Summer Fashions

 I went to the thrift store and just looked at the brightly solid colored tee's. It was better to pick the bigger ones so I had enough fabric to make more than one shirt with it. It's funny when you focus on one thing to find at the thrift store it's like they just glow from the rack. I love setting limits like this, to focus on one style of something. 

So I put the shirts on the dress form and started cutting away and pinning other colors together. I let the tee do what it wants, I just pin it in place. Depending on the feel of the cotton you can mold it too. The hardest thing with this method is making sure that you have a structured piece that's not going to stretch out of shape. So I added a little clear elastic here and there to help with that. 

 

For the skirts I hunted down vintage sheets and combined them together so I could make a few of them. It's a wrap skirt so I could make one for a variety of sizes, for a better fit. I cut apart some toddler dresses and I used the bodice backs for large vintage style patch pockets. I laid the bodice backs on the skirt with the center backs horizontal to the floor so the back armhole is the pocket opening.

Maternity Top transformed into a Toddler Outfit

I did a series of children's clothing made from adult clothing. This little top and pants combo is made from a women's maternity top and vintage poly pants. The little top has an octopus appliqué. The line is called Octopus Robot

Oatmeal Almond Butter Cookies

Mixing and baking cookies with your little ones is the best way to teach them how they can do things for themselves. We are making Oatmeal Almond Butter cookies. Gluten Free and sweetened with Agave!

Ingredients

• 2 medium ripe bananas
• 2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp flaxseed + 5 Tbsp water)
• 1/2 cup natural, salted almond butter (crunchy or smooth)
• 2 Tbsp refined coconut oil, melted (or canola oil)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp agave nectar (or sub maple syrup, or honey if not vegan)
• 1 1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats
• 1/2 cup oat flour (ground from GF oats)
• 1/2 cup almond meal (ground from raw almonds)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch sea salt (add more or less depending on saltiness of your AB)
• 1 cup of chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl combine flax seed and water and let rest for 5 minutes to achieve “eggy” texture.
3. Mash in the bananas until well combined, and then add almond butter, baking powder, baking soda, melted coconut oil, agave nectar, salt, vanilla and stir.
4. Add oats, almond meal and oat flour and mix well.
5. Add chocolate chips and stir until well combined. Refrigerate for 5 minutes to harden.
6. Drop cookies by spoonfuls on a lightly greased baking sheet – they won’t expand much. Also make them as uniform in size as possible to ensure even baking.
7. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the cookies are slightly golden brown.
8. Let rest on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. After completely cooled, store in an air-tight container to keep fresh for up to a few days. Refrigerate or freezer for even longer storage time.

Anchor Stamped Dress

I made a small anchor stamp to create this print on the bodice. The cumberbunn is secondhand and I embellished it with a hand crocheted flower.

Pasta Purse

Too Much Trash! = Creative Sewing! I folded the bag in half, added blanket binding to the sides, a little ruffle, a button and string elastic closure, and voilà!

1930's Inspired Dress

This dress just needed a little more,....something. So I added ties to create a 1930's inspired design.

Dia De Los Muertos

I made this dress for myself a few years ago, I just love it. It's from a vintage pattern I had and I used my day of the dead fabric. It seemed a bit bright to use on its own so I over layered it with a black netting.

Sailor Dress with Shirt Sleeves

Many of these summer dresses only possess very thin straps. This seems ridiculous to me, most women and young ladies don't go braless very often. I like to have larger straps, I know I've gone a bit LARGE with the straps but I like the way they look.

Easter Egg Dyed Dress

I used a natural Easter Egg dye, that was left over from Easter, to dye this second hand stained dress.

Tie Dress

Flowers & Plaid

Kitty Apron

Ribbon Skirt & Beaded Top

Granny Square Vest

Cute Summer Dress with Men's Tie Accents

Garb to Bag

Bow Tie Dress

Duct Tape Body Form

My husband helped me wrap myself up in duct tape to make this body form. I felt a little claustrophobic but I made it through ok. 

I stuffed it with plastic bags and left over batting scraps. Then cut a oval cardboard piece for the bottom to keep it nice and flat. I also added a hanger to the top to hang it for display but I could of used a standing lamp for a base too.

Garb to bag!

Comic Book Shoes

These awesome shoes were made by my daughters 17 year old cousin. Pretty cool. She pasted pictures  from a comic book on a pair of flats. They eventually cracked and peeled, I think it would last longer on a pair of platforms.