kcwc day seven

day seven... oh, day seven. i had big plans for you. but an hour or so in the morning finishing up this shirt (more info on fabrics and pattern here) was all i ended with. overall, i'm pleased with my kcwc results. i sewed for at least an hour six out of seven days, and ended with two nightgowns (one/two), a pair of shorts, and this shirt. and i'd like to say that i'm taking a break, but not so much. there are things to do, folks!!

the little one insisted on wearing her shirt today (yay!), but was less than excited about the photo shoot requirement that went along with it... i think that she made her feeling quite clear.

she did perk up a little bit. (although i must admit that i'm kind of partial to the grumpy shots. there's something adorable about them, right?)

so, there you have it. my official kcwc end. and now i must go tend to all of the things i've been avoiding for the last week.... ;)

wedding pics: us!

here it is, folks! wedding pics of us :) if you missed it yesterday, you can check out some of my favorite detail shots from the day here.

all photos courtesy of Marissa Bowers Art * Design * Photography

the ceremony begin with my handsome dad walking me down the aisle.

dress: Saks Off 5th Outlet, veil: House of Telsa, hair by my sister, Liz

our friend Cyndi performed the ceremony,

and before we knew it, we were married!

check out my super handsome and lovely husband! 

Nick wore a gray Hilfiger suit that i found online for a steal.

(and i love the shot of my birds tattoo)

we had a brunch buffet, complete with wine,

mimosas, waffle bar, and (of course) cake

cashmere wrap: Nordstrom

i wore a necklace with a flower pendant (a gift years ago from

my grandparents, who weren't able to attend), a blue bead that

i made into a pendant, and a third pendant hand stamped

with our wedding date from Completely Wired

the girls wore adorable dresses from Moxie and Mabel

flower hair clips: House of Telsa

our family, complete with bunny.

linking up today with Absolute Mommy

happy anniversary, Megan!!

kcwc day six

we're almost there, folks... and i, for one, am a bit worn out. also, some friends will be arriving any minute now for a little fabric handprinting crafternoon i planned without thinking about the kcwc dates. 

we'll see if i get any more done today on the kcwc front... but i did get in some time this morning finishing up this shirt that i started last night, an oliver + s class picnic blouse for B. we stopped at joanns last night for "just two yards of solid white fabric" to print on (hahaha) and i was happy to see that they already have denyse schmidt's new collection in stock. yes, we left with quite a few more than two yards. and i've already cut into a few prints. how could i not, i ask you? ;)

i think the shirt turned out really well, and it was definitely a quick sew the second time around. sadly, no fun modeling shots for you today as the little one is a bit under the weather.

so, how are you feeling on day seven? still going strong, or ready for a little break? in my head, i'll somehow still have time to get through that knit nituna i mentioned here, but apparently there are only 24 hours in a day. hmmm...

wedding pics : the details

we've been married for nearly four months and i'm finally sharing the pics... you can credit my friend Megan (Absolute Mommy) for giving me the push i needed, as she'll be hosting a "what i wore: wedding edition" link-up tomorrow to celebrate her anniversary (congrats!). because i love so many of the photos from our wedding, putting them in one post was just not going to work :) so today i'm  sharing my favorite detail shots, and tomorrow will be all about us! 

all photos courtesy of Marissa Bowers Art * Design * Photo

ceremony backdrop and favors: eighty birds individually cut from seeded paper

flowers: Robin Wood Flowers

table cards: designed and handmade to match invitations

venue: The Phoenix in Cincinnati, Ohio

treat stands: handmade with thrift store finds

(plus some spray paint and epoxy)

treats: by Llamas and Lemon Bars (my talented husband)

cake: handmade by my dear friend Nicole

invitations: designed and handmade by us

engagement ring and wedding bands: Nodeform Design

see you tomorrow for edition two, wedding pics: us!

covert robin reminders

have you checked out all of the amazing projects and guest posts so far? and have you linked yours?? less than two days to link up your covert robin post here. linking up is your entry to win one of the fabulous prizes, so don't miss out! you can find prize info, deadlines, FAQs, and other info on the covert robin page.

for purposes of meeting deadlines: if you have not linked up yet because of difficulty arranging your guest post with your gift recipient, please post about the gift you made on your own blog and link up that post (so that you are entered for the prize drawing).

as always, questions are welcome... just shoot me an email at rachael{at}imaginegnats{dot}com.

prize winners will be announced may 4!! can't wait :)

kcwc day five

oh, day five... while i did do some sewing, it was not of the kcwc variety. i might have gotten a *teeny* bit excited when bolts of quilt blocks (by Ellen of the long thread) showed up at work, brought home lots of yards, and started work on a new non-clothing-related project. maybe ;) 

but i didn't want to leave you without some kcwc eye candy! so here are some of my favorites so far from the elsie marley flickr group. seeing what everyone else is making is definitely one of the best parts of this week. and now, of course, i want to make everything i see.

