Purple

Spotted these pretty new purple items on West Elm. I'm not the hugest purple person, but I did paint our dining room a deep purple-gray, so it's growing on me. Especially when it looks as pretty as on these items.

Vases

Bedding

Pillows

I'm thinking I should post a little house tour. The last time I really posted pictures of our house was a year ago, and while we haven't made too many drastic changes, we have definitely updated a bit. If I can get my act together and clean up a little more, I'll get some pictures up.

Home is Where the Heart Is

Found these cute art prints from {Q.A.} Design. I think they would be sweet to have if you are far from home or just to show a little state pride. It looks like you can ask her for different colors and I think she's taking requests for other states.

I think I'm loving these too, because of the stripes. I've been working on redesigning this blog a little bit, and it's looking like stripes are involved.








Find them here.

Vintage Wallpaper

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. We had planned to take some photos, but we woke up to snow on Sunday. Boo! So next weekend we'll put on our Easter duds and take some pictures. Other than the snow, we had a really nice weekend! I spent some time looking around online...especially eBay. I always forget to check eBay...I always turn to Craigslist or our local KSL classifieds.

While on eBay, I found some great vintage wallpapers. They would be fun for lining drawers, wrapping presents, framing or other little craft projects!

Found here

Here

Here

Here

Here

Happy Easter!

Hope you all have a great Easter weekend! Let's hope I can finish this little dress in time for our family picture exchange my friend Melanie and I are doing on Sunday!

T-Shirt Dress Tutorial

When we were in California a few weeks back, we stopped in an Urban Outfitters. I was tempted to buy a few simple t-shirt dresses. Essentially, it was just part of a t-shirt on top and a cotton skirt bottom. We all know my affinity for dresses, so it was hard to walk away but I realized I could easily make the dress. So, I spent a few minutes turning the dress inside out and checking out how it was constructed...it sure seemed simple enough. And guess what? It was! Especially if you've made the famous elastic band skirt already, because it is kind of similar. I can't find the exact dresses from Urban Outfitters online, but it looked similar to this but with short sleeves:

{image}

I modified mine a little bit to make it a little more fancy for Easter (mine is more of a pencil skirt) but you can easily make a more casual version. I hope this makes sense...I wish I was able to take more pictures but I was frantically sewing and hanging out with Rilo in between sewing. Here's how to make it:

Materials-
2-3 yards fabric
1 t-shirt (this would be great if you shrunk a shirt or got a stain on it)
scissors or rotary cutter
sewing machine

First you need to measure around your natural waist. Then from your waist to where you want the skirt to hit. I went a little below the knee because I was going for a pencil skirt feel.

Now take your waist measurement and add 1". Cut a strip of fabric 3.5" by whatever your waist measurement is+1. This will be the waistband.


You're going to cut out 2 pieces for your skirt. Cut your skirt to your desired length. The width will be your waist measurement plus a few inches. I like to err on the side of larger than I will need it so I can better tailor it later. I added 4 inches...I know, like I said I like to make sure I have something extra to work with!

With right sides together, sew the 2 shorter ends of your waistband.

Again with right sides together, sew the side seams of your skirt.


Now you're going to attach the skirt to the waistband. To do this I first matched up the side seams and pinned, and then kept pinning the midpoint between 2 pins, until it was pinned all the way around.



Sew a 1/4" seam. Then sew a zig-zag stitch close to the edge so your fabric doesn't fray. At this point, I suggest trying on your skirt and tailoring it to fit. To do this, determine how much you need to take off each side (if any). In my case, about 1.5". Turn your skirt back inside out, so your right sides are touching again, and measure in 1.5" on each side and mark with pins. Then sew a new seam parallel to your old seam. Cut of your excess.

Then you need to hem the bottom (fold over 1/4" and press, then fold another 1/2", press and sew).

Try on your t-shirt and determine where you want the waistband to meet the shirt and make a mark with a fabric pen. Then cut your shirt.



All that's left is attaching your t-shirt to the waistband. You do this in the same way you pinned the skirt to the waistband. Sew your 1/4" seam and then zig-zag stitch again.


Voila! You have a t-shirt dress! And here is a terrible picture of the final result...Adam didn't get home until late so we lost all the natural light! (Also, could I be any whiter?)

Felt House

I would've loved to play make-believe with the awesome card table felt house. There are 4 different sides: grocery store, ice cream shop, bank and post office. Such a great idea! Lots of sewing and lots of love definitely went into this!

{Found via OhDeeDoh via Sew Can Do}

Speaking of sewing, I checked my favorite fabric Etsy shop, Fabricworm and saw some beautiful new fabrics out. I have a love affair with fabric. I would buy them ALL if I could.

{images via Fabricworm}

Lunch Bag

Poor Adam...I've been telling him for over a year that I would make him an oilcloth lunch bag. I finally got around to making it for him. Much better than the huge reusable grocery bag I was sending with him to school. I originally found the idea from Martha Stewart, but I like this tutorial even better.

Shoes

I am anxiously waiting to be cleared for exercise! I can't wait to shed the rest of this baby weight. I have decided to wait to buy any new clothes until after I start exercising. I'm trying to avoid looking at clothes so I'm not tempted. In the meantime though, there is nothing stopping me from checking out shoes!

I tend to like shoes that are a bit of a statement themselves...I love interesting colors as well as funky prints and patterns. I'm loving these shoes right now.

Fancy J.Crew heels

Pretty floral flats from Anthro

Orange and grey flats from J.Crew

I love the muted blue color of these heels from Endless

These would be a great summer flat also from Endless

I love the idea of Tom's shoes, but I generally don't really like the look of them...I think it's something about the shape of the toe. But I saw a picture of these red and white striped Tom's worn on a model on their site and I actually think I like them.

On an unrelated note, I dove into 5 different projects this past weekend. It feels so good to be accomplishing something! I have a hard time putting Rilo down (I just can't seem to get enough of her), but I've been trying to put her down when she naps so I can do "me" things. Lots of sewing going on around here. I hope to share a few things this week, including that Urban Outfitters dress tutorial I mentioned!

Picture Wall

Our living room wall has a collection of photos and art prints. My goal when we first moved in was to keep adding to the wall so that nearly all of the wall was covered with prints. Sadly, I don't think we've added any frames since our first few months in the house! I have been browsing Etsy, looking for some new prints to hang. Here are some that I've found ( I'm apparently into prints with text these days):

This Etsy seller has a couple of cute prints I like and currently is having a buy 1, get 1 free sale!

I already have 2 of these peacock prints in my living room from Jen Skelley, but there is something so sweet about these prints, I wouldn't mind having a few more.

Colorbee has this Live, Laugh, Love print.

Happy Happy print

This shop is full of inspiring quotes. I also really liked her personalized prints that would be great in a nursery.

Love this house print. This shop is currently closed for a little bit while the seller moves, but I may have to check back soon.

This sellers prints have been heavily blogged about. I love all of the happy colors.

I think I just need to pick a few and start ordering! I'm open to more suggestions though...do you have any prints you are loving these days?

One Month Pictures

Don't forget to check Rilo Jane's blog to see her at one month old!!


I'm hoping to finish up a few projects I've been working on...a nursery project and a dress based off of an Urban Outfitters dress I saw while in California. Look for a tutorial next week! Hope you have a warm weekend!!