Trick or Treat!

Max's Wolf Suit (Where the Wild Things Are)

And for my sweet little (not-so-wild) wild thing... Max's wolf suit!

Updated to add the above fab 5 pictures taken by the fab Cat Thrasher on Halloween Day when his buttons and whiskers were finished. :) 


Leo loves Where the Wild Things Are (and I love Maurice Sendak). We've never seen the movie but Leo has been practicing his "I'll eat you up!" and "Be still!" for weeks.

If you have never read more by him, I highly recommend the Nutshell Library (Pierre!) and Outside Over There.

I used the pattern by Jessica from Running with Scissors, available here. I made size 2, and enlarged the head for Leo's noggin, but it is a bit too short in the trunk. The pattern was easy and thorough (with links to videos for the tricky parts) and includes fox and bear (Ewok) variations.

Rose Fairy Princess Costume (Simplicity 1792)

Louisa decided long ago she was going to be a fairy for Halloween, so I got Simplicity 1792 (Disney Fairies) during a $3.99 sale. We decided on View C, but in pink and purple rather than yellow. She is calling herself a Rose Fairy Princess.

The main fabric is a pink crepe-backed satin, used for the bodice and skirt. The bodice is lined in white cotton. The sleeves and top petals are iridescent organza, and the bodice overlay and bottom petals are purple organza. The overskirt is baby pink sparkle tulle (six yards).

We picked out all the fabric together at Jo-Ann.

Knit Sailboat Top

I still have lots of this retro car interlock, so I tried it out on an oliver + s Sailboat Top for Leo for the fall.

He still loves the fabric, even though this is his third shirt in it. And the details of this top make it unique anyway.

Dogwood Dress (Simplicity 2265)

A long overdue follow up post to the father's days ties... here is what I made for Louisa: Simplicity 2265, also in "Dogwood Floral" linen-blend by April Johnston for Jo-Ann. It is fully lined with a solid peach silky rayon-blend from the same line. (Both are sold out now, sadly.) Coincidentally, both the fabric and the pattern are "Project Runway" lines.

I thought this pattern was very cute and fairly easy to sew. The only thing I wish I had done differently was to turn the sleeve binding under so it was hidden and the shoulders didn't look so wide, or else to have used the cap sleeve option from the pattern. Looking back I don't know why I didn't make the sleeves.

Circle Skirt

With some extra Riley Blake Seaside (in Blue Bikini), left over from the beach outfits, I whipped up my first  circle skirt from Dana's tutorial on MADE (finally!).

I should have made one long ago, because Louisa's favorite wardrobe pieces are measured first on degree of twirliness, and second, number of pockets.

Seaside (Oliver + S Tea Party Dress and Playsuit)

We were invited to join some dear friends for a week at the Outer Banks this July. I wanted to do something special for the four kiddos, and I fell in love with the Seaside line by October Afternoon for Riley Blake.

I made three Oliver + S Tea Party Sundresses (two in size five, one in size two) and one Playsuit (size two). Size five is the biggest size in the pattern, and it left room to grow for the four-year-old girls.

Father and Son Ties

Matchy matchy for Father's Day!

For three years the Crozet Gazette has been lucky enough to be a sponsor of Pink Ribbon Polo, a really fun local event at King Family Vineyards, which is a fundraiser for the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation. It is traditionally held on Father's Day.

This year, I had a lot of fun making some special (pink) accessories for the match, to celebrate the amazing man who is known as Daddy in our house.