogging over at She Wears Flowers

She's got lots of really fun ideas from sewing to wood crafts...right up my alley!

...hurry, go check out my post, and then browse around her place some more!

(mini-tut) ruff(led)-neck tank

i bought a shirt from Old Navy on Saturday for my little tiny, Ivy. 

(doesn't she look happy? yikes) 

i immediately thought that it might be an easy one to try to 'knock-off'

so, here's my attempt.  

(tutorial) Ruffle in Descent

I love the color mustard.  

I am always on the lookout for cute mustard fabric, but I am always a SERIOUS discount shopper, too. 

I found this fabric in the discount flat fold section in my independent local fabric store and it has been sitting in my stash for a while.  I really need some more skirts and dresses, 

(well, shirts too, to be honest...ok and shoes) 

so I thought I would whip up a quick skirt from this fabric.

So, I really like my concept, colors and trim, but I think it could be better.

If I was making it all over again, I would definitely change a few things. 

(With my awesome editing skills, I managed to make my skin look both sickly and pale, sorry!)

Below, I created a tutorial for you, and I will tell you what I would do differently to make it better.

(eyeCandy) Fancy Nancy Soiree

OK...Prepared to be WOWED!  

{Since we did a Fancy Nancy book giveaway and dress for my daughter, I thought this would be the perfect feature for today's eyecandy post.} 

Drumroll, please.....

The little girls DREAM party...

Fancy Nancy Soiree!

Source: http://andeverythingsweet.blogspot.com/

OK, I will stop drooling over these pictures...Go have a look for yourself at the rest...Pinkies Up Sugared Rim Lemondade, Posh Poodle Kits...and much, much more.

(giveaway) new Raspberry Creek winner!

Since our last winner did not claim their prize, I picked another winner!

The new winner for the 5 yard bundle of fabrics from Raspberry Creek Fabrics is:

Anna, who said:

I am a follower, and I tweeted about the giveaway. ((does that count, she asked hopefully??)) I love so many of her fabrics, but my faves are probably Sugar and Spice for Riley Blake; Love Birds by My Minds Eye for Riley Blake; and Fandango by Katie Spain for Moda. Thank you for this opportunity to win some beautiful fabric!

Anna, contact us!  You have 24 hours!

(giveaway) Sew What! Skirts

(this was our post on thursday...and it got deleted...maybe it'll show up again later, but for now, if you entered this giveaway...enter again!  Sorry, it for reals wasn't my fault this time...promise!)

Prepare to be shocked...I sewed something for myself.

From scratch.

From the ground up.

Now, I can sew a straight line, I can quilt, I can follow a tutorial for a little skirt for my daughter, but up until this Easter Dress (you know, less than a month ago) I had NEVER sewn using a pattern.  They are totally intimidating to me.  I don't know how to read them, there are too many big words that I don't understand, and weird arrows and dotted lines, etc.  That Easter dress, required a phone call to Jen at least once a day...

I'm telling you this so that you'll know that this:

is a miracle.  

I made my own pattern using my own measurements, that I took myself, I inserted my own zipper, with no help...and I didn't call ANYONE for back up.  That's big.  One thing that made this skirt easier, or maybe just less daunting was the fact that I started with this:

It's just an old, embroidered tablecloth that my mother-in-law sent me.  I told her that I had borrowed a book from my friend called Sew What! Skirts, and that in it was a skirt I wanted to make using vintage tablecloths.

With a tablecloth, you don't need to hem your stuff at the end...so that cuts out a whole step!

  How fun, huh?  Here's what the book looks like:  (have you seen it?)

I loved it!  Like I said, I haven't EVER sewn anything for myself, and I was totally able to whip this out on my own.  I made my own pattern using their instructions on a big sheet of butcher paper.  (that was easier than you think) laid it out on the table cloth and cut it out.  Sewing the pieces of fabric together was nothing...the daunting task of putting in a zipper was laid out amazingly simple.  Unfortunately, I had to give the book back, but I WANT IT!  There were dozens of different styles of skirts, including this one that I chose, all using your own measurements to make  your very own unique skirts.  

Can you believe this was a tablecloth?  Here's the back view:

 I was also lucky enough to have a friend who is a budding professional photographer do this shoot for me.  I was so impressed with her ability and eye for how to pose and make it look natural.  I'll admit that when I was in front of the camera and she asked me to do something with my head, or my hand, I thought "really?  this can't look natural..."  But it totally did, and I am so thrilled with how her pictures turned out!  Check out It Girl Images on facebook for more information!

Get excited.

Did you notice that this is a giveaway post?  

It is.  and I'm already jealous of the winner!  Storey Publishing, the publisher of Sew What! Skirts has generously donated a copy of their book to one of our lucky followers.  

Want to win?

Here's what you do:

-Follow iCandy...seriously, follow...if you don't follow, you won't know if you won, and then I"ll for sure pick another winner

-for an extra entry, you can post about this giveaway on Facebook or your blog...and then come back here and tell us that you did it!

I'll announce the winner on my birthday, May 24!  better hurry!

I'm telling YOU can make yourself a skirt....if I can...you can!

{stay tuned for another tablecloth-fallen-victim!}

Deleted Post...

The fabric giveaway is closed, the posts just got deleted! 

Hopefully they come back soon...Blogger????

(giveaway) Raspberry Creek Fabrics

...and the Winner of the 5yards of amazing fabric from our favorite fabric shop is...

SammiJ from Colorado!

she said:

oh im a follower too

SammiJ, you have 24 hours to contact either Jen or I to claim your prize, or we'll announce another winner tomorrow at 1!

Thanks for following, and Thankyouthankyouthankyou to Diana at Raspberry Creek Fabrics for sponsoring this giveaway!

(giveaway) Last Chance Raspberry Creek Fabrics

Ok, Ok...this was such a fabulous giveaway we wanted to keep it open for forever!  We've had so many people enter, and we'll give you all just one more day to enter to win the 5 yard bundle...cut or uncut of your choice from:

Hop on over to her shop and pick your fav's, then come back and leave a comment on this post!  Winners will be announced tomorrow!

A huge thanks to Diana, for being such a fun sponsor and this amazing giveaway!

Ruched Sleeved Spring Top

Last Spring, when I was just drooling over sewing blogs and wishing I could pull it together and have my own, I came across Made By Rae's Spring Top Contest.  Have you heard of it?  You should go and check it out. 

Anyway, last year I discovered it when it was in the voting stage, and wished I could have entered something, but it was too late.  :(

So this year, when I found out she was doing it again, I was excited to come up with an entry!

A while ago, on a trip to the LA Fabric District, I found some really interesting fabric at the FIDM Scholarship Store.  All of the fabric (it is hit and miss) is only $1 a yard!  Crazy.  So I found this fabric, and when I was thinking of the type of top to make, I decided it would be perfect for a loose blouse.

The pattern is basically a square, with a neckline cut out.  Super easy and basic.  I added a few darts to the neckline for detail:

For the ruched sleeve detail, I gathered two sides of two long strips of fabric laid together.  I sewed it over the arm holes, and bound the edges in bias tape that I made with a basic little bias tape maker.

On the back, I sewed two little 1/8" elastic pieces to the inside of the shirt at the waistline:

(It really isn't crooked in real life, I promise!)

Simple top, but I like the few details and how comfortable it is!