Giveaway Winners!

We've had a couple giveaways going on this month, and it's time to announce the winners!

The winner of the Dressed Alike Apron and Michael Miller fabric is...

Chrissy

And the winner of the Unbound Birth eBook is...

Stephanie K.

Congrats to the winners, you'll be hearing from me soon if you haven't already! Enjoy your weekend!

We Did It! Wednesday

Welcome to We Did It! Wednesday!

Here's how We Did It! Wednesday works:

1. Enter a link (specific blog post, not your homepage) using the Linky Tools below to something you made that you want to share. It can be something you sewed, crafted, painted, baked, or anything else you made that you want to share.
2. Try to check out at least one other link on the list (and I'm sure they'd love it if you left a comment too).
3. Post the We Did It! Wednesday button below to your post or sidebar to let others know your participating.

Copy and paste the HTML text below to your own blog or website.

<center><a href="http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy351/jdsmit21/SMAbuttonWDIWscissorsbordercopy.jpg" /></a></center>

Another Ruffly Peasant Dress

I had some Sew Cherry fabric by Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet leftover from another project, so I decided to make this little dress for Lola.

I used my Infant Peasant Dress Free Pattern, and added three layers of ruffles to the bottom.

It was a fun dress to make, and even more fun to see her wearing it (which of course I didn't get a photo of - sometimes getting a child dressed is an accomplishment in itself, am I right?)!

Book Review and Giveaway: Unbound Birth

I'm sure most of you know the Jenny from The Southern Institute. Did you know that she's also written an eBook? It's titled "Unbound Birth," and as I was recently pregnant, I knew it would be just the book for me. Jenny and I have become friends through our blogs, and knowing what a smart and sweet person she is made me confident that it would be a good read.

Without going into details, I've had three very different births. One induction in the hospital with an epidural, one home birth (I had planned to have a hospital birth, but Weston had other plans!), and now one unmedicated hospital birth with a midwife.

Jenny's book explores having an unmedicated hospital birth, and many of the facets involved. I have to say it was a very enjoyable book to read, filled with her own experiences, and the experiences of other women.

For me, Unbound Birth helped to remove a lot of the fears I had about labor (I was hoping for a happy medium this go around, with a midwife and unmedicated birth at the hospital). If you or someone you know is pregnant, I highly recommend this book! No matter what your birthing plans are, it's great infomation to help prepare for what's ahead, and help you know what options are available.

You can find Unbound Birth here on Amazon, and also stay up to date on the blog here.

And lucky us, today Jenny is giving away a free copy of her book to one of you! I'm going to give Rafflecopter a try for this giveaway, in hopes it will be user friendly. Let me know what you think!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We Did It! Wednesday

Welcome to We Did It! Wednesday!

Here's how We Did It! Wednesday works:

1. Enter a link (specific blog post, not your homepage) using the Linky Tools below to something you made that you want to share. It can be something you sewed, crafted, painted, baked, or anything else you made that you want to share.
2. Try to check out at least one other link on the list (and I'm sure they'd love it if you left a comment too).
3. Post the We Did It! Wednesday button below to your post or sidebar to let others know your participating.

Copy and paste the HTML text below to your own blog or website.

<center><a href="http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy351/jdsmit21/SMAbuttonWDIWscissorsbordercopy.jpg" /></a></center>

YOUR Projects

It's been a while since I've done a roundup post featuring projects you've made using Sew Much Ado tutorials and patterns, so I thought today would be a good day!

First, Melanie from Bear Rabbit Bear Crafts made a fun maxi dress using the SoHo Maxi Dress Tutorial...

Sally used the Gathers & Giggles Quilt Pattern to make this baby quilt (the quilt was also featured here on the fabric's designer, Sharon Holland's blog!)


Many of you have used the Infant Peasant Dress Free Pattern, and it's fun to all the ways you've changed things up to make them unique!

Jen from The Crafting Fiend added shirring and long sleeves...

And even belt loops for an optional sash!

Mellow Marsha added two cute buttons and made a matching headband...

I love the fabrics that Ecce Prints used on her dresses...

Photosarahcrafts used a vintage sheet to make this dress for the charity auction Love Without Boundaries...

A gift for her new niece, from Pattern Shmattern.

And how adorable is this outfit from Fashioned By Meg?!