1. Robin appliqué shirt, 2. Playing., 3. orange dress,
4. elephant dress and baby, 5. kcwc6 asymetrical hoodie, 6. little tie top,
7. Flashback Dinos, 8. sailboat pants., 9. mix tape tank front,
10. bee bubble pants in action, 11. Mabel's Ayashe 2, 12. Old-man-ligan

what are your favorites so far?

i still have quite a few items left on my to-sew list... it's now day six and i'm trying to decide where to start. what about you? big plans for the weekend?

kcwc day four

yesterday i decided to tackle the oliver + s class picnic shorts from my kcwc to-do list. as it happens, i also made up a class picnic outfit for a sample at work last week, so i was hopeful that the shorts would come together more quickly the second time around. and i'm happy to report... they did! in about two hours last night, i was able to get them cut out, sewn together, and even all of the basting stitches removed! we all love a quick project, right??

i used some tufted tweets (by Laurie Wisbrun) that i've had hanging around for a while, and the borders are a polka dot from Lecien. i'm slightly bummed that i forgot to make sure there was a yellow bird showing on the front, but they'll look cute on her little tush, i'm sure ;)

there are some great details in these shorts, like the faux fly:

and i love that the elastic casing works perfectly for adding button elastic, which will hopefully give us a little extra time for these cute shorts to be worn.

and just for showing's sake.... here is the sample class picnic outfit i made at work (out of Woodlands by Natalie Lymer for Lecien):

and good news for you... i took so long to put together this post that i now have pics of my little one modeling her new shorts. prepare for cuteness :)

and my personal favorites... (she's been getting some modeling tips from big sister lately. that last pose is K's "signature move"!)

we're well into day five now and i've not sewn a stitch (well, nothing kcwc related, anyway). i'm hoping to get my hour in and then really buckle down over the weekend. how are you holding up?

kcwc day three

day three had its ups and downs around here.... *spoiler alert* it ended well :) i decided to work on a nightgown for B based on the simple dress for baby in Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby, using lisette cotton lawn. i've seen lots of great versions of this dress, like this one from mamma 190:

simple dress for baby by mamma190, via flickr

for me, simple is a challenge. i mean, one fabric? clean lines? this definitely falls outside of my comfort zone. so of course i had to make it complicated ;) i decided to make the nightgown fully lined, and i had to edit the pattern pieces for fit (you know, since my 4yo isn't exactly baby-sized and all).

the morning didn't go so well, frankly. i made a rookie mistake and sewed all of my dress pieces together at the neckline and armholes. funny enough, i didn't even realize what i had done until i tried to turn it right side out. i then spent some time ripping seams and restitching seams and trying to make the whole thing work despite my mistake... but i still couldn't envision what was happening, so i decided to just start from the beginning.

i recut the pieces, this time adding additional width to the back pieces so that they could overlap to cover snaps instead of using a button and elastic loop as i had planned in the first version. then i constructed the dress as follows:

1. sewed together the exterior and linings at the neckline and armholes.

2. attached the front and back at the shoulders using a french seam. 

3. overlapped back pieces and stitched the exterior pieces together so that they lined up with the side of the overlap. then stitched the lining pieces so that they lined up with the other side of the overlap (i was particularly happy with how this step turned out, though i'm fairly certain is was completely unnecessary)

4. opened up dress and sewed each set of side seams together in a continuous line.

5. hemmed the exterior and lining fabrics separately.

all in all, it's a ridiculous bit of work for a nightgown. i was about to just call it a dress, except that the only part that doesn't fit perfectly is the length, which is fine for a nightgown but definitely too short to call it a proper dress. so in the end, it was a whopping success and i'm really proud of the result. and hey, it has at least a simple look, even if the construction process was anything but.

goofball :) alright, day four... here i come!