When I saw this particular selection of fabrics ( Flora and Fauna by Patty Young -the nicest person ever) for the Kyoko dress pattern, I knew I had to make it. And not for monkey pants either. For my little niece who just turned four and because she has this same cute hair. And I have no shame in being a complete copy-catter.  I'm also excited that some of this fabric will be/is available in knits.  I know the green flower print is one of them and that's my favorite. This dress was really simple to make: no button holes, no zipper, no collar, no cuffs. Just mostly straight stitching, some gathering, and binding. And you know I love making that binding with my little binding tool. I also felt the need to make a little tag for it mostly to identify the size of the garment in case it eventually becomes a hand-me-down or something.  I used the June Taylor Fabric Sheets for Inkjet Printers folding in the outer edges and folding the entire tag in half.  It's a...

Actually, the real reason I haven't made anything is because I was going to make the Kyoko dress by Modkid and I cut the pattern out on my fabric, I have the pattern pieces, but I can't find the instruction booklet!  What the hell did I do with it.  I swear, when things get lost within the perimeter of my own house and I can't find them it makes me want to drive myself to the loony house. So, I've narrowed down the possibilities of where it can be: 1) It got lost in the shuffle of one of my purses as I am constantly switching the contents of one purse to another in a futile effort to be fashionable; 2) one of the house midgets took it and used it for a craft project, coloring on it, glue-ing it, and cutting it into a million pieces, 3) it is exactly where it should be; I just can't see it as my eyes are stupefied and blinded at the site of organization. What to do!?  I need it.  It's for my niece's fourth birthday next week.  I have no Plan B.  ...

OK, the reason I haven't made anything lately is because I've been wasting all my time entering Internet give-aways.  Just kidding.  No actually it's true.  Tea collection recently had a whole weeks worth of giveaways on Facebook for their 8th anniversary, yesterday another for See Kai Run shoes.  Cedarworks playsets had some a while back including a fund raising raffle for a school.  I even suffered through a terrible live web meet for a homeschooling core curriculum (I've been considering home schooling) last Tuesday.  So, I haven't won anything yet.  Nevertheless, I will persevere in this time-wasting endeavor.  A nd , if you would like to do the same with your time, here's a giveaway from GummyLump toys for three mini Automoblox cars.  You can kind of see a regular size car in my " Old Nursery " post on the wall shelf if you use a really strong magnifying glass.

I don't typically go for the super cutesy girly patterns with frills and all kinds of fabric combinations, but the truth is, I can't really stick to one style either. And, I just had to make something with this butterfly print from Sandi Henderson 's latest fabric collection, Meadow Sweet , I decided to try the Frida Modkid pattern by Patty Young for a nice summery play shirt. The pattern instructions come in booklet style with full color pages, photos, and great illustrations. It includes sizes 2 to 7. I did View A with the capped sleeves from View C and omitted the pocket. I made up the 4-5T size for an average weight but slightly shorter than average five and a half-year old. I did add maybe 3/4" to the length of the top/dress section. I like the snug fit on the bodice and sleeves, the length turned out good too. If I make another, I might make it just a tad longer for more of a tunic effect. The bodice and sleeves are lined, which is easy to do. However, as us...

I have a couple of things I made a while back and some patterns that I was wanting to put up for sale on Etsy. When I went to create an account for "MakeMeStudio", I was kind of surprised when Etsy said that user already existed. So then I thought, oh, I must have created it a few months ago and I forgot. I tried every yahoo e-mail account I ever created to see if it was linked to the Etsy account to no avail. Finally, I realized, someone else must have created the account, although it appears to be unused. I tried sending them a "convo" message through Etsy, but no response. By chance, a slim chance I know --is this your Etsy account? Are ya using it? If not, can I have it? Pretty please. Doesn't hurt to ask, right. -- Update -- The owner of the Etsy account has contacted me and was nice enough to offer me the account. Hooray for nice people!

-- From Heather Bailey's Fresh Picked Pincussions pattern