Mama Nic used one of my favorite Michael Miller prints to make her upcoming baby this dress:

One last peasant dress to share, a cute gift ensemble by Amber from Crazy Little Projects...

I've been really surprised at the number of requests I've received for a multi-sized pattern for this dress, and it's in the works! It will be available this summer, hopefully sooner rather than later :).

And a couple more to finish off our roundup...

I loved seeing the Lola Bea Diaper Bag made out of laminated cotton - made by Mac and Murray.

And Mari Anne made this Cirque d'Elephant Quilt!

Thanks for sharing all of your projects with me, it really makes my day to get an email with something you've created using one of my tutorials or patterns, or seeing your project added to our Flickr group. Keep them coming!

We Did It! Wednesday

Welcome to We Did It! Wednesday! While you're here be sure to enter our Indygo Junction pattern and Michael Miller fabric giveaway here!

Here's how We Did It! Wednesday works:

1. Enter a link (specific blog post, not your homepage) using the Linky Tools below to something you made that you want to share. It can be something you sewed, crafted, painted, baked, or anything else you made that you want to share.
2. Try to check out at least one other link on the list (and I'm sure they'd love it if you left a comment too).
3. Post the We Did It! Wednesday button below to your post or sidebar to let others know your participating.

Copy and paste the HTML text below to your own blog or website.

<center><a href="http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy351/jdsmit21/SMAbuttonWDIWscissorsbordercopy.jpg" /></a></center>

Indygo Junction Pattern Parade: Fabric and Pattern Giveaway

Welcome to Sew Much Ado, today's stop on Indygo Junction's Pattern Parade Blog Tour!

First, a bit about Indygo Junction and the fabulous Amy Barickman - the woman behind it all!

Indygo Junction Inc., founded by creative entrepreneur Amy Barickman, is an established sewing and crafts business that offers stylish and timeless high-quality patterns and a variety of idea-rich project books. Amy continues to work with artists and designers from around the world to create unique projects, having sold over 2 million books and sewing patterns.

With a fresh, fashion-forward style, IndygoJunction.com connects creative enthusiasts of all ages. LIKE Indygo Junction on Facebook to receive a free ePattern PDF & sign up for our eNewsletter for a free eBook featuring a purse pattern, embroidery design and small quilt.

Today I'm excited to share one of Indygo Junction's new patterns with you! When you’re ready to get busy in the kitchen, The Dressed Alike Apron has you covered. In fact, it can also cover your little kitchen helpers! This pattern comes with three variations: adult, child, and doll, for a trio of cute kitchen toppers.
 

The square-cut neckline goes over the shoulders for a comfortable fit, and ties at the waist on both sides. A fun flounce along the bottom edge provides extra coverage and a cute bit of flair, and a handy pocket in the front offers the right amount of space for your odds and ends. 

This pattern comes in just five, easy pieces, and is a great project for beginners.

Indygo Junction was kind enough to send me fabric and the pattern to try for myself, and I had the womens' sized apron sewn up in a couple of hours! It was a really enjoyable project to sew, and I think the design would be great for a lot of different activities, from cooking to gardening.

I also like how the back is a full piece - with three little kids I need all the coverage I can get!

Ready for the giveaway?

Indygo Junction is giving one of you the Dressed Alike Apron Pattern, and this Michael Miller fabric to make it:

To Enter (read this!):

Leave a comment on this post letting me know which apron you'd make - the adult, child, or doll (or all three)! If your email address is not linked to your profile, you MUST leave your email address as well (comments will be hidden after winner is chosen to protect email addresses).

Rules:

One entry/comment per person (*see above info regarding email address - if we have no way to contact you, your entry won't count!*)

Giveaway open to anyone with a mailing address

Giveaway closes to new entries on June 18, 2012 at 11:59 MST

Winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Sew Much Ado

And that's not all...
Don’t forget to collect your secret letter from each stop on the Indygo Junction PATTERN PARADE blog tour. At the end of the tour, unscramble the 10 secret letters to create the mystery phrase and enter to win the Grand Prize! For more details, visit IndygoJunction.com. 

The secret letter for this blog is “L”.

