(eyecandy) Alphabet Rocks

I found this idea a while ago, and stashed it on a pinterest board, but decided that it was a good one to share today...my kids would love these Alphabet Rocks that Cheri from I am Momma came up with.  

Go see all the fun things she did with them here!

(refashion) Summer Cardi

One of my favorite projects is to take an old, most likely thrifted

sweater and turn it into a cardigan.

This is nothing new-everyone does it, and there are loads of tutorials all over the place.

But I thought I would share with you how I do it anyway.

I really have needed a navy cardigan for a long time.  (and I really really need a mustard one, but still on the hunt for that one...) Finally a couple of months ago I found a lightweight one at a thrift store.

I worked my magic :) and so here is how it turned out:

Much better as a cardi with shorter sleeves.

This one I kept plain, but you can add buttons, or embellish it like 

this, this or this.

Here is how I do it:

(review) say no! to auto with Kristen Duke

Last weekend, Jen and I had the opportunity to attend the Say No! to Auto workshop with Kristen Duke here in California.  We are thrilled with the results of the workshop, and are so excited to put our newly acquired skills to work!

Let me just divulge that previous to our workshop with Kristen, Jen and I shot all of our pictures exclusively on auto (how embarrassing, right).  We are definitely aware of the importance of good quality pictures and the correlation between that and a truly successful blog, so it's been important to us to make our pictures as good as possible.  

 So, get excited better quality pictures coming your way on iCandy!

Her workshop was fabulous!

I went into the workshop clueless, and taking completely blue shots when I turned my dial to manual, and I now actually know what I'm doing when I fiddle with all those buttons...or at least have better understanding! If you haven't purchased her book, or taken the workshop, and you have the opportunity to do so...do it!

Check out her blog here, and her say NO! to auto site here

(tutorial) binding a quilt

My mother-in-law taught me how to quilt, and thus, also taught me how to bind a quilt.  I've since noticed that there's more than one way to bind, so I thought I'd share how we do it!  It's very easy, and I've even heard some people enjoy this part the most! :)

I hope you find this tutorial helpful!

(and the winners are)

Pay close attention, because we have 4 winners to announce today!

Thanks again to the ladies that contributed to our giveaways for our fun in the sun{dress) series!

Now, here are the winners!

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For the $25 gift certificate to spend freely at Brynnberlee Sewing Patterns, from this giveaway,

The winner is: Michelle Nguyen!

**please contact us within 24 hours to claim your prize!**

For the darling Caribbean Blue dress, size 0-6 months from Shabby Apple Baby, from this giveaway

The winner is:

P.Goodys who said: "new follower!"

**please contact us within 24 hours to claim your prize!**

For the Summer Vacation Dress Pattern from MADE, from this giveaway
we have 4 winners!
{Thanks, Dana!}
Winner #1: Toni, who is now a twitter follower
Winner #2: Cloth Diaper Mom, who is now a facebook follower
Winner #3: Chelsea Ling who said "im a follower already :)"
Winner #4: Sarah, who said "I follow you via GFC! Thank you!"
**please contact us within 24 hours to claim your prize!**

And, finally, for the Ahoy dress from Shabby Apple, from this giveaway,
our winner is:
Anne, who said,"I'm a follower!"
**please contact us within 24 hours to claim your prize!**

(tutorial) Ice Cream Social Skirt

Happy Monday, everyone!

I am beginning to sound like a broken record, but found today's inspiration, again, on Pinterest.

I kept seeing this everywhere:

And since I am in LOVE with stripes, I repinned it.

I had some striped jersey, and a real need for summer skirts, so I recreated it, with a tutorial.

It is a striped circle skirt. Which, when I googled it, isn't supposed to work, or look good.  

But I really love how it turned out.

Even with my sewing-with-knits intimidation, it was super easy and fast.  The hardest part was laying/smoothing the fabric out to cut. Once that was done, (and it wasn't even perfect) the rest goes together super fast.  I actually made another out of a gray striped jersey and have plans for one more this week!  

I added some elastic trim to the hem, though it isn't necessary.  It gave it a nice little detail.

Bonus: This skirt is SUPER comfy.  Just the way I like it.

Oh, and the cardi? I needed a navy one, so I refashioned this one from a thrifted long sleeve v-neck sweater. Tutorial for that coming on Thursday.

Do you want to make your very own?

(eyeCandy) Shrinky Dink Buttons

Found this on Pinterest. 

Brilliant. 

And Fun.

Can I make some now, please?

Source: Scissors.Paper.Wok

Go check out the tutorial.

(iCandy) cradle redo

a few weeks ago, i had a few of my best girls come to town for a little reunion, and one of the fun things we did was to hit up a local swap meet.  I didn't come away with a lot of purchases, but on the way out, my friend and I saw this little toy cradle that was pleading with me to give it a make-over!  It cost me $3 (with some superior bartering skills by my friend Tara)!

