Holly needed another dress for Sundays, so I made her one and Greta one to match. A friend gave me yards of these fabrics years ago. I made Holly a dress from it and then Greta wore that dress. Since it's been a while since I last cut into this fabric, I decided to use it again for dresses this year. Holly in red, Greta in yellow. I used the Bubble Dress pattern from Oliver and S. I made a few mistakes on round one (because I was trying to modify the pattern but didn't think it through), but round two I did everything right and according to pattern instructions. Only problem is the size 5 I made for Holly is so super short! I didn't even think to check the measurements because I've sewn so many times with Oliver and S patterns, I know they run a little big and I know a size 4 for Holly is a bit on the small size. That's a little bit frustrating. Holly was so excited about wearing this dress. She even put it on the previous Sunday when she had to stay home, sick, from church. It's a solid 5-6 inches too short! I made Greta's in a size 3 and it's perfect. I'm trying to decide if I should make Holly another one (I still have lots of fabric) and lengthen it by 6 inches or if I should just admit defeat and buy her a dress. I really need to get started on my Christmas sewing (and start and finish Halloween sewing!) and I'm unsure if I have enough time to make her another dress. Seamstress problems! Opinions? Should I sew another dress?

To convince Greta to wear this dress, I gave her a little square of chocolate. She let that chocolate sit on her tongue for a long time, over 5 minutes, and for the duration of this little photo shoot. Way to savor it babe!

I've been in the process of working on quilts for my daughters since about August. It's been a long haul and I have done other projects throughout. There has been many moments of despair as I've thought that I'm never going to finish, but the light is at the end of the tunnel, sort of. I have completed hand quilting one of the quilts, and am almost ready to begin quilting on the second. The second quilt top is finished (yay!) and needs to have all of it's layers pin-basted. And then it's time to quilt. I estimate that it took about 12 hours to do the hand quilting. Maybe more. I'm really glad I did it. I knew I wouldn't love what I could do with my sewing machine and I didn't want to pay someone else to professionally quilt them ($$$), and I did want to develop hand quilting as a skill, and I like the way it looks, and I wanted to do something extra special with these quilts... Lots of reasons why. Honestly, I was wanting to quit while I did my first little bit. It was hard and my stitches were so long! I wish I had taken a picture of the first square I did. The stitches were literally 2-3X the length of the ones later on. But I unpicked that first go and re-did it. I watched this youtube video a few times and quilted along with it (the lady is so encouraging!). I hand-quilted a quilt before Holly was born but totally did it my way and did not use proper technique. I wanted to do these ones right! So far, really happy with the progress, but feeling paranoid about shrinkage. Roller coaster ride!!

Little girls and ballet go together so so well! I love getting my daughters all dressed up and taking them to ballet. It's so fun! Greta has been especially excited for "ballet school" for a couple of months. We had to miss our first two classes of the session due to HFMD, but we made it this week and the girls really enjoyed themselves. I love being a Momma to two girls. It's such fun! And if you can believe it, the two of them left the building with arms around each other. They have a really wonderful bond, and I am so grateful for it. Love those two! 

PS: It's only been about a year since Holly and Greta's first ballet classes, but they've grown up so much since then!

I am really enjoying Holly at 4 years old. I'm not sure what it is. I just really like it! She's fun and caring. She's thoughtful and loving. She's my friend. And an added bonus, is that she lets me take photos of her and even comes up with her own interesting poses. Love it! My baby girl is so beautiful through and through. I'm forever grateful she's my daughter. 

I've wanted to make this Hopscotch skirt for a loooong time. My little darlings wear skirts and dresses almost exclusively. Every now and then Holly will wear leggings or her new jeggings. I can't even remember the last time Greta wore pants (without a dress over them). She just doesn't "do" pants. I decided to make them some corduroy skirts to wear during these cooler seasons. Hopefully they do actually wear them.... The pockets are tricky! I should've transfered more markings. Other than that, they came together pretty easily. I made Greta's in a size 2 and Holly's in a 4, but I lengthened both of them by at least an inch. I'm completely paranoid of them growing out of all their clothes because that's what they do best!