Be sure to check out all the other stops on the Indygo Junction PATTERN PARADE Blog Tour (and collect all the secret letters!):
June 6 – Indygo Junction Kick-Off Post
June 9th - Nancy Zieman Blog
June 11 - Sew Much Ado
June 13 - Design in Embroidery
June 15 - The Last Piece
June 18 - Lazy Girl
June 20 - Sew Weekly
June 22 - Tula Pink
June 26 - Sew Mama Sew
June 28 - Mama Said Sew
July 2 – Skip to my Lou
July 6 - Indygo Junction Tour Finale

In the meantime, use code PPBT2 to receive 20% off your order from Indygo Junction! Code is valid until July 13th, 2012.

Bunk Bed

I recently mentioned that Joel had been working on a project for the boys, and I'm happy to say it's done and in use! I think it was pretty obvious that it was a bunk bed, wasn't it?! Joel designed the plan and built the bed, and is ready to move onto the next project on my wishlist (a dining room table!) :).

Now that Joel's done his work, I guess I need to get busy and make some quilts to put on the beds. Any suggestions? I'm all out of ideas when it comes to boy quilts.

I have to say that it did make me sad to take down Wyatt's blue bed that Joel made a couple of years ago, but a bunk bed makes more sense since the boys will likely sharing a room for a long time.

Wyatt and Weston, however, were not sad to see the blue bed find it's new home in the garage. I can't blame them though, what kid wouldn't want a ladder in their room that they're supposed to climb? They love it.

We debated whether to paint the bed or stain it. My first thoughts were to paint it, but the more I thought about it, I decided I'd rather do a dark stain. Maybe it scared me to have such a large piece of furniture painted, or maybe I'm just getting sick of painted furniture (exhibits A, B, and C), but either way I love how the finish turned out. I think in the long term I'll be glad that I went with stain. Or I won't be, and will end up painting it in a few years anyway :).

Oh, and have you heard about Indygo Junction's Pattern Parade? The first stop is tomorrow at Nancy Zieman's (from the "Sewing With Nancy" show) blog, and on Monday it'll be stopping here at Sew Much Ado! Each stop will have a pattern AND fabric giveaway, and there's another huge prize up for grabs at the end of the tour that you won't want to miss (hello 15 yards of fabric? Yes, please!).

Make sure to check back on Monday to see what I made with one of IJ's new patterns and to enter to win!

We Did It! Wednesday

Welcome to We Did It! Wednesday!

Here's how We Did It! Wednesday works:

1. Enter a link (specific blog post, not your homepage) using the Linky Tools below to something you made that you want to share. It can be something you sewed, crafted, painted, baked, or anything else you made that you want to share.
2. Try to check out at least one other link on the list (and I'm sure they'd love it if you left a comment too).
3. Post the We Did It! Wednesday button below to your post or sidebar to let others know your participating.

Copy and paste the HTML text below to your own blog or website.

<center><a href="http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy351/jdsmit21/SMAbuttonWDIWscissorsbordercopy.jpg" /></a></center>

A Few Things

A few random things today...

I received a sweet little surprise in the mail the other day.

No, not her... If only she came so easily.

Christie must have read my mind - I was just thinking that I needed some hair clips for Lola.

Headbands always seem to fall down and cover her eyes (I'll take the blame - headbands have always hurt me to wear, so I think I've been making Lola's a bit too big), and since she has enough hair to hold a clip, it seems like a way better option.

So, in addition to being one of my favorite bloggers, Christie is also one of the most thoughtful and genuine bloggers that I know. Aren't blogging friends the best?

And speaking of favorite bloggers, I've finally got around to updating my "Inspiration" tab on my menu bar. Make sure to take a look and check out all the great blogs! Oh, and if I've forgotten any of you who know you should be included, please forgive me, I'm running on half a brain (at best) these days!

One last thing, I've also added some new photos of the Lola Bea Diaper Bag - now complete with a real person holding the bag :).

That's it for today!

Lola's Blessing

While Joel's family was in town last weekend, we had Lola's baby blessing. She wore the ruffle fabric peasant dress that I made. It was the first time I've really dressed her up for anything, which was fun! I wanted to add a little ribbon bow to the top of the dress, like many of you suggested, but I didn't have any white ribbon on hand when I was planning to add the bow at the last minute.

I did manage to make a little headband that morning to go with her dress. I then managed to forget it as we were leaving for church. No big surprise there :).

It was a very special day for our family, and we feel so lucky to have Lola. She's been a really good baby - so patient and calm.

On another note, I am sewing something for myself this weekend! It's been way too long, and I'm super excited - hopefully I'll have something to share soon :).