Sew cute!

Here's a little boy's shirt I was just itching to make for a friend's grandson. It's sew cute isn't it?

It all started with this shirt, which belonged to a friend's son.......who has a 2 year old little guy of his own. I had grabbed this shirt from a pile of clothes that my friend tried to get rid of at a yard sale. It was still in great shape, being only worn a few times, and it just seemed like a pitty that she was only selling it for a buck.

So I told her I would rescue it & re-construct a little shirt for her grandson. It was the perfect excuse to use my favorite book by Heather Ross called Weekend Sewing, which included a pattern to this adorable little shirt.

It's a super easy pattern that anyone with elementary sewing skills can do.

I was even able to re-use the original buttons & even the original pocket, of which I only had to resize just a bit.

Overall, the little shirt was a great success! Even Bo agreed.

Pretty in Purple!

This is a pic of my beloved niece & God-daughter Ivi. I love this kid. I know....I can't say that enough. She's everything I can ever ask for in a niece & god-child. She's sweet, lovable, kind hearted, helpful, smart, giving, gracious......and incredibly photogenic. My hubby captured this photo of her in our backyard in just a few minutes after I asked her to put on the dress I had just made for her in her favorite color: purple, then I asked my hubby to snap a few pictures. He wished it was a little sharper, but I still love it. He cleaned it up a bit & put my mklittle logo for fun. What a great memory this will be for all of us.

Here's the smocked dress again close up. I believe I bought this fabric at Joanes, nothing fancy, but it was purple -so Ivi was happy. So happy.......that she asked me if I could "possibly" make another one for her best friend. So I sewed another one for her best friend the next day. Ivi was so excited to give it to her, and thankfully her friend loved it! Their plan is to wear them on their first day of 6th grade. No name brands, just some home-made dresses by "Nina". This makes my heart smile. :)

Here she is again by the fountain......patiently waiting to hear any news about her little cousin "Madi".

A little Cherry-Sundress for Madi

Since our adoption process has been a little depressing lately, I needed something to get me through this summer as we are facing yet another re-do on our homestudy report: physicals, visas, finances, yuck! So I've decided to sew away my worries. Here's a little sundress I sewed the other day....it may be perfect for our little Madi someday.

I thought this cherry fabric was just too sweet to pass up. It brings me back to the 70's when I was just a little girl myself, running through the sprinklers wearing my favorite little smocked dress. I just learned how to sew with elastic thread & to say that I love sewing with it is an understatement. I am honestly hooked on this thread. So, ever since my discovery of this magical thread I've been sewing several of these smocked dresses in the middle of the night. My hubby's up late anyways....but the beagle & the kitten think I'm nuts. Actually, Bo just likes to stare at me, and the kitten loves to be mischievous and likes to play with my spools of thread. I've made a few of these dresses for my niece, a few for my little friends, and several for myself. I will have to post some pics soon. But I am planning on adding a few of the little versions for MKLiTTLE soon.

Here's another close up of this cherry print fabric on cotton.

A few pics of our backyard jungle. I love this tree! It's a very messy ( Jacaranda ), but I still love it.

Our Bougainvillea.....so pretty in pink. We've had this bougainvillea for years....I think I got it while we were dating...which was forever ago. I had it in a container while I lived at my parents, then we transplanted it a couple of times. It's kinda thorny, but very resilient.

And here's my daily sunshine... niece & god-daughter Ivi. I love this kid! She's out of school for the summer & so we both spent the night at grandma's ( my mamma ) one day, so we stood up really late....like 2:30 am. She insisted on learning how to sew with this ( very addictive ) thread, and she was hooked! At 10, she can already thread the machine, sew pretty straight, iron hems. I love this kid! Did I say this already? Here she is helping out with Madi's little dress, in her ladybug jammies.

Will Sew for Travel.....

For those of you who may not know yet, I Sew for Travel......to China that is. I started sewing again a few years ago when my hubby bought me a new sewing machine ( my third one in 20years ). He got tired of hearing me whine about all the trouble I kept having with the last one. So anyways, I had started making a few clothes for myself here and there, as well as a few gifts in addition to doing some freebie alterations mostly for family and friends. In the winter of 2007 ( as we entered our second year of waiting ) I decided I'd sew some special blankets for our China travel group ( I believe there were 7 or 8 families in our group at the time ). I found this adorable embroidered ladybug flannel & I edged it with some red satin. I had so much fun doing this that my hubby quickly suggested I should just start a little side venture to make a few extra bucks for our travel. And so.....MK Little was born. Since then I've been busy sewing mostly baby blankets & a few other little novelty items. I've been pretty bad at marketing myself though( even with these incredible new virtual avenues ). But for the most part, I only sew whenever I have some extra windows of time ( usually very late at night while watching my tivo'd reality episodes ). This past weekend I had a custom request for a set of newborn twins. I usually don't like to take in any custom orders unless I know for sure I've got extra time, but this past weekend I managed to get it done no problem. So I sewed away & made these absolutely adorable matching nap sets to go with detachable/velcro handles. As always, I fell in love with these little items & had the hardest time parting with them. I truly enjoy sewing them, & it's always hard to let them go. I know.....so silly. But I hope these little nap sets will be enjoyed by these new little twins. Here's some pics.

I had purchased this vintage bike fabric by designer Heather Ross over a year ago & I finally got to cut into it. I paired it up with some pink striped flannel as well as pink solid cotton, and then made the straps with a hotter pink cotton.

I sewed in some velcro on the bottom of the straps.

Then I finished the edge of the blanket with my signature hot pink floral embroidery.

Here's the basket prior to wrapping, ( minus the little frog...cuz it's Madi's ). I also made some cute little patches for these onesies with the left over fabric swatches.

Here's the tote bag I also included in the basket. My hubby created the artwork & then it was embroidered in a hot pink actually. I still have a few dozen of these I can custom embroider & I've listed them on my etsy site along with a few other items I still have in stock.