Sew Sassy Cute Couture Debut

So I've finally hunkered down and learned how to use my sewing machine... and learn to sew! I say finally because I bought my "new" sewing machine when I was pregnant with my son, ummm, almost FOUR YEARS AGO! It has never been used since I got it because it just seemed too overwhelming to thread it and actually sew! Well, guess what?? It's no so hard after all! A little over a week ago I thought, this is ridiculous, I'm constantly buying stuff on Etsy.com that I simply love and I'm sure I could make. I just LOVE ruffle pants, apron dresses, peasant tops etc. And I LOVE brands like Persnickety, Matilda Jane and Giggle Moon with these adorable styles, but they're just a little too pricey to be buying all the time. I do sneak them in when I can get away with it, but why not LEARN to make this stuff?? So I set out and found some great tutorials on how to make these little outfits. (I need to hurry because my youngest daughter is five and I know she won't allow me to dress her like this for much longer!)

The first tutorial I searched for was for the ruffled pants. The easiest and user-friendly tutorial I found was on a blog called www.campclem.com She has a post titled, "Fast, Easy, Stinkin' Cute Ruffle Pants." and she was right!! She made it soooo easy to make ruffled pants... and cuffs for a shirt! I used some left over material from Maddison's halloween costume that I made, so they're kinda funky, but not bad for my very first thing I've sewn! She also had a great tutorial on applique shirts. So  I used an old, too small shirt and practiced with that. Below are my results:

I don't love, or even really like the turkey, but hey it was good practice!

I seriously have become obsessed with learning to sew so I attempted another pair of ruffle pants, a bib shirt and yes, a tie for my little man! You know how I love to match!!

Then came a dress. I used another one of my daughter's old, too small shirts and turned it into a dress. Now this was seriously the easiest thing ever!! 

And for my final project for the week...you guessed it, another pair of ruffled pants and bib shirt, but this time with a headband to match! 

For the bib shirt, I found another great blog called Bless Our Nest, which you can find over at thedavisfamilynwa.blogspot.com. She laid it all out so easily! I think my ruffles are a bit too big on the shirt, but again, I'll take it for my first attempt :).

Now my next goal is to learn how to use an actual pattern. I bought several a few days ago at JoAnn Fabrics for $1 each that are so so super cute. I'm just a little overwhelmed with all the pattern instructions etc, so a friend is going to help me learn how to do it all the right way, lol! I'll let you know how it goes! In the meantime, thanks for checking out my stuff! It's been so much fun!

<3 Sassy Jules

Happy H-owl-oween!

So I promised another owl post, here it is! My daughter decided she wanted to be an owl for Halloween this year (okay really I decided since I still can and it will probably be the last year I can). I thought it would be fun to try and make her costume. I normally try to convince all the kids to be part of a theme, because yes I'm dorky like that and like us to coordinate and I think themes are more fun. Since my three year old son INSISTS on being Captain America or Iron Man, and I'm over the whole super hero costume thing, I decided an owl might be fun. And by making one, it wouldn't be the same costume as all the others. I looked all over Pinterest for Owl costume tutorials and found a couple of cute easy ones that I used to pick and choose from.  Here were two that popped up that were super cute!

Check out her step by step directions on this cute little number over at:

http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/last-minute-kids-owl-costume/

Here's another one that really helped me out:
 (minimal sewing and a pillow case, add a few dozen 
glue sticks and hot glue gun, even I can do that)!

You can check out her detailed info over at

http://www.5orangepotatoes.com/blog/2010/10/25/how-to-make-an-owl-costume-from-a-pillowcase/

                                                               Here is what I ended up doing:

First, I went and bought a yard of brown felt and three fabrics with different patterns that I wanted. I LOVE orange, pink and brown together so that's what I looked for at the fabric store. I already had the hot pink pillow case and hot pink and orange pom pom ball ribbon. I also already had the hot pink long-sleeved shirt and leggings for underneath, so this owl costume was super cheap to make (about $10 bucks!)! Then I cut a feather shape pattern and spent hours (no, seriously, HOURS) cutting many many many feathers. I was going to sew them all on, but then thought it would be sooo much easier to just hot glue them on. Since this will only be worn twice (for the preschool parade and trick-or-treating)  hot glue it was! I lined up my feathers next to the pillow case and made a pattern and then just hot glued them in place. Oh yeah, I cut a hole for the head and arms out of the pillow case before glueing. I also folded up a hem to make the pillowcase dress the right length for my daughter. Normally, I would've sewed that too, but nah, hot glued that baby up too! Hot glue is the best!

The next step was the wings. I had Maddison lie down on the yard of brown felt and just cut out the shape around her.

Then you guessed it, laid the feathers out in my desired pattern and glued the gazillions of feathers in place. Also which took FOREVER (or so it seemed).

Maddison added to my pattern on the left because of course, she needed to help make the costume.

Tada! The finally completed wings

I wanted to add more detail so I glued that pom pom ribbon stuff to the top of the wings and and the bottom of the pillowcase dress. Then I took some material, made two straps for the inside of the wings to slide her arms in, and put a button on the top middle of the inside of the wing cape to attach to the dress. I had a few extra feathers and pom pom ribbon, so I hot glued them to an old trick-or-treating candy bag we already had. I mentioned I like things to match right?

The final part of the costume to do was the mask. Here's what I started with:

I also got a sheet of brown foam and cut more feathers for the mask. I'm not entirely happy with the end result of the mask, but hey, Maddison was... and that's all that matters!

As you guessed, I hot glued everything in place. I did some stitching around the eyes and top of the head to make it "look" sewn. I feel like it looks more like that character in Madagascar than an owl, you know the king of the Lemurs, is it??... "I like to move it, move it." Yeah, you know the one. Anyways, here's the finished product:

My little owl model

   

I just neeed to make sure the straps are tighter so she can actually see, lol

I'm thinking about adding some tail feathers, but that would mean more cutting and glueing...we'll see!

Anyways, there you have it! My first homemade Halloween costume. Super cheap, super easy, just a little tedious. All in all, it took me a solid day and a half to put the whole thing together. Not too terribly bad!!

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy reading about our Sassy little projects, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR POSTS and like our Facebook page. You can do this at the very bottom of the page, by clicking on the link :) We'd be forever grateful!

Thanks a ton,

Jules

Throw Back Thursday!

Throw Back Thursday! 

Yep we really have been Bestfriends through it all even really Big Hair & Braces.

This lovely photo courtesy of the photo studios at Kmart a favorite for BFF pics in the early 90's #TBT