Aunt Debbie Made It!

When I was a little girl, my sister and I could not wait for the new catalogs to arrive each season.  We would pick out what we liked, and my Mam-ma Polly and my mother would do their best to make us something very similar.  I remember one year when I had an orange double-knit "shift" dress with a pocket near the hem that held a black and white polka dot scarf.  I also had a beautiful white knit peasant-style dress that featured button holes around the neckline and wrists.  Black velvet ribbon was threaded through these button holes and created an accent.  All of my friends coveted this dress!

So I guess it's only natural that I would want to create the fashions I see online for Zola and Olivia and the boys.  I have started saving photos of cute outfits and ideas (and of course, Pinterest is a plethora of material!).  The end results are starting to come to life.

Our high school mascot is the panther... colors are red and black.  So I made all of the children "panther" shirts.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I started on my stash of saved photos.  I went through the thrift-store t-shirts I had purchased... as well as a couple of polka-dot camisoles I purchased on clearance at Wal-Mart... and I started sewing.  I also bought several bandeau tops at Wal-Mart on clearance ($2-$3 each) and made skirts... zebra print and solid black.  Some of this material also became accents for other projects - and even a pair of pants for Zola.

 

This was a cute little outfit I saw on Zulilly. 

 

 

I got this knit shirt at the thrift store (it even had the flowers I used in the finished product).

 

And "Voila!"  My version!

 

 

This was a shirt I retired from my closet... a solid shirt from the thrift store... and an idea I got online...

 

 

 

 

... and these are my versions for Zola...

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally... I took this thrift-store knit top, a screen-printed t-shirt from a local nursing center (also purchased at the thrift store)... and created my version of another little outfit.  I have a stack of ideas yet to come... but I may have to stop and work on Halloween outfits next!  Stay tuned to see what else my kiddos will be wearing.  I'm only limited by my imagination!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and Thank You, Mom and Mam-ma Polly... for your inspiration and for teaching me to sew!  I know that Mam-ma would LOVE these outfits... I can just see her fingering the details of each one... and it makes me smile.

Ready or Not... a "Shoe Diva" Is in the Making!

Spring has finally sprung here (hopefully), and garage sales are starting to pop up every weekend.  This means the hunt is on for great bargains on barely-worn kids' clothing!  For the moment, Timothy's cousin Owen (who is six weeks younger) is just a tad taller/larger, so his quickly-outgrown hand-me-downs find a new home in Timothy's closet... and these are GREAT clothes!  The best part of this is that Nathan will wear them, too...in a year or so!  Since the boys are almost the same size in shirts, I did have to supplement Timothy's shirt wardrobe... and it was Dollar General to the rescue!  Our local store was having a major close-out sale on boy's screen-printed shirts, so I racked up a great deal on several that Timothy loves... a bright-colored "T-Rex" roaring on one... the open mouth of an alligator on another, a camouflage print Batman logo, and even a Spider Man print that had Timothy reeling with excitement!



Zola is wearing one of her "garage sale"
outfits... Timothy's shorts and Nike shoes
came from his Cousin Owen, and I purchased
the t-shirt at Wal-Mart on clearance!

Not to leave out Zola, I discovered a table of great little outfits at a garage sale, and a wonderful Baby B-Gosh snow suit for next winter... for $3!

Then, someone locally advertised shoes for sale on a Facebook "garage sale" page... and I was IN!  I purchased all of the shoes shown in this picture - for $10.  Yes, that includes the Columbia snow boots, two pair of Skechers, a pair of Hello Kitty Mary-Janes, and a pair of Converse high-tops!  All it took was a gentle washing, some elbow grease and an X-acto knife to clean the soles, and a Mr. Clean eraser to get the white rubber topsoles shining like brand new!

Why anyone would pay full price for these clothes is beyond me... but I'm so glad someone does this and passes the savings along!  I know I'm creating a "shoe diva" by purchasing Zola so many pairs, but at this price, who can resist!

Finally, I promised my cousin Olivia a "monogrammed" t-shirt... and since she got ALL A's and made the Honor Roll, I thought this was the perfect way to congratulate her!