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.

Pink Cake Three Ways

Our special four year old was lucky enough to have three celebrations this year... one at school, one with family (on the very day), and one with friends (the weekend after). And, each got her a different version of my go-to cake recipe, Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes from More from Magnolia, with Rachel Ray's icing recipe—which, by the way, is honestly the best cupcake frosting I've ever had. I make half the recipe.

I made mini two-layer cakes for her birthday dinner at home. She shares her birthday with her Nona, so they each got one—with their own mini cake-banner, too. I used my Martha Stewart butterfly punch, baker's twine and my ubiquitous Cavallini and Co. Alphabet Stamps.

Out of the same batch of batter and frosting, I made ice cream cone cupcakes for her to bring to preschool. These were the traditional treat for my husband's school-birthdays, so we decided to carry it on. I got mini ice cream cones (at Target) to make them more preschool portioned.

[Oh... late night school-cupcake baking. A rite of passage, I think.]

To make these, stand the empty ice cream cones in a muffin tin (or a mini-muffin tin), fill them two-thirds or so with batter, and bake as usual. 

I piped the icing on and dipped them in sprinkles to make it look like (pink) soft-serve. 

AFTER they were baked and cooled, I put tin foil over the empty muffin tins and poked holes to secure for the cones in (BEFORE I iced them, so that they wouldn't be tippy when I decorated and transported them.)

Finally, for the friend party, I made regular sized cupcakes—same recipes, of course. The ballerina toppers were by Meri Meri (although I bought them last year).

We decided to go with the age=number of guests rule (4 friends for a 4-year-old) this year, and had a simple sprinkler/kiddie pool/trampoline party in the backyard. She had a blast and we did too.

Crafty Chloe Doll Bed

It's no secret that I love Heather Ross—her fabric, her illustrations, her patterns—so, it's no surprise that I ordered Crafty Chloe for Louisa as soon as it came out. The book is FANTASTIC. And, it inspired me (and Louisa) to do a little crafty crafting of our own, for Lou's twin friends who celebrated a birthday last weekend.

At the end of the book Chloe gives her friend Emma a doll bed she makes out of a clementine crate. There are instructions from Heather (via the Martha Stewart Show) on the Crafty Chloe website. We decided to give the twins their own copy of Crafty Chloe and a homemade pink doll bed, just like Emma's.

Echino Cars Toddler Backpack

Leo's backpack (or more accurately, toy train tote) gave me a chance to use Rae's Toddler Backpack pattern again, which has been updated to include lining and enlarging instructions since I made one last fall for Louisa.

For this one, I used Echino Mini Cars (from Echino Nico 2011) in green and brown (which I purchased while I was in New York a while back at Purl Soho). I interfaced with heavy weight pellon, and lined it with Michael Miller Lime Toot Toot from etsy. I'm not the first one to use the mini cars for a Rae Toddler Backpack, but it is a great fabric for boys, so no wonder.

I added two side pockets, one slip, one elasticized for a water bottle, just like last time. And I added an inside pocket and pencil slot, and a patch on the other side with his name and phone.