I just finished re-making a little doll bed for my little girlie, so I really didn't need this, but I thought it would make a fantastic photography prop for my friend Kim

 here is what the little beaut looked like before: 

plain wood, stickered up, and a Crusty-Von-Nast "mattress" that I could barely stand to touch.  

But for $3, it is in awesome shape!

 All I did was:

-sand paper it like crazy

-primed it with white spray primer

-sprayed it white

-sanded it down again{just a little}

-sprayed it with top coat

-Cut a $7 chunk of that green foam from JoAnns down to size

-hot-glued the foam to the existing "mattress" board

-staple-gunned a small piece of white minky around the foam to the board

Lucky for me, I have a fabulous photographer friend {get excited, Nor-Cal, she is now working in San Jose and Orange County, by the way} that I could bribe into taking some pictures for me.

And another fabulous friend who happened to just have the most beautiful little baby girl, Lottie to make the cradle look even sweeter!

i LoVe it!

links:

Lottie's Headband Tutorial (the Box Fold Flower)

Photographer: Tickled Pink Studios {San Jose, CA & Orange County, CA}
{tiny models: Lottie in Yellow and Lola in Turquoise}

(Sponsor Spotlight) Lace Heaven

We are so excited to introduce 

our most recent sponsor!

Let me tell you a little bit about Lace Heaven.  I think I discovered them about a year ago, when I began to be addicted to fun trims.  When I first saw their selection and prices, I think I went a bit crazy and ordered about 50+ yards of trim from them!  And I have been using it up ever since! :)

  If you are looking for something specific, it is the perfect place to shop.  

As a frequenter of the LA fabric district, I can honestly say that Lace Heaven's prices are comparable to the little hole-in-the-wall shops, but WAY more convenient.

They are my GO TO place to buy trim.  They have the largest selection of lace online.

There are so many to choose from and the prices are insanely low!  

My most recent order was for some wide stretch lace for my latest project. 

What you would pay $3.00/yard for at Joanns (if they even have it) I got for under a dollar a yard.

There is no fuss when ordering, and the shipping is super fast.  I received my precious lace trim within a couple of days.

AND the more you order, the cheaper it is.  Crazy.

Right now, iCandy readers can get an additional 10% off with the coupon code

iCandy

So go right on over to Lace Heaven and order some amazing trim for your next project!

(tutorial) pillowcase nightgowns take 2

I don't know whether you remember one of my very first posts on this blog, but I made Emily a bunch of pillowcase nightgowns.  

Well, Emily is now growing out of those cute nightgowns, so I knew it was time to make some more.  

Recently, I came across this picture on Pinterest:

Source via Pinterest

Adorable, right? 

She took a vintage dress and added lace to make a cute dress for her daughter.  

Well, like so many things on Pinterest that I see (I am addicted) it was immediate inspiration for

pillowcase nightgowns take 2

I had some pillowcases that never got used the first time around, and my mom sent me some too.

(I currently have about 10 more to make!)

 I purchased some wide stretch lace from 

Lace Heaven, the best and cheapest place to buy lace trim.  

The beautiful stretch lace showed up a few days later and I got to work!  

The best thing about these are how quick they are to make! Less than an hour a piece.

Though I loved the last version, they weren't really a quick project.

So if any little girls in your life are in need of pretty little nightgowns, 

you can whip a couple of these out in an evening!

fun in the sun(dress) wrap up party and giveaway

***This giveaway is now closed***

We are sad to see our fun in the sun{dress} series come to an end!

With that said, 

we want to extend a special thank you to all of our 

amazing participants! 

Every single dress was absolutely beautiful, and what a great variety!

Thank you, thank you for helping to make our very first series a success.

Doesn't it make you so proud to be a part of such a talented community?

To make our parting just a little sweeter, we thought we'd cap off the fun with one more fun giveaway sponsored by...

Shabby Apple

{could it be more fitting??}

You've all seen their amazing designs, I can personally attest to the quality of their clothing, and now we have a chance to giveaway a fancy piece just for you!

To enter to win the Ahoy! dress from Shabby Apple (pictured above) please do the following:

1.) be a follower of iCandy, and let us know in a comment that you are!

2.) follow us on facebook and/or twitter and come back here and leave a comment that you either already do, or that you do now!

3.) head over to shabby apple, peruse their dress selection, and see which dresses you'd like to add to your personal collection...come back here and tell us your fav! {ps, there's a summer sale going on...20% off nearly everything...enter code SUMMER20 at checkout!

4.) tweet, fb or blog about this giveaway...or all of the above...and come back and tell us...and leave us a link!

and of course...give us your email each time...or we won't be able to contact you!

hurry and enter, giveaway ends Monday, July 25th!

GOOD LUCK!

P.S. Don't forget to enter our other awesome giveaways...they aren't over yet...
Just check out our sidebar!

fun in the sun(dress) Falling Petals

Have you enjoyed seeing everyone's sundresses as much as I have? 

It was like opening a present every time one of our lovely guests sent in their posts.

Sad to see our fun series come to an end.

