Making Sunshine

Since the weather has decided that July is the perfect time to be cold and rainy... I made my own sunshine! Found these shoes. They made me happy.  Had to make an outfit to go with them. :)  Here's to wearing cheer!

My dear Tanya's apron... continued

I am so delighted that Tanya loves this apron so much.  The most incredible complement to a seamstress...

Monica:

Oh, I can't tell you, Dear Girl, how much I adore my Mary Engelbreit Apron!  I wear it almost daily just because I love it so much.  I was almost tempted to wear it to Sunday morning meeting!  Just to show it off.  As you can see, I have it hanging in my kitchen as a focal point when I'm not wearing it.  I had a birthday tea party on Saturday for a friend and it made a lovely hostess dress over my red and black outfit.  The satin lining is a magical touch!   I love the way you designed the top part with a "fluff" to enhance my figure!

Thanks!  Love You!

Tanya

My dear Tanya's apron

Tanya had written to me that she liked my Mary Engelbreit style aprons and it immediately brought to mind an apron I'd seen on the cover of one of her books... so I made up my own version of the pattern and went to town to create Tanya her very own Mary Engelbreit apron!  It was kinda tricky, not going to lie.  Then I went to the fabric store, looked at the book for real and read her instructions... much easier!  Now I know... ;)  But I do love the way it turned out in the end.  I took it and another one Tanya had mentioned liking the looks of, and sure enough she picked the one I secretly made just for her! :) ... Maybe Ken will oblige me and take a picture of Tanya wearing it so I can post it on here! Love you both so much...

Polka dot top

Update:  I decided to keep the polka dot top and tulle skirt as separates... more diversity and all that.  Here's the final outfit.  Loved it!

Here's my great debate: leave this as an awesome tank and make a separate skirt, or finish the original project which was to make this into a dress with a frilly white skirt made out of tulle.  I think I'm leaning towards separates because of how versatile everything would be that way.  But it is a little difficult for me to let go of the initial vision...

Here are Ouma's awesome dresses over on Etsy that I'm shamelessly copying.  Too cute, yeah?  I love them... so fun.  Decisions, decisions...

Chocolates and cream

It's delightful. It's delicious. It's delectable. The scrunchy top and the darts at the wide waistband make this little apron both figure flattering and adorable.  Full sized, fully lined.  A few layers of frilly ruffles, some giant ric rac and chocolates on cream fabric? I'm for it! The ties are pretty long, so you can either have a nice bow in the back or draw them back around to the front and tie it in a square knot - whatever suits your style! $75

Interested?  Buy it here!

Michelle's aprons

A few years ago I nabbed a spatula out of my cousin Michelle's bridal shower gifts, took it to the fabric store and matched some fabric for aprons, then put it back before she ever knew it was gone... and then the few days before her wedding I made several cute little aprons for her new kitchen whenever there were a few minutes to spare.  I'm pretty sure she walked through the room I was making them in several times but never realized what was going on! :)  It was fun to surprise her with something heartmade.  (That sounds better than homemade, right?  What a terrible word.)  And then about a year later she ended up with the chocolate apron at a gift exchange.  So this is her little collection of Aprons by Monica...

Flowers and bows

A bit over the top? Undoubtedly.  Do I love it anyway? Absolutely!