Totally Making These

So while browsing around the blog world I found this blog. While searching it I found this awesome sewing project. . I am going to do a couple things different than the original. I wIll buy a template to paint the letters with, and I am making mine a little smaller.

I can not wait to make these for Penelope. After much thought of what all we could do with awesome ABC bean bags I came up with a list of things she can use them for:

Spelling
Math (I'm going to make numbers)
Matching (I am going to do 2 of each fabric)
Learning ABC's
Any bean bag throwing game
Sharing (With Malachi, her bf)
Colors

And that is just the beginning of my list. Only problem is that I want to have more than one of each letter, probably 2 and 5 of each vowel (6 E's to Spell Penelope Violet Dernier) and 2 of each number, I am adding up to around 100 bean bags! yikes. I hope this works out because I am really excited about them!

I also want to add ribbon across the tops so they can hang, and have a board to hang them on, that way she can do things standing and not just sitting on the floor. It would also make for a great place to store them instead of just in a box.

Smiles

Penelope is making all kinds of fun faces now. She loves to smile, and has just started this sucking in her lips thing. Here are a couple of them that I actually caught on camera. I am still trying to get her pouty face, it is awesome.

sucking the lips in. I love this one

big gummy smile!

ha ha

This one is just cute.

Poppy loves to jump in her bouncy seat, and talk to all of the toys. She is working on sitting up, she really wishes she could do it all by herself. Penelope can roll over from tummy to back, and gets half way from back to tummy. It is amazing how quickly she learns things. I can't believe she is 3 months and 10 days old!

I heart Sewing! <3

front, looks navy, it is more purple than that
back

front
back

So I made Penelope more dresses. It is so much fun, this is why God gave me a daughter. I can't wait for these to fit her. I have about a year, maybe a little less, until they will fit though.

I made these a little different, they tie in the back instead of on the shoulder. I figured it made it harder for Penelope to untie, and who doesn't love a big bow on the back of little girl dresses?

Detergent

So the detergent you use on your cloth diapers is very important. You don't want any build up, which would cause them to repel water. The Natural Baby Co. has made a detergent especially for cloth diapers...check it out here http://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/tiny-bubbles-p-732.html

Pillowcase Dresses

fabric close up

fabric close up

These are two pillowcase dresses I made! I love them, I wish that I would have bought more fabric so that I could have made the same ones for Penelope.

They are 18m size but will probably fit until 4 or 5 years old, becasue the top just slides on the straps. All you have to do is put leggings on with them once they get to short and then eventually they would just be a shirt.

Just Swaggin'

turned on

far away, with clock

close up

A month or so before Dane and I got married we were at a garage sale and found an AWESOME swag lamp. I loved it and well for $4 if I never found somwhere for it to hang that was alright. So it has spent the last year sitting in a closet waiting for its grand entrance. The time has come, we finaly got around to hanging it up, and I made a fabric cover for the chain. Overall I am very happy with the out come.

My degree is paying off

I have to admit, my 4 year fashion degree is paying off. Penelope officially has the cutest home-made clothes ever. I have already made 5 dresses for her and I still have plenty of fabric to go.

It is so much fun, and because they don't take very much fabric I can basically use scraps. I am making larger sizes right now, mostly 12m+ because I want her to be walking in them, and I have enough 9m clothes. The last one I made is a tiered pillowcase style dress that fits now but will probably still fit at a year.

For those of you who don't know what a pillowcase dress is here is a how to- and if you're not up for making one give me a call and I will gladly make you some for a small fee :-)

I don't put rick-rack on because I don't really like the home made look it gives. I also dont put elastic in. I Just fold over the top of the dress and sew, making a casing, and then pull my straps through. I always have them tie on one shoulder. Because the straps are movable you can lengthen and shorten as needed. That way as Penelope grows I can make the straps longer, and when the dress eventually gets too short I can just put some leggings on her. Pillowcase dresses are also a year-round garment becasue you can simply put a longsleeved shirt underneath or wear it as is.

For the money and time these are my best investment. All I need is some cute fabric and a couple hours.

With that being said, here is another dress I made out of some of Penelope's left over bedding fabric:

I will take some pictures of all the other dresses and post them as well. I am pretty sure that this is what I was meant to be:

A stay at home wife/mom that can make awesome baby bedding sets and the cutest little girl clothes ever. Pretty much I have the best job ever. Oh and I also do alterations and I made a ton of dance costumes for Keegan Dance Studio. I love my life.

Talking/ Cooing

Talking to her elephant while sitting in the pink boppy papazonchair.

And eating her hand, which seem to always be in her mouth now.

This is Penelope's favorite activity, although it isn't going to last much longer, she keeps leaning forward and I am afraid she is going to fall out on her face. I guess we need some new activities.

Penelope also loves when I read to her. I have been reading a kids Bible and she loves it, we started in Genisis and we read about Jesus being born today. I have also ready her a couple differ childrens book, but her favorite by far is Put Me In The Zoo. She loved the pictures, I'm pretty sure she talked to every page.

Thumb Sucker/ Talker

Penelope is a major thumb sucker, just like I was

Talking to Daddy

Penelope loves to talk all the time now, she coo's up a storm. She also scoots all around her crib and rolls over from her tummy to her back. When we go in to get her at the end of nap time she is always laying there on her back smiling up at us. It is so cute.