Simplicity 4243 - Baby summer dress

The weather is getting warmer and I realized that my baby girl doesn't have enough summer clothes. So I went through my stash patterns and stash fabrics and found Simplicity 4243 and some remnants of a checkered fabric (I used the same fabric for my son`s shorts last year - he can still fit into right now...Yay!). After cutting and sewing 15 minutes here and there, I finally finished in 3 weeks. The pattern is actually not difficult to sew at all. It's just that I don't have much time these days. So the starting and stopping dragged the project out to 3 weeks.


I didn't read the instructions but just winged it by looking at the front and back pieces of the pattern. The pattern calls for a back zipper but I changed it to a buttoned back. I used stash denim double fold bias tape to finish the neckline and the armholes. I didn't curve them enough so they stand up a bit. I consider them 'features' of the dress! LOL~!

When my baby girl tried it on, she was not very impressed with it because she is not used to wearing dresses and she found that the dress impeded her crawling! I hope she will get used to it soon.

I like the pattern well enough. It's pretty simple to sew and it's easy to make design changes. I think I'll make the rompers in the same pattern next time. My baby girl is too busy crawling, standing, walking, and climbing to wear a dress. The rompers should be more practical for her.

Ecing a 11 month old baby....and toileting a toddler

My baby girl is 11 month old today! Wow! Soon she will be a year old. ECing this month has been.....nonexistent. She refused to sit on the potty or be held over the toilet bowl at home. She would scream, stretch and cry every time I try to put her on the potty or change her diaper. I tried different potties, different bathrooms in the house but no luck! However, I went to Ikea and Starbucks last week and she peed in both public bathrooms (with me holding her over the toilet) without any protestations. So I don't really know what I'm doing wrong at home. I've been cleaning up so many poopy diapers that it's getting really annoying. I read in other EC moms' blogs that the babies do rebel going to the potty once they can crawl or walk. Perhaps this is her time to rebel?? When will this go back to normal again? I miss my 'toilet-trained' baby.......

My toddler son on the other hand, is now fully trained for pees when he is awake. He will run to the bathroom or tell us when he needs to pee. He still wears a diaper when he naps or sleeps. And he doesn't like pooing in the toilet yet but we are working on it. We did an intense toilet training for him over March break. I knew he could do it a long time ago but he has to be forced to go to the toilet to pee the first few days. After that he found the diaper to be scratchy and was enjoying wearing underwear more and more. He still hates going to the washroom when he is playing hard or watching TV but we made him go anyways. He hasn't had any accidents at school at all and only had a couple of accidents at home in the last few weeks. I think the toileting has made him more confident and the teachers think so too.

Ugly Men's shirt to Ladies' top Refashion

Another men's shirt refashion. What to do with an ugly 80's short sleeves men's shirt?


Turn it into a unique ladies' top of course!

Summer is coming and I need something loose and breezy to wear. I drafted a loose tank top using the button front of the shirt as the top's back. I use the back of the shirt, cut out the top front that includes a few pleats in the centre. I used red bias tape in my stash to jazz up the neckline and the armholes slightly.

Another quick and dirty refashion!


A close up of the pleats and the neckline and armhole details.


I have more refashion ideas for the stash of men's shirts I have inherited in my sewing nook!

ECing a 10 month old baby

Well, my baby girl is already 10 months old...where did the time go? I guess she won't be a baby much longer. I have to keep reminding myself to treasure the last bit of time I have with her as a baby. She still loves to cuddle and be held. When she can walk on her own she might not be as cuddly anymore.

We were out of town for almost 2 weeks this past month and I was worried about her ECing in an unfamiliar environment. She proved me wrong. She diligently poo/pee in a regular toilet with me pulling her legs up at the same time each day. As soon as we got home, she started to refuse using the potty or using the toilet again. She had already pooed a few times in the diaper this week, which was frustrating for me. Why would she poo/pee with no problem in a strange place, and fussed so much at home? I guess that's what kids do. Sometimes we as parents just have no clue why they do certain things. I'm hoping she will go back to the routine soon if I keep taking her at the usual times each day.

Men's shirt to Ladies' shirt Refashion

A dear family member had passed away recently and I inherited many men's short sleeves and long sleeves shirts. I thought I would make a go at refashioning some of them. I started with a short sleeves men's shirt:


I wanted to do a very simple refashion. I cut off the collar, and then cut the body into the following shape with cap sleeves. I added a row of ruffles(made from the remnants of the shirt) to the left of the centre front and voila!


This is my first men's shirt refashion and a very basic one. I'm feeling a bit more confident after this project. I'm going to try to be more adventurous when I refashion the next men's shirt.