Easter Sun Dress and Lil' Guy Ties

With Easter coming up this weekend, the past few days have been spent sewing. All other things at my house have gone by the way-side. Does this ever happen to any of you when you sew or are working on craft projects? My poor neglected children have their mom back! Wink.  

Well luckily, life can return to normal around these parts because I got my sewing projects done!  Hurray!

These are what I have been working on...

Aren't these ties so cute! I sewed them for my cute little nephews! I can't wait to see them wear them. Boy, will they look handsome and so dapper in their new Easter ties.

I also sewed this little Sundress for my sweet little niece. 

Can't wait to snuggle with the little sweetie!

I know that I said my kids have been neglected around these parts for the past few days, but I promise I haven't overlooked them! I sewed my son a matching tie last year and a friend sewed my little girl a darling little dress with matching pantelooms made out of the same fabric. 

In fact, we had family pictures taken in them last year!

You may be wondering why I am sewing all these cute little matchy-matchy outfits? Well, my brothers and sisters and I haven't had the chance to all be together at once for over a year, so we are  planning on taking pictures of the grand babies and putting them in a nice frame for my mother dear for Mother's Day! Stay tuned for some cute pictures with matchy-matchy outfits and some very cute kidlets!

Note: The patterns I used for the ties and sundress can be found and purchased here. I love this site and Ashley, the author of the blog is one crafty gal. She has super easy tutorials which are great for gals like me who are seriously challenged when it comes to sewing. I probably wouldn't and couldn't sew without her simple and easy to follow tutorials. Head on over and check out her darling blog!

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Ashlee, The Culinary Queen

Being a little Bit Crafty...

is what I have been up to lately. This weekend we are planning on having our family pictures taken by one of my great friends. Go here to see what she is up to! She is such a good photographer and I am excited to have her take my little family's pictures. In an effort to get ready to have family pictures taken, I had another great friend sew me this little darling little sundress and bloomers for my daughter to wear. I would've attempted sewing the darling little outfit but I don't feel that confident in my sewing abilities quite yet.

In an effort to have my darling kidlets match, I decided I would attempt at making my son a tie to match his little sister's outfit. I recently bought a very simple tie pattern from Ashley Johnston. She is a very crafty and talented person and I love her easy to use patterns. You can order a tie pattern here and make cute little ties for the little man in your life. I have made two little ties for my little guy in the past day. They are so easy to make that I think will continue to make him a variety of ties. This pattern also doesn't require a lot of fabric so you could easily use left over scraps of material that you might have lying around in your craft room. Here are the finished products:

Also, I decided that Karmindy needed some hair bows to match her little outfit so I whipped these up last night so she would have something to wear in her hair and look even more precious in her little outfit.

I love being creative and making things for my little family, especially my kidlets! Stay tuned for the final results- Our Family Pictures!

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Ashlee, The Culinary Queen

Independence Day Maddy Dress

Go here to see one of my favorite blogs that I like to visit. I love Ashley Johnston. Maybe it is because we have the same first name or maybe it is because she is so seriously talented at coming up with her own tutorials/patterns and crafty ideas. I think it is both. I have really grown fond of this pattern that Ashley has designed and I have thoroughly enjoyed making this pattern for my little girl. My little girl has four of these cute little sundresses hanging in her closet. What is also nice about this pattern, is that you can make them a size smaller (don't sew on bottom ruffle) and use this pattern for a little top as well. The possibilities are endless!! Truly though, I am in love with this pattern... Oh, and did I mention that it is so easy to sew. I am not a seamstress, nor do I profess to be but this pattern is seriously so simple and the instructions are so easy to follow. If I can do it, any aspiring seamstress can make this cute little dress for the little dear in their life. Ok, so there is my plug for Ashley Johnston patterns. (This past week, I just bought 4 more patterns from her. I am excited to start sewing something new!)

I made this cute little Independence Day dress for my cute little 6- month-old niece, Kenley. Her daddy is just getting out of the Army and I wanted to make something for her to wear to not only meet her daddy in (he has seen her once at birth but has spent the rest of her life serving our country in Afghanistan) but also so she would have something patriotic to wear for this years up coming holiday (Independence day). I also got ambitious too and made her a cute little hair bow to match. I am excited to get this cute little ensemble off in the mail and surprise my cute little niece.

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Ashlee, The Culinary Queen

My Spring Chick..

is so cute! I appreciate my daughter modeling my sewing projects for me. As you can see she is thrilled...

