I'm official...

See, on the right there? I have the button to prove it and everything. :)

Season 12 has started and the polls are now open. So head on over and check it out. There are some pretty crafty ladies putting up some pretty neat ideas for your consideration. My hope for this week is not to be the first person voted off! Mostly because I have something very cool in the works for week two that I really want to share... 

I hope you pick me! 

A serious case of awesome!

So a couple of weeks ago I saw this post over at Sewing in No Man's Land and I immediate stuck it on my Pinterest board of projects I want to make. We are hard core Lego fans around here and all three of my kids will spend hours playing with them. I even ran right out and got all the supplies we would need. But then I ran into a bit of a snafu. There are no ready to download and print out easy Lego head templates out there. At least none that I could find. I hemmed and hawed and tried to find someone I knew with a Cricut and more computer savvy than myself to help me design one. And everyday for the past two weeks my kids have begged and pleaded with me to make the shirts. Finally today I said, "Okay." I figured the worst that could happen is that I waste an entire roll of freezer paper trying to draw a stinking Lego head....

First things first, I had the kids round up all our Lego heads for inspiration. 

Then I started sketching. 

Here's the part when I pat myself on the back for free handing these suckers!

 That's right. I looked at the tiny Lego heads and drew the faces onto the freezer paper and then cut them out. No tracing, no time saving machines, no down loads. Not too shabby if I say so myself. :)

The kids were eager to start painting.

P.S. I totally underestimated how much paint these would suck up. Fortunately I just happened to have an extra tube of the same yellow paint in a kit. But if you want to make more than one, buy the big bottle!

The hardest part was waiting for them to dry.

Jake's two shirts.

(Why does he get two? Because the shirts were 4/$10 and he gets far less things made for him than the girls do.)

The girly version. 

(I'm seriously considering making one for myself...)

Quick! Photo shoot before the sun goes down!

These were really fun to make and even though they aren't perfect I am pretty darn pleased with how they turned out!

I made it!

My audition piece was the Sweet Little Sun-Dress 

Now I can show off how cute my darling girl looks in it!

Vintage embroidered pillowcase and silk ribbon.

I didn't take pictures for a step by step tutorial, but it is pretty straight forward and uses pretty basic sewing techniques.

I cut the skirt to the length I wanted, then cut the rest of the pieces from the left over fabric.

(I always add 1/2" seam allowance to each side, so doubled it's 1". It makes the math easier, and I am all about making the math easier...) 

The finished band is 2" wide so my strip was 5" x (chest measurement + 1"). I folded it half and then realized that I needed an opening in the skirt since I wanted the top to be fitted. 

I cut a small slit about 4" down the center back, then finished the edge with a small piece of bias cut from the same cloth. 

I added a  3" placket to one side of the band to sew the buttons to, and the buttons can moved to allow her to wear the piece longer as she grows.

The 1 1/2" shoulder straps were 3 1/2" x 18". (I only take a 1/4' seam allowance when sewing a tube so the seam won't be too bulky.)

I pressed the seam to the center of the strap so it would be hidden against her skin when worn. 

I gathered the skirt to fit the band and pinned the shoulder straps into the seam in the front before sewing it in place. 

When they were tacked into place along the top of the band it makes a fun detail along the front of the dress, and a convenient place to hook my finger and keep her from running away during church. :)

I added the ruched ribbon trim and the buttons and we were ready for her to model it!

So... now for my story about timing. 

Last year when I tried out for this contest I was so bummed when I didn't make it. Then Missy emailed and asked if I was interested in trying out for later season, in the fall. I said "For sure!" and went about my life.  Which included some craziness like this, this and this. When Missy contacted me and told me that it was time, I asked to be put back on the waiting list as we were getting ready for a major remodeling project. But I underestimated just how slow government red tape can be. Fast forward another six months and we finally have been approved for the funding and are starting our major remodeling project, which entails packing up and moving out for the next 3-4 months, in the next few weeks. At the same time Missy emailed me about auditions. I wasn't about to put this off again, so I said, "Why not?" 

It's do-able. Crazy, but do-able. It actually made for a nice difference, last year I was a nervous wreck the entire week the auditions were posted. This time around I've been much more relaxed and had an attitude of "If I make it... awesome. If I don't... it wasn't meant to be." (Don't get me wrong. Now that I'm in, I'm super excited and my brain is going overtime thinking up crafty ideas!) In one way it's really good for me because the situation (packing up and being away from my sewing room for months) means that I have to be very organized and prepared. No last minute procrastination for me, I have to decide on my projects and get them done. So even if I get voted off I will still post them over here and play along at home. 

Long story short, life is what happens when you're busy making plans and if you wait for conditions to be perfect before you craft you'll never make anything but plans!

Auditioning is really scary...

So.... because I am a very particular type of crazy I am auditioning for a crafting contest again. Auditioning for anything is always nerve wracking. Putting yourself out there to be judged... kind of scary. But I am feeling good about what I created and whether or not I make it into the contest. 

You can go here to vote.

So You Think You're Crafty?

There is whole long story attached to the timing of all this, but I'll save that for another time. If you felt like popping over and voting that would be great! Maybe you'll even be able to guess which one is mine...