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As for my contribution to the series, 

I have had this dress mulling around in my brain for weeks and weeks.

I tried to make a little girls version of it for 4th of July 

(after it failed, I instead went with a totally different dress)

I originally bought this fabric (downtown LA) to use for a skirt.  I pulled it out about a month ago, and realized that it was a border print, plenty wide enough for a dress.  

When I saw The Sew Convert's Sunny Resort Blouse on Grosgrain, 

my brainchild was born.

I knew that if I could somehow make it into a dress, 

it would be perfect for my floral border print cotton fabric.

 I had some trouble figuring it all out, but after dreaming about it, drawing it out, mulling over the details, and one failed trial, it finally came together. 

 I have a piecemeal tutorial for you, as I used Adey's tutorial for the top, with a few minor changes, and then added a skirt, then used another tutorial for faux-shirring the waist.  So I will link those tutorials and insert my two cents in between.  

fun in the sun(dress) Pillowcase Variations

Please welcome to the spotlight, Melissa of The Polka Dot Chair!

I'm thrilled to have Melissa as one of our guest bloggers because I admittedly stalk her!  As I was skimming through some of her past projects, I laughed because I had either done, or 'starred' {as in planned to do} so many of them!  She has such great style, and obviously, I want to be just like her!

Here are a few of my favs that I've tried...and you should, too!

The Little Girls Patchwork Skirt

{tutorial available at the Moda BakeShop}

i made this for my little girl's Christmas skirt and LOVED it!

 The Kindle Keeper

my kindle just begs to be put away every night!

 ...and A Pouch to contain those blocks I'm always stepping on...

best title ever, and i loved the simplicity of this project, and immediately was put on the 'things to do' list!

We're so glad that Melissa was able to be here with us today, and of course can't wait to show you her fun in the sun{dress}!

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Hi!

I'm Melissa and I blog at the Polkadot Chair.  My first love is sewing but I love to blog about just about anything creative.

My youngest daughter is 10 and I love dreaming up dresses to sew for her. I joke that when she is grown I'm going to have to "borrow" my friends little girls so I can keep sewing little dresses.

Summer Sundresses are some of my favorites to make! I love the beautiful drape and relaxed feel of a sundress... plus it's pretty nice to make a dress and not have to deal with making sleeves!

Last year I was on a pillowcase dress kick... It started with this little dress that I made for a friends baby.

I was happy with how it turned out but kept thinking that I could improve it.

The pillowcase dress is not new- it's been around for years and years.  It got it's name because it was very easy to take a already made pillowcase and with a few simple modifications you had a dress. Easy Peasy- no hemming involved.

Cutting out the arm holes

I've  experimented with the idea of a pillowcase dress, and tried to come up with a few fun varations...

-Making it shorter and turning it into a top: (this one is made from 2 fat quarters)

-Adding making the pillowcase dress out of tiers of fabric.

-and one of my favorite variations adding a waistband...

Adding the waist band to the basic dress was very easy... here's how you do it:

This project works best out of a light weight cotton. (quilting weight would be fine, just not heavier than that)... Something like a sheet washed several times, or a voile fabric (it would be great out of the Anna Maria Horner Voiles or Velveteen's). This particular fabric is a sheet set from Liberty of London from Pottery Barn kids, which is similar in weight to a voile fabric.

Before we get to the how to, here's a helpful hint: Sheets make a great source of fabric especially for dresses! You can find them on clearance easily (like I did with the sheet I used to make this dress) and you get a lot of fabric.  Most sheets turn soft and buttery after they are washed a few times making them perfect for Summer Dresses.

This tutorial deals only  with adding the waistband to the pillowcase dress- to learn how to make a basic dress you can use the tutorial here:

In addition to the pillowcase dress fabric you will need:

2 yards ribbon (for the neck ties)
2" strip of fabric long enough to go all the way around your dress. (this will hold the elastic waist). If you are not sure, cut 2 strips 2" wide from 44" fabric.
1/2" wide elastic

After you have sewn your pillowcase dress. Take your 2" wide piece of fabric and press it under 1/4" on each long edge.

Measure down 1/3" the length of your dress. For example if your dress is 30" from neck to hem, measure 10".

Place marks 10" down and several spots to make sure your fabric strip is placed on straight.

After you have pinned it in place leave about 1" overlap at each end (you are wrapping your 2" wide piece of fabric all the way around the dress, like you would a belt). Leave the opening in the side seam.

Stitch in place close to both edges of your fabric strip. You are making a casing for your elastic.

Cut your elastic to the correct length (measure your child's waist, then cut the elastic the same size).

Feed the elastic thorough. Stitch ends of elastic together.

To close the opening. Fold under the raw edge of the fabric 1/2" . Lay over the top of elastic and stitch closed where pins are.


To finish up, simply thread ribbon through the neck and hem the dress!

Thank you so much to Jen for having me as a guest today! I've enjoyed so much reading everyone's Summer Sundress posts!