Christmas Decorating

We have had the same Christmas tree for about ten years so my mom decided to redo it this year. We made most of the ornaments and it was around $100 total, and it was really fun!

Holiday Table Settings

This is what we came up with last minute for our Thanksgiving table. It's really simple and we just used things we had on hand and from the yard- pinecones, acorns, etc.

Etsy Shop

Hi! I just opened my Etsy shop this week. Please take a look. I'm hoping to add more items soon!

etsy.com/shop/annaelizabethmade

Bedroom Makeover

I've been waiting all week until after my sister's birthday to share these pictures! A few months ago we got the gray-ish blue bedspread, but we hadn't really done anything to decorate my sister's room since then. For my sister's birthday, my mom asked me to make a quilt and pillows for her bed. My sister is almost a teenager and she wanted it to be young and colorful, but we also wanted it to work for an older girl so we wouldn't have to change everything in a year or two. I think we found a good balance, and I really love the fabrics and colors.

Next Quilt

Here's my next quilt, I still have two more that I want to do before I open the etsy store.

More Quilts!

Here's a little preview of what I've been working on for the last few weeks. I am getting ready to start an etsy store so I've been working hard to make some baby quilts! Here's the first one for a little boy!

Herringbone Baby Quilt {Tutorial}

If you're not up for making your own quilt, I sell baby quilts in my etsy store. 

Feel free to email me with questions about the tutorial or buying a quilt.

Yay! I am so excited to share this tutorial! Quilt posted here. This definitely takes a lot of time and work, but it's so worth it! This tutorial is for a 45" x 45" baby quilt. Click on the link below to see the full tutorial!

Herringbone Baby Quilt

tutorial found in this post.

I also sell quilts in my etsy store. 

I love this quilt, it's probably one of my favorite projects ever! It's for a family friend and luckily I finished it the night before the baby was born!

I chose the colors to match the baby's nursery and I think it turned out perfect for a baby boy. 

I love the subtle chevron pattern quilted on the back.

The quilt was a lot of work, but I love the finished product.

Wrapped up and ready to be given to the new baby!

Gold Rose Wreath

I made this rose wreath this week for my mom to put on the front door inspired by one I saw on Delia Creates. We just bought a $5 grapevine wreath from the craft store and some fleece and felt. I rolled strips of fleece into flowers, and cut leaves from green felt and hot-glued them onto the wreath. It was pretty easy but kind of time-consuming. I think I'll try it again with cream colored fleece and red berries in the winter. Overall this was a pretty fun and cheap project!

My Favorite Skirt {Tutorial}

I'm finally sharing the tutorial for my favorite skirt! Almost all my skirts are made from this tutorial, it's pretty simple and it turns out great every time. It has a flat waistband in the front and elastic in the back so no zippers or buttons are needed! There are no complicated patterns to cut out, just four rectangles. There are also lots of fun ways to mix up this pattern by add a contrasting band at the hem, pockets, or a bow around the waist, etc.

You can see a lot of other skirts I made using this method in this post.

Click on the link below to see the full tutorial!

Easter Outfits

It's almost time for my favorite part of Spring- Easter! Every year my sisters and I get new Easter dresses. As we've gotten older it's been hard to find modest dresses at a good price, so I've been making them every year. No more matching fluffy, pastel dresses. Here are this year's Easter outfits.

My younger sister asked me to make her a dress like one she saw on Pinterest. I followed this tutorial from Sugar Bee Crafts. My sister and I loved the dress she made, so I even used the exact same ruffle fabric. For anyone else making the dress, my sister is five feet tall and we ordered two yards but I only used one and a half.

The only thing I did differently than her tutorial was making the dress a v-neck instead of a wrap. Simply because it was easier for me. 

I love this fabric! I was so nervous about cutting and sewing it because it's expensive but it's so forgiving and it came together really quickly. My only problem with the fabric is that it's very sheer so I had to line the skirt. Other than that, I'm very happy with how the dress turned out.

My youngest sister chose this lime green giant polka dot fabric for her skirt. I was thinking of a sweet little floral dress with a bow and a peter pan collar, but this fits her personality better.  It was definitely not my first choice, but it turned out cute and fitting for her. 

This was another skirt that I made a while ago, but it hasn't been worn because it needed some adjustments. I decided to finish it while I was doing the rest of the Easter outfits. The tiny polka dots remind me of Easter eggs too.

Here's my skirt. Tutorial coming soon!

Second Dress

     A week or two ago I posted the first dress I ever made and this is the second one. I made up my own pattern that just goes over your head and doesn't require any buttons, zippers, etc. When I say "made up my own pattern" that really means I just made it up as I went. It was also supposed to be a dress for me, but it ended up fitting my ten year old sister. So obviously it didn't turn out quite as expected, but it's still cute on my little sister.

     Because the dress gray and white I made this belt to add some color to it. I made a bunch of different flowers out of scraps, chose my favorite four and sewed them together on a piece of grosgrain ribbon.

Ruffled Minky Baby Blanket

Here's some photos of the baby blanket that I made this weekend for a family friend. I based it off of a picture that I saw on Pinterest from this blog. I just did a few things different from her tutorial. I used 1 1/4 yard pieces of fabric so the blanket is square and I also rounded the corners.

 I love this fabric- Marmalade by Moda. 

 I had to ruffle over thirty feet for the trim. I really should invest in a ruffle foot.

The ruffles and stretchy minky fabric were quite a pain to work with but I love the end result!

Linked to:

First Dress

This is the first dress I ever made. It was my little sister's Easter dress last year. I didn't use a pattern, just referenced various online tutorials. If you search "peasant dress tutorial" you should find lots. This was just an experiment for me, so there are a few changes I would make it I sewed another one. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and my sister likes it.

I made some felt flowers and attached them to wide grosgrain ribbon to make a little belt.

Skirts

Here's a bunch skirts that I've made for my sisters and myself over the past year or so. My two younger sisters are modeling the skirts for me. I'll share a tutorial for my favorite skirt pattern soon. 

I love the big poppy flowers on this fabric.

This skirt is made of a set of sheets from the seventies that I found at my grandma's house. They were my mom's sheets when she was little. It's super easy to make a skirt out of a sheet because you have tons of fabric to work with and the hem is already done for you. 

My youngest sister really needed some new skirts so my mom bought four different fabrics for me to make into skirts. I decided to take the easy route and made two reversible skirts instead of four different ones. The stripe and floral one are one reversible, and the polka dot and orange one are reversible. 

This next skirt is one of my favorite skirts that I've made for myself. My sister is the one wearing it in these pictures. The skirt is made out of seersucker so its very light and comfortable.

I love that the stripes on the waistband go the opposite direction. 

This skirt is made out of shot cotton, which means it's woven with two different colors. If you are close up to it, the thread is gold in one direction and red in the other, but from far away it just looks orange. 

I'll be sharing a tutorial of how I made this yellow skirt soon!