In the evenings, I have been enjoying sewing some cute little sundresses for my little girl. I have also been busy making coordinating hair bows to match. My next project is to make matching bracelets for each outfit. If only my cute little Spring Chick would leave them on her wrists!!

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Ashlee, The Culinary Queen

Another Maddy Dress...

The weather has been dreadful the past few days!! All my hopes of Spring making its entrance into my little neck of the woods has been curtailed, because mother nature has been busy blanketing my spring flowers with snow!! The snow does melt by late afternoon but it is depressing and me and my cute children(the three of us eagerly want to be outside) end up staying inside to keep warm! To keep myself busy and my mind off of spring being postponed, I have been "cooking up" some creativity; as well as, sewing my little heart out! I recently bought some fabric from a good friend of mine. Check out her cute blog here. This fabric is called Just Dreamy by Minds Eye. I love this fabric line because it is so bright and cheery! For the past few days as I have been sewing my daughter another Maddy Dress out of this cute fabric, I felt mood change because of the bright blue spring color that is. I also went the extra mile and made her some hair bows to match her dress!! I figure if It is still going to be winter outside, I can bring some Spring inside! What do you think of my little princess' cute new ensemble? Stay tuned for a tutorial on how to make hair bows for the little princess in your life!

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Ashlee, The Culinary Queen

Easter Apparel

I finally finished "cooking up" a cute little sundress for my precious little girl and just in time for Easter nonetheless! I truly appreciate one of my friends letting me borrow her pattern to make this darling "Maddy Dress." Check out what she is up to here. She is really talented and I am always in awe of the cute things she is working on and comes up with..

I couldn't let my daughter have all the fun by having a new dress, so I made a matching skirt to match. Remember this skirt?

Do you think it will be too cutesy that we match? Personally, I don't think so. I love having a little girl to dress up and by the way, who says that Moms and Daughters can't match and have a little fun by wearing matching clothes in the process? Wink, Wink. I am excited to debut these two cute creations by wearing them to church soon!

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Ashlee, The Culinary Queen

Meet my new best Friend....

her Name is Husqvarna Emerald 116. I have been wanting a sewing machine for "sew" long!! After many months of trying to convince my hubby to let me get one, he finally gave in. Thanks Honey! You treat me so good! I also got a great deal on my sewing machine at JoAnn's in Draper! I got over $100.00 off. Hurray for great deals! I brought my new friend home last night and my very talented friend that I have talked about before came over and we went through the owners manual trying all the stitches and gadgets. I think she may have been even more excited than I was! Wink, Wink. Needless to say, I am really glad that I have my own sewing machine and now me and my good friend can get together in the evenings and both sew on our machines instead of sharing her sewing machine. I am "sew" excited to start some new sewing/cooking projects.

This past week I completed my latest "Cooking" project... I am pretty proud of myself and I am looking forward to sewing some more skirts like this. Of course they will be in different colors and may have some new embellishments like ruffles and Ric Rac. We will see.. the possibilities are endless!
Stay tuned to see what the Queen has "cooking" up in my kitchen as well as in my craft room!

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Ashlee, The Culinary Queen

The Queen can be crafty....

My first attempt at sewing was in Middle School and lets just say that my experience of sewing some pajamas didn't go so well. I remember my project being a totally disaster. The seams didn't line up, the stitches were not straight.... I could go on but Lets face it, It was a disaster!! Needless to say, I think I wore them for my Halloween Costume that year but they never resurfaced again!Fast forward 14 years to the present.... I have attempted to start sewing again! Believe me, I have had my reservations! Luckily for me, one of my dear friends is an excellent seamstress. She is always very actively sewing and I am always amazed at the beautiful clothes she sews for her nieces! I constantly tell her she should become a "cook" for the moda bake shop (one of my favorite websites.)

The past few months I have gotten together with my dear friend in the evenings and we become engrossed in sewing projects. I appreciate her taking me by the hand and teaching me and sharing her sewing knowledge with me. Do you remember this pattern that I showed you on my family blog? I found this pattern at one of my favorite fabric stores. I thought the little girl was darling and her features eerily feature my daughters. I also adored the dress and felt like it was destiny... My first "real" sewing project was born and got I busy "cooking."

I finished my cute little project last night! Here are the results:
I didn't have enough fabric to make a bow for the dress but I decided to go with a more low maintenance approach- a flower clip. What do you think? I am so proud of myself for coming so far since middle school!
PS. The seams line up! Hurray!

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Ashlee, The Culinary Queen