Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Welcome! and the Pillowcase Romper



Welcome to my first blog post at Two Bees and a Belle!  I am so excited to start blogging about all the fun little projects I have going here on the side at home.  I guess I should start with a little bit about how I got to this place…in a nutshell with LOTS of encouragement from friends and family!  I am a mother of three awesome kids by day…Brock, 9, Bryce, 5, and Kate, 12 months.  Also by day, I am an art teacher…a passion which has brought me sooo much creative inspiration for a total of seven years.  I taught before I had my oldest, took a break for about 6 years and was a Parent Educator for the Missouri Parents As Teachers Program, and then returned to middle school art three years ago.  Upon the birth of Mary Kate a year ago, I began my first experience with being a working mom with three kids…oh, did I mention my husband is an elementary school principal as well J?!  Juggling four different school schedules, one competitive baseball schedule and trying to find time to sleep and wash everyone'sclothes was proving to be more than a challenge, so we decided as a family that this next year mom will be back at home undertaking the task of keeping everyone organized and ready for the “next big event”.  I am so excited to start this new chapter in our family’s life! 

                About 18 months ago my mom and sister introduced me to etsy and a monster was born!  As I looked through all the shops, I was so motivated to dig out the sewing machine and start trying out a couple of things for our new baby-to-be.  I have always enjoyed sewing, but mostly had only done Halloween costumes, bed skirts, and curtains…not clothes!  I have such fond memories of sewing with my grandma, mom and aunt as a kid…even a Great-grandma who worked for Nelly Don back in the day…so somehow it must just be in my DNA!  I began with a few simple little onesie nightgown which grew into headbands to match which turned into, “I love this!”, “I can do this!”.  I started ordering patterns and sewing unique little creations for Mary Kate.  The items I was choosing to make felt so personal! I love that about sewing!  The making is just as much fun as the finished product!  People started asking about a few items and encouraged me to start making business cards. I continued to practice all sorts of patterns in the wee hours of the weekend daydreaming during the week of the next opportunity to sew I might have.  Honestly, I have become a little obsessed...ask my husband.

 As I mentioned, I love the creative, motivational aspect of my art teaching career…I knew staying home this would be tough to give up.  I think this little venture is my quite compromise to keep that creativity alive and still be able to “teach” and motivate others to be creative, through this blog.  In addition to sewing, I love all things home related from decorating, to cooking…I hope to share little bits of all of that in the blog.

So without further ado….I want to share with you one of the first patterns I started with.  I have made it several times, several different ways, and it is one of my favorites! Pillowcase dresses are so adorable, but with a toddler, new to walking, sometimes a dress (as much as I love them!) isn’t so practical!  I love the pillowcase romper because it just looks so stinkin’ comfy!  The pics beloware examples of the Capri length….it also comes in shorts length and pants(great for fall with a long sleeve tee!). These can be made from preemie (or doll size) to size 10!

P.S.  My sister made the adorable yo-yo clip on Kate's headband...so cute!  My grandma White taught us how to make yo-yo's and we inherited her vintage button stash...so she has been using both to make these darling little hair clips.



Tomorrow I will show you anotherfavorite of mine…the knot dress made out of a vintage pillowcase…and a few sneak peeks of Kate’s one year pics!  



Thanks for visiting!
Jenny

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